Fear and Blood

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

“You failed,” the lecturer said lightly, handing Rome the assignment she had submitted a few weeks ago. Rome was standing in the empty lecture hall with Paul, the man who taught her ancient history course. He had held her back after the lecture to talk to her.

“What?” Rome took the assignment, noticing it was covered in more red ink that the original black. “I don't understand! How can my mark be so low?”

When she was being home schooled her tutors had always praised her work, and were constantly telling her parents how bright and quick she was. Sure she didn't always get a hundred percent, but she had always managed to receive above average marks. There was no way she could be failing.

It wasn't fair! She was trying so hard adapting to her new life, learning how things worked, doing things on her own. Maybe she wasn't paying enough attention to her studies? With everything that was going on, maybe she had been neglecting the real reason she had came to the city in the first place.

Rome had only been in the city for a few months, and she found it was nothing like the rural towns her family always chose to live in. People rushed everywhere, always busy, always stressed. Even walking down the street, Rome found people would walk into her, push her out of the way or scold her if they thought she was moving too slowly. A number of times, she had been yelled at by strangers for taking too long at a train station ticket booth, or holding up the bus looking for her wallet. This new atmosphere had taken its toll on Rome, who was finding it hard to cope with no-one to talk to and that was somewhat depressing. Her grades were suffering because of it.

Paul sighed. “I know it's only early in the year,” he said as he stacked some papers neatly into a pile on the lecture podium. “So there's still time to fix this if you want to. The assignment you handed in was nowhere near the level you need to be at to pass this course. Now I know ancient history isn't for everyone, but at this point it's too late to change to a different subject without incurring financial penalties. I have to ask, why did you pick this subject if you weren't interested in it?”

“Who says I'm not interested?” the young woman replied sullenly. Truthfully, history had been her last choice, but that didn't mean that she hated it. She had really been interested in learning about her namesake, she just didn't realise how much work there would be before they got that far.

“Come on Rome,” Paul said, not looking at all convinced. “I've seen your face in my lectures. Even in tutorials, you look like you would rather be sleeping, and sometimes you are. I hate to have to tell you this, but your grades will have to improve, or you will fail this course.”

“Tell me what I need to do to pass and I'll do it,” Rome said, trying not to sound panicky. She already knew what her mother would say if they found out she had failed her course. There was no way she was going to let that happen.

“Well if you're really that determined I would suggest getting a tutor,” Paul said. “I can give you a list of names that may be useful.”

“A tutor,” Rome sighed. “Great. How much will that cost?” The financial support she was getting from her family was covering everything she needed, from university fees to living expenses, but this was one thing she couldn't ask her parents to pay for because she couldn't let them know she needed a tutor. Paying someone to teach her was beyond her at the moment as she hadn't yet been able to find a job to save up any money of her own. 

“Well you could always ask someone in class,” Paul said, noticing her objection to his suggestion. He didn't blame her, some tutors could be quite expensive. “I'm sure there'll be someone willing to help you out for free.”