For A Brief Moment

Chapter 7: You're Welcome.

He walked cautiously into the empty classroom; the only form of life was the teacher sitting patiently at the desk. "Thank you for coming today, take a seat, Elijah." He looked at her annoyed and sat in front of her desk. A young boy walked in afterwards. "Principal White told me you needed me."

She stood up and walked over to the boy with a note in her hand. "Can you get this student and send them to me please." The boy nodded happily and turned away. She watched as he left the classroom and turned back around, walking over to her desk. Her shoes clicked against the floor as she sat back down in the creaky chair. He stared at her for a moment before speaking, "I have a class to get to, so best want to make this quick."

"I've already spoken to your music teacher; he knows where you are. Just be patient." She retaliated.

"What is this about? I thought our discussion yesterday cleared everything up."

"Well, situations change. I think it is necessary for you to have a tutor."

"yes, but I've already said I'm not repeating senior year, nor am I sitting in the library every day with some nerdy ass freak."

At that remark, he was interrupted. A gentle knock on the wall could be heard as she walked in. Her hair flowed perfectly with every step she took. Loose curls framed her face as her eyes fluttered. "You wanted to see me," she spoke softly, her voice sounding like a melody.

"Thank you for coming Cassie, take a seat." Ms Marshall spoke with a wide smile.

He analysed her, looking her up and down, hoping he would not see what Dylan had witnessed, hoping it was just a play on the lighting, but he could catch the slightest glimpse of her wrist, and with that, he knew it was all true. He met her eyes as she walked to take a seat beside him. "Hi," she spoke gently.

"Hey," he said back.

"Elijah, this is Cassie, Cassie this is Elijah."

"We've met," he kept his eyes on Cassie to her unknowingness as she looked at Ms Marshall. The teacher cleared her throat to gain his attention, taking it off the captivating young girl sitting beside him.

"Yes, well, Cassie is an A-star student in my class and tutors a lot." She gestured towards Cassie, who smiled subtly back. "She's helped a lot of students' grades improve over the past year."

"What's your point tech?" He interrupted.

"After our conversation yesterday, I had a meeting with Cassie. She typically tutors four people but has only been tutoring two recently. I asked whether she would like to tutor someone else."

"Wait so now you're making me someone else's problem." He said in an angered tone.

"Actually, she offered." Ms Marshall said in a matter-of-fact manner.

"Please don't hate me," Cassie turned to him, "but I heard part of your conversation yesterday, I didn't mean to, I swear. When she asked if I wanted to tutor anyone else, she gave me a list, but I asked if I could tutor you instead." She smiled at him as he looked at her. He couldn't comprehend why someone like Cassie wanted to tutor him. "Only if you want me to. I said this, I don't want to force you into anything. I know I'm a grade younger than you and people may see it as odd, but I just thought if you knew there was someone who was offering maybe it may help." Her smile was enchanting, and he hung on to every word she said. There was a moment of silence before he turned to the teacher.

"If I said no, what does that mean?"

"It means your turning down a perfectly good opportunity that is only possible because Cassie so kindly offered."