Snapshots of Stories

Chp 1 - Leave Me Alone

It was a typical Monday to begin with. Miles had English first, his favourite class, where they were discussing the book they are supposed to read over the coming weeks, Burial Rites by Hannah Kent. Miles is an avid book reader, loving to escape into different realities where he doesn't have to think about his own problems. But just because he enjoys English doesn't mean it's his best class. Miles is a top student who does well in all of his classes (he even manages to pass PE) but the one he is the most naturally good at is probably Maths. Which is somewhat lucky for Miles, since he hates the subject and doesn't ever want to study it but because of his natural talent he still somehow manages to not only pass the class but top it, every time. Much to the annoyance of the other top students who study very hard to beat him. Miles almost feels bad for them whenever they look disappointed at not receiving the top mark on an exam, that is before he remembers he doesn't have time to feel sorry for other people, he should feel sorry for himself instead.

After English class the day passed by pretty quickly with nothing unusual happening. Miles sat by himself in every class and when it came time for recess and lunch he would spend the mandatory time in the cafeteria before disappearing into the library. It was just after he left the library on his way to his last class that Mr. Walsh, his maths teacher, came up to him and asked to see him after school. Miles agreed quickly and went on his way. But he wasn't able to focus in class, too busy worrying over what it is Mr. Walsh wanted to speak to him about. When the bell rang he got up and packed his things away quickly, rushing to Mr. Walsh's office in hopes of getting it over with quickly. As he entered the room he was forced to stop in his tracks, frozen in place at the sight of the person standing in front of Mr. Walsh's desk. Jake Hollander. One of the most attractive and popular guys at his school. What is he doing here? Miles wondered with a confused expression on his face. Mr. Walsh noticed him standing by the doorway and motioned for him to come in.

"Ah, there you are Miles!" Mr. Walsh greeted with a smile on his face.

"Sorry I'm late sir." Miles mumbled timidly in response, looking anywhere but at Jake.

"No worries, no worries. I was just talking to Mr. Hollander here about his grades." Mr. Walsh paused and raised a suggestive eyebrow at Jake who merely responded with a scoff before turning to look out the window. Miles couldn't help but feel like he had intruded.

"Oh, um, I- I can wait outside then." he turned to leave the room but Mr. Walsh stopped him.

"No need for that, I was intending to talk to you about the same thing," Miles started panicking at the teacher's words. What does he mean? He wants to talk about my grades? What's wrong with them?!

"So, Miles, do you remember when I mentioned finding an alternative means to make up the extra credits you'll need for the scholarship?" Miles breathed a sigh of relief and nodded as he remembered their previous conversation last term about the scholarship requirements. So he just wants to talk about that... But why is Jake here?

"Well, I've found your alternative means!" Mr. Walsh said excitedly as he gestured to Jake. Miles frowned as he didn't understand what the teacher was proposing.

"Mr. Hollander is currently very close to failing my class, however, he needs at least a passing grade to continue playing on the basketball team, so, Coach Sanders has become quite concerned, what with the regional competition coming up so soon and everything," Mr. Walsh started to explain and Miles had a bad feeling about where this was heading. "And you also need to find some way to make up extra credits for my class, so I, being the genius that I am, found a way to solve both problems in one go!" Mr. Walsh paused for dramatic effect.

"Would you just get on with it? Some people have places to be you know?" Jake said, obviously irritated. And though he didn't voice his opinion, Miles agreed with Jake. His shift at the convenience store started in about two hours and he still had to go home and make dinner for himself and his dad.

"Calm down, I'm getting there. My solution is... to have you, Miles, tutor Jake!" Mr. Walsh looked expectantly at the two. Surprisingly, Miles was the first to respond.

"I'm sorry sir but I can't do that. I- I don't have the time." Mr. Walsh was shocked that his favourite and best student had turned him down but it wasn't completely unexpected as he knew the boy didn't like interacting, let alone working, with others. Jake was even more stunned than Mr. Walsh. He'd always been an extremely popular boy, with everyone always wanting to be his friend or get closer to him. He'd never had someone so blatantly reject his company before. Not that he was going to agree in the first place either but at this sudden change of events, his refusal got stuck in his throat and he instead found himself saying,

"I'm okay with it." he said shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly.

Miles turned to him astonished, "B-but-"

"That's great! See Miles, even Jake agrees! This is definitely the best solution for both of you. There aren't any math competitions coming up and I can't think of any other way of getting you that extra credit." Mr. Walsh knew that he could convince Miles to do it if he was persistent enough but he thought Jake was going to be even harder to convince. Now that Jake has just served himself up on a silver platter he can use him to pressure Miles into agreeing even quicker! This was fantastic!

"So what do you say Miles?" Both Mr. Walsh and Jake turned to look at him with their questioning eyes. Miles couldn't handle the attention and turned his eyes to the floor. While having an intense staring contest with his shoes he went over all his options and their pros and cons. If he was to tutor Jake he'd probably have to cut back on his shifts at the convenience store meaning less monthly income, but on the other hand he really needed this extra credit to get the scholarship funds. Miles frantically tried to make up his mind and when he finally came to a decision he looked up and said with his non-existent confidence,

"I'll do it."

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A/N

Sooo I got a bit carried away writing the prologue hehe, so I thought I would write the first chapter as well 😊 

This is the place where I test out my ideas and writing skills so please comment your thoughts/suggestions and vote if you like it! 

That's it for now... See you next time 💕