The Tutor

Part 2

For their second session, Camila managed to make it on time. Unlike last time, when her friend Dinah asked her to go to join her at her locker, Camila said no. She wasn't going to be late again because she noticed that Lauren seemed a bit annoyed last time.

Camila walked into the tutoring center a few minutes after the bell and saw Lauren sitting at the same table as last time.

"Hey Karla," Lauren shook her head quickly, "Sorry - Camila."

Camila laughed, "It's fine," She smiled, "I'm not late this time," Camila joked. Lauren cracked a smile and nodded in agreement, "Guess what."

"What?"

"I got a 75 on my matrices test!" Camila smiled, showing her teeth, but Lauren didn't seem impressed, "This is a good grade for me."

Lauren smiled and tried to be supportive, "No, yeah! This is great! I'm happy for you!" Lauren cleared her throat, "So . . . what are we working on today?"

"Piecewise functions." Lauren made a face, "What?"

"Sorry," Lauren rubbed her temple, "I just had war flashbacks."

Camila giggled, "What?"

"Mrs. Spears last year and piecewise functions were a nightmare for me."

"Oh my god! You had Mrs. Spears?" Camila almost jumped out of her chair, "Me too! She was the worst!"

"She was genuinely a terrible teacher," Lauren shook her head, recalling memories of her time with Mrs. Spears.

"My friend Dinah is really good at math, and even she hated that class."

"I don't know how she's still a teacher," Lauren sighed, "But we need to start working."

Camila wiped an invisible tear from her eye, "Okay, I'm ready."

Lauren opened up her textbook to find practice questions on piecewise functions. The two of them were working on a problem when Lauren's phone buzzed. She received a text. While Lauren was reading the message, Camila noticed her lock screen photo.

"Is that you with Niall Horan?" Camila had her hand over her mouth when Lauren looked up, smiling shyly.

"Yeah," She giggled, "I went to Ireland a few months ago and met him."

"Lucky you! What was he like?"

Lauren put down her pencil and giggled, "He was really nice. He said he liked our accents."

"Our?"

"I went with my best friend, Dinah."

"Fun," Camila flipped her hair over her shoulder, "Back in the day, Harry was my favorite," Camila sighed, "I know, I was basic."

Lauren shook her head, "No, I get it. He was my favorite too. I loved his aura."

"I know what you mean. That man was weird, but he was also so calming. It was kinda weird."

"I agree."

"His buns though!" Camila shrieked, "I have a whole folder on my phone dedicated to Harry Styles and his long hair."

"Really?" Lauren laughed in surprise, "I love that so much."

"I loved his little ringlets."

"My favorite were the Dutch braids."

Camila pointed at her in agreement, "I completely forgot about those! Iconic!"

Lauren laughed, "We need to get back to work though."

Camila rolled her eyes playfully, "That's no fun." Lauren just shrugged apologetically.

~

Ever since Lauren began tutoring Karla, she's been late to lunch. The tutoring center is all the way in the basement, but her locker is on the third floor and then the cafeteria is back in the basement. It's been almost five minutes since the bell when Lauren finally approaches her lunch table. She sits beside Lucy , in her usual seat. Lauren is greeted by a chorus of 'hellos' before conversation continues at the table.

"Guess where I'm gonna be this weekend," Vero singsongs. Vero's the type to always be on some type of diet and, as of late, she's been trying the Keto Diet for the past few weeks, and today she's eating an interesting looking taco. She claims to have lost ten pounds, but she still looks the same. Besides, Lauren knows by next month she'll be on a different diet.

"Hamptons?"

"Poconos?"

"Home?" Alexa joked.

"No," Vero rolled her eyes, "Trump's coming to town and he's having a rally."

"Is he really?" Alexa looked up from her computer, intrigued.

"Yup," Bethany smirked, "My whole family's going."

Everyone quickly began to make plans to join her, but Lauren wasn't too sure she wanted to join. She was never a fan of Donald Trump, despite him being the president of choice for most of the people around her. However, she's never actually voiced her opposition to him. She might get disowned.

"Laur? You coming?" Lucy pushed Lauren's shoulder.

Lauren shook her head, "I don't know if I'll have a ride."

Alexa snorted, "I can drive you."

"Same here," Vero piped up."

"Me too," Lucy chuckled, "Don't you wanna go?"

Lauren pushed out a laugh, "Of course!"