Paper Thin

Chapter 6

The bell rang, signaling the end of history and the beginning of calculus. Yes, Calculus, the subject I said I hated more than anything but guess what? That same dreaded classroom now holds the one person who can give me the answers that I so desperately seek. If I have to be honest, I must admit that I am pretty nervous; I haven't spoken to Will like actually spoken to him in a long time. Will he just tell me to leave him alone? Or will he ask me why I've ignored his entire existence for so long?

Sighing to myself I wonder to myself why life can't just be all roses and sunshine. No confusion, no worries and definitely no fights with Zooey but I know that's never going to happen so I straighten up and march into class like I do this every day. Which I do actually, but you know what I don't do every day?

Sit next to Will.

Seriously, I just walked over and slipped into the vacant seat beside him.

"Hey, Will," I said, turning in my chair to face him with what I hoped like a friendly smile. Everyone was talking as the background noise suddenly became so much louder; class hadn't started yet.

"Hey, Tiffany," he said cautiously. He looked so uncomfortable, it was painful to watch. "How's it going?"

"Great," I lied, trying to keep it light.

"I heard about you and Zooey," he admitted sheepishly. "And I just wanted to say that I was sorry to hear about it. I know you guys were very close."

I omitted an awkward laugh.

"You're acting like someone just died," I said, praying that he couldn't hear the faint break in my voice. "Sometimes friends just grow apart."

There was silence for a while, as I stared at my shoes, they were black converse boots with dark flower patterns on them, I was trying to remember where I had bought them which essentially meant I was just trying to forget Zooey. After a few minutes I recovered and looked back up at him. Just as I was about to tell him that truthfully I was really sorry too and I missed her, Mrs Kaliger walked in.

"Sorry, I'm late, class," she said as she set her stuff down on her desk and turned to face us all. "Now let's get started."

As Ms Kaliger taught I felt like for once just giving up on ever understanding calculus. My life felt like it was falling apart and all that she wanted me to think was numbers and graphs and... math. I was fed up by the end of class but like the persevering, stubborn person I am, I still stayed back to do my homework and ask for extra help which I would most certainly need. Most people had gone; not everyone found calculus quite as challenging as me so I thought I would be alone today.

Sighing to myself I looked at the first question, writing it out and trying to puzzle it out, like the power of my stare would unscramble it. News flash, it didn't work.

"Need some help," asked a voice, it was him.

I looked up to find Will sitting in his chair, his book was out; he was homework too.

"Oh, you're still here?" I asked, Will was a math genius, definitely didn't need extra help.

"Yeah," he said. "I went to go use the bathroom. I usually stay behind because the whole classroom environment helps me concentrate so I just finish my homework up here."

"Ok," I replied. " That makes sense."

I looked back at my noncompliant question.

"Um, so yeah, I do actually need help," I admitted. " Do you mind explaining this to me."

So he helped me, we looked at the question and he explained it to me slowly and after about thirty minutes I finally caught on to the whole concept.

"Oh, my God," I couldn't believe it, I understood something in Calculus, like really understood. " Thank you so much. I know I'm a pretty trying student, especially when it comes to calculus."

I was grinning and thought that maybe I wouldn't completely fail this class.

" It was no problem at all," he said. " You just need to take it down slowly so you can understand it better."

"Oh," I said, talking to him wasn't as horrible as I had expected. " Well, thanks."

Then he said those words, the one that would change everything, I just didn't know it yet.

"Can I tutor you?"

To be honest my first reaction was to say no. It would be awkward wrong and give Zooey the wrong idea. But Zooey wasn't my best friend anymore. For a second, it made sense; if he tutored me, we could become friends again and maybe he'd trust me and tell this deep dark secret that everyone was so set on keeping forgotten.

I wanted to know why. Why Zooey hated him? Why every time he saw her regret clouded over his eyes? Why I was so caught up in the middle of this. Life just hadn't made any sense in the last twenty four hours and I was sick of it. But most importantly, the worst feeling of all was how betrayed I felt. The pain of Zooey's leaving me hurt so much and I just couldn't understand it. I couldn't get through the shock it.

So that's it. All these reasons are probably what drove me to say the words that turned my life into a beautiful nightmare. These reasons are what made me say it.

"Yes."

Hi! It's been a while. Well, I hope you like this chapter, it took me longer to write but I eventually got it right. So what do you all think. Will made a reappearance and I think we'll see him a lot more often... or not. Well, we'll see. Don't forget to vote and comment if you like, ok? Ok bye for now.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxox

Autumnrockchic