Pretty Girl - RusCan

The Teacher's Assistant

It was the last day of school for the seniors at Matthew's high school, and he was beyond excited to get out of there. After the last day, there was only graduation left and then he could be done with high school forever and off to university.

But all of that excitement was squashed as soon as he got to the last period of the day, calculus. The seniors had taken their final exams a week prior and today they were getting them all back. As long as you passed all your exams and classes, you could graduate. Matthew wasn't the best at math, but he figured if he could at least pull out a C he could get away with passing.

But as the teacher came around and passed out the exams, Matthew turned the page to find a big red F. As his classmates rejoiced in their grades and began sharing them with their closest friends, Mathew folded his and tucked it away in his backpack, his face turning red in both panic and embarrasment.

"Hey Matthew! Lovino and I are going to head out to get some gelato to celebrate. Wanna come?" his friend Arthur suddenly asked, heading over to his desk with a smile on his face.

"I have to stay and watch Alfred's baseball game- but thanks for the offer. Maybe we can all hang next week" Matthew suggested, eliciting a dissapointed look from the Brit.

"Yes- I'll have you guys over for brunch" he replied.

"I think it'd be a better idea if we just went to Lovino's" Matthew joked, recalling the last time they had brunch and Arthur had accidentally put salt in his scones rather than sugar. Arthur rolled his eyes and scoffed before walking away.

Matthew was embarrassed. He didn't even know if Alfred had a baseball game, he just didn't want to tell anyone he had failed and needed to stay behind to talk to the teacher. Once everyone had gone and the bell had rung, Matthew stayed behind and approached his teacher, who was trying to pack up his things.

"Um- excuse me? Mr. Daniels? I just wanted to know if I can get this grade up" Matthew asked, shyly hiding behind his curls as the teacher looked up from his desk.

"Well you're going to have to retake the exam before graduation or else you'll get your diploma after summer school" he replied, looking dissapointed as the Canadian's face turned red.

"But graduation is in a week and all the math teachers are on summer break" Matthew argued, not knowing how he could possibly raise his F if there were no one to help him understand the material.

"Pardon me- but I could tutor you if want" someone interjected from across the room.

Matthew looked over to notice the teacher's assistant was still in the room. The teacher's assistant was a tall Russian student who was an 3rd year undergraduate at the University across town. He was working at the school as his internship, and had been helping out in their class all year. His name was Ivan, but the teacher insisted on the class calling him Mr. Braginsky, even though he was only a few years older than them.

Matthew had often noticed him standing in his corner of the room, waiting for students to ask questions when Mr. Daniels was busy. He had helped Matthew a few times throughout the year, especially on optimization problems. He was a good tutor, so Matthew was relieved to hear him offer his help.

"That would be amazing, thank you! What are your office hours?" Matthew asked, turning his attention away from his grumpy teacher.

"I'm a student, so I don't really have office hours. But maybe you can meet me on campus this week in the afternoons? I've got class in the morning but we can grab a coffee and study" Ivan suggested, eliciting an approving nod from the teacher. "Just email me a time."

"Okay thank you so so so much. See you tomorrow I guess" Matthew said, giving a parting wave as he hurried out of the room. When he got into the hallway he did a victorious fist pump. There was still hope.

When Matthew got to his car and began to drive home, he began to think of what time would be best to visit the university. He didn't want to be so early that Mr. Braginsky was exhausted after class, but he also didn't want to be so late that he couldn't go out to whatever college parties were probably going on in his dorm. He really didn't want to be a nuisance. He knew the guy probably had his own exams to study for.

When he got home, Alfred was there and not at his imaginary baseball game. "Mattie, where have you been? Ususally you beat me back here" Alfred asked as he shoved a protein bar in his mouth.

"I failed my math exam so I had to talk to Daniels" Matthew admitted, throwing his backpack onto the couch before grabbing an apple and sitting down next to Alfred.

"Wait- so are you gonna graduate?" Alfred asked.

"He's giving me a new exam in a week. If I don't pass I'll get my diploma after I take calc in summer school" Matthew explained, taking a bite out of his apple.

"Damn. I thought you were the smart brother.. what happened?" Alfred joked, trying to cheer him up.

"You took statistics instead of calc... that's what happened! Anyway, I'm getting tutored by Daniels' TA Mr. Braginsky" Matthew said.

"That weird Russian dude who stands in the corner and looks like he could knock all of your teeth out with just his pinky?" Alfred questioned, suddenly sounding very invested in the conversation.

"I guess? I don't get why people think he's so scary he's actually really sweet. He helped me raise my B to an A-" Matthew replied.

"And I'm sure you helped him raise his D" Alfred teased with a wink. Matthew furrowed his brow in confusion before a look of realization crossed his face.

"You're disgusting!" Matthew shot back, his face flushed as he whacked Alfred with one of the pillows he had been leaning on.

"I'm sure he only volunteered to tutor you because he's got the hots for you" Alfred stated.

"You're delusional" Matthew responded, rolling his eyes as he got up off the couch and headed to his room. After flopping onto his bed, Matthew stared up at the ceiling. He doubted Alfred was right, but there was a little bit of him that was curious to find out. It wasn't a completely unrealistic idea. He was a junior in college, but he still managed to find time in his schedule to help one of the high schoolers for free. Who does that? Either he was really nice, or Alfred was right.

Matthew shook the thoughts out of his head. Alfred had been watching too many rom-coms and teen dramas. Ivan was probably just a nice guy who noticed a student needing help. It was his responsibility to help anyway. Plus, Matthew had never spoken a single word to him about anything other than math. Their relationship was strictly professional.

Laughing now at Alfred's ridiculousness, Matthew opened his email and began to write to Mr. Braginsky. They'd be meeting tomorrow at 3pm, coffee shop near the admissions office.