Nobody Special

Chapter 7

* Alec *

 The school bell rang shrilly in my ears as I stumbled through the door. I was late...again. Not that it was out of the ordinary, but Principle Larson was keeping a close eye on me. He would like nothing more than to tell coach I'm tardy so that I would be benched next game. I slip quietly into my math class and slouch in my chair towards the back. No one seemed to notice. I let out a sigh of relief.

"Mr. White, if you insist on being late for class, you can be the first to answer the math equation on the board." He points to the algebra on the board and steps aside, "Oh, and why don't you and have I a little chat after class," he continues.

"Damn," I mutter under my breath. Busted. 

"What was that Mr. White?" 

I hesitate, trying to cover up my grumbling, " the answer is x= 23 and y=7" I reply staring at the board. Mr. Albert, my math teacher stares me down in astonishment. 

"That's uh...actually correct," he stutters. I smirk.  Of course it is. I'm a genius. Math is easy for me. Sometimes almost too easy. I could sleep through class and wake up knowing all of the information they went over without any trouble. I'm not trying to brag... It's just a gift. The rest of first period went by pretty quickly. I spent most of the 45 minutes passing notes with the hot brunette to my right. She's cute but not really my type. Her features were too sharp and her voice grated on my nerves. But hey, attention is attention.  After homework was assigned and the bell dismissed us, I watched as the other students got up and left. Each one of them carried their books with weary arms,reluctantly heading to second period.  Mr. Albert  raised an eyebrow waiting for me to approach his desk. I let out a labored sigh and pick up my back pack. He sits on the edge of his desk and folds his hands in front of him. " Alec, you are a bright kid." he begins. I roll my eyes. I swear I get this speech from him every time I enter his class.  "and you do very well in class, but you are setting a very bad example for your peers by being late day after day. This is the fourth time in a row and I think I have found the perfect consequence for your actions," I jerk my head up now, finally paying attention to what he was babbling on about. 

"Consequences?" I question.

Mr.Albert nods his head. "You are going to tutor after school every other day for a month,"  

"Tutor?" I practically squeak, "A month?" I step back, the realization that I was being punished slapped me right across the face.  "Mr. Albert," I beg.

He shakes his head and lifts his hand to stop me, "Absolutely not Alec. You will be tutoring Miss. Clarke Taylor. She is an excellent student of mine but she is falling behind in this particular section of the math book. You will tutor her in this unit for a month, if her mathematical comprehension has improved you are off the hook, if not, you will continue tutoring until she is caught up,"  

"But," 

"No, Mr. White this is final. You are dismissed. Have a good rest of the day. Tutoring will start this afternoon in the library." He stood up and went back to his chair behind his desk and turned to the computer  screen, completely ignoring me. I growled in frustration and stormed out of his classroom. My Monday was off to a really crappy start. I was not looking forward to the rest of my day. In fact, I was dreading it. 

* * * * * 

By lunch time I was ready to strangle someone. I slammed my tray of mystery gunk on the table and plopped down next to Chad and a couple of the guys from the team. "Hey man!" Chad exclaims enthusiastically.