My right hand was shaking like crazy by the time I was done with the essay, at the same time the exam invigilator's voice echoed across the hall. "Time's up. Pens down, please."
I gladly loosened my grip, with the pen landing on the sheet of paper on the desk with a light thud. I groaned, suddenly feeling so damn exhausted.
The final league of this semester's exam was grueling, and I admit I hadn't a clue how well I did. If I was optimistic, I'd say it was a fifty-fifty, since I sucked at economics.
After taking a sip of water to satisfy my thirst, I relaxed back against my seat, my head now swirling. The words were still floating around inside my head, and I suspected it'd take a few more minutes until they disappeared and left me in peace.
I felt something hard, like the end of a ballpoint pen, poking on the side of my arm. I didn't have to turn my head to see who was working on gaining my attention.
Jess's voice came, "How was it?"
I rubbed the bridge of my nose as I mumbled, "Shit."
Jess chuckled. "That bad?" When I nodded, she said, "At least it's over, right?"
I nodded again. Damn right.
It was over. The weeks of studying my ass off were finally over. At least until next semester started.
It was some fifteen minutes later when we left the examination hall, along with throngs of other very relieved-looking students. I didn't blame them. None of us had looked like we had had any sleep since the last of this semester's lectures ended, marking the beginning of the dreaded exam period.
As we walked out the door, I felt like a ton of weight had been lifted off my shoulders. This last month had been stressful, not just for me, but for Reo, Mason, and Isaac as well, since they, like me, were university students. If I remembered correctly, Isaac had his last exam today, whereas Mason and Reo had theirs yesterday.
"Time to chill and celebrate," Jess said, spreading her arms out as she grinned brightly. "It feels so good to stretch, though it's a bit cold."
"Yeah, it is," I said, tucking my hands into the pockets of my jacket.
"So, are you looking forward to it?" Jess asked.
I turned to look at her, wondering what she was on about. "Looking forward to what?"
She grinned. "To going to Japan. I'm so envious of you."
Now that she mentioned it, I hadn't been thinking about the trip, since I was too worried about exams.
We had put it off, my brothers and I, due to studying, and of course, Noah's and Aiden's jobs. Well, for Aiden, he could take his vacation anytime he wanted, but for Noah, he had just started his employment, and it wouldn't look good if he just up and left for a holiday so soon after.
Since everyone insisted they wanted to go, Aiden had suggested it was a good idea to wait until the Christmas holidays, which also marked the end of the fall semester for me and the others.
"I'm looking forward to it," I said, smiling. "It's going to be our first trip together, and out of the country, too."
Jess said, "First time you're going back to your homeland?"
I nodded.
Though I had been very young when I had first left Japan, along with Mom and Reo, and I didn't remember much, I still missed it, especially the winter season when the village was covered in snow and me and Reo spent our time playing outside, eating delicious seasonal food, and, the best of all, bathing in the hot spring.
"Take heaps of photos," Jess said. "I want to see you guys having fun."
"Hm."
It was a bit later when I was on the bus, heading home, and Jess was tagging along, claiming she hadn't feasted her eyes on a gay couple being lovey-dovey for months now. I was surprised Jess had banned herself from reading BL manga so she could concentrate on studying. I bet she'd binge read tonight when she got home as a reward for working hard. This blond-haired, blue-eyed beauty was a hard-core fujoshi, after all.
"Tadaima," I said as we entered the apartment.
"Okaeri," Mason's voice came from somewhere in the kitchen.
Jess and I headed in that direction, and as we came in, we saw Mason giving us a warm smile. As usual, he looked charming, even more so today with that golden-blond hair cut and styled. He must have just had it cut this afternoon, since it didn't look like that this morning before I had left for the exam. He was currently preparing some root vegetables, slicing them into pieces. I noted two chickens, still raw and in their packaging, sitting on the countertop, and I suspected we were having roast chicken tonight.
"Preparing dinner?" I asked.
Mason nodded. He glanced at Jess. "Hey, Jess."
"Hi, Mason," Jess replied.
"How did your exams go?" Mason asked.
I pulled a face. "Can't remember much now. I just know it was shit."
He chuckled merrily. "But you studied hard, so I'm sure you'll pass."
Jess, already putting her bag down and taking her jacket off, was now rolling up her sleeves as she said, "It was super easy for me."
I didn't expect to hear anything less from the golden girl. She had been the top student in our grade back in high school, after all. The girl had beauty and brains. I bet the guy who managed to claim her heart would be a damn lucky person.
That idea caught me off guard.
Wait a minute! Reo!
He liked Jess, didn't he? Now that I thought about it, he had always shown signs of liking Jess in a romantic sense. I mean he was always teasing her and doing things to draw her attention to him.
"Tadaima," a voice echoed loudly from the hallway. "Anyone home?"
Speak of the devil.
I flicked my gaze to Jess and saw her jolt in her spot the moment Reo's voice came. She was blushing red, too. This intensified my suspicion that Jess also liked Reo in a romantic way.
"In the kitchen," Mason said. "We're preparing dinner."
"We?" Reo's voice came again. "Don't tell me that brat Haru is helping you with the cooking, Mason. He'll burn the food and we'll have to have takeout for dinner again." This was followed by a merry chuckle.