“I asked if you’d come up with an answer for the third question.”

Nick took another desperate glance at his notebook, as if the answers would have magically appeared. He couldn’t afford to piss off Dr. Cutter, who was already giving him a free pass by letting him retake the unit test he’d bombed yesterday.

Nick looked back at the board, at the third diagram, hoping it would be something he could work out in his head.

Yeah, right. This was AP Physics. He knew it had something to do with velocity and mass, maybe—

“Perhaps I can explain what you’ve missed when you stay after class.”

Half the class sucked in a breath and looked at him.

Gabriel would fling his pencil down and level the teacher with some snarky comment. He’d probably get himself thrown out of class.

Nick could never do that. Shame was curling his stomach into knots. “I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

After class, Dr. Cutter was a lot less accommodating than he’d been the previous day.

“This is an advanced placement class,” he said, a slight edge to his voice. “We move through the material quickly. Are you having difficulty keeping up?”

“No,” said Nick. “I’m sorry. Really, it won’t happen again.”

The teacher’s eyes narrowed. “I don’t really have Gabriel Merrick sitting in front of me, do I?”

Nick flinched. It shouldn’t have been an insult, but it felt like one. “No. I swear.”

“I had to call your name three times.”

Nick didn’t know how many times he could apologize for the same thing. He rubbed at his eyes. “I’m having a rough week.”

Dr. Cutter studied him. “Are you aware you’re the student with the highest average in this class?” He frowned. “Or you were before yesterday’s test.”

Nick pulled his hands down. He’d thought he was better than average, but the highest? “No, I didn’t know.”

“And you’re second in your class in AP Calc. I spoke with Mrs. Rafferty. In fact . . .” He reached behind him for a folder on his desk. He flipped the cover open. “Out of the entire senior class, based on a weighted GPA, you’re ranked fourth overall.”

Wow. He’d had no idea.

He should have been proud. He wasn’t. The pressure clamp on his chest tightened by one notch. One more expectation he had to uphold. If he were like Gabriel, Dr. Cutter wouldn’t have given a crap that he didn’t know the answer in class.

“Have you started applying for colleges?” said Dr. Cutter.

Nick’s mouth went dry. “Yeah—a few. I just—” I just have their sealed responses hidden in a drawer. “I haven’t heard back.”