The Probability of Love

Chapter 08 | Long Nights

Chapter 08 | Long Nights

"You don't have a pencil either?" I asked him with a straight face.

"No," he hung his head low. His right hand rubbed the back of his neck, clearly uncomfortable and embarrassed. He avoided eye contact with me once again.

I just couldn't understand the emotional ups and downs this boy has. It's way too confusing. One minute he's happy, sad, and then angry? I just don't get it.

"Why? You came to my tutor session and didn't even bring something to write with?" I let my voice raise slightly.

"I just left my house quickly. I didn't really have the time to check my bag thoroughly before I left. Things were going on," he angrily replied.

"Here, just use this." I reached across my desk and grabbed a pencil from the jar of school supplies I had.

"Thanks," he muttered.

The tutor session wasn't as bad as I expected it to go. Raysen grasped onto the concept of the material fairly quickly. Maybe he just needed one and one time with someone to explain it to him slower.

I watched him carefully as he solved the last problem on the worksheet. He was intently focused on the question, trying to solve it. His eyebrows scrunched together while he was thinking. It was different from when he was mad, though, he didn't have a murderous look in his eyes.

"No," he muttered to himself, relooking at the problem. He immediately flipped the pencil around to the eraser side and placed it down on the paper.

"Wait." My hand involuntarily grabbed his own and held it in place before he could erase anything.

Raysen looked down at our hands, and I immediately pulled it away. "I was just going to check your work before you erased it all," I admitted.

"Oh, okay," he answered, bringing the pencil away from the paper.

I looked back and forth at his paper and mine, comparing the steps. He was getting everything correct so far.

"Oh, I see where you went wrong," I placed the paper back down and grabbed his pencil.

"I didn't do it right, did I?"

I shook my head at him. "No, you were doing everything right, you just forgot to simplify."

With the pencil I took from him, I simplified the problem for him and circled the answer. "Done," I exclaimed.

"Done?" he questioned, looking back at me and his homework.

"Yup, I knew you could do it!"

Raysen was already a smart boy, I could see that by the way, he focused on each problem. He just needed a little guidance with his work.

"Thank you, I wouldn't have been able to complete this without you."

It was not really a big deal, tutoring someone. I liked doing good deeds for others. It made them feel good and it made me feel good as well. Overall, it was a win-win situation.

"No problem," I giggled at his happiness.

"Is your brother asleep yet?" he asked, glancing at the clock.

It was already 10:34 pm. I didn't realize how long Raysen had been here. Did he have somewhere to be? Was I holding him up from doing something important?

"I'm not sure, I can go check. Do you have some place to be?" I asked him worried. I didn't want to be the one that gets him in trouble, but I didn't want to be the one in trouble with Shane.