Val's P.O.V

The pristine, terrifying glow of my phone screen seemed to freeze the very air in my room. Midterm Examinations Begin Today. English Literature. 8:00 AM.

A sound escaped my lips, a strangled gasp that was pure, undiluted panic. The golden, love-drunk haze of the weekend evaporated instantly, replaced by a cold, sobering dread that felt like a bucket of ice water to the face. Two hours. I had two hours until a test on a semester’s worth of Wuthering Heights and metaphysical ...