Chapter 2

James

Working with John proved to be a lot harder than I thought. In the past twenty minutes, it had taken all I could not to shove a fist in his face, alongside that best friend of his. They've been communicating in eye contact the whole time and laughing. It's obvious they're mocking me, but I don't care. All I care about is chemistry, and he's not ready to let me concentrate at all, and that's where I draw the line.

"I'm afraid this isn't working out for me, Mr. Turner," I call out.

Mr. Turner turns in my direction, looking like he can't stand my bickering for one more second. "What isn't working, Mr. Riverra?" He asks, playing oblivious to the reason for my objecting to his class.

"I can't work with John. He's an asshole, and he won't let me concentrate on this class," I say irritated.

"First of all, mind your language in my class, Riverra. Secondly, you'll keep working with John till the end of this class," Mr. Turner retorts.

"He's pissing me off a lot more at this point. I don't know why he's being so extremely difficult," I continue.

"You know I can't, and you don't care about that. Of course, you don't believe that people like me can amount to anything, so why to bother about good grades?" I said to him angrily.

The class grows quiet afterward, and Mr. Turner looks like he's about to punch me. Instead, he goes for something else.

"James. How about we continue this conversation in the principal's office where you can express your thoughts on how I feel about my students, and let's hear what he says to that?" He heads out immediately and says this, and I have no choice but to follow him.

I don't get why he's so angry. I've never seen him this angry before, and it's starting to scare me. Maybe I did cross the line a little bit.

"Wait, Mr. Turner..." I'm running to catch up with him, but he's moving so fast like he can't wait to get to Principal Paul. Then he's mumbling something about his career.

"I've taught chemistry since you were in the first grade. I've always looked out for excellence in my students. It's not my fault if two kids of different races tend to work better together. It's also not my fault if that happens to be a reoccurring fact." He's still talking, and I'm trying to interrupt him when we walk into the principal's office.

I see a girl seated there, but I don't have time to look at her face. I'm still trying to make my point known to Mr. Turner, irrespective of Principal Paul's presence.

"All I'm saying is that maybe for once you could change your methods. Maybe you'd notice that it doesn't work the way you..." I continue.

"James Riverra! Shut up and sit down" Mr. Turner says angrily.

I trail the voice to the speaker. Principal Paul is giving me a very stern look now. I take a deep breath and sit next to the girl that's been quiet since I got into the office. She seems like she's seated here, but her mind's quite far away. Now that I'm calm, I look at her properly.

She's not looking at me, but I can still see her features.

She's light-skinned, with long silky blonde hair that trails down to her waist. She looks extremely shy and antisocial. At the same time, she looks like she's lived in luxury and never had to lift a finger for anything her entire life.

She glances at me briefly, like she's scared to look at me. Although it's a quick one, I notice the color of her eyes. Emerald green.

"James," Principal Paul says, clearing his throat. I look up at him. From the way he was looking at me, I could tell I was scrutinizing the blonde a little too intensely. You can't blame me though. For one, she's really pretty.

"It's a good thing you're here actually." He stops and acknowledges Mr. Turner briefly, "Although we'll discuss why you're being a distraction to Mr. Turner's class later, first I want you to meet Kate. She's in your chemistry class as well and has been in this school for as long as you have." He pauses like he's carefully picking out his next words.

"Now here's the thing. She's in her final year, just like you, and would be needing a lot of help with her studies going forward. I couldn't think of any other student who could help her out better than you can right now. I was about to summon you before you came in here actually." He takes off his glasses at this point.

Even Mr. Turner seems to have calmed down. He quietly excuses himself, saying he'd speak with the principal later.

I gulp air down my throat like I'm only just taking in what Principal Paul has just said. I try to wrap my head around why I'm the only person they could have suggested for her. I honestly don't need the extra workload right now so I throw around other suggestions. Like John or Franklin. They're both honor students after all, but the principal dismisses the idea. Something about some bad history between the girl and those guys.

I sit there thinking about the whole arrangement, with this girl whom I barely know, and who has not said a word since I got here.

I tell the principal I'll think about what he's just said and get back to him. I'm expecting him to excuse me, but he doesn't do that immediately. Instead, he calls the attention to Kate, who seems like she's just being jolted back into reality.

***

Kate

What a morning! I'm back in the principal's office, discussing the terms of the arrangement when Mr. Turner walks in and is soon followed by a dark-skinned guy. I'm not exactly staring at him, but his rich baritone voice as he argues gets me.

He doesn't even notice I'm there until Principal Paul shuns him and orders him to sit. Now that he's sitting, I can see him from the corner of my eyes. Shiny cocoa skin and dark long hair he holds in a full ponytail. I could easily mistake him for a cowboy.

I think about learning from him. He seems very outspoken and quite handsome too. Would I be learning or just further distracted?

I'm tempted to look him in the face now. After all, he's been staring me down the whole time. My eyes meet his briefly before I look away, not missing his hazel brown eyes. I'm trying to picture the study session when Principal Paul calls my attention.

"So...Kate. Like I said earlier, I feel this would be good for your grades. James here is an honor student and is academically excellent. Working with him would skyrocket your grades as your dad wants," he's saying to me now.

