Final Hell

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==Book Summary==
It's finals week at Silver Hills High, meaning studying time. Sierra is hitting the books, she wants to ace all of her classes; Kristy also wants to pass all of her classes to stay on the girls' basketball team; Niki hates studying, but she has to in order to pass all of her classes so that she doesn't have to repeat every class for the second semester; and Alicia... comes down with a bad cold during finals week, but she has to attend school to pass all of her classes even if it means coming to school with a bad cold.
Will our favorite girls pass their finals and will Alicia beat her cold?
==Excerpt==
Chapter 1
Ms. Dye, the Geometry teacher at Silver Hills High School, wrote down “Finals Week” on her dry-erase board, reminding every class she has for every period about the upcoming finals for the fall semester.
  “I gotta pass this class to stay on the basketball team,” seventeen-year-old Kristy Castelli told her best friend, Sierra Jennings, who was sitting next to her. They both took Geometry A since the fall of 2007 of the school year, now that the fall semester was coming to an end, Kristy was now nervous about passing Geometry A. She wanted to stay on the basketball team until graduation.
“Don’t worry, I know this by heart. I’ll help you with this,” Sierra promised Kristy. 
“Know this by heart? Si, you know this by brain!” Kristy replied.
The school bell rang for nutrition. Everyone in Ms. Dye’s class, including Kristy and Sierra left in a huff to get to the cafeteria before it got crowded. This wasn’t just a normal day at school, this was finals week. Instead of even and odd days that happens every day, all students must head to periods 1 through 6 in one day to prepare for finals.
Sierra and Kristy met up with their other best friends Alicia Alcott and Nikki Merrick at the cafeteria getting breakfast.
“I hate finals week,” Nikki complained. Not a scholar like Sierra, Nikki dreaded finals week every year since she and her friends started high school four years ago. She wasn’t exactly a straight-A senior, she was more of a D student.
“Nikki, you say that every year,” Sierra mentioned.
“Yeah, but this time it’s different, daddy gave me an ultimatum. Either I pass all my classes for this semester or I’m never getting a new car.”
Nikki’s last report card was so poor; her parents have to hire a female tutor to get her grades up, a male tutor would be much distracting, because Nikki was so boy-crazy.
 “I need that car. I’m tired of walking to school in my new shoes.”
“I’m with you, Nik,” Alicia agreed. Alicia’s voice sounded terrible and she was swallowing more saliva down her sore throat.
Nikki turned her head to Alicia’s face. She, Sierra, and Kristy noticed a change in Alicia’s voice. Either she was going through puberty or she was coming down with a sore throat.
“What’s up with your voice?” Nikki asked. Alicia massaged her throat and tried to clear it. But her throat remained sore.
“I got a sore throat,” Alicia said in a hoarse voice. It was difficult for her to gossip about the upcoming Finals at school. The girls were graduating seniors at Silver Hills High, with big plans after high school.
  Alicia, an aspiring singer plans to move to Hollywood to sign with her dream label, Star Jam Records, becoming the biggest pop star she dreamed about since she was ten. Nikki also planned on moving to a big city to pursue fashion. Actually, she wasn’t going to pursuing a modeling career; she applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology or F.I.T. to most people, just last week. She wanted to be a fashion stylist. She loved dressing up her friends, their little sisters, and herself; and planned on dressing other people with no fashion sense. She also planned to intern with New York’s top fashion house, House of Style. Leslie Garrison was Nikki’s favorite fashion stylist and wanted to be a part of Leslie’s fashion styling team. Sierra and Kristy weren’t planning on leaving Silver Hills like their best friends. They applied to Silver Hills Community College, just to experience college life.
  At their usual booth at the Silver Hills High cafeteria, Alicia had trouble sipping her pineapple juice. The coldness really bugged her throat. Her friends were still complaining about the upcoming finals week and passing all their classes, Alicia was just sitting there, eating her Golden Grams cereal, being quiet, because her throat was so sore, she could bare speak.
“I wish I had a brainy twin sister, who could pose as me and take all my finals for me and no one would know,” Nikki said in frustration.
