Jacob
period rolled around, and the last thing he needed after all this work was to be distracted by his rumbling stomach. As he
sat in the back of the room with his calculator and his sharpened pencils, he felt nervous but ready. Still, he held his breath
as Mrs. Dutton walked up and down the aisles handing out the exam papers. He didn’t want to let the squad down. He didn’t
want to let Rory down.
You’re gonna be fine, he heard fifth-grade Rory say in his head. It’s all going to be fine.
“All right, class.” Mrs. Dutton stood at the front of the room. Her hair was all done up, and she was wearing a black-and-white-plaid
dress, as if she’d gotten fancied up for the occasion. Maybe she enjoyed causing them pain? “You may begin.”
Jacob flipped the paper over. There were twenty problems. Immediately his pulse began to race. Could he complete twenty problems in forty-five minutes? That was one every two-ish minutes (he couldn’t even do that math properly). Nightmare. He was never going to finish.
One problem at a time, he heard Rory say in his mind. A mantra she’d kept repeating on Sunday at her house. You can tackle only one problem at a time. Just focus, and you’ll do great.
So he read the first problem. And he knew how to do it. Carlos had given him a few just like it during last night’s study
session. He took a deep breath, let it go, and got to work.
When the bell rang forty-five minutes later, Jacob was checking over the last few problems. All he wanted to do was hug Gwen
and Carlos. He’d been thinking about them throughout the whole test—so many of the problems were things he never would have
figured out without their tutoring these past few days. He walked to the front of the room and was the last to hand his paper
to Mrs. Dutton. She glanced down at it, then peered up at him through her glasses. “How did we do, Mr. Reilly?”
“Okay, I think.” He adjusted the strap of his backpack on his shoulder. “I don’t suppose you could just grade it right now
real quick?”
“Nice try. Everyone will get their grades back on Friday.”
Friday. Less than forty-eight hours. It seemed like a lifetime. “Okay. Thanks.”
She gave him a nod and he turned to leave.
When he opened the door, he was greeted by a loud round of cheers that nearly scared him out of his skin.
The entire cheerleading squad was lined up in the hallway.
Layla and Gwen held up a sign that read “GO, JACOB!” And Carlos was holding a gigantic white-and-green bag from Shake Shack.
Whatever was in it smelled perfectly greasy and salty and delicious.
“What the—”
“You did it!” Rory said, stepping forward and throwing her arms around his neck. He hugged her back briefly, feeling the press
of her body against his. It was the best reward he could have gotten for forty-five minutes of math torture.
When she stepped back, Carlos handed him the bag of food. “We had it delivered for you. To celebrate.”
“Let’s not celebrate till I get the grade back,” Jacob told them, not wanting to get their hopes up.
“Oh, so I can have this?” Rory asked, snatching the bag out of his hand.
“Don’t even try!” Jacob replied, making a grab for it.
“No, no. It’s mine now!” Rory shot back. Then she took off down the hall, and Jacob ran after her, the entire team shouting
after them.