The Gentleman Plan

2. Be polite

"It's too big!" Akira exclaimed.

"That's what she said." Jordan snorted as we did a high five.

"No, really! I can't go to school like this!" She said, showing us the school's polo that landed at her knees and the sleeves ending at her forearms as I laughed.

"Please, this is the new trend!" I answered, chuckling. 

"For Barney, you mean?" She gritted out. 

"Well, I'm sure Barney wouldn't think of bleaching his coloured uniform in the first place!"

"I still can't believe you were dumb enough to bleach it." Akira's mother said while standing in front of the bedroom door.

"Mrs. Hayashi and I are thinking about the same thing." Jordan retorted.

"Could you pass me those scissors?" She asked, pointing to her desk. I grabbed them and handed them to Jordan who gave them to Akira. 

"Alright, give me two minutes and I'll be good to go!" She said, going into her closet.

"Well, make it quick! The bus is coming soon!" Jordan yelled, checking his phone.

"Stop yelling so loud, Sora is sleeping and it doesn't matter, the bus driver is always late, so we actually have about 10 minutes." I retorted, looking at Akira's three-year-old daughter. 

"Sorry, baby," Jordan whispered as he blew a kiss to Sora's sleeping figure. 

"So, how do I look?" Akira asked once she came out. The shirt was cut up pretty well, it actually fit her.

"Nice job!" I exclaimed as Jordan tried to wolf whistle quietly. 

"Thank you, thank you!" She chuckled, bowing.

"Now let's grab some snacks and move it!" Jordan said, grabbing his backpack as I did the same.

"I swear all you guys do is steal my food." Akira shook her head, smiling slightly.

"You love us too much to stop us." I winked at her as I took some granola bars from her cupboard, giving her one.

"Yeah, yeah." 

"Okay, we got 5 minutes to the bus stop! Move your lazy asses!" Jordan yelled from the door.

Before I grabbed my backpack and hurried to put on my flats, I quickly kissed Sora's forehead and hugged Mrs. Hayashi goodbye as Akira did the same. 

"What the hell? The bus is here! I knew I shouldn't have believed you, Maya!" Jordan screamed.

"Shit! Run to the next stop! Come on, Akira!" I shouted as Akira was quickly locking her door.

We ran as fast as we could to the next stop while the bus stopped at a red light. 

"We're gonna make it!" Jordan yelled as he arrived at the stop. We were still a few metres behind when the bus started moving again. We picked up our pace and finally arrived just as the bus stopped. 

"What a run! I'm impressed." The bus driver said as soon as he opened the door. 

"Th-thank y-you," I replied, still breathless from our sprint. 

I scanned my card as my friends did too. We walked over to the three seats at the back and plopped down on them. 

"I think my lip balm fell out of my pocket when we were running," Akira said out of nowhere and then we erupted in laughter.

"Too bad, Maya will buy you another one since she's the one who caused all of this." Jordan retorted.

"All those other days we had to wait thirty minutes for the bus to come and today it chooses to come on time!" I answered, throwing my arms up. 

"Emre's here." He said.

"I never saw him take the bus," I replied.

"Yeah, me either," Akira said. 

"He looks really depressed," I said.

"Yeah, go talk to him," Akira said.

"What? Why me?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Well, you're friends no? I don't even know the guy." She answered.

"We've talked a few times, but that's it," Jordan said.

"No, that's weird, we're not close enough for that," I said.

"Didn't you say he wanted to ask you something yesterday?" Jordan asked.

"Yes, but he changed his mind, I won't go bug him with that." I shrugged. Suddenly, it was really quiet until both Akira and Jordan screamed go.

"What the-" Barely finishing my sentence, they pushed me off the seat as the bus lurched forward, making me hit Emre's seat.

"Hey, Emre," I said, grunting in pain as he turned around. I didn't even have time to find a way that was not awkward to talk to him.

"Oh, hey." He replied, barely looking at me.

"You okay?" 

"Yeah, just upset about something."

"Okay, so here's the deal. I've noticed you were a bit hesitant around me as if you have something to ask me. So, what's going on?"

"You're right but it's really dumb and you'd probably refuse anyways." He sighed, shaking his head.

"You don't know that. If there's a problem, I'd be happy to help for real."

"Okay, well what do you think about helping me to get a girl?"

"Well, I'd ask why would it be me because I myself don't have much dating experience," I said while laughing because I thought he was kidding. 

"Because you were once friends with Savannah."

"Savannah? You want to get with Savannah?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"Yes, I've had a crush on her for the longest time, but she hates me since that prank I pulled on her back in freshman year. You knew her, so you know what she likes."

"Yeah, but she has pretty high standards like she wants a full-on gentleman from the movies or something, also I was friends with her a long time ago and it didn't end well. Her type might've changed." I said, frowning.  

"Then, that's what I'll become. I might as well try and see," He said with determination.

"If I agree, what's in it for me?" 

"Well, I noticed your hard time in math and if you agree, I can be your tutor for the rest of the year or until you don't need me."

"Well, with a proposition like that, it's hard to say no," I said, looking at him.

"Wait, is that a yes?" He asked, excitedly.

"Yeah, I guess it is," I answered, chuckling because of his shocked face.

"Thank you so much! When do we start?" 

"Tomorrow, meet me at Rosalinda's Cafe at 5. We'll plan the whole schedule and I'll explain to you the whole deal, how we're gonna start off and more."

"Okay, works for me."

"See you at school then." I got up, walking back to my friends who were watching me with curious eyes.

"That was a long discussion. What did you talk about?" Jordan said.

"Guess who got a tutor in math, bitches? Your hoe is about to get smart!" I smiled, throwing my hands in front of their confused faces.

Who knew what I was getting myself into? All I knew was that I wasn't going to be dumb as shit and fail the year.