The Forever Brotherhood by Julie E. Czerneda

Author:Julie E. Czerneda [Leslie, Mark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stark Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

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Finals were written in the gyms, at solitary tables distributed on a grid of disturbing exactness, with chairs that broadcast the slightest movement. Midterms, on the other hand, were held in classrooms; classrooms that otherwise never had to fit the full complement of a course’s registered students. When hundreds of previously invisible students showed up, schedules got ugly. A silent, but nonetheless bitter struggle continued between the giants – Psych 101 and Econ 101 – for the engineering lecture hall. Negotiating skills meant little against such tactics as preemptive sign placement. Regardless, what mattered to students the day of a midterm was where theirs was to be held.

Putz closed Calculus 14th Edition with a thump that drew frantic looks then scowls from those standing or sitting along the corridor walls. Unwise to disturb the concentration of the desperate. Friendships failed. Breakups were common. But Dougie did the same, if more quietly. What they didn’t know by now, didn’t matter.

Bas nodded. He leaned peacefully against the beige cinder blocks, one foot crossed over the other, a picture of sublime confidence guaranteed to chill the blood of lesser students. His text, if he’d brought it, hadn’t left his backpack. He wore the same clothes as everyone else: jeans and a tee, but his aunt ironed them every chance she had. Everyone else was thoroughly rumpled, having either slept in their clothes, or not slept at all.

Rumpled and in need of soap. Dougie stood straighter to elevate his nose, though to be fair, he should have showered too.

“76%,” Putz said in a low voice. “Any less and there’s no point coming back tomorrow.”

“You’ll be fine.” Bas stirred. “Finally. They’re posting the room list.”

Like chum tossed to starving sharks, the harried TA was instantly surrounded. He barely managed to staple the list to the board before being pushed aside. Students peeled away as they found what they were looking for, some breaking into a run. Exam proctors had a deplorable habit of starting on time even if no one was there yet to write.

Putz and Bas waited for Dougie, a head taller, to scan the list and find their section.

Fingers crossed for a biology lab – the only place where he could stretch out his long legs, Dougie looked.

He looked again, heart pounding in his chest, midterm forgotten.

Math Lecture Hall Two.

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