“Nik, you been watching way too much Sister, Sister,” Sierra replied, eating her breakfast burrito.
“What do you think, girlfriend?” Nikki turned to Alicia’s face.
“Hmm?” Alicia hummed. Nikki forgot that Alicia couldn’t talk. It was official, Alicia couldn’t speak, let alone agree with her friends’ frustration over the stupid finals week.
“Alcott, maybe you should go to the nurse?” Kristy suggested. But going to the nurse’s office was the last thing Alicia needed. She wished she didn’t have finals week and she wished she didn’t have a sore throat. Having a sore throat was the last thing Alicia needed to deal with right now. She had gigs at Sweet 16 birthday bashes and at Castelli’s Pizza Shack, a pizza parlor owned by Kristy’s family, on top of it all, she had to study nonstop with her friends for finals week.
All of a sudden, Alicia let out one serious, yet nasty sneeze.
Aah-Choo!
“Bless, you,” Nikki, Sierra, and Kristy said simultaneously.
“Alicia, you are getting a cold,” Sierra told her. “You should forget about finals week and just tell your parents. Hopefully, you’ll stay in bed, and make up everything. I’ll help you.”
“Hey! What about me?!” Nikki interrupted Sierra.
“What about you, Nik?”
“Hello, news flash: I need a study partner!”
“Nikki, Alicia’s sick. Sierra was just suggesting to her that she should stay home and in bed throughout finals week and she can help her make all of them up!” Kristy explained to Nikki, making sure she understands. But she didn’t.
“Why do you have to get a cold around finals week?” She asked Alicia. Unable to talk, Alicia wrote down her answer to Nikki on her college-ruled notebook. Nikki read Alicia’s answer: Don’t blame me, Lily caught a cold and I got it by babysitting her!
Nikki thought of kissing Alicia to get her cold so she could miss finals week and never had to deal with it again.
Alicia wrote a second message on her notebook and gave it to Nikki to read it: Don’t even think about kissing me just so you could miss finals weeks.
Kristy was much worried about finals week as her fashionista best friend, Nikki. She wasn’t doing good in English Lit A. She needed a C to pass it. She needed to pass all of her classes to stay on the girls’ basketball team. That was her mother’s ultimatum. Mrs. Pamela Castelli wasn’t just Kristy’s mother; she was also the principal of Silver Hills High, while her husband, Kristy’s father, is owner and manager at Castelli’s Pizza Shack, the place where the girls hang out at after school or over the weekends. Mr. and Mrs. Castelli wanted to see some A’s or B’s on Kristy’s report card. Her last report cards were C’s and D’s, which was also the grades Nikki got that, got her grounded for a month.
    “I hate to do schoolwork, like Nik, but I’m going to be benched if I don’t pass my finals,” She told her friends.
“I’m thinking about changing my elective,” Sierra announced. This caught the girls’ attention. In the beginning of the fall semester, Sierra signed up for Choir, which was Alicia’s elective. Sierra was unhappy about being there, she was uncomfortable there. She felt like she even took the elective to spend time with her best friend.
“What’s wrong with Choir?” Alicia asked concerned.
She always classes and electives with her friends but she never thought of one of them dropping a class.
“Alicia, I’m not happy with Choir. I don’t belong there.”
Alicia sneezed on her cereal while Sierra was still talking about changing electives.
“I won’t be having any cereal for the rest of the second semester.”
 As Sierra handed Alicia a couple of Kleenex tissues, Nikki was flipping through the pages of Teen Flair magazine, checking out springs hottest fashions, instead of flipping through the pages of English Lit A textbook.
“Alicia, don’t you think you should go to the nurse?” Nikki asked concerned. Alicia’s constant sneezing and her sore throat had Nikki, Sierra, and Kristy very concerned. From the years they’ve known her, whenever Alicia would get a sore throat, it meant that Alicia was getting a bad cold. The girls wanted to be near Alicia, but with finals coming up, get Alicia’s cold was the last thing the girls needed in the schedule.
As the girls finished their breakfast, they got up from their booth and left the cafeteria. During their walk to the F-building, where Alicia’s locker was located, Alicia sneezed four times.
