Just You

2: Olivia

The week flew by without anything out of the ordinary happening. Because of Benjamin's suspension, I never saw him, so I didn't get the opportunity to return the hoodie that was stashed away in my locker. As soon as the final bell rang on Friday, I started walking out of class, but my teacher called me back.
"Yes, Mr. Simon?" I walked to his desk, waiting to hear what he had to say. "I assume you know who Mr. Benjamin Hill is, correct?" I nodded unsure where this conversation was going to go, "Yes, why?" He sighed, "He was suspended as I'm sure you've heard and will be coming back on Monday, and since this is his first suspension, his other teachers and I want to try and help him." I was shocked to learn this was his first suspension, but I was also confused as to how this included me. "Um sir, where do I come into this?" I finally asked.
"Well, we were hoping, since you take almost all the same classes just different times, that you could help tutor him to help him catch up on all his work." he paused and before I was able to say anything, he quickly added, "You will, of course, get extra credit. Not that you need it." he chuckled. I looked down at my hands for a second, picking at my nails without thinking. I finally nodded, knowing my parents would kill me if I turned down something that would help me maintain my GPA as well as something that would look good on my college applications.
"Fantastic!" He clapped, handing me Benjamin's work from all his classes. "He will meet you in the library on Monday at lunch and after school." I was startled at this information, "Wait he already agreed to this?" Mr. Simon nodded, "He agreed to get a tutor. And Olivia, he may not be a straight A-student but he isn't a straight C-student either."
With that, he turned to his computer and I walked out of the classroom, still shocked. Shaking my head, 'Well this gives me the opportunity to return his hoodie I suppose.' I thought, trying to find the silver lining in this situation. As I was leaving campus, having walked today, I was surprised that I wasn't anxious about tutoring Benjamin, though by all accounts I wasn't thrilled about it.
When I got home, both my parents were already there. My mom was cooking dinner while my dad helped Hunter with his homework. "I'm home," I mumbled, taking my shoes off at the door. They simply looked up and nodded at me before turning back to what they were doing. "Liv!!" Hunter yelled, running up to me and hugging me. "Hey, little bud." I gave him a soft smile before noticing my dad look. "You should go finish your homework, okay?"
He frowned but nodded, walking back over to the table to finish his science homework. "Hey dad, I'm going to be coming home late for a little while probably two weeks top." I said as I sat down at the table across from Hunter and my dad. "What are you going to be doing after school?" My dad's voice was suspicious. "My teachers asked me to tutor someone from my class to help him catch up on this week's work since he was gone." I shrugged, wanting to escape to my room. My dad looked at me again before asking, "And why do you have to do it. You should use that time to be studying and to work on your homework since it's your final year."
Not surprised by his question, "I'm going to get extra credit for helping them catch up on school work. And it's only going to be two or three days a week so I'll be able to focus on my homework the other days." My dad nodded, but my mom still looked skeptical, "And why did they miss school. The school isn't having you interacting with...delinquents, are they?"
For some reason, I felt annoyed that my mom called Benjamin a delinquent, even though technically he was, or at least I thought so based off what I've seen and heard. "No there was a family emergency that they had to help out with." I lied, so my mom nodded, finally dropping it and waved for me to go upstairs.
As I entered my room I dropped my bag on my bed, pulling out Benjamin's work. I was surprised that two of the classes were AP. 'AP Government and AP Economics, huh' his other classes were English 12 and Calculus. I looked over the work, nodding to myself. "This should be interesting" I mumbled, chewing on the end of my pencil as I started doing my own homework. For dinner, I went downstairs grabbing one of the pre-made chicken salads I had bought when I was at the store. It was seafood night and I couldn't stand the smell.
As I was eating in my room, my eyes couldn't help but wander over to Benjamin's homework. 'I guess he really isn't like how I had pictured.' I changed into my pajamas, throwing the empty container away in the bathroom. As I was brushing my teeth, I heard my phone that I left in my room get a notification, confused I finished brushing. As I was walking into my room, I pulled my hair out of a bun so I wouldn't accidentally fall asleep with it like that.
I picked up my phone, expecting it to be a random email or something. I was surprised to see a text from a random number. "So I guess we'll be hanging out a lot more, I just got an email from Simon saying that you agreed."