The Pact
Chapter 2

Jack groaned, rolling over as he pressed the snooze button, silencing the alarm that had jarred him from his sleep. Opening his eyes, it took him a few minutes to process the time on the clock, 8:00.

“Shit.” Launching out of bed he quickly put on some clean clothes, grabbed a piece of gum, pens and paper, rushing to get out the door. “I’m going to be late, on the day for finals!”

Not even bothering himself with the elevator, he launched himself at the stairs, flying down to the ground floor before ramming himself through the door to the outside. Now at an all-out run, Jack raced down the sidewalks, not even trying to dodge the other pedestrians as he made his way to the business building. Before he knew it he was standing in front of the mighty pillars guarding the front entrance to his own personal hell. Not even stopping to consider how oddly fast he arrived here, Jack rocketed down the hall, accidentally knocking an unfortunate T.A. to the ground, scattering all the tests she had been carrying. As she yelled obscenities, Jack turned into the stairwell and sprinted up the stairs one flight, before running out into the next hall. After a few more turns he dived into his classroom, just before the professor began making her way to the door to shut it.

“Cutting it a little close are we Mr. Raleigh?” Dr. Carter needled. Dr. Renee Carter was perhaps one of the most brilliant and beautiful business minds in the Western Hemisphere, often hired by large corporations to make them more efficient and keep their costs more manageable. Her curly chocolate brown locks framed a face that looked as if it was chiseled out of marble by Michelangelo, both because of how beautiful, and pale, it was and because of her frigid exterior. Though her face was not her best feature by far, this would have to go to either her large C-cup breast or her delicious ass. Looking at her it would be easy to believe the rumors that she more than slept with over half her clientele.

As Jack took his seat rather sheepishly, Dr. Carter began to pass out the test, speaking as she did so, “As most of you know, I am a well-respected individual in the business world and teach a few of the upper level courses in the business college. Most of you have found it strange than, that I would also teach this beginning class. I have kept my reasons to myself for the semester, but as it draws to an end, I will now tell you. It is because I cannot trust anyone else but myself to do this job to my satisfaction, one of the main reasons why I probably would never make it with my own business in the real world. This class not only serves to weed out those who should not be here,” at this point Dr. Carter glared at a few individuals in the room, including Jack as she continued, “but also to identify those with some real potential to ensure those students get the mentoring and experience they need. You all know who you are. My decisions are pretty much final on who will be invited to take some of the elite invitation only business elective classes offered, but they are not set in stone. Surprise me. You may now begin your final.”

Letting Dr. Carter’s words sink in, Jack felt the crushing blow of failure descending upon him, settling into his gut like a stone. He knew he would never get to take those classes, hell, he probably is about to flunk out. With a sigh resembling that of a man on death row, Jack opened his test and blinked. And blinked again. He read the first question one more time to make sure he read it right and grinned. He actually knew it! He could remember studying it with Helen, and even when they learned it in class. Suddenly it felt like all that studying paid off, as everything seemed to click into place as he began to understand the material, breezing through the test as if it was just asking him to write his name. He remembered and could apply his knowledge to every question that was thrown at him. Before long, Jack finished the test, looking up to realize that only an hour had passed, and that he was the only one done.