Page 32

“Did you get any sleep?” Ari asked as she plopped down next to Yelena. It wasn’t her seat, but since people were

milling around and sitting wherever, she hoped no one would mind her temporary occupation.

Yelena’s red, pu y eyes did all the talking for her. Not only had she not slept, but Ari would also bet she’d done a fair bit of crying. “I know I didn’t pass,” she confessed.

Ari gave her forearm a squeeze. “Everybody feels like that, I promise you. There’s no reason to think—”

Yelena shook her head as her eyes filled with tears. “I was so stressed out I gave myself a migraine. I couldn’t think.”

Her voice cracked, prompting Ari to put her arm around her shoulders. “I didn’t even finish it. I was so freaked out, I couldn’t concentrate on the multi-state the next day.”

Ari’s heart broke for her. The bar stopped for no man. One year a woman went into labor in the middle of the test, and she had the option to either finish it or fail and pay a couple thousand dollars to do it again in a few months. There was no way the proctors would’ve cared about Yelena’s migraine.

“I’m so sorry that happened,” Ari said softly, wishing there was more she could do to comfort the girl. If this had been hanging over her head for over a month, it made sense that she looked terrified all the time.

“What am I going to do?” Yelena asked lunging into a hug. Her tears were hot as they ran down Ari’s neck.

Ari embraced her with both arms. She didn’t care that people were looking at them. “If the worst happens, I promise it’s not the end. Just don’t give up, okay? And don’t let them see you sweat. Keep your head held high.”

As Ari spoke, she realized she was giving herself the same advice. There had been so many more Property Law questions than she expected on the exam. Her weakest

subject. If she had gotten them all wrong, there was no way she was passing.

“They’re up!” someone yelled. “They’re up! They’re up!”

Ari’s blood pumped in her ears as she released Yelena and reached for her phone on the table. “No matter what, we’re gonna be okay, okay? Even Michelle Obama failed the bar exam.”

Yelena took a deep breath and nodded. “Okay. Let’s get this over with.”

With trembling hands and a swimming brain, Ari refreshed the page she’d been looking at for hours. She scrolled through the sea of numbers until she arrived at the bar number she’d memorized.

Passed.

Ari checked it again, making sure she hadn’t had a bout of the dyslexia she overcame as a child and transposed the numbers. Passed.

Overcome with relief, Ari turned to the side, but Yelena didn’t share her excitement. “Shit. I’m sorry,” she whispered, reaching out to place her hand over hers.

“I knew it,” Yelena whispered, her eyes trained on her lap as she let the tears fall, “but I prayed for a miracle anyway.”

“Do you want to step outside?” Ari asked, slipping her phone into her pocket. “We can go for a walk? It’s not that hot yet.”

Yelena nodded, appearing grateful for the chance to escape all the eyes in the room. As they left, Ari noticed Sloane sitting in her seat with her legs crossed typing something on her phone. Her expression was unreadable as she gave o the same indi erent vibe she always did.

Maybe she is a terminator.

After a tough morning, Ari determined that nearly a dozen people didn’t pass. Yelena was one of the few who finished the training day, which she was proud of, but declined the happy hour everyone was going to afterward.

Ari o ered to hang out with her instead, but she insisted she was okay and just needed a little time to pull herself together. Her parents had already started driving down from Orlando to pick her up for the weekend.

Hopeful that Yelena would find the will to come back to the o ce rather than quit like a couple already had, Ari joined the others on the short walk to a restaurant near the o ce. It was an authentic British pub. Allegedly.

As they approached The Crowned Swan, Ari was filled with optimism over the prospect of a genuine pint. The small corner entrance had been painted black and adorned with a swaying wooden sign. The insignia, a docile white swan with a crown on its head, looked like it belonged in ye olden days.

The moment they stepped into the dark, narrow space, the scent of stale beer and unmet potential smacked Ari in the face. A monstrous wooden bar took up most of the limited space. The handful of booths lining one of the long walls were already taken and made it impossible for them to group together. At least the enormous Union Jack flag strewn across the ceiling was colorful.

Unfortunately, half the population of Miami-Dade County had beat them to happy hour and crammed into the bar.

Content with waiting for her turn to slip between two strangers to vie for the bartender’s attention, Ari chatted