Oxymoronic

The teacher circles question after question on Hiro's exam. Maybe it was a mistake to not go back and check everything. He was just so sure of every question! Maybe his calculator was bugged. He began punching in random equations he could easily do in his head. Nope, everything seemed to be in order... What an idiot, he could imagine the other students thinking, first to finish and lowest score too. Ha, serves him right. Hiro tried to sink further into his desk in the front row. He had to be imagining the eyes burning into his back. All the other students were too absorbed in their final exam to be giving him such an intense stare. It's all a trick from his humiliated brain. He flicks his forehead in annoyance. Get your shit together, he thinks to himself.

Hiro has never heard his physics teacher laugh so loudly before. Chuckles were a normal thing, though they were usually in pity after someone asked a particularly bad question. Not stupid, since those don't exist for some reason, but certainly dimwitted. The laughing continues, odd in the otherwise silent room, as does the red pen. Then the test is placed next to Hiro's head on his desk. The moment of truth. How bad could it honestly be?

99%. What? That made no sense. Actually... Hiro flipped through the pages like a mad man, trying to find where all the red pen ink was. There was none. Except for a bit on the first and last page anyway. He looked up at his teacher, who was still smiling smugly and holding up a scratch paper covered in random squiggles of red ink. Hiro's jaw went slightly slack. What a jerk! "I thought I failed!" He hissed, receiving a shrug in response. Maybe the guy was human after all, hungry for a good joke. Teachers always seemed so alien.

So, what did Hiro miss then? He was just shy of a perfect score, so what ruined it? He flips to the last page, happy with his score but still curious to know where he fumbled. In the short answer section, the second to last one. Perhaps the teacher just didn't understand his layman's terms. Maybe he can negotiate himself back to a 100%. His eyes review his answer to find where the point had been taken off. Then he sees the circle at the end of his last sentence. No... This can't be serious...

'Really, kid?' Almost impossible to comprehend scrawl reads. 'Anyway, congratulations. Pleasure to have in class. Just like your brother. Say hello for me.'

Hiro Hamada left a period off the end of a sentence and lost a perfect 100% on his physics final because of it. Oh, he is never going to hear the end of this from Tadashi. "A period?" Hiro whines quietly to himself. The shame pooling at the bottom of his stomach is making him sink even farther into his desk than before. Now his legs are sticking so far out that he'd definitely trip any passerby that fails to notice his despair-ridden form until it's too late for them. Luckily, no one goes by. It's a final block after all. The teacher chuckles though. It's the regular pity chuckle.

Hiro folds the test as small as it will go and stuffs it into his jacket pocket. No one has to see it unless he wants them too. He's left staring at the whiteboard for another half hour, debating how to tell Tadashi. He could say he got a 99 and not offer the reason why, but his brother will probably ask anyway. Is it a thing worth lying about? Is it a thing worth telling in the dark?

The dark. No. Hiro groans and flicks his forehead again. He's not supposed to think about the dark. It's against the rules. He remembers Tadashi's face when he almost slipped up and told Aunt Cass that his brother doesn't like hot wings and his face heats with the shame. He never wanted to do anything like that again. So, the challenge was to keep the two worlds separate, and it was proving difficult.

The bell ringing seemed louder than usual. Maybe because it was the last hour end of the school year. It was the last Hiro would ever hear, even though he's barely the age for starting high school. Well, whatever reason, the loud bell surprised Hiro enough that he jumped in his seat. Usually, he's one of the first out from his strategic front row, next to the door, seat but a few people rush out before him. They're more enthusiastic than Hiro saw them all year. A small smile on his face, he joins the much taller crowd on the way out the door.

He's forgotten the reason he was planning to be the first out, more so than usual. The plan was to bolt out. The plan was not to stop for a second and watch the seniors empty cans of silly string in each other's faces. The plan was not this because there are hands on Hiro's shoulders tugging him backwards, away from the crowds and into the science buildings bathroom.

Fuck, Hiro thinks, almost reaching up to flick his forehead. Someday he might end up with a bruise there. Before he can do anything though, he's tossed against the tiled wall. "What the fuck, dude? I thought we had a deal." Josh's red face is close enough for that Hiro can see the older boy's freckles on his cheeks as he snarls. They almost form a warped constellation of a Virgo. That can't possibly be right, can it?

"Are you a Virgo?" Hiro blurts out. He tries to ignore his increased heart rate. Josh and him are buddies! Really! Sure, Josh asked for help cheating on all his final exams and Hiro agreed, only to not do anything when testing week came. Sure, Josh probably wanted his head on a silver platter.

But they were buddies!

"Did you just ask if I'm a fucking virgin?" Josh spat, his face even redder.

"No!" Hiro yelled, almost frantic. He didn't know how to diffuse the situation. Actual people had too complicated coding. Especially the dumb ones. "I meant to ask if you were born under the Virgo-- month of September! Is your birthday in September?"

"Well, I'm definitely not a virgin." Josh snapped, ignoring Hiro's last ramble. "See, I, uh..." It took awhile for the guy to gather his thoughts. He backed away from Hiro, his eyebrows pinched. "I mean, I've even fucked your sister."

That must have been difficult, Hiro thinks, keeping his face neutral. "Oh, wow." Hopefully the sarcasm isn't obvious. It only drips a tad. "I believe it too... My sister is a total slut..." It hurts to say, even if she doesn't really exist. He can't imagine talking about Tadashi like this.

Josh nods. Hiro nods. The conversation is over. Josh probably forgot all about the tests in the rush to assure Hiro he was not a virgin in the slightest.

Hiro hopes he never sees Josh ever again. Too bad the world is full of people like Josh.

The entire walk home, Hiro can't stop himself from thinking about what he's going to tell Tadashi that night. In the dark. Not that he knows what that means... Separate universes, right? Ugh, he sucks at exploiting loopholes.

Maybe he can confess he called his sister a slut. Tadashi will flick his forehead for the dirty word. Maybe that's why he does that so much? But then ask what sister Hiro could possibly mean. Hiro will say he has no idea and they'll both laugh. Then Tadashi will pull Hiro close and they'll fall asleep. The dark is the best.

He has something to say instead of his 99% at least, right?