𝚃𝙴𝙴𝙽𝙰𝙶𝙴 𝙳𝙸𝚁𝚃𝙱𝙰𝙶 ,, high&low

chapter two | jump around

two

jump around

"So you're Murayama Yoshiki? I thought you'd be taller."

Murayama sighed "Yes, we get it. I'm short."

"And this is the infamous Oya High?" I continued, taking in my surroundings. The classroom had been completely trashed, all the desks and chairs in a giant heap towards the middle of the room. "It's a shithole."

The boy laughed, throwing a tennis ball in the air "Yeah, well, it's home."

He lived here?

"I'm Midori, the literature tutor. I totally get that literature isn't your thing, but the sooner you pass the quicker you get out of this hell and get a real job."

"Being a leader is a real job." He protested, flinging the tennis ball out the window

I carefully pulled a chair out of the precarious heap and set myself up next to Murayama. I could feel his eyes boring into my back as I pulled out my pencilcase. I could hear fighting and shouting wafting up through the floor. My leg was bouncing a mile a minute as I cleared my throat and reached for the book on Murayama's desk.

"Lord of the Flies? God, no wonder you haven't passed lit yet. This book is awful."

"Words make my brain hurt." The dark haired boy sighed, tilting his head towards the ceiling. "They gave me the money to pay you, so can we just pretend that I understand?"

I laughed "We can't do that, because I have less of a life than you think. This is the only way I'd probably leave my house."

Murayama perked up. "I thought they said you were in college?"

"Construction engineering. Other than that, I don't leave the house too often anymore." Not since what happened with Doubt.

"I think your main issue is that you hate the book." I diverted the conversation. "They tried to make me read A Tale of Two Cities in my junior year. After two chapters I used the hardcover copy to hit one of the guys from Sannoh."

Murayama laughed "So what do you suggest we do?"

"Well, since your homework is on Lord of the Flies there isn't actually much I can do except tell you to use SparkNotes. You're supposed to write an essay on symbolism within the text, which might be hard if you don't actually read the book." I mused, flipping through the crumpled pages of the handout. "What I can do is proofread and format and tell you that it sucks. As a tutor I'm not supposed to really say this, but SparkNotes is going to make your life far easier."

"They're paying you fifteen dollars an hour for that?" Murayama scoffed "Wow, you are so overpaid."

"I will slap you." I chuckled "I will go through my bookshelf when I get home and see if I can find something I think you'll like. But for the most part, I bullshitted my way through high school lit. Either you get it or you don't, and the teacher doesn't help."