Perfect 1600 || Skylar [oneshot]
Skylar couldn't be found anywhere all summer. If she left her room, it was for the the SAT and ACT prep classes she begged her dad to enroll her in. Otherwise, she poured over the stacks of prep books she'd bought with money she'd earned working for Arizona in the PEDS ward, doing the homework for said prep classes and - occasionally - sleeping. Addison begged her to let up, even for a couple of hours. The girl with the photographic memory could afford to step outside of the test prep bubble she'd put herself in; all Addie wanted was one night to take her daughter out for dinner and, maybe, a movie. It didn't happen. She was dead set on studying her ass off until the October tests. The Saturdays, back-to-back, that she took her SATs and her ACT, Skylar was a wreck. Her flashcards did not leave her pocket, she studied in the car on the way to school (the only time she'd let Xander drive her), in between classes, at lunch, and while she "worked" in the PEDS ward. She would not let up. The Saturdays came and went, but the weight on her shoulders did not decrease. She was driving everyone crazy waiting for the results. First of the two results to come out were the SAT scores. The test she took happened the first year of the new testing system, which didn't include the essay portion. Skylar, the articulate kid that she was, was a little disappointed in that, but it also meant that she didn't need to impress any of the judges that would, inevitably, pass her essay around. It was simply multiple-choice questions; A, B, C, or D. Right or wrong. That was something that made the test a little easier to swallow for her. The maximum she could score was 1600. Skylar got the email at about 4:30 on a Friday afternoon. She heard her phone go off with a small, familiar 'ding', accompanied by a vibration. The screen lit up with a small envelope icon appearing in the top left hand corner. For a second, she thought it was another college email - another school soliciting her application, based on previous test scores or previous scholarships she'd applied for. It was no such thing. Her SAT scores were sitting on the CollegeBoard website, waiting for her to open. As Arizona came rolling past the nurses' station she stopped to check on her Baby Sloan, as she stared her cell phone dead-on. "Sky... You okay?" Arizona asked, peaking her head over the counter, standing on tip-toes. "Yeah, it's right here," Sky responded absently, handing her a chart. "Yeah, you're not okay," the blonde sighed, making her way behind the counter. "What's going on? Did that girl you went out with text you or... God forbid, call you?" All Sky could do was shake her head, before turning the Nexus to face her aunt. "Really? We're emailing these days? That's so inconvenient, I mean..." Arizona's voice trailed off as she looked at the message. It was an email from the CollegeBoard, announcing that her scores were available for viewing. "Okay, no, we're not doing this. We're not sitting in purgatory over these scores. We're checking them. Now." Arizona reached over Skylar to get to the computer. Entering her credentials, she opened Google Chrome and navigated to CollegeBoard's website. "Log in." "What? No, I can't. I'm not ready..." The teenager pleaded, eyes wide. "I said log in, Skylar." Arizona's face was straight - she was not messing around. "I mean it! Log in." With a deep breath, Sky closed her eyes and logged in to the site that she'd been checking religiously since she took the test. Just to make sure that something didn't slip through her email. From there, Arizona took control of the mouse, navigating through a website she'd been through with five other kids so far. "You ready for this, Skylarpedia?" She asked as the mouse hovered over the "view results" link. "Nope," Sky shook her head and dropped to the extended forearm on the desk. "Can you just... Like... Look for me? Let me know if I need to check myself into Psych or not?" "Not funny," Arizona admonished, delivering a tap to the top of the girl's black hair. "But I will look for you. No psych, but I'll look." With two more clicks, Skylar's results were on the screen; Skylar held her breath, as if a monster was about to crawl out from behind the screen. When Arizona started to tape Sky's shoulder excitedly, the girl had to remind herself to not let her hopes build too high. After all, her expectation for perfection far exceeded anything anyone else expected of her. After all, to them, she had already met and exceeded perfection. "Skylar Everett Sloan, I swear, you need to look up and look at this before I print it out a million times and wallpaper this hospital with it. Chief will not be happy, but I'll do it." The girl was able to crack a smile before lifting her head, eyes still shut tight. "You know, kiddo, that does involve you opening your eyes." "I'm not ready!" "Yes you are!" Arizona replied, hands on both shoulders. "Okay, this is what you're going to do. I'm going to count to three, and then you're going to look and it's all going to be okay." "You know, I'm not five anymore. Giving me a countdown to do something is not going to actually make it happen." "Humor me, smartass." Arizona commanded before counting down. She gave the girl a couple of moments to get ready, and finally uttered the number three - at which point Skylar actually opened her eyes, much to her annoyance and Arizona's delight. Some habits never die. When Skylar opened her eyes, it took a minute for her mind to focus on what she was about to see. One more deep breath, and she honed in on the screen. A perfect 1600. With tears brimming in her eyes, she took a double take. She couldn't believe that all of the prep she'd done paid off. The weight that had been sitting on her shoulders since she took her final PSAT had finally been lifted. The girl felt like she could breathe again. Now for telling everyone.
