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CHERRY ROLLED ONTO HER BACK!
Finney looked up from the sheet of paper he was filling out. Instead of successfully tutoring her, Cherry sat on her phone while he explained the subjects to her.
Somehow, he'd ended up doing half of the problems for her, while she scrolled on whatever app she was looking at.
Besides her unwillingness to learn, and the fact she continuously called him dude because she'd forgotten his name, the activity wasn't completely insufferable.
"I dunno how you manage to do your homework and mine." Cherry commented, as she sat up.
"Time management." Finney answered, as he shoved his textbook into his backpack.
"How'd I do?"
"You did get great."
"You don't sound very proud of me."
"Really? How can you tell?"
Cherry shot him a look, her expression half amused and half annoyed. Finney resisted making a comment on how that must've been the longest conversation they'd ever had.
The red-haired girl sat up, pulling a gummy worm from the bag on the coffee table.
Now, for her part of the deal. Finney had done great on his end. He was actually a decent tutor, it was just the girl seemed unwilling to learn.
The art of being social seemed like a difficult subject to grasp, but who nobody was more reliable than her.
"My turn." Cherry said, as Finney zipped his backpack up. "What do you do that makes Vance wanna beat your ass every time he sees you?"
Finney let out a deep breath, looking down and shrugging. He shoved his hands into his hoodie pocket. "I exist. I think that's what really drives him."
"Yeah. You've sort of got a punchable face."
"Wow, thank you so much. That's super helpful. I can feel the confidence growing in me already."
"Gotta knock you down. Not before building you back up, but just for fun. Okay, I'll be serious. Vance is just a dick."
That's the way she chose to speak of her best-friend?
Though, it wasn't like her words were untrue. Vance was a rough guy, who bullied people like he was being paid for it.
He sought out kids to pick on. He even sought out kids bigger than himself just so he could get more of a challenge. How did someone like that have so many friends? Were they just scared of him?
Cherry was just as mean in her own way, even if she didn't know it. Did they bask in their shared awfulness together, or despise each-other, too?
"Definitely." Finney huffed and rolled his eyes. "He's not the only guy who messes with me, but he's by far the worst."