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2.5 // tristan's tutor

2 . 5 / /   t r i s t a n ' s   t u t o r

Grade Ten // Age 16

TRISTAN WEBBLY was failing science, and Alexandria Benson had to make sure he didn't. As a peer tutor, her job, for several Wednesdays a semester, was to come after school to Credit Intervention and help those who were failing not fail. Essentially.

Alexandria signed in, smiling at the guidance counselor who ran the peer tutoring programme at the school, and took a seat at the science table. She looked around, basking in the sight of the teachers signing in students, small grade nine students waddling in, bulky, towering, and exhausted senior students coming in, and the air of . . . academics in the air. Alex loved this day. She loved being surrounded by people who studied, even if their teacher made them come in to the session.

She had always been an outcast of sorts because she liked studying. She enjoyed learning new things. Some people felt at home on the ice or on a field, but to her, the classroom was her ring. Solving equations, typing essays, conducting labs were her kicks and shoots. Her marks were her goals. Her teachers were referee and coaches. She protected her brain from a concussion like a tennis player would nurse their shoulder and arm. Beyond track, she didn't do anything. And she only competed in track because the risk of falling on her head and getting a concussion was minimum. It wasn't something her mother, an active athlete all through out high school and university, could understand about her daughter. But that was who she was.

Alex drummed her fingers on the table, looking around and hoping someone will come to her table. Even though she had already completed her required volunteer hours, she was still doing more. It never hurt to do more, universities liked that.

A boy, who looked to be younger than her, was coming towards her with a teacher. It was Mrs. Rutherford, her science teacher from last year. "Alexandria is great at science, you'll be in good hands," she announced. "Can you help him with the optics test? He has to correct his test for the make-up."

Alexandria nodded with a smile, "Sure," her mind already pulling up what it remembered from the physics unit last year. It was the hardest unit, but Alexandria still got a fairly good mark on her unit test. She turned towards the boy. He had ghost-pale skin, black hair, and dark eyes. He smiled and took out his papers, pushing them towards her.

"That's what we're doing," he murmured.

Alex nodded, her eyes scanning over the pages, familiarizing herself with the material. After going through the whole test, she said. "Okay. So first, what's your name?" Alex always asked that first.

"Tristan." She already forgot it.

"I'm Alex," she said. "Okay, so you seem to have trouble with the equations . . ." For the next two hours Alex explained and helped Tristan grasp the material. At the end of their session, she asked: "So how do you feel about optics now?"

"A bit better," he said.

"Just a bit?" she teased.

He smiled, "A lot better. Thank you."

Alex smiled without saying anything, packing up her own bag and getting ready to leave. Her back ached and she was ready to go home and eat. She already finished her homework during lunch and had nothing to do.

As she was walking towards the library doors she heard him call her name again. "Alex!" she turned to see him jogging towards her, his phone in his hand.

"If I need some more help in science, would it be okay if I . . . can you help me more or is it just a one time thing?" he sounded hesitant, his dark brows were pulled together, a frown on his thin lips.

"Oh," no one had ever asked her that before, and she knew agreeing to this would mean she'd be doing it for free—not even for any volunteer hours unless she talked to the guidance counselor. She didn't want to talk to her. But Alex also knew she could not refuse him. "Okay."

He—Alex figured she needed to find a way to remember his name now—beamed and held out his phone for her number. She typed it in and sent herself a text, feeling the vibration in her pocket. After bidding him a goodnight, she left. What did I get myself into? She wondered as she put on her earphones for the walk home.

One Month Later

"ALEX!" TRISTAN was jogging towards her, a paper in his hands. He waved it before he reached her, and, panting slightly from his run, thrust the page into her face. Alex chuckled and took the paper out of his eager hands. She looked down to see that it was the biology test he had been studying for, and in the corner of the page was a "4" in blue ink. Alex felt her eyes widen as she looked at Tristan.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed. "Tristan this is amazing," it was now her turn to wave the paper around. "I'm so proud of you."

Tristan grinned, immensely pleased with himself. Alexandria invited him to have lunch with her that day, buying him a bag of chips from the vending machines to celebrate. Alex continued to tutor Tristan long after that day, and into the next year. They become something closer to friends. She liked her work with him, liked that she was helping someone pass their classes. She felt not only proud of him but of herself, for sticking with him and helping him.

But never did Alex think that he liked her like that. She didn't see any signs and she certainly didn't show any interest. She felt angry—how dare he mess up such a good thing? She did nothing to encourage him. He shouldn't have asked her. She was fed up with all these people asking her out when she clearly doesn't like them romantically. How can they? What happened to knowing someone, really knowing them, before asking them out? She barely knew Tristan. She wasn't friends with him on a deep level. Same thing went for Riley. She didn't know them. They weren't like Caleb. He knew her. If he asked her out, she would say yes. She wouldn't be angry that he asked her because he knew her.

That was all she was asking for. Someone to know her.

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Hi everyone! What do you think of this chapter?

I counted how many chapters we have left, and there's around ten more to go! I don't know if I'll write an epilogue because the final chapter had a nice ending to it. I think I'll just post a little summary of where everyone is to give closure. What do you think?

See you next chapter,
Sage