Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe he just got my paper confused with someone else's. That has to be the explanation.

"Lydia!"

"Huh? Sorry, what?"

"Ugh. Are you still stuck on that grade," my best friend, Chloe, asked.

"Yes! It dropped my grade to a C and it's too late in the semester to bring it up. I'm gonna cry." I wasn't joking. My eyes were starting to water up.

"Well then ask him to fix it."

I rolled my eyes. "Obviously. I cannot go home with a D on this paper."

"Your mom won't even care because you always have good grades."

"I know but I care," I pouted.

"Okay, little miss perfect. Do you want me to wait for you so I can give you a ride?"

"No. I'll walk but thanks."

"Okay, text me when you get home safe," she smiled and walked away.

"I will."

I looked back down at my paper one last time before folding it up and putting it in my pocket. I walked to Mr. Hudson's class. When I got outside his door, I took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in," I heard him say. When I walked inside, he had his legs crossed on his desk and was looking at some papers. He looked up at me. "Hello, Lydia. How may I help you?"

I walked in front of his desk. "I just wanted to discuss a grade with you. I don't understand why I got a D on my most recent paper. It was practically perfect, if not perfect."

"The topic of the paper was 'White lies: what are they and should we really believe them to be innocent?' I wanted this to be more of your opinion rather than just a research paper. You barely had your own personal input in there."

"I can show you all of the exact spots with my opinions. I believe I did the project right."

"Well, I read it, and I don't."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, I at least don't think it deserved a 'D'. A 'B' at least."

"Adding your opinion was a huge part of the rubric. It was 60% of the grade. The essay overall was good, but you didn't do what I asked for." I rolled my eyes again. My mother always said I had a problem controlling my facial expressions and one day it would get me in trouble. Mr. Hudson smirked. "You seem to roll your eyes a lot."

I ignored his comment. "Well, the only reason that other people got better grades than me is because they don't know how to write an essay in the first place and always write subjectively anyway." My mother also told me that my passionate smart mouth would get me in trouble. But once again, I couldn't control it. I took a deep breath before continuing, "Is there anything I can do to raise the grade? Maybe I can redo the paper the way that you want it."

"Well, If I did that for you, I would have to do that for every student who didn't like their grade."

"Mr. Hudson," I pleaded. "I can't have a 'C' on my report card. It will completely ruin my perfect 5.0 GPA. I haven't had anything less than an 'A' for years. You don't even have to bring the grade up to an 'A'. I'll be partially satisfied with a 'B'. Please.

He kicked his legs off of the desk. "What are you willing to do to bring up the grade?" He smirked and leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk.

It sounded suggestive, but I assumed he didn't mean it that way since he was my teacher. I still chose to be careful with my words. "I don't know. Almost anything."

"Do you think you can help me with something?"

"That depends on what it is."

He let out a breathy laugh. There was something behind it, I just couldn't tell what. "Lydia, sometimes you need failure in life to learn from your mistakes." I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.

"Please, just give me another chance to fix it."

"If you can turn in a new paper by tomorrow morning, I'll fix the grade."

"Tomorrow's Saturday, and I have a dance recital. I won't be able to make it. How about Monday morning?"

"Those are my terms. Either you take them or leave them," he looked back down at his papers.

I looked down at the floor and bit my lip. I started walking to the door when Mr. Hudson asked, "Will I see you tomorrow morning, Miss Rose?"

I didn't look at him. "Sure."

I knew I was going to have to pull an all-nighter. But it was worth it if I got my grade up.