String of Fate

Chapter Seventy Five

The two teenage girls sitting opposite me were giggling about something on one of their phone screens. I wouldn't mind so much, but I hated that they were doing it while I was trying to teach them French. I was starting to hate tutoring two students at the same time. I was never going to be doing it again. They would always distract each other rather than focusing on the tutoring session.

I almost sighed at how the two of them were behaving, instead, I just cleared my throat to get their attention. The two of them turned to look at me like I was disturbing them. It wasn't like I was being paid to get ignored by them when I was trying to help them to improve their studies. "You do realise that your mother is paying me to be here, so, shall we try and get your French grade up while I'm here?"

"Oh, okay. Where were we?" The blonde one asked. I think her name was Kirsty but I wasn't sure. I didn't really care – I'd be out of the house in half an hour. I only had to deal with the two of them until then. I just glanced at the page of the textbook I was using and continued the lesson, trying to start exactly where I had left off.

After the longest half an hour of my life, I was heading to my next tutor session. My last of the day. It was getting a little late so I was hoping that it wouldn't be too bad. This time, I was going to be tutoring Petunia. She was a fifteen year old schoolgirl who actually listened during the tutoring sessions and her grades showed that. They had been steadily improving over the previous school tests. Petunia did usually have a friend with her for the lessons, but they didn't affect the teaching – in some aspects, her friend helped my teaching in the subject.

"Antoine, hi! It's good to see you. Come on in." Petunia spoke, giving me a big smile and moving sideways to let me pass her and into the house. As I stepped past her, she realised that she'd forgotten to say something. I gave her a little look as she shut the door. "Oh, bonjour."

"Bonjour, Petunia." I replied, heading past her and into her living room. I noticed that her mother wasn't here. She usually was. That was strange because her mother usually insisted that she also be present for the little lessons. "Is your mother not in?"

"She's working late today. Some emergency that had to be sorted before she left." Petunia explained, heading to the table where we usually sat to carry out the teachings. Petunia looked excited to be getting on with the lesson. "So, what are we studying this week? Also, I hope you don't mind that Jane might be coming over before the lesson finishes. Luke is in Japan for the premiere of his music and she couldn't go, so, I said she could come here if she got bored. She's quite upset since this is the first time she has spent time away from him since the two of them have gotten together."

"That's fine. She helps you study." I told her, taking out the textbook. It wouldn't be so bad if it meant that we could distract Jane as well as it would help Petunia with her studies. Petunia and I both sat on the floor opposite each other like we usually did. It didn't take long for us to get into the rhythm with working.

About ten minutes in, Petunia's mother came home and immediately started paying attention to the tutoring session. A part of me was beginning to think that she wanted to learn French, too, but didn't want to pay for any classes herself, so she was trying to also learn from me. I didn't really mind since I was just glad when people showed an interest in their studies. It was always good to learn new things and expand your knowledge.

After the tutoring session, I was invited to stay for dinner. Since it was better than a microwave lasagne that I would be having at home, I decided to accept. What I liked about spending time with Petunia's family was that they made me feel like a part of the family. It was actually a little rare for me to feel like that when I was spending time tutoring a student.

I was actually leaving Petunia's house with a smile on my face, which wasn't actually that rare after spending time with her and her family. Petunia walked me to the door as she usually did. "Hey, Antoine, I know its short notice but do you have any plans for tomorrow evening?"