Justine's POV:
Since we came from the US, we have been pulling all-nighters every day studying. Among all the dormitory's windows only my room's window would stay lit till late hours every night.
"I don't know how will this marriage turn out in the future-"
,
"But right now in the present, I am glad to be beside him studying like that-"
,
"Especially, at times like those; where the exams are nearby-"
,
"I mean the top student in the school whom I have always admired is a few steps away from me-"
,
"If I have any question I can ask him anytime and he would answer me back right away"
,
"Unlike before we got married; where I had to wait till the next morning and go to his class to ask him all the questions I had a hard time with.."
That is what I thought to myself while I was staring at his back as he was scribbling something on his notebook and using my own desk while I was on my bed studying as well.
The room was brightly lit and so quiet that we could hear each other's murmur clearly, Damon would correct me whenever I say anything wrong.
We had been awake the whole night and it was almost dawn, I was getting tired and sleepy so I yawned loudly inhaling much air with my mouth wide open.
Damon heard me so he suggested,
"Are you tired already, why don't we call it a night then?-"
,
"We can rest for a couple of hours before the first class"
Just when I was about to nod my head back to him in agreement, he said provoking me,
"You are such a softie, aren't you?-"
,
"That is reason why you have been doing poorly in exams"
Since I am a hard worker who never spares any effort, I was triggered by what he said, so I hid my own tiredness and said confidently,
"Who said that I am tired?, I can keep going on like that till morning"
Damon smiled at me charmingly and said,
"That is the spirit! " then he got back to his studying without saying anything more.
After that, I realized that he must have gotten on my nerves on purpose to lit up my competitive flame and wash all my tiredness away.
I was touched yet again by how thoughtful he was, so I blurted out without thinking,
"Thank you…"
On hearing that Damon raised his own voice as he was reciting something pretending to not have heard me.
I knew instinctively that he must have been too shy to reply to me, so I didn't pursue a reply for him and let it go.
That is how we spent our time together every night until the first day of the exam…
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Back at Damon's family house on the day before the first exam.
Damon's little sister came back from grade school crying with tears flowing over her little cheeks and a snot hanging out of out her nose
She threw her red backpack on the ground and went running to her mother who was hanging clothes to dry in the backyard of the house.
Damon's mother wipes the snot and the tears over her cheeks gently with her own fingers then she says is a calming voice,
"What happened, my sweetie?"
,
"Why are you crying so much?"
Damon's little sister calms herself down and says with weak voice,
"I have been playing cards with my friends-"
,
"But when I used my brother's card that i drew myself, they made fun of me and called my brother a weakling"
After saying that, she bursted into crying yet again in front of her.
Damon's mother puts her chores aside and get on her knees then she embraces her little daughter into her warm blossom patting on her tiny back to calm her down.
"Don't worry-"
,
"One day your brother will be the strongest and they will eat their own words" she says reassuring her.
Damon's little sister would hug her mother back with her tiny hand and hold her head high looking through her teary eyes at the sun as it falls behind the horizon, painting the sky shades of red and pink.
Just when the sun disappeared and the darkness dominated over the sky, Damon's little sister dilates her pupil as an approaching missile is reflected on her tear eyes.