“Damn!” Kristy’s eyes grew large.
“My advice, skip finals week and just stay home, girlfriend.”
“Kristy, I’ll be alright,” Alicia sniffled.
The girls were long-time best friends, ever since 1st. Alicia was the new girl in town, shy and scared. Sierra and Kristy were the first girls Alicia had met, then Nikki. The girls did everything together, play with Barbies, playing dress-up and tea parties, watched Fox Kids every day when they got home after school, and even have their end-of-the-semester slumber parties.
  The girls’ personalities were much different as their friendship; Alicia was an aspiring singer, Nikki was a trendy blonde with an obsession of fashion, gossip, make-up, and boys, Sierra was the straight-A student, whom the girls can turn to with homework, and Kristy was a tomboyish basketball player.
“Oh, god, it’s the Wright brothers,” Kristy called out. She hadn’t talked to Josh Wright since their break up a month ago. She and Nikki went out on a double date with Josh and his identical twin brother, Matt a year ago when Nikki developed a crush on Matt and was obsessed with being Matt’s girlfriend. But sparks didn’t fly between her and Matt, only the one between Kristy and Josh. They had a few things in common, they both love basketball, they’re fans of the Lakers, and they love pizza.
  “I still can’t forget how cute the brothers are,” Nikki gushed. “Nik, this is finals week. This is no time to be gushing on boys,” Sierra explained to her.
Sierra kept trying to dampen Nikki’s happy-go-lucky mood by ordering her to focus on passing all of her finals which meant no boys, no reading magazines, and no TV. Nikki groaned. She needed a friend, not a mother.
Alicia sneezing once again, scaring the shit out of the Wright brothers.
“You okay?” Matt asked. “Ahem, I’m okay. It’s just a sneeze,” Alicia coughed.
“Sounds like you’re getting a cold,” Josh stated.
“Great, Alcott. You screwed up my chance with Matt,” Nikki grimaced.
“Shut up, Nikki. You never had a chance with Matt Wright,” Kristy snapped.
Alicia twisted and turned the lock of her locker before opening it. She was pulling out her government textbook before sneezing again. Alicia groaned after she sneezed for the fifth time today.
She didn’t think that her constant sneeze was never going to end.
Then the school bell ranged.
Chapter 2
At the school library, Alicia was trying to study every class to pass her final, but she has been doing was sneezing. Her throat was killing her. She thought it was another case of Hypochondria, a condition where people thought there’s something wrong with them when there isn’t.
Alicia wasn’t the only person in the library, besides the school librarian, Mrs. Rhodes. Mr. Phillips, the 11th grade history whom Alicia and her friends had a year ago came in to discuss their final in a library.
  As Mr. Phillips and his class entered the library, Alicia was so tired, she went out cold. Her nose began to sound congested, her throat was killing her, and her body was aching. It looked like she was suffering more than just a sore throat.
“Alicia, are you okay?” Mr. Phillips asked, being concerned. Alicia came around, unaware that she slept. “Huh?” she asked confused.
There was a germ-infected drool on the table, Alicia was sitting at. She had trouble clearing her nose.
“Sorry, I must’ve dosed off.”
 Mrs. Rhodes came to Alicia’s table to see what the commotion was. Her library was used as a study hall for students who are studying for upcoming exams, pop quizzes, and of course… Finals Week. Alicia’s desk had a small pool of germ-infected drool. She wiped her mouth and saw the germy drool and asked Mrs. Rhodes if she has a Kleenex.
“Are you okay, Alicia?” Mrs. Rhodes asked her, in a calm, nurturing voice.
“Yeah, I… uh… drooled on your desk. Sorry about that.”
Nikki walked in the library during study time. She looked trendy as always today, wearing a mustard-color tank, floral-print jeans, and brown heel sandals.
“Hey, you look like hell, girl,” Nikki complimented. Alicia’s eyes looked weak like she was tired. Nikki felt Alicia’s forehead. She didn’t have a fever, but her nose sounded congested and her tongue was pasted to the roof of her mouth. Nikki begins to suggest that Alicia was really sick.
Alicia began to sneeze three times.
