Free Turning Grace by J.Q. Davis

A real date with Tristen. This concept sent the butterflies in my belly on a rampage and I held on to that thought as we approached our day at school.
    The day dragged on, as usual, but I could not help the sappy grin across my face. I didn’t see Tristen until calculus. We walked through the door almost at the same time. When we were nearly touching each other, he leaned in and whispered into my ear, “Good luck”. The smell of his minty breath cooled my senses and the feel of it sent tingles down my spine. Those two words flowed through me like silk as I fought through the urge to fall into his arms.
    “Good luck,” was all I could manage to respond.
    I was happy. I knew Tristen was going to ace this test and it was because of me. I will have saved him from failing and from getting kicked off the swim team. It would be because of my weird math genius that he will be in a great mood today.
    After roll call and about thirty minutes of answering lingering questions students had regarding the material, Mrs. Turner handed out our tests and started the clock. This test was a piece of cake, and I knew I could probably ace it with my eyes closed. I was the top in our class, and knew everyone hated me in some way because math came so easily to me. For a moment, I wondered why I never started tutoring sessions for students. It would have been a great way to make some cash on the side.
    Half way through completing the test, a sharp pain shot across my belly. My reflexes forced me to clench onto my stomach and I winced. Julie, the cute little red head who sat next to me, looked over in my direction and noticed my pained expression.
    “Grace,” she whispered. “You okay?”
    I turned to her, nodded, and glanced back down at my paper. I was getting the hunger pains again. I looked up at the clock. Only thirty more minutes till lunch. Clenching down tighter onto my belly, I tried to force myself to only think about this test.  The definite integral. I just explained this to Tristen last night, this was simple.
    But as I prepared to work out the equations in my mind I…I couldn’t. I couldn’t figure it out. I couldn’t remember how the do the problem, or even what the definite integral meant. It was as though my mind became confused, unable to understand. And as if that weren’t bad enough, the numbers and letters began to intertwine into one and I could no longer make out what it said. I glanced out onto the rest of the classroom, watching everyone else struggling to answer the questions. But not for the same reasons.
    They began spinning. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and looked back down at the test. That didn’t help. The pain worsened and I hunched over. I squinched my eyes together, trying hard to focus. My head began to throb and my eyesight was blurring. I caught a glimpse of my book bag on the floor from the corner of my eye. Suddenly, the faint aroma of roast beef and turkey made its way to my nose. It seemed I suddenly developed x-ray vision. As if I could see straight through my book bag. I could see the sandwich and the rest of my lunch inside a paper bag, waiting to be eaten. My mouth watered and I forced myself to return my focus to the test.
    “Five minute warning,” Mrs. Turner said from her desk. My head shot up. How did twenty-five minutes already fly by? I was only half way done!
    I glanced over at Tristen. He looked pretty confident. I wasn’t sure if that made me feel better or worse.
    Okay, I can do this , I told myself. I set my elbows down on the desk and ran my fingers through my hair. Something felt weird. I pulled my hands back down and gasped. A chunk of my hair was in my palm. I quickly tightened my hand into a fist to hide it. I looked around to see if anyone else noticed. I had to get out of there. I grabbed my bag and my test and made my way to Mrs. Turner’s desk.
    “I’m sorry Mrs. Turner. I have to go.” My voice was hoarse.
    “Grace, are you okay?”
    I ignored her as I