“Things just aren’t working out.”

I kept my eyes pointed at the floor. “I thought we were doing alright.”

“Aden,” Katy breathed, holding back her bangs from her face. “I’m sorry, but I think it’s time we”—she sighed—“well, we broke up.”

I peeked up at her. “Did I do something wrong?”

She scanned the hallway. “No, Aden. You’re a great guy. The spark—it just isn’t there anymore.” Katy shrugged. “Sorry.”

Nodding, I adjusted the book bag strap on my shoulder. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” I glanced at the group of students who had stopped across the hall. “It can be a fresh start for summer. I understand. Don’t worry about it.” I forced a smile. 

“We can still be friends if you want.” She tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear. 

“Yeah”—I gave a half-hearted laugh—“of course we’re still friends.”

She smiled and put her arms around me. “Thanks, Aden. I knew you’d understand.”

I hugged her back and stood there as she hurried off with her friends. Closing my locker, I banged my head against it. Why did this keep happening? 

“Hey.” A hand landed on my shoulder. 

I jumped and spun around. “Chris, a little warning.” 

“Quit daydreaming, then, and let’s go to class,” he laughed.

“I wasn’t daydreaming,” I muttered as I marched down the hall.

“What’s wrong?”

“Katy broke up with me.”

Grabbing my shoulder, Chris gave it a little squeeze. “Sorry about that, man. I thought you two were getting along. She seemed fine when we hung out last weekend.”

I shrugged. “I guess the spark between us is gone, or something like that.”

He slapped me on the back, which stung more than comforted me. “Oh well, there’ll be others.”

“I’m running out of girls,” I breathed as we entered the classroom.

“That’s your fault.”

“Hey,” called Katy. She waved and gave me an awkward smile. “Chris, can we talk about our next final?”

He looked at me.

“Go for it,” I said with a shrug. 

He slipped past me and went to sit in my seat. I bit my lip. I didn’t mean that! Trudging to the row of desks next to the wall, I plopped down in the one at the end. It was just a dumb seat, but the fact that I lost it because of Katy ticked me off. Laying my head on the desk, I wrapped my arms around my face to block out the world. Today sucked. I lost my girlfriend, my seat, and now I was going to fail math. Maybe it would start raining on the way home to top everything off. 

The bell rang, and Mr. Phillips walked to the head of the room. “Alright, clear off your desk except for a pencil.” He started passing the test packets down the row. 

I rolled my head to the side and waited to receive my death sentence. Math and I didn’t get along. 

Chris dropped the packet in front of me. “It won’t be that bad.”

“Says next year’s valedictorian,” I muttered under my breath. I heard Chris laugh, so he must have heard. 

“Alright,” said Mr. Phillips as he sat behind his computer. “You have until the end of class. Once you’re done, put your test on my desk and you’re free to go.”

Everyone around me flipped over the cover sheet and started writing. I stared at mine, reading the class section information over and over. Forcing myself to sit up, I turned the page and felt my stomach tighten. God had my number today and he just kept pushing it.

***

Five minutes before class ended, I handed in my test, gave Mr. Phillips a death glare, and shuffled to the door with my backpack dragging behind me. That man hated me. It was the only possible explanation of why he would make the test ten times harder than any of the homework.

I threw open the door and left it wide open before marching off to where Chris was sitting with Katy on a bench by the wall. They were looking over Chris’s notes. The man was a genius, so it wasn’t a surprise. I had taken advantage of his brain plenty of times. 

I lay across the bench next to them. I had been to war and barely made it out alive, and they were having a great time—being friend-zoned sucked. Katy could have at least pretended to be a little upset that we broke up.

“So how’d you do?” asked Chris.

I crossed my fingers. “I’m praying for a C. I don’t want to have to retake it next year.”

“I think you’ll get at least that.” 

“Maybe.”

Chris went back to discussing chemistry with Katy while I lay there, defeated. I wanted to go home and whine to my mother about my horrible day. Closing my eyes, I heard the bell sound through the halls. Letting out a sigh, I sat up and slowly climbed to my feet. 

“English will be better, right?” said Chris with a smile. 

“Yeah,” I muttered as I shuffled away. Anything was better than math.