Nikki back away from her best friend, fearing that she’ll catch whatever Alicia has.
“Damn, Nikki. I feel like hell, I look like hell, and worst of all, I can’t breathe through both of my nostrils!”
While getting ready for school, Alicia hid her tired, weak eyes with smoky eye makeup from Rimmel.
“I always knew you hated studying, but I don’t think you’re illness will get you out of finals week.”
“If I don’t pass finals, I’m doomed! I’ll never graduate nor travel to Los Angeles and become a pop star!”
Alicia knew how important it was to pass every class of the first semester, but she wasn’t feeling up to it. She was sneezing constantly, she couldn’t breathe through her nose, and she was miserable as hell.
In Mr. Gates’ Government class, Kristy had her eyes on the books, but her eyes almost paid attention to her ex-boyfriend, Josh Wright. He was the male counterpart of Kristy, an athletic basketball player with fast, slick moves. But unlike Kristy, Josh was a twin. He was two minutes younger than his identical twin brother, Matt who was crushed on by Kristy’s friend, Nikki. Both the Wright brother had all the Wright looks. They had dirty-blonde hair, stunning blue eyes, and dress up in different clothes so that the girls of Silver Hills High could tell them apart.
“Hey, Kris,” Josh whispered to her as this was a time for studying and not talk.
“Hey, Josh. How’ve you been?” she asked quickly.
“Okay. My mom is ragging on me to pass finals, otherwise I’m off the basketball team.”
Yep, Josh was the male counterpart of Kristy. Both into basketball and both are determined to pass finals.
Kristy and Josh dated after being set up by Nikki, so she can date Josh’s brother.
Nikki and Matt didn’t hit it off, but Josh really like Kristy. Matt on the other hand was crushing on Sierra Jennings, but never mentioned it to anyone, not even his own brother.
As Mr. Gates was going through finals, Kristy and Josh wasted no time but to copy down notes they need to pass Government finals.
Across from the classroom, Amy Hunter and her cousin, Allison Holmes weren’t thrilled about finals week either, and weren’t thrilled that the Wright brothers would be interested in a tomboyish loser like Kristy Castelli and a blonde freak-show like Nikki Merrick. Kristy, Nikki, and their friends Alicia and Sierra weren’t not friends with the cousins and were never will be. Sierra thought of Amy and Allison as the snob cousins; Alicia thought of Amy as a mean bitch; and Kristy thought of Allison is the brainless cousin with tacky makeup and bad hair. Amy had medium-length blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and a 5’5 slender frame, while Allison had shoulder-length brunette hair, brown eyes, and a 5’4 petite frame.
“They couldn’t be such idiots,” Kristy whispered in Nikki’s ear. “What kind of a idiot would put on makeup during a session?” She asked as Nikki applied light pink lip gloss to her soft pink lips.
“Nikki?!”
“What?”
Kristy laid her head down in disdain. She thought Amy and Allison were just idiots, but Nikki was a bigger idiot. But Kristy never said anything to Nikki. She was her long-time best friend and somewhat arch-enemy. But the arch-enemy thing ended years ago.
Kristy scanned her eyes on the page of her Government textbook, reading what Mr. Gates had read throughout the first semester.
All the studying was giving Nikki, Amy, and Allison migraines. They weren’t straight-A students, although they get straight-A’s in fashion and beauty stuff.
“If Sierra has Government next period, I’m gonna ask her for help,” Nikki whispered to Kristy.
After Government class ended, the class was immediately dismissed. Kristy held the strap to her navy-blue backpack while going down the steps of Mr. Gates classroom.
“So you’re going to ask Sierra for help?” She asked.
“Duh, she gets straight-A’s in that course, whenever I get a bad grade, I turn to her for help.”
Kristy rolled her eyes and Nikki noticed.
“What?”
“Nikki. When it comes
==Summary History==
*Logan was happy that he finished his exams, and Sierra said that she had one more left.
*They are later attending Ms. Delaney's goodbye party.
==Notes==
*Author Maryam Wells based Alicia's battle with her cold around finals week on her experience. She said that she had a cold during finals week when she was in high school.