Weeks went by, and Abel and Karissa met every single day at the same time for lunch together.
Unfortunately, every time Able asked her if she’d had a chance to watch one of the soccer practices, her answer was no.
Her class work had only gotten more intense, and by the time she felt like she had finally caught up with everything, it was finals time. Not only did that mean she had even less free time than before, it also meant the end of the Spring Semester was closer than ever.
This meant that Karissa would be returning home for a few weeks before her next Summer Semester classes would start. Some classes would be the same, but most of her classes would be new to her. Thankfully, Abel would be taking summer classes too, so they’d still get to see each other.
However, since she would be in Georgia for so long, her daily lunches with Abel would be ending for a while. They also worried that their new classes would get in the way of their daily lunch too. Since they wouldn’t know their new schedules until the new Semester started, though, they could only hope they would still be able to eat lunch together.
“So, I was thinking maybe we could go to dinner tonight? Have a meal somewhere outside this cafeteria?” Abel said the day of their first finals.
Karissa’s final tomorrow would be for her English class, and she was stressed over how she would pass it. The test would go over everything they had learned and would include writing a ten page essay on a topic they had learned during the Semester. Therefore, Karissa’s head was elsewhere as she looked over her notes, and it took a while for her to process what Abel had just told her.
“Oh, sorry, I’d love to, but I have to study for my english final tomorrow. I ain’t the best at english as I’ve told you before. I’ll probably be studyin’ all night for this darn thing!”
“Well, that’s perfect. I’m an English Major, remember? I can really help you out if you’d like. You can come over to my place and we can order a pizza or something while we study. My roommate is out of town for a couple days. He somehow managed to get out of a few of his finals this week. So we won’t have to deal with any annoying roommates.”
Karissa was skeptical. Being alone with Able in his dorm room didn’t sound like the best idea. She didn’t think Able was a bad guy or anything, but she didn't trust something not to happen when they were alone in his dorm together.
However, Karissa could really use his help studying for the exam if he was serious about helping her. She knew she would struggle studying on her own, especially with Joyce around, so she couldn’t refuse Abel’s offer.
“That sounds great, Abel,” Karissa accepted, “but only if you promise me we’ll actually be studying.”
Able chuckled. “What else would we be doing?”
Karissa blushed, and quickly redirected the conversation. “Okay, I trust you. What time should we meet?”
“When does your next final end? Mine ends at six.”
“Mine ends around eight thirty. I would get out earlier, but my last exam is for math class, and math is my worst subject by far.”
“So we can meet here around nine?”
“Sure thing. That sounds perfect.”
“Yes it does.”
They talked for a while longer. Karissa told him about her exams before lunch. She had to wake up early just to take them because the exams lasted for two hours so all classes were starting earlier than usual. Thankfully, her exams before lunch were all very simple. She had three exams to take, and each one seemed to be simpler than the previous one.
However, the ease would end as soon as lunch ended.
Although she was great at science, remembering all the terms would be hard. There were so many of them! It seemed impossible that she could remember all of them. It was a good thing she had studied the night before or she would be in even more trouble than she already expected to be.
Of course, her last exam to take would be her math class, and that wouldn’t be easy for her at all. It had been difficult to study for the exam, but she had done it anyway, and she hoped all that studying would pay off in the end.
As usual, Abel was the first one to leave. He gave Karissa a long, hearty hug before leaving Karissa alone to study for her next class before her exam started.
She almost lost track of time studying for the exam, but thankfully she had set an alarm on her cellphone, and was able to get to her class on time.
Her nerves were shaking once the test was placed in front of her. However, a quick scan of the exam, and her nerves cooled down. The exam would be rather simple for her, and as her professor explained the rules (as well as the added bonus he would give to the people who took their time on it), she had even more of a chance to calm down.
When it was finally time to take the exam, she took her time on each question. She mentally went through all the terms she had studied over and over again before answering each question. Even so, she still finished on time, and was able to hand over her test just in time to walk out the door.
As she walked to the library to study for her Math test again, though, she was getting nervous again. This next exam was going to kill her. It was going to be hard, and she probably wouldn’t get to finish it in time.
However, she pushed her worried thoughts to the side as she began studying for the test. She knew if she was too worried then she wouldn’t be able to comprehend what she was studying. Her brain was begging her to stop after a while, but she kept at it, willing herself to work her hardest.
Finally, it was time for her next exam. She walked slowly to her classroom, telling herself that she was going to pass this exam with flying colors. By the time she sat down in her seat, she had convinced herself that the exam was going to be easy, and to her surprise it was. Everything she had thoroughly studied was on the test, and was therefore relatively easy to do.
The test barely took her an hour and a half to complete, and she was able to walk out of the classroom earlier than expected.
With some time to spare, she decided to take her time getting ready for her night with Able, and look a little nicer than usual. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if something happened between them.
After all, Able was a good guy. It wouldn’t hurt to give him a chance.
She hoped.
