The atmosphere in the school was a little more hyped up than usual. Everyone was riding high right now with the wins at the tournaments. I mean with the invitations in March and now the state, regional, and nationals that happened this month, it was all a very exciting time for us. Having our school sweep all four competitions was something that was quite amazing, according to the coach and the principal.
The problem though, was that we all needed to start studying for exams. Well, us seniors did anyway. The underclassmen wouldn't be taking their exams until June, but we all had to take ours in the first weeks of May. I mean, our last day of school was May twelfth. Seniors always got out earlier than the other classes, but even I thought that this much of a change was a bit excessive.
I wasn't going to complain though. Being out of school for this time meant that Ocean and I would have more time together. Maybe we would take a vacation or something like that. Just the two of us. Or we could take Ben and Ryan with us as well. They would most likely enjoy a really nice vacation with nothing at all to worry about. And, frankly, I think that we all deserved a really good rest after everything that had happened to us this school year.
Not to mention, we had worked really hard with swimming this year. None of us let us slack off at all. We constantly gave it our all. We pushed ourselves to get better every day and it paid off.
I knew for a fact that Ben and Ryan were both beyond happy and excited about the prizes that they had won. Between the two of them, they now had nearly five hundred thousand dollars. Actually, with the inheritance money that Ryan had, they might even have more than that. They didn't have to worry about money at all. And with all the scholarships that they had gotten from the tournament in the fall and the tournament in March, they never had to worry about being able to pay for their schooling either.
Oh, and there was also the fact that we were all offered more scholarships from the university. Every senior on the swim team had gotten offers from their prospective schools. There was never going to be any worry for us. Well, no worries unless the others let their grades slip. Doing that would definitely make their full rides and extra assistance go away. I didn't have to worry about Ocean or Ben and Ryan. We would all keep each other in check.
We were already doing that for each other. Every day after school, now that there were no practices, the four of us studied in the living or kitchen. We would make simple meals that were easy to eat while cramming for exams.
I didn't feel as if we were in any danger of not passing, but we had all spent so much time practicing for the various competitions and tournaments that we didn't study much during that time. And honestly, I wanted to get a good grade on them all. It didn't really matter one way or the other in the long run, but I personally wanted to see myself doing what I knew was my personal best.
Studying has basically become our life lately. There just wasn't anything else that we needed to do. Well, we did goof off a little bit. I mean, we are only eighteen and we needed to have some fun.
When we weren't studying over the two weeks until exams were due to start, the four of us would play video games, go to the beach, and catch a movie. It wasn't that much stuff that we were doing other than studying, but it was what kept us from feeling burnout.
When May started, it was time for us to start those exams. We didn't have them all on the same day, which was good, but there was one just about every single day. From the first Tuesday in that month until the day before we had our last class, we had exams.
The first exam was of course, in our first class of the day. That was the one that Coach Dickson was administrating. It wasn't a bad class, for Ocean and I anyway. We were both pretty good at math so advanced calculus was no problem for us.
While I was sitting in the room, waiting for the test to be handed out, I leaned over and whispered to Ocean.
"Did you ever think that this day would come? When we were taking a final exam and high school was pretty much over." It just felt surreal to me. Maybe that was because this year had been so life altering and full of excitement. It had just felt like it had all passed by so quickly.
"Honestly, no." He was shaking his head as he looked around the room. "I mean, I knew that I would graduate and all that, but I never actually thought about what it would feel like and what it would actually mean to me. It's just like, I don't know, surreal and kind of scary. We've been in school for so long, and now we're graduating."
"Well, we are going to university after this. We're still going to be in school."
"Yeah, but that's not going to be the same. I just know that it will feel different." He was shaking his head at me like my reminder wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I think he was right though. College was not going to be the same thing as high school. It was going to be so different. And not only that, but our lives would be fundamentally different. Even with how much they were going to stay the same, it was still going to be massively different.
"Yeah, it will be different. But at least we'll have each other. That will make it easier." With that he finally looked at me and smiled. I knew that my sentiment had made him feel better about things. And at that moment, we needed to stop talking. The test was being handed out and it was time for us to get to work.
For us seniors, our classes were extended for exams. There was only one class for each day, and it was three hours long. That gave those who needed extra time a chance to finish it without needing to come back and work on it another day and to possibly lose the confidence and momentum that they had started with. When we were done with the exam though, we were allowed to leave and go to the library or the gym. There wasn't much for us to do to kill time besides study, read or mess around on our phones. After the three hour class was over, we would head back to our homeroom class, which may or may not have been the class that we started the day with. After checking in with our homeroom teachers, we were able to be dismissed. Only the seniors had a half day of school while the other grades had a full day.
