Wednesday. Today was the last day of finals before spring break. Liona had her History and Literature finals today before it was home free for spring break. Well, it would be if she managed to pass. She felt awful about her Science and Math final that she took yesterday. With her Health and Government final being done Monday, she was looking forward to being done with school for a whole week before her birthday bash and then seeing her whole family for the family celebration of her 18th birthday.
Looking down at her answer sheet, Liona froze. She knew these questions, but instead of being able to confidently answer them, her mind suddenly felt blank. Looking at the timer ticking down in the corner of her desk's HUD, she felt the cold trickle of sweat run down her neck as the numbers invaded her brain and she could concentrate on nothing else. Her uneasiness grew as the countdown neared the end of the test period. She panicked as the numbers seemed to speed up and fearing not getting any score, she randomly filled in the bubbles and hoped for at least some correct answers. Just as she filled in the last bubble at random, the countdown froze. She was confused at first, but then a message popped up.
'Slow down, take a deep breath. Look over your answers again. Be sure of yourself.' It was a message from her aunt. This was her literature final. It seemed that Aunt Emma was doing her a favor. She sighed in a bit of relief. Technically her aunt shouldn't be doing this, since it was giving her favorable treatment over her classmates, however, Liona wasn't going to let this opportunity go to waste. Sighing, as she looked over her answers, she went through and corrected the many wrong answers of her rushed attempt to answer within the time limit of the class period. Once she was done, she looked up and saw that, to her surprise, class was only half over. Had she imagined the timer counting down to zero?
"Alright, class! That's it! Make sure you hit that save icon and submit your tests!" Emma called out to the class a couple of minutes before the bell was to ring. Liona sighed and did as instructed. Once the save was hit, it recorded your answers permanently. Although you could still edit your answers, they would be compared to your previous submission if there was a question of how or why your answer was what it was. When she hit submit, she cringed at the thought that although she was able to edit her answers, she still wasn't confident that she passed.
"Liona, please see me after class!" Auntie Emm called out as she was getting ready to leave as soon as the bell rang. She resigned herself to another lecture, before freedom was hers. As soon as the bell rang, the flood and cheer of students could be heard from not only her classroom, but from the hall as other students left their classes. Spring break had officially started.
When the classroom had completely emptied, Liona approached her aunt's desk, dreading the lecture she was sure she was about to receive.
"Liona? Are you alright? Your biometrics were going haywire for a minute there. Is it time for your heat, or was this just your anxiety? I worry about you. These episodes are getting more frequent, have you told your mom and dad about them? Maybe it's time to adjust your suppressants again. You are getting to that age where you'll need new ones…" Liona listened to her aunt's worry and felt bad.
"No, I'm not due for my heat for a little while longer, Auntie. As far as I'm aware, my suppressants are doing their job, and I haven't felt out of sorts while taking them. I'm not like my mom, who pushed herself to the point that her suppressants stopped working from overuse." Liona sighed. "I was just anxious about running out of time and was panicking. I didn't mean to worry you." She hung her head.
"Liona, no matter what, I will always worry. You're my precious niece. I love you and, just like your mom, I want to help you. I can only do so much as your teacher, though. You need to talk to your mom and dad about your worsening anxiety. You nearly had a panic attack in class. There's only so much I can keep from them. If you end up having a panic attack in class, I can no longer hide it from your parents. The school will register it and that will trigger a mental health flag which goes home to them. I have no control over that. I have done what I can this time to help, but you really need help that I can't give."
This really made Liona feel bad. She was getting so bad that she was close to getting a health and wellness notice sent home. Sometimes she hated that they were monitored so closely in school, but this technology was all for the good of the students and teachers. Mental health was a serious issue in the days when her parents had gone to school and so in partnership with her Grandpa Lionel, a new technology was incorporated that also helped look out for those with secondary genders. The biometric monitors in the desks, helped keep students and teachers informed if a student was in danger of going into a heat or rut and allowed for timely treatment so that it didn't happen. On the other side of that coin was the fact that panic attacks could also trigger that sensor. It was why it was called a health and wellness notice.
"I want you to talk to your Uncle Artemis, Liona. If you won't talk to your parents, talk to him. He's much better equipped to help walk you through your anxiety than I am. He didn't major in psychology and biology for nothing. I just wish he had chosen to work here instead of at the public school, his expertise could be used here as well." Liona saw her aunt sigh a bit at that.
It was well known in their family that her uncle had chosen the public school so that he could be of more help to the more vulnerable students with his guidance. He was the interim guidance counselor, health and fitness teacher, as well as the soccer coach. He wore many hats at the school, but it was what he loved to do, so no one argued with his choice. It was completely opposite what her Uncle Atreus had decided to do with his life.
Her uncles were identical twins, yet they were so different in their career and life choices. Uncle Atreus had gone to work for NASA as a mechanical engineer and remotely worked for half the year. While the other half, he spent traveling to where he was needed to tweak this or that for the spacecraft that was being built for the first experimental manned mission to Mars.
"If you go see your uncle and have a good long talk with him, I won't tell your parents about today's episode. But you have to promise to tell your parents if you start to feel out of control again. So, with that in mind, I've already sent a message to him, and he's expecting you at the school this afternoon." Auntie Emma explained.
"Mom and Dad don't need to know about this, Auntie! They have their own worries to deal with! Dad's swamped at work, Mom had to take leave from work recently and if they find out about this stupidity, they will have too much on their plates!" Liona tried to argue.
"Liona, they are your parents. They love you. Nothing is beneath them when it comes to their love and concern for you. If you are having a hard time, they have to know, so they can help you. I know you think you're all grown up now that you'll be 18 in less than a week, but that's not how it goes for all of us. Even though we are sigma omega carriers, that doesn't mean that we are full sigma and reach maturity faster than our numerical age."
"I, too, thought I was so grown up at your age, but I couldn't have been more wrong. It took me many years and meeting my mate before that reality sank in for me. Your Uncle Nathan helped me face my immaturity and made me realize that my view of myself was childish. I, too, kept my worries and fears from my parents, but I had your mom there for me, Liona. Between having her to talk to and my eventual mate, I got the help I didn't know I needed when I was in turmoil over life decisions while I was at a crossroads. I wasn't much older than you are now when I required that guidance. Of course, once I brought my fears to your grandparents, they did their best to help me look at the big picture. It's how I ultimately decided to mate and marry your uncle, sweetie." Auntie Emma said with a small smile as she was lost in memory lane.