Eyes of Blue Flame

Chapter 3 - Ditched

Chapter 3 - Ditched


"Mr. Driscoll, um, can I have extra credit?" I murmured awkwardly.

I'd never asked something like this if a teacher. But I'd also never had an F!

"No, Miss DeTress, I'm sorry, but I don't give out extra credit," said my calculus teacher, "How about a tutor? I've seen your grade, and I know you work hard. There is another student, Ash Diabolus. He is a straight A student, and I know he wouldn't say no."

I bet he will. Wait! That may not be his last name! ...Really? That desperate? Of course it's him! You have bad luck and who else is named Ash at Salt Lake Boarding High School?!

~

Oh-man, oh-man. Just ask and get it over with. Besides, hel'll totally say no...totally. 

I chewed on the inside of my cheek. Suddenly a hard ball hit my arm.

"Kathleen!" everyone whined on my team in PE.

Stop getting distracted! You're in the middle of a basketball game! If you want credit and your classmates not to think you're totally lame, start playing.

~

The bell rang, and just like everyday other day, Ash was no where to be seen-ag least not in the gym-after that.

Grrrr

I changed before I would commence my attempt in finding him. I needed my grade up otherwise I'd beat myself up forever. I'd never meant to be, but I'd always been a little tightly wound up and stressed easily. You can imagine what the bullying resulted in. 

I ran out of the gym and looked around.

Dorm maybe?

There were two dorm buildings, one for boys and one for girls. Each floor was the grade, and every floor had 100 dorms. There were four floors in each building, for the four grades of high school. Everyone had their own dorm unless they and who every else they wanted to be with requested each other, but you had to be the same gender and in the same grade.

Without thinking it through properly, I headed for the boys' dorm building. Lucy walked by and waved at me with a smile that faded when she realized I was walking down the path of the boy's dorm that lead straight to the building's front door. I was so focused on my mission, I hadn't even realized I walked right past my cousin. 

"Kate?" Lucy called.

I spun around at the sound of my name to see her. "Yeah?"

"Where are you going?" she asked, and it hit me how incredibly stupid I was being.

"Ah, ha-ha," I chuckled to relieve some of the awkwardness between my cousin and I. "Well...It's not what you think. I need a tutor in calculus."

"Oh, I'm in geometry, but are you guys meeting in his dorm?" Lucy asked, clearly disapproving of me.

I decided the truth was the best way. "No, we're not meeting. I'm trying to find him."

"Oh...okay," she murmured, relief crossing her face.

Jeez! Who does she think I am?!

"Need help? Who's your tutor?" she asked kindly.

"His name is Ash...I forgot his last name," I told her. "I think it starts with a 'd'." 

Lucy gave me a gentle grin. "I saw him head towards the cafeteria."

"You know him?" I blurted out.

"I know, like, everyone here," she replied. "Everyone knows everyone here, like a small town. Plus, Dakota was pretty popular. She had a lot friends come over during summer. Most of them liked to gossip, though Dakota wasn't keen on it. Most of the kids here are nice. You should make some friends soon otherwise you're going to have a lonely year here because I'm not in your classes and my room and your room are on different levels."

Being a freshman, her room along with the other freshmen girls were past the lobby on the first floor. My room along with all the other junior girls' rooms were on the third floor, and with different classes, I didn't get to see her as often as I would have liked.

"Thanks," I told her genuinely.

"Sure!" she yelled after me as I jogged away towards the cafeteria.

I walked into the large hall-like building filled with lunch tables and the smell of food. There were two vending machines in the back corners, one filled with candy bags and chips bags while the other was filled with Snapples and protein bars.

Less than half of the cafeteria's tables were filled, making it easier for me to spot the boy average height boy with dark curly hair and neon blue eyes with the same two friends he was with the very first time I met him. I felt hollow. I had been expecting him to be alone.

Yeah, Kate, this won't be awkward at all!

I walked over to where the three familiar boys sat at a lunch table, sharing their bags of candy and laughing over something. The laughing subsided when they saw me, and I gulped. They stared at me.

I did my best to remember the other two's names. I thought hard: I know it. I know it...Roger and Kellan!

Before I could open my mouth, the tall blonde-Roger-was on his feet. "I've seen you before!" He snapped his fingers and pointed at me as if it would help him recall the memory.

"Kathleen," murmured the brunette-Kellan-and he ate a Skittle. He exclaimed, "Oh, I know now! You were the first one we meet since we left-I mean arrived in Hell." He chuckled anxiously. 

Shouldn't I be the nervous one?

"Yeah...um, can I talk to Ash?" I asked almost inaudibly.

Roger burst out laughing, and Kellan snickered.

I felt my face flushed. What's so funny? What did I do wrong? Was it something I said? Do they suddenly think I look funny? What is it?!

"No-no, it's not you," reassured Kellan promisingly as he laughed.

Roger spoke up again. "Just never heard someone ask to see Ash since he's, uh, grumpy! It's always been that he demands to see your presence." He deepened his voice when he said 'demands to see your presence'.

My mind to tongue filtered lapsed. "Grumpy? But Ash-"

"What do you want?" growled Ash, taking me by surprise. "Say it in front of me, say it in front of them. Makes no difference."

What happened to the funny smart-alec Ash? No way is he going to be my tutor. He may have saved me back then, but maybe after all he is no different than my old bullies.

"Uh...I was just wondering if-" I began.

"Tutor in calc?" Ash interrupted as Roger ate a handful of M&Ms. Roger put his hand over his mouth like he was trying to hold back a laugh or not choked on his candy. 

My ears heated up, and I rubbed my hands together. "N-no, I just wondering if-"

"Seven in the library starting tomorrow," Ash continued like I had never ever opened my mouth. "Got it? We'll do it every day until you get a B. Deal?"

I didn't like the silence that oozed from Roger and Kellan as they watched. Roger slowly reached over for the Skittles, and Kellan stared at Ash and I like he was in the movie theaters and we were on the screen. 

No. More. Bullies.

"No," I said, trying to make voice sound firm when it shook like an earthquake. "I don't need a tutor in any of my classes. I was just wondering if you knew where my friend-"

"You have friends?"

SLBHS was supposed to be better! I was supposed to have a fresh start! I am not going to be bullies again! I did not leave Mom, Dad, and Christian to continue being tormented!

"Never mind," I said, and stalked away.

I internally screamed. Why is keeping up one single grade so difficult?!

~

7 PM the next day came around quicker than I would have liked. Dinner was at six and I was pretty good at finishing homework and studying before dinner. Plus, I had no friends to hang around with and I wasn't about to embarrass Lucy. So, it wasn't like it was ruining anything for me. .

I will not go. I will not go...No, I will go. However! I will only go until I start getting Bs! Doing this will make me try harder-a lot harder.

I walked into the library. It was twice as large as the cafeteria. Rows and rows of book shelves hid most of the students walking around. It was silent except for a few whispers-nothing unusual for a library. It had a second floor, which was where most studied. It also had computers and a printer and copy machine.

I walked around the first floor just to check if he was wandering around. He wasn't there, unless I had somehow managed to miss him. Then I went up the stairs to the second floor. I could hear people typing. I looked over the cubicles where the people on the computers sat. I gazed over those sitting at the tables. I looked in each aisle with rows of books on either side. But once again, nothing.

So, I waited. It was an agonizing wait that ended up stretching to 8:15 before I decided he'd tricked like any other jerk would do. Even if he was a jerk, it still left a tinge of pain inside me. I grabbed my math textbook, notebook, and the pencil before leaving to go back to my dorm room.

* Picture of Roger to the right *