The Art of Mending Memories

The Art of Mending Memories 22

The Art of Mending Memories

Chapter 22

"Wake up."

I jerked awake, momentarily blinded by the lights that greeted my eyes. Next to me, I heard Cassy giggling. Yawning, I looked to my other side to see Mr. Keith frowning down on me.

"Please refrain from sleeping during my class," he greeted.

"Why?" I yawned. "I'll get an A on the test anyway."

His chin lifted and his arms crossed. "That's not the point. If I'm going to put the effort in to teach, you should put the effort in to learn."

"What if I'm not ignorant on the topic?" I challenged.

"Not the point either. You just slept my whole class period away!" Mr. Keith threw his hand out toward the clock positioned above the exit. A knowing smile began to creep on my face as I realized his anger was mostly theatrical. The horse shifter was naturally dramatic.

"How offended are you really?" I smoldered the smile and kept a straight face, even as the class laughed.

Mr. Keith opened his mouth, but the bell rang before he answered my question. He closed his mouth and smiled.

"Very, very offended, actually."

I laughed. "Okay old man." I stood up and began gathering my supplies.

"Actually, the reason I woke you up is because I wanted to know if you would still like to do peer tutoring."

For math, history, and foreign languages, our school offered peer tutoring. At the end of the year, each teacher from the aforementioned subjects would choose a few students who excelled to be peer tutors. I had been a peer tutor since sophomore year in math.

"Yeah, I'd love to," I replied easily.

"Kay. I have someone for you then. To start ASAP."

"Sweet. I can start today after school. I don't have work until later." I worked at a tea shop.

Mr. Keith smiled. "Alright."

I dipped my head in mutual agreement before I turned toward the exit, where Cassy was smiling and waiting for me.

"Way to go, sleepyhead," she greeted me as we walked out the hallway.

I shrugged. "He'll get over it. I'm helping with dinner."

"Huh?"

"My aunt and his wife are best friends, so I see him a lot outside of school. We usually eat dinner twice a week together."

'That's really," Cassy paused, looking for the fitting word. "Weird."

I chuckled. "It is a bit odd," I agreed.

Cassy mumbled an agreement. "Anyway, are we still going dress shopping this weekend?"

"Yeah," I perked. "We are. What time?"

"Umm, I don't care," she said, her voice timid.

"So like noon?" I asked. "To whenever."

Cassy nodded and smiled at me. "Noon to whenever works perfectly for me."

I grinned back. "Great!"

ʘ ʘ ʘ ʘ ʘ

"Do you think Kyle will ask me to homecoming?" Kara asked, nervously twiddling her fingers.

"You mean he hasn't already?" I retorted.

"No," she replied sharply, her voice raising above the whisper we were conversing in. Kara looked across the table where Aaron and Kyle were immersed in a conversation, Kyle's hands moving rapidly in demonstration.