33

Sophia’s POV

Exam days always brought a sense of anxiety mixed with a peculiar thrill. This morning, the air was thick with anticipation, and the corridors of the university was bustling with students clutching notes, their faces masked with various degrees of nervousness and determination. As I walked to the exam hall, I felt the familiar fluttering in my stomach, a blend of excitement and nervousness. Today was my first exam, and it just happened to be history.

Entering the vast hall, the atmosphere was charged. The silence was heavy, punctuated only by the rustling of paper and the occasional cough. I found my seat, third row from the front, and settled in, trying to calm my racing heart. The invigilator, a stern-faced professor with a reputation for no-nonsense, handed out the exam papers.

I looked around, wondering where Ian was. Seeing him here right now would at least give me a bit of confidence but he wasn’t here. I sighed. Maybe his absence was what I needed right now. So I’ll be able to concentrate better.

I collected my exam papers and closed my eyes, saying a short prayer for myself. As I flipped it over, a wave of relief washed over me. The questions, though they were hard and tricky, were familiar. I had spent countless hours poring over my notes, and now it seemed those efforts were about to pay off.

The clock ticked steadily as I worked through the questions, my pen flying across the pages. There were moments when doubt crept in, but I pushed it aside, focusing on what I knew. Time seemed to blur as I moved from one question to the next, my confidence growing with each answer I penned down. By the time the invigilator announced that we had fifteen minutes left, I had already reviewed my answers twice. I leaned back, a satisfied smile tugging at my lips. It had gone well, better than I had hoped. And I wished Ian was here to see this grin my face right now. Knowingly or not, he had helped me with studying for his exam.

With the exam over, the hall buzzed with a different kind of energy as students exchanged glances, some relieved, others less so. I packed my things and made my way back to my dorm since this was the only exam I had today. The sun was shining brightly, a stark contrast to the tension-filled morning, and I felt a lightness in my step. The first exam was over, and it had gone well.

As I walked back to our dorm, I could feel the weight of the morning lifting. Pushing open the door to our room, I found Jenny sprawled on her bed, surrounded by a series of textbooks and notes. Her face lit up with a wide grin when she saw me.

“Hey, Soph! How did it go?” she asked, sitting up and pushing aside a pile of papers to make space for me.

I collapsed onto the bed next to her, feeling the tension from the exam finally melt away. “Pretty good, actually. I think I nailed it,” I said, a satisfied smile spreading across my face.

Jenny’s eyes sparkled with excitement. “I knew you would! You’ve been studying like a maniac for weeks. Come on, tell me everything. What were the questions like?”

I laughed, glad to have someone so enthusiastic to share my experience with. Even if I knew she wouldn’t understand a word of wbay I was about to explain, it still made me happy to know that she wanted to hear it anyways. “Okay, so there was this question about the causes of the French Revolution. I was so worried it would be something obscure, but it was pretty straightforward. And then there was one about the impact of the Industrial Revolution on European societies. I think I wrote a solid essay on that one.”

Jenny nodded, her expression serious. “Those are right up your alley. I know you nailed them. What else?”

“There was a tricky one about the Treaty of Versailles,” I continued, “but I think I managed to cover all the main points. And then a question on the role of women in World War II, which was a breeze since we just covered that in class last week.”

“Sounds like you crushed it,” Jenny said with a grin. “I’m so proud of you, Soph.”

“Thanks, Jen,” I replied, grinning widely at her.

“Did you see Ian?” She asked and I shook my head slowly.

“He wasn’t there,” I answered. “How’s the biology prep going?”

Jenny rolled her eyes dramatically. “Ugh, don’t get me started. Dr. Evans was his usual eccentric self in the review session yesterday. He spent half the time talking about his pet frogs instead of the Krebs cycle. But I think I’m getting there.”

I laughed at her exasperation. “Typical Dr. Evans. You’ll do great, though. You always do.”

“Hope so,” Jenny said, her expression softening and her shoulders relaxing a bit. “But enough about that. Let’s talk about something more fun. Did you hear about Mira and Mark?”

I shook my head, curiosity washing over me. Mira was one of the flashy girls our dorm and Mark was quite popular too, but he wasn’t her boyfriend. “No, what happened?”

Jenny leaned in, her eyes gleaming as she was about to spill the tea. “So, apparently, they were seen sneaking out of the library together last night. And not just sneaking out—they were holding hands!”

