Feelings at Bay

Chapter 3

The school day had finally ended. Amy watched as students dashed to make last minute adjustments to their backpacks as the more astute ones walked away homeward bound. Before she knew it, her friends had disappeared as she passed by the school's protective gate. Walking on her own, she started the journey back to her apartment.

After a while, the crowd of students faded away as she took several turns to get back home. The market soon came into view. There she saw several adults attempting to barter with uninterested stall keepers. She kept walking on.

A lone cat scurried past her. She caught of glimpse of its majestic black fur and emerald eyes before it dashed out of sight. She kept walking on.

Sitting on the steps of her new dwelling place was her mother. As she approached, the woman got up and followed her inside. After being interrogated about her day, she began getting homework assignments taken care of.

"Hey, for the next few weeks I've got to take care of business things out of town. Unfortunately, you're going to have to be by yourself here. Unless you can somehow get a bunch of friends to take care of you, you're on your own."

"I don't think anyone'll be willing to do that on such short notice."

"Well, give someone a call. It's not like they would just ignore you."

"We'll see what happens."

Thanks for being so supportive.

Whatever her mother had to do, it was important enough to drop everything. Instead of fighting it, she decided to just go along with it. Maybe those girls would be able to help her out...

. . .

Emily opened the door, the noise from the other students outside having already dissipated. Stepping inside and closing the door, she looked at her new instructor.

"So, you're the special girl who needs help? I should've figured as much."

Matthew placed one hand on his cheek and gently tapped the desk with his other one. He hadn't even gone through the trouble to get out of his gym uniform.

"Were you expecting one of the other girls? Maybe even one of your friends?"

He rolled his eyes and motioned to an empty desk.

"How much are they paying you for this?"

"So, you're struggling with essays and the like? Guess we can start there..."

"Hey are you even listening to me? I asked you what they did to drag you into this. Did you even know it would be me?"

'Wasn't the whole point of this arrangement to keep it a secret from everyone?"

She responded by trying to read his motives. Maybe he was just drafted into this because his grades were high? There's no way he would go along without some incentive; it's not like they were friends or anything.

"What about the other girls? Aren't they looking for you?"

"I'll answer your questions later. Let's get something done first."

"You can't possibly be serious..."

After not getting a response, she sighed and gave in. The experience was a pain. At first, he struggled to figure out where she had left off with her grade's curriculum, which was different from his. After that was cleared up, they spent more time arguing than getting actual work done.

"I know all this stuff already; I'm not in first grade, for crying out loud!"

"If you don't understand the basic stuff, how are you supposed to get the more complicated crap like diagraming and essays?"

"Is it my fault they keep adding new abbreviations for parts of a sentence. When I was younger, it was just a subject and a verb!"

"Hey, grandma, that was for the simplest forms of sentences. This is-"

"What?"

"Oh, I get it. You want to start with the big stuff instead. Get out a sheet of paper. We're trying something else."

This also led to an argument after she had completed the exercise.

"What's wrong with it? You said write two paragraphs about anything I wanted."

"Your sentence structure is off. You failed to indent. Your handwriting is sloppy."

She stopped listening after that. There was very little time left; she just had to wait out the clock. Her tormentor seemed to hate this as much as she did, which felt nice to witness.

Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.

Hurry up already!

"Hey, there's not much time left. Wanna try talking again?"

What? Why was he suddenly giving up? If this was her chance to get information, she was going to go on the offensive.

"How did you get wrapped up in all of this? What's in it for you?"

"Not much. The principal called me awhile back and told me what was going to happen. He asked if I was willing to help you; I said yes, and now, here we are. Don't worry; I won't say anything to anyone about this. I've already been instructed to keep quiet about it. Not that I care or anything, but that's just how it is."

So, you knew it was me and still agreed to do it.

"You wouldn't have liked any of the other options either, so calm yourself."

"Yeah, but you of all people?"

"Other option is summer school."

"Fine! Whatever, I guess I'll see you tomorrow then..."

Emily ran down the hallway once she escaped the room.

The fresh breeze helped her regain her morale. The last thing she wanted to do was deal with this guy every day. Unfortunately, she had no choice. She kept walking on.

. . .

"You need a place to stay, huh?" Jordan asked as the girls met up with Amy.

"Yeah. Sorry for it being so sudden, but I just found out yesterday."

"Hey, no biggie! We could all go to my place after school." She suggested.

"Absolutely! Let's invite the guys as well!" Julianna exclaimed.

"Even Emily?" Amy questioned.

"Why not. You don't mind, right Jordan?"

"If John goes, you know she will be there too." Jordan said.

Eventually, they met up with Matthew and John. The former seemed a little hesitant to go after school, but after their begging, he gave in. Amy couldn't help but notice that he looked exhausted. They had made eye contact for a second, but he just brushed off her concerned look. She didn't mind; she was just thankful to have somewhere to go.

A sleepover awaited her tomorrow.