Yu and I eventually made it back to class and returned to our seats. Math was the last class of the day for me, and at 3:10 in the afternoon, the end of the day was quickly approaching. It felt fast for me—but I did sleep through most of this class, so it makes sense.
"Okay, class, I will be handing out your tests shortly. You can just talk amongst each other as I call your names."
The teacher began calling students up. Those who were not called immediately formed their own little groups. I turned to the side, resting my arm on the backrest of my chair.
"Man, I'm so nervous! I think I might've failed this one."
A familiar energetic voice said from my right. Luna was anxiously twirling her blond hair around her finger, her once pretty face clouded with worry. Yu—who sat behind me—stood up and kindly offered his seat. Her expression eased into a touched smile as she gave him a polite "thank you."
"Man, thanks, Yu. You're such a gentleman! Unlike Hoshino over here."
"I don't think that's true," Yu said. "Hoshino is pretty nice… sometimes."
Luna glared at him with challenging eyes. "Really? He might be one of the meanest people I know. Not that I hate it, though—that's what makes him funny!"
She began laughing hysterically, attracting the gazes of others in the classroom. She didn't seem to mind, keeping it up until the energy naturally died down. I sighed, catching both of their attention.
"I don't think you have anything to worry about. You studied hard. At the very least, you should be doing better than Yu."
Yu's eyes twitched when I said that, making Luna giggle.
"See? What did I tell you? He's a dick!"
Yu crossed his arms and pettily turned away. "To think that I tried defending you… This is how you repay me?!"
"That's what you get for not betting on me."
"You're still hung up on that?!"
Luna looked between Yu and me with a blank stare. After blinking mechanically for a bit, she asked, a bit hurt, "Hey… am I missing something?"
The instant she said that, we both snapped toward each other, eyes wide. Yu covered his mouth, but the guilt was still visible in every line of his posture.
"Oh shit! We messed up!"
I felt the urge to just smack my head. Please—for the love of God—stop being such an open book! And don't drag me into this! I conveyed to him with my eyes.
Yu swallowed hard and turned to her.
"I-I–"
"Yeah, we made a bet about who would get the highest grade," I cut in smoothly. "And I told him to tell you about it. Seems like he forgot, though."
Yu's head swung my way, his eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth hung open. Clearly, he was appalled. "HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME, YOU FILTHY LIAR?!" I could hear him say loud and clear from his expression.
I cluelessly tilted my head, maintaining a perfectly blank expression. He clenched his fists and stomped toward me, but before he could get any closer, his name was called out.
"Yu Xuan, please come up!"
He froze, and a mischievous smirk crept up my lips. "Well, Yu, you heard her, go get your test."
"Good luck, Yu!" Luna added cheerfully.
With our wholehearted support, he reluctantly walked to the teacher and grabbed his test. The moment he saw the paper, his shoulders drooped. I glanced at Luna. She looked back at me. Static hung in the air—until we both burst out laughing.
"Hahaha! This guy definitely failed!" she exclaimed, wiping a tear away from her eye.
"Hahaha, yeah. I'll never get tired of seeing that look on his face."
Yu returned with defeated steps. When he reached us, he dropped to his knees and slammed his head against my desk.
"Soooo, what did you get?" I asked, barely holding back my laughter.
"I-its over for me…" he muttered. "I don't wanna talk about it—or me."
Luna's smile faltered slightly. She took a glance at me, to which I gave her a simple shrug. She shook her head with a soft sigh before getting up from the desk and patting him on the head. "Aww, it's okay, Yu. We can all study for the next one together! How does that sound?"
Yu let out a hollow scoff. "We? You mean you and me? Hoshino never studies, and because of that, I don't either. It's a goddamn trap."
"Don't blame it on me," I interrupted. "Luna always tries to get you to lock in, but you always end up doing—whatever."
"Yeah, Yu," Luna added. "Just so you know, when we studied for this test, you only actually studied for thirty minutes before you and Hoshino ended up talking about what kind of cars you guys would be."
Yu seemed to sink further into the desk with each word. Luna went frigid, her hands hovering awkwardly over his head as she realized her cheering wasn't helping.
"But hey! It's n-not all so bad!" Luna rushed out. "We can try again, right?!"
When it didn't seem to work, she turned to me with pleading eyes. "Cmon, say something, man! Help me out!"
I sighed as I rubbed the tip of my nose. I guess the jokes have gone too far. I cleared my throat, catching Yu's attention.
"Okay, here's the deal," I said. "Along with the ramen, if I lose to Mei, then I'll tutor both of you for the upcoming test. How does that sound?"
Yu gave a small, empty nod—but it was better than nothing. Luna sighed in relief, then retired to Yu's desk after giving him one last pat. He was probably going to be wallowing in his defeat for a while, so we moved the conversation along.
"Well, since I know what the bet is. I'm assuming you bet on yourself then, Hoshino?" she said.
"Obviously."
Luna rested her chin on her hands, deep in thought. "Hmmmm. It's boring if I bet on what you two already bet on. Can I bet on a tie? By the way, if it's a tie, you still have to tutor us."
I shrugged. "Sure, I don't care. And if it's a tie, I'll treat you both to ramen."
Luna's posture straightened instantly. "Really?! Thanks!"
She clasped both her hands together and nodded appreciatively. The worry was gone—as if it had never been there to begin with.
"Luna Woo, please come get your test!"
And just like that, it came crashing back. Her face drained of colour as she took wobbly steps toward the teacher. "I-I'll be right back," she said, covering her mouth as if she were about to throw up.
"Good luck~" I teased. She gagged as I said it, which made me chuckle.
Just because I haven't known her as long as I've known Yu doesn't mean I'll treat her any differently.
Luna came back moments later, the colour of her face slowly returning. When she saw me, her face lit up. "Guess what, Hoshino? Look at this!"
She proudly slammed her test onto my desk. The sound seemed to have shaken Yu awake, as his head shot up from the table and he glanced at the paper in front of us. He let out a loud gasp, and I whistled in surprise.
"Holy shit, Luna! Eighty percent?! You're crazy!" Yu exclaimed.
She nodded eagerly. "That's what I thought! Luck is on my side today!"
I pulled the paper closer. They both looked at me expectantly. I felt a faint sense of pride, as if it were my own accomplishment. I tried to remain neutral, but I couldn't stop the proud grin that tugged on my lips. "Yeah, this was a good run."
I flipped through the pages, analyzing her work. "You struggled with the long-answer questions, but you at least wrote something down and tried to solve them. You were halfway right throughout all of them, too."
I returned to the first page, then slid the test back to Luna. "You should be proud…" Then, I shot a glance at Yu. "You should be disappointed, though."
Luna chuckled while Yu sank back onto the table.
Luna grabbed the test and brought it close to her chest, her gaze a little lower where my eyes were. "Haha, thanks, man. It means a lot if it comes from you."
Before I could respond, the teacher's heel loudly clicked on the floor, silencing the once lively classroom.
"Okay, class. As usual, I like to give a prize to whoever got the highest score. So, I will now announce the candidates."
She dramatically cleared her throat. I sat on the edge of my seat, but my heart rate remained slow.
"Kiana, Remi, Yang, Hoshino, and Mei. These are the five people who could have the highest score. And the winner out of these five is…"
Luna held her breath, inching closer. Even Yu—who had been dejected until a couple of minutes ago—rose from the desk.
"It's… a tie! Mei and Hoshino are tied with a score of 100%!"
…What?