Ocean was the first to finish the test. I didn't really expect that, but it happened. He got up, turned in his exam, and left the room without saying a word. I wasn't far from finishing so I wasn't worried about being able to catch up to him. Literally, it was about thirty seconds after he left the room that I finished my own exam and rushed to turn it in to Coach Dickson. I then took my things and left the room.
I saw Ocean walking toward the library ahead of me and then felt a vibration in my pocket. With a glance at the screen of my phone that I just pulled from my pocket, I saw that Ocean had texted me where he was going.
I had thought that it was the library, but it wasn't. He was instead heading somewhere that we didn't really go to at all. It was not somewhere we were supposed to be.
I rushed forward to catch up to him before he had gone much farther. I saw that he was happy to see me too.
"So, you were right behind me. Just like with swimming, you always finished a second after me."
"Yeah, but at least when I make love to you, I have better timing than that." I made a crude joke and winked at him as he turned toward the stairs.
"You're such an idiot sometimes." He shook his head at me like he thought that I was being impossible.
"Yeah, but you love it."
"I love you." He admitted as he went toward the door that was close to the second floor stairwell. This door led to more stairs and was usually locked. I didn't know why it was unlocked now though.
"So, why are we going up here? And how are we going up here?" I was curious enough to ask him as he opened the door at the top of these stairs and I got a burst of fresh air.
"I called in a favor. I don't want to sit surrounded by everyone today. They're all still fangirling over the tournaments. I just want some peace after the exam. So, the principal said I could use the roof."
"Well, guess that means we won't get into trouble." I made the sarcastic remark as I followed Ocean out into the bright sunlight.
I can't believe that he had actually asked for this. He had gotten permission, from the principal no less. I guess when you bring so much prestige and honor to the school, you can call in favors. Not to mention, the school had gotten a lot of funding from the state and from Mr. Gray because of these multiple wins of ours. He was highly likely to give us anything and everything that we wanted right about now.
It's a good thing that we weren't evil and greedy people. That could have turned out bad. I just started to think about how things would have gone if it were Britt the bitch or Trent, or even the old Justin that were asking the principal for favors like this. What would they have wanted? What would they have forced the administration to do for them just because they had brought fame to the school? And those thoughts led me to thinking about how truly pure and kindhearted Ocean really was.. He was so innocent, about most things, that he just didn't seem to think about how this all could have turned out.
The atmosphere in the school was a little more hyped up than usual. Everyone was riding high right now with the wins at the tournaments. I mean with the invitations in March and now the state, regional, and nationals that happened this month, it was all a very exciting time for us. Having our school sweep all four competitions was something that was quite amazing, according to the coach and the principal.
The problem though, was that we all needed to start studying for exams. Well, us seniors did anyway. The underclassmen wouldn't be taking their exams until June, but we all had to take ours in the first weeks of May. I mean, our last day of school was May twelfth. Seniors always got out earlier than the other classes, but even I thought that this much of a change was a bit excessive.
I wasn't going to complain though. Being out of school for this time meant that Ocean and I would have more time together. Maybe we would take a vacation or something like that. Just the two of us. Or we could take Ben and Ryan with us as well. They would most likely enjoy a really nice vacation with nothing at all to worry about. And, frankly, I think that we all deserved a really good rest after everything that had happened to us this school year.
Not to mention, we had worked really hard with swimming this year. None of us let us slack off at all. We constantly gave it our all. We pushed ourselves to get better every day and it paid off.
I knew for a fact that Ben and Ryan were both beyond happy and excited about the prizes that they had won. Between the two of them, they now had nearly five hundred thousand dollars. Actually, with the inheritance money that Ryan had, they might even have more than that. They didn't have to worry about money at all. And with all the scholarships that they had gotten from the tournament in the fall and the tournament in March, they never had to worry about being able to pay for their schooling either.
Oh, and there was also the fact that we were all offered more scholarships from the university. Every senior on the swim team had gotten offers from their prospective schools. There was never going to be any worry for us. Well, no worries unless the others let their grades slip. Doing that would definitely make their full rides and extra assistance go away. I didn't have to worry about Ocean or Ben and Ryan. We would all keep each other in check.
We were already doing that for each other. Every day after school, now that there were no practices, the four of us studied in the living or kitchen. We would make simple meals that were easy to eat while cramming for exams.
I didn't feel as if we were in any danger of not passing, but we had all spent so much time practicing for the various competitions and tournaments that we didn't study much during that time. And honestly, I wanted to get a good grade on them all. It didn't really matter one way or the other in the long run, but I personally wanted to see myself doing what I knew was my personal best.
Studying has basically become our life lately. There just wasn't anything else that we needed to do. Well, we did goof off a little bit. I mean, we are only eighteen and we needed to have some fun.