“No way!” I exclaimed, unable to keep the surprise from my voice. “I thought Sarah was still with James.” Sarah had never stopped yapping about James. It was always ‘James this’ and ‘James that’.

“Not anymore, it seems,” Jenny said, her voice filled with amusement. “This campus is like a soap opera sometimes.”

We dissolved into laughter, the kind that left us gasping for breath. It felt good to let go of the stress and just enjoy the moment. As our laughter subsided, Jenny looked at me, her expression suddenly serious.

“Soph, remember that time we tried to bake cookies in the school kitchen?” she asked, a mischievous glint in her eye.

I groaned, covering my face with my hands. “Oh God, yes. How could I forget? The smoke alarm went off, and we had to call maintenance to stop it.”

Jenny giggled. “We were so sure we could do it, even though neither of us had ever baked anything before. And the cookies were basically inedible. They were like rocks.”

“I thought we’d get expelled for sure,” I said, laughing at the memory. “Who knew cookies could be so dangerous?”

“Well, at least we learned something,” Jenny said with a shrug. “Never underestimate the power of a smoke alarm.”

We spent the next hour reminiscing about our many misadventures, from the time we got lost on a hiking trip during high school to the night we pulled an all-nighter and ended up falling asleep in the common room, covered in highlighters and sticky notes which was just last week. Each memory brought fresh waves of laughter, and I felt myself relaxing more and more.

I loved as we were doing this. It helped me get my mind off all the difficult exams I was going to have in the next few weeks and I think it did the same to her too.

Eventually, our conversation drifted to our plans for the future. Jenny’s eyes lit up as she talked about her dream of becoming a marine biologist, her passion for the profession evident in her words.

“I can just see you on a boat somewhere, studying dolphins or something,” I said, smiling at the thought. “You’d be amazing at it.”

“Thanks, Soph,” Jenny said, her voice soft. “And you’re going to be the best historian or the best anthropologist… Although I do see you swinging more to the historian part. I can picture you in some dusty archive, uncovering secrets from the past.”

“That’s the dream,” I agreed, my heart warming at her words. “It’s a long road, but we’ll get there.”

“We will,” Jenny said firmly. “Together.”

The afternoon sun cast a warm glow through the window, and we fell into a comfortable silence, the weight of our shared dreams leaning on us. I picked up my phone and texted Ian to tell him that the exam was great and I had him to think for it.

It was in the evening when our stomachs decided to remind us that we hadn’t eaten breakfast at all. Jenny closed her books and sat up on her bed.

“Let’s go have dinner at the cafeteria? I don’t have the strength to drive today,” she murmured as she climbed out of bed. I nodded and got out of bed too, rubbing my eyes. I was almost dozing already.

In the cafeteria, we grabbed our trays and found a spot by the window, watching as the sky turned shades of orange and pink. As we ate, we continued our conversation, now joined by a few other acquaintances who had wandered over to our table.

“Hey, Sophia, how was the history exam?” asked Mike, one of my courses mates. I wasn’t really interested in the conversation but I just had to keep up with It for the sake of socializing.

“Pretty good,” I replied, smiling. “I think I did well. How about you guys?”

The table buzzed with conversation, everyone sharing their experiences and trading stories about their exams. The stress of this morning felt like it was months ago, and now I was relaxing into the conversation and imputing whatever I could.

Slowly the sky darkened and Jenny and I got up. “Sorry guys, we have to get back to reading,” Jenny said as she gave them apologetic smiles. I smiled and waved at them then Jenny and I made our way back to our dorm.

The both of us let out a groan at the same time as we saw that we had to tidy up the room first and I wasn’t feeling like doing that but we had no choice.

I ran my hand through my hair and sighed, sharing a look with Jenny who seemed just as tired as I was. “Let’s just clean it up once and for all,” I murmured and then we began to clean up all the papers and books scattered around.

As I climbed into bed, I reminisced about my day. About the stress and nervousness before I left to the exam. The history exam had gone well, but more importantly, it was thanks to the incredible support system I had, which was Jenny. And also Ian who had helped me to study too.

“Goodnight, Jen,” I said, my voice filled with affection.

“Goodnight, Soph,” Jenny replied, her voice equally warm.

I picked up my phone to check if I had any texts from Ian and I did. He had replied to my earlier text, saying, “I know you’ll nail it. Goodnight baby girl.”

I smiled and dropped the phone before drifting off to sleep.