One Time Deal

Tutoring Lessons

"Hey, Aiden!" one of my friends, Marco, called me as I was about to grab my backpack. "Come with us. We are going to grab something to eat."

"Can't. Mr. Wolf wants to see me," I groaned in frustration now that I can't go with them. Instead, I'm stuck to see a teacher because of my grades. They are not that bad.

"You should just ditch him," he grinned as I sighed.

"Yeah, but if I don't, he's going to call my parents. I don't want to deal with it twice."

"It's not going to last long, right? Come join us when you're done," he shrugged as I nodded.

"Yeah, will do. The usual place?"

"Yup! Hurry up, okay?" he said before going to join the others outside.

As I trail my feet the whole way to the teachers' office, I stare with envy as the other students rapidly leave the building. I knocked at the door in front of me and waited until someone came to answer.

Mrs. Williams, my English teacher, opens the door. "Aiden, who are you looking for?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mr. Wolf, he asked me to come after school," I answered as she scanned the room to see if he was at his desk.

She nodded and let me through. I avoid the other teachers' stares as I make my way to the man who summoned me. I didn't like him. All the girls fawned over him, saying that he was hot and all that shit, but I found him intimidating. So, I did everything I could to make him dislike me even if he couldn't show it.

"Mr. Wolf," I called as he looked up from the papers he was grading.

"Ah, Aiden. I was expecting you. You can sit," he pointed with his chin to the empty chair next to his desk.

"No, thanks. I'm alright," I rejected his offer.

"Alright, I'll be brief then. At the rate you're going, you'll fail my class. Do you know what it means?"

"I'll repeat a school year?" I answered using the same tone as him, but he ignored it as his eyes darkened as his hand twitched. He was mad.

"Yes, so why aren't you making an effort? You're doing well in all your other classes."

"I just don't understand it. Maths doesn't like me," I shrugged as he sighed.

"You do understand. Here, take a look at this," he took out all the tests and examinations from this year. I failed all of them, but only by a few points. "What do you see?"

"That I suck at math?"

"Don't take me for a fool, Aiden. You know the answers, but you're making mistakes on purpose. Why?" he seriously asked as I stared at the man in front of me, starting to get nervous. How did he know?

"I don't know what you're talking about," I answered, hoping that I didn't seem too nervous.

"As I see it, you need a 73 at the final evaluation to pass my class. With your current effort, it'll be impossible for you to succeed. But I get the feeling that you will because you're good at maths."

I swallowed hard as I fought the urge to look away from the man's intimidating stare. No matter how many times I swallowed, my throat remained dry. After being silent for a few minutes, he started to gather all the papers into a pile.

"Thank you, Aiden. I'll see you every Tuesday and Thursday after school for some tutoring."

"What?" I said incredulously. "You can't do that without me agreeing to that."