15 | How Time Flies

"Heya Sam, wanna come over today?"

"Yep, one sec, I'm finishing up this thing."

"Okay, I'll get going then. See you at home."

"Yeah."

You probably thought that that conversation was between June and Sam, right? Or Charles and Sam? Wrong. To say that Sam had become really close friends with Simon would be an understatement. The guy was calm, polite and understanding as ever and knew exactly how and when to talk to Sam. And his cooking - it was simply heaven, if heaven had a taste. Simon helped Sam - their whole group, actually, that now consists of him, June, Charles, Simon and Madeline - with English literature as he was really passionate about writing. His words were thoughtful and insightful; he never let Sam down with how he expressed himself or any other thing for that matter. Sometimes it made him think, "Am I the only dumbass that knows absolutely nothing?" But he would be immediately hit by June's words of how he was worth more than what he thought he was and that he's the one who should find what he's good at and what interests him. Only then will he be able to be hopeful that he has a chance to live - live, not survive - the world.

Lately, Sam, Charles, Simon, Madeline and June have been studying together for an hour or two after school everyday, thus becoming close and knowing each other well. The fact that all of them took studies seriously played to their advantage. They helped each other with things others didn't know and actually had fun while learning. The only problem was that Sam was always the one asking for help - he didn't remember when someone came to him to solve their doubts. Though it put him down a lot, he was determined to get better and get better he did. He just hoped he'd have the same determination while writing the exams that were soon to come, and would finally find his interests. With each day flying so fast, he didn't know if the time he had was enough to think about what he wanted to do with the future he had ahead of him.

Sighing, he picked up the books lying on his desk, packed his bag and was out of the school, trying to catch Simon who'd left minutes ago. They usually went to his house (as it was the closest to school) for their group-study-days - which were pretty random and spontaneous. On some days, June couldn't join them as he'd have a shift at his mother's shop, and on other days, Simon's mother would work from home, so they never decided on particular days on which they'd go over. Today, though, wasn't one such day as Sam was currently heading over to his friend's house to finish off all the English work pending. Their school conducted two exams per semester, and the first set of exams for their second one was just around the corner. Sam wanted to finish all the homework his English teacher had assigned right away so that he'd have more time for the harder subjects such as science.

Within a few minutes, he found himself at the doorstep of Simon's house, where he saw Madeline's and Charles's shoes sprawled outside. His family, just like June's, removed their shoes outside the house. He didn't know people except June did that, but well, he was proved wrong. Slipping his sneakers and socks off, he rang the doorbell. He had to wait for a few seconds before being welcomed into the house by Charles, whose eyes lit up in an adorable manner upon seeing Sam. He heard Madeline exclaim incredulously, probably at something Simon had said.

Oh, June isn't here... It's okay, I guess. This is something I could get used to.

"Hey Sam!! Come on in," Simon greeted.

"Yeah," he replied, smiling a shy smile as he went into Simon's huge "guest room."

After taking a quick break - chatting and laughing and munching on snacks - the four of them pulled their sleeves up (Madeline did so quite literally, which they all had a good laugh at) and began working. This was going to be a busy month for them.

* * *

"Psst. Charlie," Madeline whispered to the black haired boy next to her.

"What?"

"Look at Sam."

He looked. Just like they had in Sam's house the other day, they were all sitting on the floor and doing their work. In case anyone's back started to hurt, Simon said they were more than welcome to use his desk and chair that was pushed to a lonely corner of the room. And on the floor sat Sam, with his small hand - that was balled into a fist - resting on his left (totally squishable) cheek, eyebrows furrowed due to deep concentration and eyes moving up and down the literature textbook he had in hand. And, to no one's surprise, Charles thought he looked like an absolute baby. His heart acted up and he felt his breath hitch.

Stop it. Stop this right now.

He stared. Sam was wearing a purple hoodie that swallowed him up and black jeans that matched. It was simple - just the way he liked. Charles was never someone whose eyes caught extravagant, flashy things. In fact, he looked away from those kinds of  things as he found them unnecessary and just- too much. That was one of the main reasons why Sam caught his eye - apart from his own friend, Simon, Charles had never seen anyone from their school who didn't try to be extra. People always showed off their expensive clothing, watches and various other accessories, but Charles never had a high opinion on things like that. He liked it when things were simple and honest. And Sam was exactly that. Even though Charles didn't know him when his eyes first landed on the shy, introverted boy, he could tell from the way he expressed himself that Sam was honest and uncomplicated. And looking at him at the moment, Charles felt himself in a daze, wondering what it would be like to be closer to Sam, physically and mentally, to be completely honest with his feelings towards him, wondering if he'd ever return the same feelings Charles had concealed from him for quite a long time. He stared, his mouth agape and his face warm.

I'm blushing. I know I am. Someone help, please.

He heard Madeline snort and that brought him back to his senses. Absolutely embarrassed, he took out his phone and went over to Madeline's contact, only to see she'd texted him mere moments ago.

_MaD_

dude you're like

drooling

get a hold of yourself man

Charle_s

S

T

F

U

_MaD_

ngl tho he looks adorable

you got good taste I'll give you that

Charle_s

I SAID

S

T

F

U

_MaD_

pls stop making me laugh more ty

And just as Charles was about to type out a reply, he heard Simon say, "Maddie, shut up."

"Sorry! Okay, back to work." Madeline stole one last glance at Charles and started doing her work, leaving him a complete mess.

