Because He's My Crush

14 - Out of It

I stared dreadfully at the clock on the wall, waiting for the teacher to come and start the class. Not the usual math class with the others, if you're wondering. This was the new one which mom had arranged for me, hiring a private tutor to teach me at home on the same day at the same time the previous math class was held. I guess she really didn't want me to make friends with anyone again.

Just as I heaved a deep sigh, we heard a car pull over at our house and mom went out of the door with her signature smile to greet the lady that was coming towards the front door. She seemed very young and really pretty too. I could barely hear her voice when she talked with mom before coming inside the house, smiling at me kindly. I returned the gesture as sincere as possible.

"This is Ms. Alicia and she will be your math tutor from today." Mom introduced the young woman to me.

"Nice to meet you Summer." Alicia beamed and I muttered a 'you too' back at her before we proceeded to my study room and mom left us alone.

"So shall we start?" Alicia got right to the point as soon as we were seated and I nodded my head positively, opening my text book to the lesson I couldn't complete at Mrs. Moore's class. I showed Alicia the place from where we had to start and she spent a minute or two going through my notes from before prior to explaining the lesson to me.

She was a really good teacher, I had to give her that. She explained really well, taught me some tricks and tactics to calculate and check my answers while reducing the time I took to solve a question and even went a little out of the syllabus to get me to understand the lesson better. I could tell Alicia was a better teacher for me than Mrs. Moore but still, I couldn't help but space out every once in a while everytime she gave me an activity to complete. I could hear Alex's groan when he failed to get the correct answer or see Kate whispering to Anna yet again. And last but certainly not least, the tall and fair boy smiling at me from his seat, going out of his way to earn my attention and speak to me any time he could.

I didn't know if I would be able to be with them again, and most importantly to see him again. I wondered if he missed me the same as I missed him, or at least didn't play with my feelings just for the fun of it. I've seen countless girls cry with their friends in the school garden because their boyfriends played them and I didn't want to be one of them.

"Hey Summer you okay? You seem a little out of it." Alicia looked at me concerned, seeing how I wasn't paying attention to her and staring aimlessly into space.

"Yeah yeah I'm okay, I'm sorry. What part were you explaining?" I asked trying to find the place she was talking about while I was in another world.

"It's a little boring by ourselves isn't it? Why don't we take a short break? We can start after ten minutes." She said kindly, probably noticing my lack of interest in the class and the lesson. I gave an affirmative answer knowing it would be good for me to get my thoughts together and focus more.

I went out of the room to get some water for myself and for Alicia as well. She beamed brightly and gave me the promised time to relax before starting the lesson again. I was determined not to get distracted by anything again, realizing I would be wasting the time of the girl before me who actually came to help. Fortunately, I was able to cut off useless thoughts for the rest of the class and concentrate better.

~ ♡ ~

"This better be important enough to interrupt our lunch break else I swear I'm going to let a raccoon into principal's office."

Nova gritted her teeth next to me, talking about the sudden announcement made from the speakers asking the students in their last year to gather into the gym as the principal wanted to speak to us. We were currently in the place mentioned, waiting for the teachers to come and tell us what they wanted to say so we could go back to devouring our lunch peacefully. The students went silent when the headmistress entered the large room with a few of the teacher's following behind and Mrs. Lopez handed her a microphone.

"I called you all here to tell you that there will be a campaign about mental health on the last day of this month." Her first sentence itself earned a few whines from the girls while some seemed happy knowing the classes will be cut short in order to prepare for the event. Despite the various reactions the principal continued. "It will be done with the help of the prefects of another prestigious school and I want you all to be on your best behaviour. Mrs. Lopez will be in charge of assigning you for the most fit duties by the end of this week. Any questions?"

The students chatted among themselves for a moment and a girl raised her hand, earning the attention of everyone as she spoke. "Madam what is the school?"

"Ah sorry, I forgot to mention it. It's Sir Frederick's."

My eyes widened at the name mentioned, Nova turning to face me almost immediately. We exchanged a brief glance and continued to listen but the rest of the headmistress' lecture was about the duties and stuff. After she dismissed us all from the gym Nova dragged me away to a corner and I could see her eyes glimmering with hope and a mischievous smile playing on her lips.

"Any chance Miles is a prefect?"

[A/N]
Do schools in the US have prefects? I'm genuinely curious :3