One of the Boys

Chapter 4 - Tutoring An Idiot

I ride to my house with Caleb instead of Seth today. I didn’t want to go to his house, I felt more comfortable staying in my territory, so here we are. Actually, I was rather hesitant letting him come to my house, especially since Seth is the only person from school (apart from Jean) who's been in here and I wanted to keep it that way.

But I knew we had to go somewhere, and staying in school wasn't an option and neither did I want to ask Seth to come and chaperone the whole thing. So here I am, grabbing onto Caleb for dear life as the guy doesn't seem to understand the concept of going at a reasonable, humane speed.

I may or may not be a bit pale when we finally stop. Thank god my parents are home until late. First I brought Jean, and my mum went all crazy about him. Then I bring home Seth, and both my parents go crazy about him. If they saw Caleb they'd start assuming things, and that's the last thing I want.

"Woah." I say as I get off his bike. "You do know maximum speed around here is thirty miles per hour?"

"What's the fun if you're always following limits?" He says, taking his helmet off and storing it in the compartment. If this keeps happening, I really should get myself a helmet.

"None, I guess." I pull out my keys and open the front door.

"You've got a really nice house." He says as we go in. "The posh area, too." He pulls a fake British accent and what he thinks is a snobby face. I laugh.

"Not really. As if there is a posh area here." I start thinking of London, then pull myself back. Now is not the time to get caught up in fantasies and memories.

"Well, it's a nice house." He defends, but he smiles too.

"Did you bring everything with you?"

"I think so." He shrugs. "I don't know why I chose Latin, but I can't back out now."

I raise an eyebrow. You don't do Latin unless you really want to and you have a minimum amount of skill in it.

"Okay, my parents wanted me to do it. I just don't go around saying that, you know?" He goes red as he tells me this.

"So your parents forced you to do it." I say, grabbing some crisps and tossing them into my bag. He doesn’t reply but I know he’s blushing even harder. "We can go to the library." I add. I've been thinking about it. I don't want to go to my room for a few reasons.

First of all, it's just plain awkward. Second, I don't want him to try anything. Third, if my parents get home and find us there there is going to be a lot of explaining to do.

And I’m not in the mood to be explaining things to them, to be honest.

So, basically, the library is our best bet. Also, I've got a lot of my Latin work and books in there, so I can use those. "What do you want to drink?"

He shrugs. "I don't mind."

"Fine." I huff, grabbing a bottle of water and a bottle of Coke.

"Shall I take that?" He asks me and I hand him the bottles.

"Go straight through there and into the big room with all the books." I say to him, almost as if he's stupid. He nods. "I'll be right down."

I go up to my room, taking my contact lenses out and pushing my glasses up my nose once more, before grabbing a jumper and all the Latin stuff I have up here. Finally, I pull my hair loose and drag my hairbrush through it a couple of times, then go back down.

"Hey." I say to him. He's standing in the doorway of the library, mouth agape. Okay, I'll give it to him, it is a grand room when you first see it, and Seth had the same reaction to it, pretty much. "You look like a fish."