Zazm trudged home, his backpack feeling heavier with each step. "How can I forget...."
The weight of impending exams loomed over him like a dark cloud, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he was in way over his head.
"Why didn't I start studying earlier?" he muttered to himself, kicking a pebble down the sidewalk. "I could have been a genius by now! Or at least a moderately intelligent potato."
As he entered his apartment, the familiar chaos greeted him. Books were strewn across the floor, remnants of his research upon threads, he was so indulged in it, he didn't even bother to clean the house properly.
His bag slipped from his hands as he saw the state of his apartment, "This... What type of animal was living here?" He looked at the apartment not even believing a human was living here.
He threw his bag on the sofa and changed into normal clothes, "Aight, we are cleaning for now..," Zazm declared holding a broom in one hand and mop in the other.
******
"Finally it lookes like a place suitable for a human being to live in." He jumped on his bed, the cleaning had took him more than an hour. "And.... I still have to study."
"Alright, Zazm, time to get serious," he said, puffing out his chest as if trying to summon some inner strength. "You can do this!"
He plopped down at his desk, which was buried under a mountain of textbooks, and journals.
"First things first," he declared, rummaging through the drawers. "I need… snacks!" He emerged victorious with a bag of chips and a chocolate bar. "Fuel for the brain!"
Zazm opened his history textbook, squinting at the page filled with dates and names that seemed to mock him. So chapter 6 looks the shortest... Then,
"Okay, the French Revolution, here we go," he said, trying to sound confident. "Let's see… 1789, storming of the Bastille… wait, what was the Bastille again? A fancy French restaurant? I'm not even from France."
He shook his head, trying to focus. "No, Zazm, concentrate! You're good at math, but history is just as important!"
He flipped through the pages, but his mind quickly wandered back to the real reason he hadn't studied earlier: he had been deep in research about "Threads."
Not the kind you sew with, but the mysterious, interwoven connections of fate and destiny that he had stumbled upon somehow. I glanced at the intricate lines on his hand.
"I mean, who wouldn't want to know how to manipulate whatever these threads are, " he mused, his eyes sparkling with excitement.
"But now I'm stuck with this history nonsense! I'm possibly the only human in the world with these type of powers and here, I'm stuck with history."
Zazm shook his head, trying to refocus. "Focus, Zazm! You can't let a little history get the best of you!"
He took a deep breath and tried again, but after ten minutes of staring at the page, he found himself doodling a cartoon version of himself wearing a graduation cap and golden threads flowing out of his body.
"This is definitely more inspiring," he said, nodding to his masterpiece. He looked like a proud artist.
"Okay, let's try this again," he said, flipping to a new page. "French Revolution, you will not defeat me!" He scribbled down key events, but his mind quickly wandered back to Threads.
"I can tell when a person will die, but can I use these threads to ace the exams?" Zazm questioned himself, he was sure that these threads were connected to every living thing.
"Ok.... My brain drifted off again.." He said while slapping his cheeks. He was just getting into studying until. He suddenly felt hungry.
"Snacks?!" Zazm exclaimed, his stomach growling in agreement. "I can't study on an empty stomach!" Though Zazm was saying this he knows he had to get some studying done.
After a few more minutes of half-hearted studying, Zazm decided he needed a break.
"Time for a snack!" he announced, leaping up from his desk.
He headed to the kitchen, where he opened the fridge and stared at its contents. "What do we have here? Leftover pizza slice? Some green vegetables and....fruits?"
He looked at the fruits that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, "I don't remember buying any... Well it's good, they are healthy... No downsides."
He grabbed the slice of pizza and plopped down on the couch, ready to indulge. But as he took a bite, he realized he had forgotten about the study session.
"Oh no! I can't let pizza distract me!"he exclaimed, crumbs flying everywhere. "But it's so delicious!"
A few minutes passed and the slice was pizza had already vanished... But he was still hungry.
In a moment of sheer brilliance—or perhaps madness—Zazm decided to combine his love for food and studying.
"I'll make a study pizza!" he declared, pulling out a baking sheet. He tossed random ingredients onto the dough: cheese, pizza sauce, a few pieces of pineapple, and a sprinkle of… was that cinnamon?
"Why not? It's a study pizza! Anything goes!"
Putting pineapple and cinnamon on pizza? Who does that? "I do." Well it was his preference.
As the pizza baked, Zazm returned to his desk, determined to tackle the French Revolution once more. He sat there finally his brain accepted the new knowledge.
But the smell of the pizza wafted through the air, and he found himself distracted again. "Just a quick check," he muttered, wandering back to the kitchen.
When he opened the oven, a plume of smoke billowed out, and Zazm's eyes widened in horror. "No! My masterpiece!" He pulled the baking sheet out, revealing a charred, unrecognizable mass that once looked like pizza.
It wasn't entirely burnt but Zazm didn't liked it this overcooked, he put in a plate and got seated. After first bite his face had a weird expression that seemed impossible to read.
"FUCK YOU French revolution." He shouted at the top of his lungs before he finally got up after finishing something that looked like a pizza and decided to continue studying.
The clock ticked and Zazm glanced at it... "12:22... I still have time." Saying this Zazm looked at the studying he had done. For some reason his brain processed everything smoothly, he wasn't complaining about it or anything.
Time started rushing and soon enough the day of exams came by, Zazm studied diligently for every subject this time. He sacrificed his sleep, his time for games.
But one thing he didn't sacrificed was his research on the threads. He sat down everyday for an hour or two and continued to discover new things.
Time flew by and the first exam was tomorrow, Zazm picked up his phone to confirm the timetable, "History, physics, maths...." He muttered under his breath.
"Ok... Everything's done... Now all I can do is pray." He was just looking at his phone when it suddenly started ringing.
"Hey, Zazm... You alive or something? Haven't seen you this week." Jahanox asked Zazm in a mocking way.
"I took the week off for studying nothing else. And yes now let me sleep." Zazm declared pulling the phone down from his ears.
"Fine fin.." before he could finish Zazm threw the phone on the opposite side of the bed and went to sleep.
******
The next few days went by in a rush the exams continued and he somehow managed to make it through the end. "Ok... I'll make it in top 10... I think."
Zazm jumped out of his classroom and rushed on to the roof, "Well... nothing we can do about it. Now, I can show Nox what I have discovered." His voice filled excitement.
"Oh~~ looks like you are already here." Jahanox turned around to find Zazm walking towards him. He silently turned around looking down from the rooftop.
"Hey Hey Hey... It's alright if you failed.... Just don't jump.." Zazm rushed to Jahanox and raised his hands imploring him to not jump.
"Tch... Shut up, I'm trying to looked wise." Jahanox clicked his tongue and glared Zazm.
"Sorry, Monkeys can only be wise in movies." Zazm put his hands behind his back showing his carefree attitude.
"Forget it all... Let's talk about those threads and how we will find what this mark is. I managed to close off myself from my family using the mark as an excuse." Jahanox looked concern and Zazm understood where he was coming from.
"Ok I'll start...but let's go somewhere else." Jahanox nodded in agreement and both went to his house. "Wait... Why my house again?"
Jahanox simply shrugged, "Not like it's my fault." Zazm sighed and they continued to walk but what they wasn't aware of was that today, will the last day they will live like normal humans and can enjoy life without a care in the world.
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