“Well…as you may have noticed…I have missed a little bit of my classes this year…”

He let out a whistle and shook his head. He looked down at a file on his desk and looked back up at me. “More than just a little…”

“And well…my dad left me some money…for…college…and well I really know that I have been slacking in the whole school thing and would really like to find a way in order to graduate this year with my friends…” I said lying through my teeth about the reason I needed to graduate.

He laughed and shook his head. “Let me guess…your father left you money in his will but you can’t touch a dime unless you get your high school diploma…am I in the ballpark?”

“Damn…sorry…you pretty much hit that one out of the park…are you some kind of FBI agent or something? I mean you don’t have my house bugged do you? Because I swear some of the things you may hear there…”

“Umm…let’s stop while you’re not ahead…” He said cutting my ramble off. I nodded my head and closed my mouth tight.

“So…what are my options? Is there any way I can graduate?”

“Well…I guess we could arrange for you to test out of each of your classes…but that would require a tremendous amount of studying…could you handle that?”

Could I handle that? That’s like an information overload and if I had to do that my mind would literally bust open. “Are there any other options?”

“Honestly not really…unless of course you can think up some kind of alternative that would encompass all your subjects and that your teachers would find acceptable to pass you…”

Think Ashley…put your brain to use. Nothing…great. “Umm…do you think I could maybe think about it?”

He nodded his head. “Sure…if you are serious about graduating really think it over.”

I nodded my head and walked out of the office ignoring the inquisitive look from the annoying woman at the front. I headed down the hallway rushing to find my girlfriend.

****

I had my pencil in my mouth and was chewing on the end of the eraser when I felt Chelsea tap me on my shoulder. I looked over at her and she motioned towards the window. I glanced over and saw Ashley motioning for me to come outside.