"100 a week. Thats my final offer." I look up into the woman's hazel eyes and figure out for the nth time if she was serious. She stared straight back at me with a stubborn look on her face. With her stick straight red hair and smokey eyes, arching eyebrows and bright red lipstick she looked ready enough to kill. Normally, I would be intimidate d but her eyes gave her away. They were soft and silently
pleading.
I shook my head no. Tutor her son? For the rest of the school year? Not just tutor him but push him to actually work, make him do his college applications and keep his grades up so he can actually get into a school? What am I? A witch?
"That's impossible. I can barely handle my own stuff." I refrain from saying shit. I wanted her gone but I wasnt that rude. I grip my coffee cup harder, wishing that this woman would just take no for an answer.
I could already feel stares boring into my back as this whole meeting took up a little more than five minutes.
"Look-" I started to say but her hands on my arms stopped me short.
"Please. Its easier if its someone from his school. It can be just like you studying together as friends. He's a bit embarassed yes but you guys are not in the same social groups-" I rolled my eyes at that.
-and I know he wouldnt mind because none of this friends would know. Please. You don't even need to see him every day. Just once a week to make sure he's doing the work and all that."
I did the mistake of looking at her and what I saw broke my heart. She was just a mom trying to help her kid. It wasn't my fault I didn't know how that felt. Or maybe it was.
I swallowed. I'd probably regret this later. Why can't I say no to people? I heave the biggest sigh, like the world was just placed on my shoulders. "All right. 100 a week and I make sure he does eveything to get into at least one college."
"Thank you! Thank you!" She hugs me tightly but I pull away and offer her a tight smile. Not like you gave me a choice did you? I give her my number and tell her to call me when to come over for the first 'lesson'. She smiles and I swear she looks like the happiest mom in the planet. Man, I'm such a sucker for those. I ask myself if my mom would be happy seeing me now, if she would have been proud. Hopefully.
"So, what was that about?" My bestfriend's brings me back to reality. I shrug and act like it was nothing. "She just wanted me to tutor her son."
"Oh who's her son?" My other friend asks. The noise of the coffee shop is gone once we get outside, replaced by the rush of traffic.
"Nathan Collins, I think." I look for the piece of paper she handed me with her name and address. As I search my pockets for the paper, I hurriedly cross the street to walk back to school when I realize that Abby and Kate weren't following me.
I look back and see them staring at me like I was the dumbest person in the world. Was Nathan that bad?