* * *

"All the best, guys," Charles wished the four of them as they were currently standing in front of the school gates. In about an hour, they would be writing their first exam of the semester. Charles felt like he could've put more effort into studying for the day's exam, but he was confident he'd pass. It was just political science, so beating around the bush and writing paragraphs would fetch him a good score. He saw Sam, who was going through his textbook hurriedly, trying to study at the last minute. He looked so tense and worried, and that sort of put Charles down. He knew from their previous conversations how Sam was always a ball of nerves no matter how much he prepared beforehand. The poor boy didn't even hear Charles's 'all the best.' So, to try and calm him down, Charles moved closer to him, tapping lightly at his shoulder. Sam flinched harshly and was about to swat the hand away when he realized what he was trying to do.

"S-sorry! I- uh- I didn't-"

"It's okay, it's okay," he assured. He didn't want Sam to be so uneasy before an exam - it could mess with his head and make him forget things.

"What's the matter...?"

"You're so nervous for no reason, Sam. Calm down. It isn't the end of the world, you're not gonna fight to death in some war," he said, laughing. He wanted Sam to go into the exam hall with a light heart and a good mood.

"No, I- I didn't even study! This stupid freaking political science- it's a pain in the rear end, it never goes inside my head, it's just so freaking boring and just- argh, I'm not gonna do well today, I know."

"Jeez, homosapien, calm down." June, like he always did, came out of nowhere and was trying to calm him down.

"Yeah, calm down my a-"

The sound of the bell interrupted Sam, and Charles didn't know if Sam was good to go or not. Their group-study-days had gotten shorter and shorter as the days went by since everyone had their own work to do at their own house. Whenever Sam had a doubt, he'd call Charles and he'd clear them. The both of them had tried to study as a duo, but that never worked as they always got distracted and would start talking about the most random things on earth. Since that didn't work, they'd wasted a lot of crucial time. And at the last minute, both of them rushed to finish studying, but Charles managed. He didn't know if Sam managed to, and by the looks of it, it seemed that he hadn't. I just hope he does decent, he prayed, not knowing what else to do.

With his mind a little out of focus, he parted ways with the rest of the gang, making his way towards the room allotted to him.

* * *

Just as he'd expected, Charles raced his way through the paper, writing paragraphs and paragraphs about whatever he knew. After discussing the paper with his friends, he found out that he'd made quite a few mistakes, but that was, frankly, expected. He wasn't the best at political science. But since it did affect his final grade, he studied it for the sake of it, not giving it too much importance.

As he walked out of the room and into the corridors, he caught sight of June, who was also busy exchanging answers with someone (he didn't know who it was). After the exams got over, they immediately had regular classes to attend as these set of exams weren't the main ones. These were the ones they'd consider as "internal assessment" and not as the final grade. So, even if someone failed now, they'd have hope to catch up next time, not losing too much.

Where's Sam? he thought. He tried catching him after the exams to ask if he'd done well but the boy was nowhere to be seen.

It's okay, I'll talk to him later. Now, what class do I have now...?

He was a tad disappointed when he saw that they didn't have the first period - they'd written the exam at that time. He wouldn't be able to sit with Sam for a few days at all. His shoulders visibly drooped down as he heard the bell indicating it was time for them to go to their respective classes. With a small frown, he went to his second class, history.

* * *

"Sam? Is he here?" Charles asked expectantly. Sam was nowhere to be found the entire day. During lunch, Charles wasn't able to go to the lunch hall as he'd been helping his teacher arrange all the answer sheets properly in order. Though he was hesitant, he did so anyway because the woman looked like she really needed help with the hundred papers she had in hand. Charles, being the person that he is, didn't have the heart to refuse. And now, looking hopefully at June beside him, he thought he could finally have a chat with Sam, but seeing as he wasn't there, it made him feel down.

"Ah, he..." June started off.

"He what?"

"Uh... he didn't do quite well, so he just ran off home as soon as classes were over."

"He didn't do well? Wasn't it fairly easy though?"

"Yeah, but not for him, apparently. I'm worried, I don't know how he is now... and I don't want to go to his house or something, that'd be too much."

"Can I try texting him? Oh no, poor boy..."

"Sure, go ahead. I'm not sure if you'll get an answer, though."

Charles took out his phone and quickly texted Sam. He felt really bad, even though he didn't know what exactly was up with his friend.

Charle_s

sam...

are you down because you dint do well?

its totally fine, dont beat yourself over this, okay?

we'll slap some butts with our marks in other subjects, dont worry

* * *

The same continued for two more days. Charles was worried beyond words, he didn't know why Sam acted that way. Was it because he just didn't need any distraction? Did he find Charles and everyone else annoying? He wasn't being too harsh on himself, was he?

June was calmer than he was, but that didn't mean he wasn't a tad bit worried, too. After all, he knew Sam way more than he did. The fact that even he didn't know what was going on with the poor boy made his heart weak with anxiety. He knew of Sam's habit of talking down on himself and beating himself up at every chance he got. He could do nothing but hope that wasn't the case, and that Sam, being quite the introvert that he was, just needed some space and time to himself, what with it being a busy week for everyone.

"June, did you talk... to him? Did he say anything?"

June replied by showing him the conversation they'd had the previous day, Charles's heart aching for Sam.

Sammy

im a moron

im born to fail

im sorry, ill

yeah

dont worry about me

pls dont waste your time doing that ill beg you if you want me to

May__July

no

sam

[ You have been blocked by this user. Messages cannot be sent. ]

"He's usually not like this, he's never blocked me, I don't know..." June's voice trailed off.

"What..."

"It's okay," he said, followed by a sigh, "just give him some time. He needs space, I think."

"Yeah, if you say so..."

Please be okay, Sam.

* * *

ew I don't like this chap idk it could've been way better