OUR HEARTBEAT [BEOMJUN] ✅

six

"Is she gone?" Liz asked. We had parked outside of the tutoring center, but as soon as I turned the car off, Liz had thrown her head down between her knees. I was surprised she hadn't smacked her head into the dash in the process.

"I have no idea who you saw, so I don't know."

"A girl my age and her mom going into the grocery store. Didn't I tell you this would happen?"

"You know, Liz," I said. "Having a tutor is not a bad thing. A lot of people I know have had tutors over the years."

"Well, nobody I know has, so I don't believe you."

"Okay. I think the coast is clear now."

She poked her head up slowly and looked around. "Good. Let's walk fast. You can walk fast, right?"

"Yes, I have the ability to walk fast. But I thought the whole point of me going with you was that it wouldn't be so bad to be seen with me."

"Yeah, I've decided you don't hold that much power. Nobody at school even knows who you are," she said, and flung herself out of the car.

By the time I caught up with her, she was at the door. When she opened it, a loud bell rang, announcing our arrival. There was a tall counter in front of us and behind that a large room with long tables. Along the back wall were small cubicles. An entire side wall was full of windows, which made the atmosphere bright and airy. If it had a view of the lake, I would've wished I had brought my homework so I could sit at one of those tables and work. But we weren't in Lakesprings. The windows faced a parking lot. Not that Oak Court didn't have nice views.

A guy walked out of a back cubicle, in between the tables, and came to the counter.

"Welcome," he said.

He and I both recognized each other at the same time.

"Beomgyu."

"Yeonjun," I said. "I didn't realize you worked here."

"You come here?"

"My cousin. I'm here for my cousin." I pointed at her to verify my statement.

"Oh, now you understand the embarrassment of it all," Liz said under her breath.

I ignored her. "Are you her tutor?" I asked.
Yeonjun looked at a schedule on the counter. "No. Jake is her tutor." He called out over his shoulder, "Jake! Your client is here."

"See, you're a client," I said quietly to Liz. "That's fancy."

"Too late. Now I know how you really feel."

A tall guy with long brown hair, wearing a band T-shirt, came out of a back room. Liz straightened up beside me.

"Jake, this is Liz," Yeonjun said.

Yeonjun smiled big. "Nice to meet you. We only have an hour today, right? Let's slay your homework."

Liz nodded and followed him to a long table by the window.

"Jake is great. She's in good hands," Yeonjun said as my gaze lingered on them.

"Does Jake go to Sierra High?" I asked, feeling a little silly for asking. If Arin were here, she'd tease me about her lake versus city theory.

"No, he's a freshman at Fresno State."

I nodded. Fresno-and its college-was about an hour farther down the hill.

"Oh, okay. Am I supposed to ..." I looked around. To my right, there were chairs that formed a small waiting area.

"You can sit. Or come back in an hour."