If at first you don't succeed, then level the playing field and take a second chance.
Two years ago, Ellie Harrison collapsed under the weight of her past and the fallout that caught up with her. Like a shell of her former self, she retreated away f...
"Hi Kade," I offered the tall, stocky guy who looked up to me with a grin as I slid into a seat across from him. "Got the message."
"Yeah, sorry," his dark brown eyes flashed with slight remorse and his grin faded. "I just know I'll be having trouble in my English writing class, so I put in for a tutor early."
"No problem," I assured him and set my bag down on the floor next to my chair. "What's your first assignment?"
"Ahh, actually would you mind sitting next to me?" He pointed down at the open notebook in front of him, which had a few lines scribbled on it already. "I started but it's total shit."
"I doubt that," I assured him as I stood up, walked around one of the giant, thick tables in the library's upstairs room where I held all my tutoring sessions, and took the seat next to him. "Let's see."
I glanced down at his notebook, which had some leading sentences that looked like he attempted to write an exposition essay on...
"Assisted reproductive technology?" I couldn't have lifted my eyebrows higher at the subject.
Kade shrugged his large shoulders, then ran one hand through his jet-black hair and offered, "We were told to pick a subject out of our comfort zone."
"Okay then..." I skimmed over his only complete sentence with a neutral expression, although his injected opinions about 'natural parents' twitched my mouth sideways. "I guess this is a start but instead of just opinions, you should provide some more context of the problem, including the background which I assume are the underlying causes of why people need this, and reference some scientific papers or at least medical opinions to back up your claims."
He sat back in his seat in silence. Only his eyes moved while they darted over his own words. I'd helped Kade last year but the guy's ego could've filled this entire space. Just the fact he'd asked for assistance so early in the semester was progress but he still had a few bites of humble pie left.
"Can you help me with that?" He asked quietly, almost timidly.
"Of course, good thing you have someone who works in a library." I smiled what I hoped looked encouraging and, by the way his hunched up shoulders relaxed slightly, he believed me at least somewhat. His eyes widened with confusion when I stood up, grabbed my backpack, then waved for him to follow me.
"Journals," was all I said and led him out of the study room.
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More information about artificial inseminations and invitro fertilizations that I had no idea about prior to our research, Kade had enough that he'd removed his personal opinions from his essay and finished a rough draft. I told him he still needed it cleaned up, at least to where the paragraphs flowed together better, but I offered to read it again before he handed it in Friday.
"I'll email you the final draft, thanks Ellie," his deep voice softened with humility. While I hadn't expected we delved into the inner workings of male and female reproductive anatomy, he'd taken the assignment seriously. He put in the time and effort and I couldn't have asked for more.
