"Jen, help me with this." Jude pushed his Biology homework her way. The two were sitting at the gang's usual table at the Lemon, working (in Jen's case diligently; in Jude's case…not so much) on studying for their exams. "I don't get it."

Jen sighed and looked over the book for a moment. "What don't you get?"

"All of it." Jude sighed. He'd been trying to work his way through the material for his mid-terms, Biology in particular, for just under an hour and had gotten no where. The sciences, along with math, French, history and government were not his strong points. He did enjoy Geography, though. It was straight forward and was easy for him to grasp. Maps, coordinates, locations of cities and countries…kid's stuff really. Same with English. It was basically all just grammar and reading. He could totally handle that. But biology…

"You mean, like, the whole chapter?" Jen have him a worried look.

"Like, the whole book." Jude admitted. He may as well be honest about it.

Jen sank down in disbelief. "The whole book?"

"Well, I get the stuff about cell division. That's good right?" Jude asked hopefully. Jen raised an eyebrow. "Okay, maybe not so good…"

"Well, okay, I mean, it IS a whole chapter you don't have to worry about, right? That's good!" Jen was obviously straining to find something positive about the situation.

"How many chapters are there in total?" Jude asked, raising his eyebrows in hope.

Jen checked the table of contents, then cringed. "Forty-seven."

"I'm screwed." Jude said realistically. "Oh man, I'm totally screwed, Jen! I'm going to fail this class, which will lead to me flunking out of high school, which will mean no college, which means I'm going to work at Underground Video for the rest of my life!!" Jude grabbed Jen's shoulders. "I can't work at Underground for the rest of my life, Jen, I just can't!"

Jen grabbed his face with both hands. "Get a grip! You're going to be fine! I will help you!"

Jude and Jen stared at each other for a moment. Jude finally spoke. "Your shoulders sure are bony."

"Ugh!" Jen rolled her eyes and thumped Jude in the forehead. He plopped backwards into his chair. "You must focus! Caitlin, tell him to focus."

Caitlin, who'd been relaxing behind the lemon counter, looked up from her magazine. "What?"

"I'm going to work at Underground for the rest of my life, dudette!" Jude said to her.

Caitlin wrinkled her nose. "Ew, why?"

"No, he's not." Jen cut in. "Jude, you are going to pass this class if I have to make you study in your sleep!"

"That's okay, bra. I can barely stand studying while I'm awake." Jude assured her, patting her 'bony' shoulder.

"Well, get ready to--" Jen stopped short. "Is that Wyatt?" She pointed over Jude's shoulder. Caitlin and Jude both turned. Sure enough, Wyatt was leaning against the wall outside Burger McFlipster's, coffee in hand, chatting up some chick. Except, that chick was Serena.

Caitlin frowned. "I though he was over Serena."

"He is." Jude said, trying to think of a legit reason Wyatt would be acting so cozy with her.

"Better tell Wyatt that." Jen remarked. The three watched him finish his drink, hug Serena goodbye, and return to his post inside the burger joint.

"Weird…" The three of them said in unison.

"I feel like a spy!" Caitlin giggled.

"I feel like I've seen something I shouldn't have." Jen said.

"And I feel like a taco. Back in five!" Jen stood to leave, but Jen pulled him back into his seat.

"Oh no, you are NOT going to Wonder Taco at a time like this!" Jen said.

"Who's going to Wonder Taco?" Jonesy asked, wandering over and taking a seat.

"Not Jude." Jen declared. "He's going to study." She pushed the book over to the sulking blonde. "Hard."

"Harsh." Jonesy mused.

"You're telling me." Jude turned a page in his book, read it, then turned another. Jen slapped a hand over the paragraph he was reading.

"What did the last two pages say?" she demanded.

Jude smiled sheepishly. "Uh… heh heh… something about biospheres?"

Jen sighed and rubbed her temple with her free hand. "This is going to be some kind of adventure."

***

And it was. When Jen wasn't making Jude recite the five levels of organization, she was tossing flashcards on his lunch tray or calling him at three in the morning to make sure he knew what every last part of the cell did. (You definitely knew a piece of information if you could recite it to someone in a half-asleep middle-of-the-night stupor.) Jen, happily enough for her, had been eating even less now that she was helping Jude with his exams. She found it to be a simple, plausible excuse to skip meals. Jonesy and Caitlin had conveniently found that they didn't need to study (Jonesy because he was too lazy and Caitlin because she only worried about Calculus, which she was all set for) and spent most of their time watching movies in one room while their friends poured over charts and textbooks in another. And then, it was midterm week. Jude met it's arrival with mixed feelings. On the bright side, all the studying Jen had made him do had kept his mind off of the Jonesy/Caitlin situation and the energy he planned on putting into his exams would keep his mind of the situation until he answered the very last question of Friday's very last exam. Plus, it also meant that he was done studying!! Jackpot. However, mid-term week also meant, obviously, mid-terms. Which blew. A lot.

