The Tutor

1 - The Meeting

The last bell of the school day rings. The brunette grabs all his books and pencils, shoving them into his backpack nervously, leaving out one slip of orange paper.
Today is the day. The day he has to meet with his tutor for the first time. He's already failed one grade, he can't keep this up forever. What will they be like? What if they're super dry and boring? That won't help him at all, he needs someone he can engage with.

Whoever it is, the tutor must be rich or something, because the address he has to go to is on Pillets Street. That's where a lot of the more wealthy families of Prismoria live.

With a sigh, Jacob pushes himself back from his desk and gets up, grabbing his red bookbag and slinging it over his shoulder. He also grabs that orange paper he left out, holding it tightly in his hand.

What if... What if the tutor isn't accepting of him... What if they get mad and leave him too?
No, there is no time for that. There is no time for wondering what if. All that's useful for is getting upset. What matters right now is getting on the right bus.

He navigates through the hallways to the parking lot, swiftly passing by each bus in search of the right one.

Slot 27... 26... 15... 14... Ah! Slot 13!
No second-guessing yourself, just get on the bus. Don't even think about it.
With a deep breath, Jacob clutches the paper in his hands and steps up into the bus. The bus driver, a burly looking man with graying hair, eyes the paper in Jacob's hands.

"Hi, this is Slot 13, right? I uh... I need to get to the Broteez household?" He holds out the orange slip with a polite smile.
The man snatches the slip, reading the writing on it to confirm. "The Broteez household? Did they finally pay someone to be that kid's friend?" He chuckles to himself. "Yes, this is slot 13. Your stop will be the fourth stop."
"Thank you!" Jacob turns to look down the aisle, surrounded by unfamiliar faces. Pretty soon, they won't be so unfamiliar if this tutoring session goes well.

He slowly makes his way down the aisle, looking for an empty seat. The only spot that looks good is a seat next to a redhead with freckles dotting his face and arms. After doing one more scan for any other seats, Jacob walks up to the redhead, putting on that polite smile again. "Hi, do you mind if I sit here?"

"Go ahead," the redhead moves over to give Jacob more room to sit down. "My name is Keegan, what's yours?"
Jacob lets his bag slide down off his shoulder, swinging it down to the ground in front of him as he takes a seat next to Keegan. "I'm Jacob, nice to meet you. Do you know if anyone from the Broteez family rides this bus?"

Keegan shakes his head, his curly locks bouncing with the movement. "No, they're always dropped off or picked up by their parents or a personal driver."

So, there is no chance that Jacob somehow spots his tutor here. He will have to continue to wait.

"Why?"
"Oh, nothing, I was just curious." Nobody can know that he needs tutoring. "Hey, do you want to play a game~?"

--------------------------

"Well, this is my stop. See you around!" Jacob grabs his bag when the bus stops for a fourth time, getting up.
"See you!" Keegan calls out after him, waving.
Jacob waves back and heads off the bus, looking up at the house in front of him.

This was it, this was the address. Jacob knew this kid had rich parents, but he didn't expect his house to be as big as a mansion. The white building towers above him as he looks at all the intricate details on the walls and the fancy windows, his vivid blue eyes scanning over it all in awe. But he's here for a reason, so he snaps himself out of it and walks up to the door, knocking a few times.

Soon enough, the door swings open to reveal a younger kid, his blond hair a complete mess. His clothes are atrociously bright, and his shirt has some nerdy pun on it. And he has on these big, Harry Potter style glasses. But most noticeably, he looks to be younger than Jacob. And this kid is supposed to be Jacob's tutor.

Did he get the wrong address? This kid looks like an 8 year old with ADHD.

It's clear once the boy speaks that this is indeed the correct place. "Are you Jacob? Come in! What subject do you need help on? Is it science? Math? Actually, it doesn't really matter, either way it'll be fun~!" He speaks so fast that all his words slur together and sound like one big string of random sounds. Jacob heard his name in that jumble of words though, so this must be the right place.
Before he knows it, the excited blond grabs Jacob's arm and drags him into the house, practically jumping with joy. "My parents are busy right now, so we have the whole house to ourselves. Would you rather work in the living room or the kitchen?"

It takes a few seconds for Jacob to answer, he's too shocked by how big the inside is to speak. It's massive. Just the first room is twice the size of his entire house. "Living room..." The brunette manages to get out, gaping at what this kid lives in.

The younger boy giggles softly, and it is just the cutest sound Jacob has ever heard. It was just so innocent and pure. "We won't always be meeting in this house, my parents just like staying in this house to make business deals~ Don't be overwhelmed by the size." He leads Jacob down a fancy hallway to the living room, where a huge tv screen is on the wall. Practically a cinema tv screen. In this kids house. Jacob didn't even know that was possible.

"What was your name again?"
"Sam! Didn't you check who was going to be tutoring you?"

That almost sounded like an insult, so Jacob looks at Sam, but the boy looks so innocent, it's obvious he meant no harm. Honestly, Sam looks like the happiest boy alive. "Are you always this... Intense?"

Sam shakes his head, finally standing still for a full twenty seconds. "Sorry, I just... I've never had a friend, and... I never get to talk about math or science with anyone-"

Jacob feels his chest tighten as Sam explains himself, giving him a pitiful look. This kid is just too precious for him to handle. He sets his school bag down by the coffee table, which is surrounded by a few couches, so he takes a seat. "Is that why you want to tutor? I'm a grade above you I think, how are you going to teach me?..."

Being asked about that makes Sam beam with delight. "I know high school math, I'm pretty sure I can teach you your math~"

The brunette's jaw drops. How many times is this weird looking kid going to surprise him like this?! "You what? I... I barely know my multiplication-" Sam laughs, a carefree and giddy type of infectious laughter that makes a smile tug at Jacob's lips. "Oh, shut up, it's not easy!" He pushes Sam playfully, which makes the bright green eyed male laugh more.

"Let's just see what we have to work on, shall we?" He gestures to Jacob's bag, ready to get to work tutoring.

After a groan of reluctance, Jacob opens his bag and pulls out his school work, setting it down on the coffee table along with two pencils. The blonde immediately starts to scan over the problems, his eyes lighting up with anticipation. This is what Sam considers fun.

"Your handwriting is hideous but I see where you messed up. 1 + 1 is not 5." The bluntness that Sam has makes Jacob blush a little at his own simple mistakes. The blonde picks up a pencil and starts correcting all of Jacob's errors, which doesn't help Jacob that much, but once he's done, he starts to go over the reasoning behind the errors and how to remember not to make them again. That really does help Jacob.