BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"Gosh, is it time to wake up already?" Mumbling, the covers on the bed moved a little before hitting the alarm on his nightstand. Throwing the covers off, a young man lay in bed tiredly. "I should not have stayed up so late playing that new game." Rubbing his eyes, he lay in bed silently. It was only after ten minutes passed and the alarm ran again that he finally got up.

Pushing himself to the bathroom, he did his morning routine of cleaning up and headed to the kitchen. "Good morning, sweetie." A middle-aged woman sat at the dining table as she looked at her son walking in. "Morning." He didn't say much as he grabbed his usual breakfast of cereal and toast and ate silently.

"Today's your exam, right? I know you have studied hard, so do your best!" The young man's mom didn't voice much worry for her son. Although he wasn't smart, his determination to barely pass the test made her confident in him. "That's right Jake, If you pass, you better start thinking about a place for vacation." Jake's dad sat on the couch as he read the news of his favorite sports teams on his phone.

Thinking about the exams, Jake was stiff. However, he knew he had tried his best so there wasn't much he could do. After getting ready, he said bye to his folks and headed off for school. It was only a bus ride away, but for someone his age, it was embarrassing. It was his senior year of high school and yet Jake still had no car, leading him always to have to rely on public transportation.

He always sat at the front, but when he got on today, he noticed the abnormality of the full bus today. This led to him having to sit further back. He could only sigh when he noticed that all of the window seats were taken, leaving him to sit next to a pale office worker. Jake had seen him before on the bus, and just like all the other days, he was typing furiously on his computer. Jake didn't care though as he put on some headphones.

With no window seat though, he was forced to look down the aisle. In which he saw all the familiar people. An old grandma going to the park, a group of young kids going to the elementary school, an athlete going to the gym, and finally, a gorgeous college girl who sat right in front of Jake. For a while, he had always seen her sitting alone, but he never had the guts to sit beside her. 

He wasn't the most attractive man, in fact, he was very below average. He started growing hair too young, making him look like a caveman. Due to gaming and studying for long periods of time, he had a slouched back, and a big belly. Adding onto the fact, that he was half blind in his two eyes, it all accumulated into him not being that handsome nor popular.

Jake could only yearn for the day he grew balls and listened to his music silently. After 20 minutes, the bus finally stopped, at the stop near his school, letting him walk to school the rest of the way. Arriving at school, he found his first class and sat down with a big sigh. That bus ride every morning always dampened his mood due to his unconfident demeanor.

"Bro, your plays last night were amazing!" Jake felt a smack on his back as he turned around. A blonde guy with freckles and braces laughed as he sat beside Jake. Smiling Jack's mood turned a 180, "I know right? That stupid Horgen thought he could sneak past my Uzun, it was laughable!" Thinking about the game he played last night, Jake laughed. He met Lucien a couple of years ago and they both realized they liked the same kind of games, so they hit it off quickly. Lucien was one of the people he was playing with last night.

The two laughed about the game before Lucien sighed, "If only Caleb would have joined us, now that he's got that stupid girlfriend, he never wants to play with us anymore." Putting his head down, Lucien felt bitter. Jake only rolled his eyes, "Just let him be, you know how he is, he always gets a girlfriend for a few weeks and then he gets dumped, and then he will come back to us. He is both blessed and cursed, to be a good athlete."

Lucien only snorted as the homeroom teacher came in. "Alright everyone settle down!" Hitting his desk, the teacher got everyone's attention. "Soon, the announcement for the start of the tests will be stated, when you hear the number you are assigned to, go to that room, and they will give you the rest of the instructions." It was already everyone's last year of high school so this was no surprise to anyone.

When the announcement came on, everyone hurriedly went to their respective rooms. Walking into the gym, Jake saw tens of desks lined up in rows. Each one had a miniature wall surrounding them. Seeing this, Jake sighed, he will truly be alone for a long time. Finding his number, he sat down at a middle desk. Peeping around him he wanted to see who was beside him. On his left was a girl named Sarah, he kind of knew her, but not enough to make small talk. Behind him was a guy called Sven, who he did actually know. They used to be closer in the past, but they both found different hobbies that split them. On his right was a guy he had forgotten the name of. And that was only because the dude was new this year. Finally, in front of him was a girl named Selina. 

When he saw her, his face turned a little red. This was because, for the past two years, he has had a secret crush on this girl. She was a sweet girl, who was also on the volleyball team. But she was way too out of his league, making Jake feel a repelling force whenever he tried getting close. He could only sigh that there were walls around him.