The rest of the day was a blur.
I was consumed by my thoughts about Mr. Moore's proposal.
Me tutoring Reese Williams?
I had never had any classes with Reese my entire years of high school, but he was someone you could not miss in the hallways.
His body radiated confidence, something, I admit, I was kind of jealous of every time I saw him. He was taller than average at school, standing a couple of inches over six feet; it seemed that his height and in-shape body just added to his ego. He had dark hair, which contrasted with his gorgeous green eyes, making them appear brighter.
Reese Williams was a total mystery. He was well-known and definitely had a reputation following him around. Rumors about him were not uncommon, and most of the time, they supported the image of the bad boy type he was trying to achieve.
But all those things were just rumors.
I never liked to judge people. Literally, my entire anxiety in school and my inability to make friends was out of fear of being judged by others, so how could it be fair that I did it on my account as well?
No matter the type of rumors spreading or the remarks I could grasp from gossip, I never let them change my perspective on people. I viewed it as unfair and inaccurate. Who were these people to tell someone's story when the person they are talking about knows themselves best?
Everyone had a clean slate with me.
Definitely sounding like a pick-me girl right now.
But it's true. I could only make up my mind about people after they, themselves, talked to me because I would hate people making their minds up about me from what others had to say even if they had never spoken to me.
I lived by the golden rule.
Treat others the way you want to be treated.
Coming from Mr. Moore, it seems as if Reese's situation was critical if he agreed to take on tutoring. It means he cared about graduating.
What if his parents are looking forward to seeing him walking across the stage?
I couldn't be the one to take that moment away from him or them. What if that were me in that situation? I would totally take anything that could give me a chance of succeeding.
As I exited the school doors, I caught sight of him and his two other close friends, Dante and Giovanni, hanging out by their cars in the parking lot.
Even being as popular as he was, always surrounded by a crowd, it seemed that every time I caught a glimpse of him, he was empty inside. But he seemed the happiest when he was with Dante and Giovanni.
As I held my gaze on Reese and his friends like the creep that I am, I crashed right into a body similar to mine. "What the hell Aurora. Watch where you're going," the voice of none other than Stacy Brown cried away.
"I'm so sorry," I quickly replied, helping her pick up the books she dropped. I looked up back to Reese and his friends, only to see them looking right at us.
Oh great.
Stacy Brown was the popular girl around school. She was like the mean girl cliche in every Wattpad story I read. Yeah, she might send others condescending stares and have a bitchy attitude, but this girl was beautiful. No one could deny her attractive features. I wondered what it was like to walk around with her face.
Weird thought Aurora.
Her gaze looked back to the direction I had been looking, catching me staring at the three guys. "Get a life," she scoffed at me. She walked toward Reese, turning around to meet my eyes again as she gave each of them a hug.
It was her way of reminding me where my presence was at school.
I've had other encounters with Stacy, it was nothing out of the usual. But surprisingly, I was not as intimidated despite my strong anxiety.
I was used to her sour tone. I would hate to know that she was so mean just because that's how she came to be, which is why I liked to think she was like this from some difficult past experiences. So I stayed away from her.
I turned away from them and continued on my walk home, again wandering about Reese.
What could I possibly lose from tutoring him anyway? I would be helping him while I could be receiving extra community service hours. Maybe I could even improve my ability to communicate with others of a different social group than me.
But then I thought about the moment I would be actually tutoring. Attractive people intimidated me, and I had to admit Reese definitely fit in this category.
I would not even be able to form a cohesive sentence during our tutoring sessions. The amount of stuttering, hand shaking, and sweating would be horrific to live through.
Like he cares about you Aurora.
He probably would view these tutoring sessions just as any other academic thing and would only view me as his tutor anyway.
God, why was I overcomplicating this more than what it is?
Today's walk home seemed shorter than usual. I stepped inside and found my dad scrambling around for his keys.
"What are you doing here, dad?" I asked him as he turned the house upside down.
"Hey honey, I just forgot some papers, and I need them for a meeting, which I am going to be late to if I do not leave right now," he responded nervously.
"Do you mean these?" I asked, pointing to some stack of papers on the kitchen counter.
"Yes!" he replied, relieved. "What would I do without you Rory?" he told me.
"Nothing," I replied, laughing softly.
"There are leftovers from yesterday in the fridge if you're hungry, or you can order a pizza," he told me as he headed towards the door, "There's money on the counter. See you tonight!"
"Bye Dad," I said as the door closed.
After fixing up the messy living room left by my mid-life crisis dad, I went to my room and caught up on some homework, leaving me with the majority of the afternoon to myself.
I began rewatching the Vampire Diaries for my fifth time this year.
Maybe Stacy was right. I need to get a life.
Imagine being Elena and having two guys looking like that fighting over you.
Does that even happen in real life?
As I continued watching, I still found myself somewhat thinking back to tutoring.
I knew what I would respond to Mr. Moore with on Friday.