"You guys can get to know each other after this meeting. Make proper tutoring arrangements, where and when you'll be studying together. Please let me know when you've done both, so I can remember to run a progress check as time goes on."

I haven't even agreed to this yet. I don't even know how James feels about this because I'm certain I'm about to be an unnecessary burden to him.

'Okay' is all I mutter. That's all I've been able to say since I got back to this office.

The bell rings, and we're both excused. Not before Principal Paul encourages us to get to know each other better.

I'm hoping James is outspoken because I don't know how that would happen. We step outside, and James stops in the hallway and runs a hand through his hair, pacing back and forth. I bite my lips and play with my fingers, unsure what to do as I watch him.

He must have noticed he was making me uncomfortable because he stops and acknowledges my presence.

"Hey..." He says again with that rich baritone voice of his. "I'm sorry, I'm just trying to process all of this." He says as if he owes me an explanation.

"It's fine," I say quietly. I turn away from him for a second and turn back. "You know, you don't have to agree if you don't want to. It's just my dad's arrangements, really. Nothing else," I'm saying this more audibly now.

The last thing I need is for someone to feel obligated to help me when they don't want to.

He looks like he doesn't want to hurt my feelings, so he's trying to choose his words carefully.

"That's not it. I'm just...it just sort of came unexpectedly, really. I'd need to think about it and see how it fits into my schedule. Then maybe we can talk about it further and know what the next step is." He pauses, gulps down a bit of air, and continues. "Is that okay with you, Kate?"

"Yeah. Sure." He acts like I have a choice in the matter.

We both exchange contacts afterward, and he makes to leave. I stand there, watching him as he walks away briskly like he can't wait to be out of sight already. I take a deep breath, and my stomach growls. I'm starting to feel hungry.

It's been such a long morning, and at this point, I just want to be home in my room already. I make way for the cafeteria. I need to eat immediately or I'd break down from all of this.

***

James

I hurry away from her after we exchanged contacts. I honestly just needed to sit and think. Rather, I needed to speak to Sarah.

I text her to meet me at the basketball court. I think about everything that has happened today while I wait for her.

Something tells me that tutoring this girl is more of an opportunity for me than it would be for her. From the way Principal Paul talked about her dad, it seems like she's from a family with wealth and good connections. That could be beneficial to me. Not that I plan to leech on her or something.

The relationship would just be mutually beneficial to both of us. I could have a lot of help with college and my career view. I look up to see Sarah walking toward me.

"Hey, you," she says as she catches up with me. "Are you okay? You look stressed about something," she says, sitting on the floor next to me.

"Well, it's been quite a day honestly. I kinda am stressed about something though," I add.

"It sure has. With you trying to play activist in chemistry class and all. You pushed it too far with Mr. Turner this time, you know," she says.

"Yeah, I know. But he gets on my nerves too," I say in my defense.

"Uh-huh. Just let him be a teacher, James. He has his ways, and so do you. But it's his classroom, not yours." She pauses like she's trying to make sure what she just said sinks in. "Anyways, what are you kinda stressed about?" She asks, changing the topic. I take several seconds to think about how I'd say it to her.

"Turns out Principal Paul wants me to tutor a girl from our chemistry class. I'm not sure why he picked me though. I'm also not sure if I want to do it or not."

I don't know what that look was on Sarah's face. She frowns a little, then straightens up, obviously thinking of what to say next.

"Oh. What girl is it?" She asks.

"Her name is Kate. She's in our chemistry class. She's been in this school since junior high, and I'm surprised I don't know her." I look at Sarah, and she doesn't seem surprised at the mention of Kate's name. Rather her mood turns sour.

"I do. She dated John Goldberg in her sophomore year. Well, until a scandal broke out, and he leaked explicit pictures of her. She hasn't related with anyone in school since then though. But I heard she's a rich daddy's girl. You sure you wanna be hanging with some spoiled kid for hours after school?"

I sigh. Kate doesn't seem like the kind. Aside from her perfectly manicured hands and clothes that seem so casual yet classy, it took Principal Paul's hint before I could tell her financial status. I don't say this to Sarah though. It might be too early to judge.

"Well, John's an asshole, so I'm not surprised. Well, spoiled kid or not, I have a feeling I'd benefit from this arrangement. College is around the corner. Who knows, her dad might be able to help give me a smooth start with my applications or even offer me financial support or something," I reply to her. Sarah's eyeing me suspiciously now though.

"Oh, James. You want to use her. How evil of you," she teases me.

"I'm not being evil if I'm also helping her in return. It's just a transactional thing," I defend myself once more. Even if I'm right.

Sarah nods. "Okay, if you put it that way." We get up and get going.

I'm still pondering on what Sarah just told me about Kate, and I'm wondering if she might be right. Not that, that's an issue though. I don't exactly see Kate as anyone but an opportunity for me.

If it works out, then I'd be benefiting from it. By now, my mind's almost made up already.

I smile at the thought of what this would mean for me as I pull out my phone and text Kate.

"Hey. It's James," that's all I say.

I don't want to seem so desperate. The last thing I need is for her to sense a lot of eagerness in me right now. I don't want this to be more than a tutor/student relationship.

I part ways with Sarah and head home, anticipating tomorrow.