When we weren't studying over the two weeks until exams were due to start, the four of us would play video games, go to the beach, and catch a movie. It wasn't that much stuff that we were doing other than studying, but it was what kept us from feeling burnout.
When May started, it was time for us to start those exams. We didn't have them all on the same day, which was good, but there was one just about every single day. From the first Tuesday in that month until the day before we had our last class, we had exams.
The first exam was of course, in our first class of the day. That was the one that Coach Dickson was administrating. It wasn't a bad class, for Ocean and I anyway. We were both pretty good at math so advanced calculus was no problem for us.
While I was sitting in the room, waiting for the test to be handed out, I leaned over and whispered to Ocean.
"Did you ever think that this day would come? When we were taking a final exam and high school was pretty much over." It just felt surreal to me. Maybe that was because this year had been so life altering and full of excitement. It had just felt like it had all passed by so quickly.
"Honestly, no." He was shaking his head as he looked around the room. "I mean, I knew that I would graduate and all that, but I never actually thought about what it would feel like and what it would actually mean to me. It's just like, I don't know, surreal and kind of scary. We've been in school for so long, and now we're graduating."
"Well, we are going to university after this. We're still going to be in school."
"Yeah, but that's not going to be the same. I just know that it will feel different." He was shaking his head at me like my reminder wasn't what I thought it was going to be. I think he was right though. College was not going to be the same thing as high school. It was going to be so different. And not only that, but our lives would be fundamentally different. Even with how much they were going to stay the same, it was still going to be massively different.
"Yeah, it will be different. But at least we'll have each other. That will make it easier." With that he finally looked at me and smiled. I knew that my sentiment had made him feel better about things. And at that moment, we needed to stop talking. The test was being handed out and it was time for us to get to work.
For us seniors, our classes were extended for exams. There was only one class for each day, and it was three hours long. That gave those who needed extra time a chance to finish it without needing to come back and work on it another day and to possibly lose the confidence and momentum that they had started with. When we were done with the exam though, we were allowed to leave and go to the library or the gym. There wasn't much for us to do to kill time besides study, read or mess around on our phones. After the three hour class was over, we would head back to our homeroom class, which may or may not have been the class that we started the day with. After checking in with our homeroom teachers, we were able to be dismissed. Only the seniors had a half day of school while the other grades had a full day.
Ocean was the first to finish the test. I didn't really expect that, but it happened. He got up, turned in his exam, and left the room without saying a word. I wasn't far from finishing so I wasn't worried about being able to catch up to him. Literally, it was about thirty seconds after he left the room that I finished my own exam and rushed to turn it in to Coach Dickson. I then took my things and left the room.
I saw Ocean walking toward the library ahead of me and then felt a vibration in my pocket. With a glance at the screen of my phone that I just pulled from my pocket, I saw that Ocean had texted me where he was going.
I had thought that it was the library, but it wasn't. He was instead heading somewhere that we didn't really go to at all. It was not somewhere we were supposed to be.
I rushed forward to catch up to him before he had gone much farther. I saw that he was happy to see me too.
"So, you were right behind me. Just like with swimming, you always finished a second after me."
"Yeah, but at least when I make love to you, I have better timing than that." I made a crude joke and winked at him as he turned toward the stairs.
"You're such an idiot sometimes." He shook his head at me like he thought that I was being impossible.
"Yeah, but you love it."
"I love you." He admitted as he went toward the door that was close to the second floor stairwell. This door led to more stairs and was usually locked. I didn't know why it was unlocked now though.
"So, why are we going up here? And how are we going up here?" I was curious enough to ask him as he opened the door at the top of these stairs and I got a burst of fresh air.
"I called in a favor. I don't want to sit surrounded by everyone today. They're all still fangirling over the tournaments. I just want some peace after the exam. So, the principal said I could use the roof."
"Well, guess that means we won't get into trouble." I made the sarcastic remark as I followed Ocean out into the bright sunlight.
I can't believe that he had actually asked for this. He had gotten permission, from the principal no less. I guess when you bring so much prestige and honor to the school, you can call in favors. Not to mention, the school had gotten a lot of funding from the state and from Mr. Gray because of these multiple wins of ours. He was highly likely to give us anything and everything that we wanted right about now.
It's a good thing that we weren't evil and greedy people. That could have turned out bad. I just started to think about how things would have gone if it were Britt the bitch or Trent, or even the old Justin that were asking the principal for favors like this. What would they have wanted? What would they have forced the administration to do for them just because they had brought fame to the school? And those thoughts led me to thinking about how truly pure and kindhearted Ocean really was.. He was so innocent, about most things, that he just didn't seem to think about how this all could have turned out.
