The Secret (Boston's Best 1)

Chapter Nine

Maddie

I actually cannot believe this.

I'm sitting in a fancy prep school in Boston with my Boston.

Like what the hell?

"D'accord, la classe s'il te plaît, calme-toi." Mademoiselle Duval tells us to settle down. I can't believe we actually have to call her Mademoiselle and she is actually French, at home my French teacher was Welsh.

She continues to talk in French and I understand all of it but I can instantly tell that most of the class including Matt haven't a clue what she's saying.

I look at his paper and see that he has the sentence all wrong. I nudge him and whisper, "It's meant to be Jacques a mangé dix pommes en allant au marché. Not, Jacques a mangé dix pommes quand il est allé au marché. There isn't much of a difference and it's just a small mistake. But I know I'd hate to lose marks over something that small."

He corrects his work "Thanks, I don't really get the difference, but thanks. Merci, I guess."

"Aucun problème, I guess."

"I keep on making mistakes like that the whole time. I swear this semester is going to bring down my whole GPA." He runs a hand through his hair.

"That was just a small mistake, it means nothing. I'm sure you'll be fine. What's your grade in this class?"

"Doesn't matter, but it'll definitely be a solid D- by the end of the year at this rate. My gorgeous 4.42 GPA will be ruined."

"4.42? That's good, right? One C if not D or whatever won't drag that down too much."

"Oh yeah, what's your GPA then?"

"I didn't even know it until this morning, but Penelope and I worked it out and apparently it's like 4.9 or 5.0. That's good too, right?"

He stares at me like I have ten heads. "Is that good? Are you joking? I can't be seen with you anymore, you are a serious nerd and will bring down my street cred dramatically."

I laugh at him, "Oh I'm sorry, Mr I'm The Quarterback, let me move seats so you can still be Mr Popular by the end of the day."

"Yes, please do, I'll be kicked off the team if anyone hears about this."

We laugh and Mademoiselle Duval tells us to be quiet.

After a few moments of silence, Matt asks me to help him with the work we're doing and I explain for a minute before he looks at me, "Could you tutor me?"

"I'm sorry?"

"Can you tutor me in French?"

"Matthew, I don't really think you need a tutor?"

"Oh please, it'd just be for a few weeks and I really need to make sure my grade doesn't drop. And you're fluent, like probably more than Mademoiselle Duval."

"I don't know, Matt. I don't think I really have the time for tutoring you or anyone for that matter."

"Madeleine. I will get down on my hands and knees to beg you for this."

"But what about your street cred?"

"Fuck the street cred. I need you. Please Maddie, I need to keep my grades."

I look into his hazel eyes and I can tell he is serious about this, but I really don't have the time. "Let me think about it."

He obviously takes that as a yes, "Cool, I have practice after school until 5. Just meet me there afterwards and we can discuss it some more."

"I said maybe, not yes. So there isn't much to discuss."

"Mhm." He nods.

I shake my head at him, "I'm serious, Matt. I don't know if I have the time."

He pretends to do his work, which I can already see a mistake in, and shushes me. "Madeleine, be quiet, we have work to do and you're distracting me. If you want to talk to me that badly I have practice till 5 on the football fields."

I'm gonna kill that boy.

"Matt-"

"Madeleine O'Brien! Do I need to send you to the principal's office or are you going to stop disrupting my class?"

Definitely gonna kill him.

"Non madame. Je vais me taire maintenant."

She eyes me like she doesn't believe I'll be quiet. "Nous allons voir ce qui se passe."

Yeah, she doesn't believe me.

Damn, that didn't take long. First day and a teacher already doesn't like me, which is really weird. And don't get me wrong it's not like I'm a teacher's pet or anything, but they typically do love me, so this'll be weird.