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 ^{(it's beta!)}

Claire fell into the open seat across from Ingrid and dropped her bookbag on the floor beside the booth. With a sigh, she folded her arms on the surface of the table and let her forehead rest on them, blonde hair spilling over her shoulders.

"Ingrid, today. was. awful!" she confessed, carefully enunciating the last three words in a way that implied the punctuation. With her head down, she seemed to be addressing the table; it muffled her voice.

Ingrid, who had dutifully picked up her books and began to study when Claire had called to say she was running late to their weekly dinner in the dining hall set her text to the side. She reached a hand to her glasses, sliding them off her nose and back into the case, which she stored in her purse.

As she did this, she spoke, "What happened?"

Claire sat up, arms dropping listlessly to her sides. She shook her head and shrugged. "Ugh. Nothing good."

"Specifics?" Ingrid asked, rolling her eyes. Claire had a way of exaggerating everything--though she did not doubt that her friend was upset, the cause was probably nothing that she ought to worry about.

When the other girl started to tear up, however, Ingrid began to worry. "Really, hun, what happened?"

The blonde ran a hand over her eyes, rubbing any tears away that might have ended up escaping. She sent Ingrid a watery smile. "I'm doing terrible in French."

It was hard not to roll her eyes again. Here was a prime example of Claire blowing things out of proportion. Reaching into her bag, Ingrid produced a tissue and handed it to her friend, who accepted it gratefully.

"You really shouldn't worry, Claire." she said soothingly, "Everyone forgets a few things over the summer. I'm sure you'll bounce back." her voice was slightly rueful as she added, "You always do."

"I know." Claire said, shoulders slumping. "It's just...it's always come so naturally. French. And not only French, but all my classes. I've never really felt as though I had to try that much, and all of a sudden this semester it's not working and I feel...so stupid." she sniffed, dabbed the tissue to her eye.

Outwardly, Ingrid was the picture of the concerned friend as Claire continued to talk, confessing her insecurities and fears. On the inside, however, she was unsurprised by her friend's announcement.

Claire's grades had become a running joke in their circle of friends throughout their years at college. The girl rarely picked up a book to do assigned reading, and if one were to glance at her notes for class, they'd inevitably see nothing but a bunch of doodles. She had no real study habits because she very rarely studied. And yet, somehow, she had a 3.8 GPA--higher than most of their mutual friends who devoted themselves to homework for hours each night. Higher than Ingrid herself.

It seemed to have finally caught up with her.

"You're not stupid, hun." Ingrid laughed lightly at the notion, "There are just...limits, I guess, on how far a person can go when acting like you have the past couple of years."

Claire nodded, even smiling once as she folded and refolded the tissue in her hands. Her nose was slightly red from her moment of weakness. With one hand she pushed back a stray strand of her that was hanging in her eyes. She sighed bitterly. "Maybe I finally met my match."

"You'll just have to try a little harder. " Ingrid said as she patted her friend's hand encouragingly.

On the inside, a very small part of her was delighted.