The six teens stood outside the school doors in a line, all facing the building.

"Okay, it's come at last." Caitlin said in a determined voice.

"Midterms. The lesser evil of the two 'term' exams." Nikki elaborated, also in a determined tone.

"The ultimate practice test for finals." Wyatt cracked his knuckles.

"If one of us doesn't return, we're sending someone in to rescue them." Jonesy stood with his hands on his hips, looking like a warrior about to go into battle. "No man-or woman-left behind!"

"Everyone got their pencils and calculators?" Jen asked and was met by confident nods and murmurs of assurance.

"Well then," Jude began. "Let's go in there... and do it!" He pumped his fist in the air.

"Ugh, cut the dramatics. It's just bunch of stupid tests. You're all so immature." Chrissy, followed closely by the Clones, glided past them into the building.

"Well, that was a morale killer." Jonesy said, annoyed.

"I like our dramatics." Caitlin mumbled, defensively.

"Leave it to the clones to kill everyone's spirits." Nikki added.

"Do what you're good at, I suppose." Wyatt tucked his No. 2 pencil behind his ear and zipped up his lucky jacket to brace himself against the cold October wind.

"When are you going to stop wearing that thing?" Caitlin asked. "You know it's not really lucky."

Wyatt shrugged. "I like the familiarity. Besides, you can't be too careful."

"I'm going in." Nikki said, hoisting her backpack onto her shoulder. She gave Jonesy a quick peck in the lips and discretely slipped a note into his jacket pocket. "Good luck, you guys!"

"I'm going, too. Meet at the Lemon after all this nonsense is done with, okay?" Jonesy said and followed his girlfriend into the school. He casually slipped his hand into hers. "What do you have first?"

"French III. No big deal." Nikki said nonchalantly. "You?"

"Advanced Biology," he replied with disdain. He, Jude and Wyatt had taken the class because it looked better to colleges than just plain ol' Biology. Well, in reality Wyatt had convinced them it was easy and they'd believed him. Wyatt was, it seemed, a liar.

"Poor baby." she teased, pinching his cheek. "How will you ever survive?"

"I'll just have to concentrate on something that makes me happy, I guess." Jonesy mused.

"Like what?" Nikki was ready for the next line. He'd probably pull out some line such as 'something like you' or whatever.

"I dunno, like roller coasters or mini corn dogs or something." he said, knowing fully well what she'd been expecting him to say.

"You're so full of it." Nikki said jokingly.

"And you love me anyway! So, what does that say about you?"

"That I'm seriously deranged."

"Ha. Ha. Ha." he replied with sarcasm. "I'll see you later."

"Have fun!" she called sadistically.

"Like a car accident." Jonesy dropped heavily into his assigned seat in his first classroom. Jude sat next to him.

"Good luck, bro. Maybe we can make it through." Jude said in assurance.

"Too bad we don't have Wyatt's jacket." Jonesy said, smirking.

"Oh, dude, that is a shame." Jude replied, picking up on the joke.

Wyatt took his seat two spots ahead of Jude. "Don't diss the jacket, dudes." He popped the collar half-jokingly and crossed his legs over the desktop.

Jude and Jonesy shared a look of amusement as their teacher called them to order. After the exams had been distributed Jonesy stared at the test in disbelief. Apparently, an hour of studying wasn't enough for a seven page exam. Who knew? He slid down in his seat and searched through his pocket for an eraser. He found Nikki's note instead. He glanced left and right to make sure he wouldn't be seen and unfolded it.

Good luck today! I love you. Seriously. -Nik

Jonesy put his face down on top of the exam and smiled ecstatically into his desk. 'Hah, I love you, too, Nikki, I love you, too.' he thought to himself. He wiggled his toes in his shoes in order to get all the joy out, but too no avail. He was simply too full of it.

***

I was in the mood for a lighter chapter, since I've kind of felt that my past few have been somewhat heavy. I've totally felt that giggly bubbly feeling when you love somebody, so I thought it was a nice way to end this one. Jonesy's not as nonchalant about Nikki as he may want everyone to think. Hope you enjoyed!