Ryan picked the door to his best friend’s bedroom for the sixth time that Saturday. He poked his head into the room and sighed at the mess he saw. Again. “I hate when finals roll around,” he murmured.

The girl hunched over her desk didn’t even look up when Ryan stepped on an empty plastic Dr. Pepper bottle. He stopped beside the desk and looked at the world history book lying open beside two different folders of notes. “You’re out of drink and almost ate all the snacks I brought in an hour ago,” he grumbled and picked up two or three of the drained glasses that were ready to jump off the desk and shatter against the floorboards.

“I’ll bring up some Mountain Dew and chocolate chip cookies, Ember.”

Ember didn’t react to the words. Her foot was bouncing up and down anxiously, and words rapidly, silently fell silent from her mouth while her blue eyes darted over and over the text before her. She’s exhausted herself, Ryan thought, she can barely keep her head up, and that’s only because she’s keeping it propped up on her palms.

When Ryan returned with more snacks and drink, he set them down on what spaces were left on the desk. He looked up when Ember started muttering, “Test in six days… Gotta study… Can’t fail… Keep reading…”

“Ember,” Ryan whispered as if she was sleeping and brushed her long red hair back from her face, “you need to rest… You’ve been studying since five o’clock this morning…” She did not react. It was as if he wasn’t there. Frustrated and worried, he tipped her chin up and forced her eyes away from the book. “Rest, please,” he commanded gently and watched her eyelashes flutter.

With a small sigh, Ember’s body fell limp against the desk, and Ryan barely caught her head before it banged against the textbook. He quietly slid the chair back and gathered the teenager into his arms. “You stress out about school way too much,” he told his unconscious best friend and managed to pull the sheets on her bed back.

“Looks like I’ll be spending the night again,” Ryan muttered as he took off the useless socks and shoes the girl had put on to run to her car and get a book she thought she had forgotten. He had made dozens of similar trips throughout the day, fetching her more paper or flashcards and searching for a lost book that turned out to be under the folders she was studying.

“Finals start Monday,” Ryan spoke louder to Ember and tucked the sheets tight around her, “so after Friday, no more studying for you. You need a break.” With a small smile, he leaned over and pressed his lips to her forehead.

“No break,” Ember said and frowned, “Gotta study…”

Ryan rolled his eyes. “Even asleep you’re stressed about it,” he sighed and cupped her cheek, “like I said, I hate finals…” He stretched his back out and wandered out of the room, down the stairs, and collapsed on the living room sofa.