Fall Away

In class the next day, reality sunk in. I’d been so concerned with Soren and Kirian and all their mysteries I’d completely forgotten about the real world. But the teacher’s hadn’t. I got to school to find that it had gone on without me and finals were in two days.

When I got home on Monday, I told myself not to freak out. I’d never had a life outside of school before, which meant I’d never have to make time for studying either. It was just something I’d done when I got bored. The idea of being so behind was a foreign concept and I needed to come to terms with the fact.

When I was done having my panic attack, I was able to laugh at myself. So much was going on in my life and I was still stressing about my grades.

But at least it gave me something to focus on. I buried myself in my schoolwork, trying to catch up. I crammed my brain full of facts and formulas so I didn’t have time to think about anything else. I crawled into bed at 2 am and forced myself to get up for classes.

The next day, I turned off my phone and sat through one more day of classes. I took notes on anything and everything, then went home and studied some more. I had always worked better under pressure, and I loved the challenge. Finally, I realized that sleep was also important and forced myself to put away the books and go to bed.

The next days were a blur of books and questions, pencils and answers. The classes blurred together, and I had no idea how I did on any specific test. I was just relieved I had gotten through them.

Friday, I curled up in bed and slept.

I could go back to work tomorrow.

I could check my missed calls tomorrow.

I would check my messages tomorrow.

I just had no idea what tomorrow would bring.