The Tutor || S.M.

Chapter 29 || "Are You Mad At Me?"

When I arrive at physics, Mrs. Hernandez is back, greeting us at the door with papers in her hand. I walk up to her and she smiles, taking one of the papers out of her pile and handing it to me.

"Hi Helaina. I rearranged the seating chart so when you walk in, find the desk with your name on it." Mrs. Hernandez instructs. I nod, walking inside. I survey the room for Julia, but she's nowhere to be seen. I sigh and begin looking for the desk with my name on it.

"Helaina, your seat is behind me." Michelle, a girl in my class that I'm friendly with, announces. I look to her and nod, heading over to the last row of seats in the corner of the classroom. I notice the seats are in pairs, so when I sit down, I look at the name scribbled on the post-it note next to mine.

    Shawn.

I stare at it for a few seconds, taking in the messy handwriting before the name fully sinks in. I smile to myself, relieved to be working with someone I actually enjoy. I have to remind myself to not get too attached to Shawn in class, though, as I suspect that if Mrs. Hernandez knew what was going on between Shawn and I, she would definitely move our seats.

I settle into the seat and pull my binder out, beginning to work on the Do Now. The other students slowly file in before the bell rings, and Shawn makes it just in time. As his foot crosses the threshold of the classroom, the bell goes off, signaling that class has started.

"Your seat is in the back next to Helaina." Mrs. Hernandez informs him, pointing my way.

Shawn's eyes meet mine, burning a hole through them. He wordlessly walks over, sliding into the seat next to me. I expect him to say something to me, but instead he remain silent. I decide to ignore him as well, looking back down at my binder to finish the Do Now. I struggle with the equation, but am able to do it on my own. Just as I set my pencil down, Mrs. Hernandez begins to talk to the class.

"I hope you all like your seats, because you're going to be sitting in them for the remainder of the school year. If you haven't already noticed, most of you are with the same person I paired you up with for labs. The person sitting beside you will be your lab partner as well. Does anyone have any questions about this before we start?" Mrs. Hernandez asks. When no one raises their hand, she continues on with what she was saying. "We're going to be working on study guides for today's class. Your test is tomorrow, so if you have any questions, come see me while you're working on your study guide and I'll be glad to help. I'm going to pass out the study guides now. You have all class to finish it and homework if you need to. The study guide will be graded off completion, so make sure you do it."

"Are we allowed to work on it with someone else?" someone asks.

"Yes. You can work with your partner or someone near you. I don't want everyone getting up and moving around the classroom." Mrs. Hernandez says, beginning to walk around the room as she passes out the papers.

When Mrs. Hernandez reaches Shawn and I, she hands me my study guide and asks, "No Julia today?"

I hesitate for a second, wondering if I should cover for her. She has been rude to me without reason all day, but what if there's a reason for that? What if she's just been having a bad day and she decided to take it out on me? Plus, I really don't know where she is. All I know is that she disappeared during lunch and I haven't seen or heard from her since. Finally, I decide to just shake my head no.

"I don't think she felt good." I lie. "She was acting kind of weird."

Mrs. Hernandez nods, walking away. I look at the study guide, and by the end of the first page, I already know I'm going to bomb this test. I glance at Shawn, who's already working on the first question. I tap him gently on the arm, but he doesn't respond. I do it again, only to no prevail. I call his name this time, and finally he answers.

"What Helaina?" he asks, his tone irritated. I'm taken aback by this, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Um, can you help me with this? Since you know, you're tutoring me..." I say, and he sighs.

"I guess."

"Thanks." I say, grabbing my paper and scrambling to write down a message.

Are you mad at me? I write.

"Here, look at number one. I'm really confused." I say, not wanting the people around us to hear what I really have to say. I slide the paper to him.

It takes Shawn a minute to read it, and once he does, he grabs his own pencil and writes down his reply. He shoves the paper back to me.

"That's the answer." he says.

No. Why would you think that?

"Are you being sarcastic?" I blurt out.

"Why would I joke about the answer to number one?" he asks.

"I don't know; it just seemed like it wasn't the real answer." I say. I grab my paper and erase the writing, scribbling down another question for him.

I know you're mad at me. Can we please find a way out of class right now to talk about this?

"Can you take another look? I think you messed up." I say, and hand him the paper. Shawn reads my note, looks up at me, and sighs. He writes down a reply and passes it to me.

"Check again."

No. Talk to me later.

I frown, turning away from him. First Julia, now Shawn. Why is everyone close to me so mad at me right now?

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AN: another short chapter! sorry, i've been updating more frequently now though. don't forget to comment/vote and enjoy!