My Hockey Alpha Chapter 279: Finals Week
Nina
Between the upcoming plan to stop the Luna as well as finals week, I was
stressed to say the least. I didn’t want anyone to have to die, but I knew that
there was no other way to stop her.
Even if we somehow managed to turn her
human with the antidote in the same way that we had turned Selena, there
was still a chance that the Luna’s genetically engineered rogues would survive.
Besides, part of me didn’t even believe that the antidote would work on the
Luna. She was too powerful;
I had discovered that within five minutes of
meeting her. The way that she had been able to force all of us to the ground
and inflict us with so much agony with just a single look told me that she was
even more powerful than I ever could have comprehended. No one knew the
full extent of her powers, and maybe by now it was already too late. Maybe it
was already over when it began.
But even though I knew that the Luna would have to die for us and the rest of
the human world to survive, I didn’t want Enzo to have to be the one to kill her.
It was my plan, and my father who we were saving, so I felt as though it
should have been me. I needed to figure something else out, but with finals
taking up all of my time, I didn’t have time to come up with a better plan. And
with time ticking faster than I wanted it to, I felt hopeless.
As the week went on, the effects of my final exams began to take their toll —
just as they did with everyone else on campus. By Thursday, however, I was
thankfully on my very last exam of the semester.
I woke up even earlier that morning after a night of hardly any sleep thanks to
all of the stress from everything. I crawled out of bed shortly after the sun
rose and spent the remainder of the morning before my chemistry exam
studying in the library and drinking too much coffee.
Thankfully, though, I felt
prepared — and hopped up on caffeine — after spending the morning
studying, and I went to my exam with confidence.
By the time my exam was over, I headed over to the infirmary to work for a
little while to keep myself occupied while I waited for all of my results. The
dean still hadn’t found anyone to fill in Tiffany’s position, so Jessica and I as
well as a few other medical students picked up the slack to make sure that the
infirmary was always open.
I was looking forward to working my shift, and
although no one came in aside from a couple of students complaining of colds,
it still felt good to be a bit distracted.
Eventually, Enzo came in to keep me company. He had been quiet ever since I
told him about my plan, but he was supportive and worked hard to make
preparations while I was busy with exams. I kept telling myself that all of this
would be over soon, and then I could see him smile again without anything
getting in our way. At least, that was what I hoped.
“Did you get your results yet?” he asked, setting down a coffee cup and a
paper-wrapped bagel sandwich for me.
I shook my head and bit my lip. “No,” I replied, feeling my heart race just at
the thought of getting my results. The results of this semester would dictate
whether or not I went on to the medical school program or whether I would
stay in pre-med for another semester, so I was nervous to say the least.
Enzo smiled a bit and pulled me in for a hug.
“You’ll do great,” he said gently.
“You’re the smartest person I know. I’ll bet you aced all of your exams.”
Enzo’s words were comforting, and I lifted myself up on my tiptoes to give him
a kiss while I wrapped my arms around his neck. Of course, in our usual
fashion, our kiss led to more… And soon, we were pressed up against the
back wall of the infirmary, making out intensely.
It would have gone further, except the door suddenly banged open and
Jessica came running in with a wild look in her eyes.
“Nina, have you — oh, sorry, am I interrupting?”
Enzo and I quickly separated ourselves and straightened our clothes, our
faces red from being caught almost having sex in the infirmary. I shook my
head and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “No,” I lied. “What’s up?”
Jessica grinned widely, then held up her phone.
“Check your student portal.”
My eyes widened. “Are the results up?” I asked, to which Jessica nodded
excitedly. I hurriedly pulled my phone out of my pocket and tapped furiously on
the screen to pull up my student portal. I opened the page that led to my final
grades for the semester, then froze and slowly looked up at Enzo and Jessica.
My hand shook a bit as I held my phone, but Jessica’s encouraging look gave
me the strength to open my results and read them.
As I read, I clamped my hand over my mouth and felt tears come to my eyes.
“What?” Jessica said, rushing toward me and yanking my phone out of my
hand. “Did you pass?” She stared down at my phone for a moment, reading
my results, and then looked back up at me with an even wider grin than
before.
“Straight A’s,” I whispered. “I’m going to medical school next semester.”
Saying it out loud made me raise my voice, and I couldn’t help but jump for joy
and squeal excitedly with Jessica while we hugged tightly. When I looked up
from over Jessica’s shoulder, Enzo was standing there with a smile on his
face. I ran up to him and threw my arms around his neck, kissing him deeply.
“I got in, too,” Jessica said as she dabbed away her tears of happiness with
her index finger. “We’ll be starting medical school together, just as it should
be.”
I couldn’t help but smile. Three years prior, I had met Jessica thanks to our
first pre-med class together. And now, we would be starting medical school
together as best friends. I couldn’t be happier…
But at the same time, my smile faded — because part of me wondered if we
would even make it to next semester, or if the Luna
would get her way before that could happen. I wanted to believe that our plan
would work out the way we wanted it to and that we would save everyone, but
at the same time, we were just a bunch of kids fighting against forces that
very well may have been completely out of our control… And that terrified me
beyond all belief.
I looked up at Enzo then, and the look on his face seemed to give away the
fact that he knew what I was thinking. He put his hand on my shoulder and
