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She froze.
Her eyes widened, and her heart fell into the depths of her chest. The end…
It was the same. It had not changed.
The photos and everything were clear and brutal, telling her that Rocky would betray her with Shelly, and that the pain he would cause her would be the reason for her end… for her suicide.
She suddenly screamed Lavinia's name, dropped the album from her hands, then grabbed her head with both hands as if trying to stop the thoughts that were devouring her mind.
"Damn it! Really?! Why?!"
Her tears poured out in anger, not sadness, and her voice trembled as she screamed: "Why didn't the ending change?! I changed so much… so much! Why is this one thing the only thing that didn't change?! Am I going crazy?!"
She threw her back hard onto the bed and stared at the ceiling of the room with unfocused eyes. Memories began to flood her mind against her will. "So much has changed…" she whispered to herself. She closed her eyes and said in a low voice: "Mikel… he wasn't supposed to go to America, but now… he will disappear after graduation. And the blonde girl… I never expected her to transfer to our school." She slowly opened her eyes, and only one name appeared in her mind. "But… what about Rocky?" She felt a stab in her heart and whispered in a broken voice:
"Does he really love me? Or is everything just a lie? Why can't I change him? Why?"
A few heavy days passed, until exam week began. The school turned into a place filled with silence and tension. Everyone was busy studying, and laughter almost disappeared from the hallways. Lavinia, unusually, was serious this time. She sat for long hours at her desk, books open in front of her, her eyes focused intently. She said to herself as she wrote her notes:
"I must get a good grade… there is no room for failure."
As for Mikel, he completely stopped attending the basketball club. He spent his time in the library or in his room, reviewing lessons in silence, his features serious in an unusual way. Rocky too spent most of his time at his desk, his head buried in books, barely lifting his eyes. He no longer talked much, as if the pressure of exams had distanced him from everyone.
As for Fred, he was the only one who did not change. He walked through the hallways with his usual smile, flirting with girls as if exams meant nothing to him.
---
The exams finally began. Lavinia entered the hall assigned to her and looked around. There was no sign of either Rocky or Mikel. She felt a strange sense of loneliness. She sat in her seat, and in front of her was Chloe, who looked unusually excited. Chloe turned to her and whispered with a smile: "Are you ready?"
Lavinia smiled lightly and said: "Yes… let's do what we can."
The exam week passed quickly, as if the days were racing. Every student gave what they could; some walked out confident, others left with pale faces.
Then came the week of announcing the results.
That morning, the results were posted on a large board in the school corridor. Students quickly gathered, and voices began to rise, between screams of joy and sighs of disappointment. Lavinia was among them, gently pushing her way closer to the board, her heart pounding hard, her hands cold.
She said in a low voice as she searched with her eyes: "I hope my grades are good… or I'll be kicked out of the house."
Her eyes scanned the names quickly, her anxiety growing with every second. Suddenly, her gaze stopped. She found her name.
She froze for a moment, then read the number beside it again to make sure.
Fiftieth place.
She screamed with joy without realizing it, placing her hand over her mouth, her eyes shining:
"Wow! Oh my God! I didn't expect this!"
She laughed with pure happiness and felt, for the first time in a long while, that something had gone the way it should. "I did it…" she whispered to herself, her heart filling with a small joy… but a real one.
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