Aiden O'Neil

May 31, 2016 7:31 PM

Nano Challenge #6 - I'm a FAILURE! by Aiden O'Neil

Aiden dropped his head into his hands as he collapsed into a seat for lunch in Cascade Hall. He was exhausted and felt utterly useless after that exam that Professor Skies gave them that morning. Aiden had completely forgotten about the test that day and he knew that it was going to reflect in his score. He had written it down in his notes last class when they had been told, but then he hadn’t looked at his notes since and promptly wiped out any memory or discussion of an exam from his mind. It didn’t help that the last couple of days he had been working Prefect duties (something he really found rather enjoyable) and working on getting the Archery Club going again (his parents even allowed him a few lessons during the summer after their France vacation so that he could be more helpful to new archers), plus he had to worry about his CATS, and then there was the whole thing with the ball…

Aiden sighed and lifted his head up to look around at some of the other Intermediates who happened to be eating lunch there too to see how they fared. He was absolutely rubbish when it came to school duties. He managed average grades that kept his parents from being too concerned, but no matter how much he tried, he barely scraped by. And today? He really hoped that the exam wasn’t worth a large portion of his grade because then he would most definitely be doomed. His mother would send him a Howler and then the school would take his badge away and he’ll be humiliated.

He knew that he was being mentally exaggerating about the outcome should he have failed the test, but he just felt so guilty about not remembering to study. It was such a senseless thing to do. What girl would even want to date someone who was failing out of classes? He had only just gotten his teeth fixed over the summer and lost the remaining excess baby weight to where he felt somewhat attractive, if not at least on par with some of his classmates with attractiveness. No one would want to date someone who was a social pariah.

Aiden pushed around his lunch on his plate. He wasn’t really hungry, but he knew that he needed to eat because it would be a long afternoon. As he took a bite, an idea came to him and he had no idea why it hadn’t occurred to him before. He could totally ask Savannah or Lena for help with his school work. Both of his female friends were extremely smart and kind. He didn’t know why he had never thought about it. Sometimes he did homework with them or with his roommates, but he never actually asked for help. Feeling suddenly more chipper, Aiden smiled and began to engage in those around him. “Hey, how is your Wednesday going so far?” He asked the person nearest him in his usual lighthearted manner.
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