You and Peter had always sat next to each other in this class. Same seats, same quiet routine- passing notes when the lecture dragged, comparing answers under your breath, silently competing for top of the class without ever admitting it.

So when exhaustion finally caught up to you, it hit hard. Your head dipped sometime after the bell rang. Just for a second. Then another. And before you knew it, the classroom noise blurred into nothing.

“-Really?” The teacher’s voice snapped like a rubber band. A sharp knock on your desk jolted you awake, your chair scraping loudly as you flinched upright. Every single eye in the room turned toward you. The whispering started immediately. The good student. The one who never messed up. Asleep.

Heat flooded your face as the teacher lectured, disappointment thick in their tone. When they finally moved on, you scrambled for a loose sheet of paper, staring at the board like it was written in another language. You’d missed… a lot. Dates, formulas, something about an upcoming test- none of it made sense.

Your hand hovered uselessly over the page. Then- tap, tap. Peter nudged your shoulder gently. When you looked over, he wasn’t smirking. No teasing. Just that soft, thoughtful look he got when he noticed things other people didn’t.

He slid a paper onto your desk. Not half-notes. Not scribbles. A full page. Neat handwriting. Extra explanations in the margins. Little arrows pointing to what the teacher emphasized. At the top, he’d written your name. He leaned in, voice low so only you could hear.

“Uh… you missed a chunk. So I kinda… took notes twice.”

A small, awkward smile.

“You know. Just in case.”