The Tutor

Chapter 5 - You And I

He opened the door for me and I got in the car. He soon got in too and inserted the keys and turned on the engine before saying :

" Are you ready?"

"Yes," I said

Then he drove onto the road.

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For most of the ride, I didn't look at anything else than Aiden. He drove his convertible with the roof open and the wind blowing in our faces, messing up our hair. He drove with focus for a while glancing at me from time to time. Could this man be any more perfect? We soon came to a stop to a building that said.... Laser tag?! Did he know that I love laser tag? He then looked at my expression and said:

" Surprise," he said and smiled.

" How did you know?" I was now looking at him.

" Secret sources." he looked at the ground while he murmured this.

" Lemme guess. My sister?" I raised an eyebrow.

" Maybe...?" he grinned " Let's go now."

He took my hand and entwined out fingers while he dragged me towards the building. He talked to the guy at the front desk and soon I found myself putting on the equipment. The instructor briefed us about the rules. After that, we were in the arena. I hid behind a structure and slowly moved towards a high point to get an eagle's point of view. I looked around until I saw him slowly moving around looking for me.

" Gotcha," I whispered as I aimed at him and shot him right in the middle point of his chest.

He fell dramatically to the ground. I hoped off the tower and ran to him. He had his tongue out and was pretending to be dead. I laughed at this sight and helped him get up.

" Maybe taking you to laser tag wasn't a good idea. I didn't know you were such a pro."

We both laughed and played a few more rounds. After about 2 hours of playing, we got really tired and decided to go home. Aiden was still salty that he lost but I had an idea. I told him some directions and we soon pulled up into my favourite place.

" I always come here to think. I wanted to share this place with you because it's very special to me." I said smiling at him.

" In what way is it special dolly?" he asked.

Dolly. I haven't heard this nickname in forever. He hasn't called me that ever since Mr Wilson made him my tutor. We were now sitting on the ground and I continued:

" It's very special to me because  I- i ."

I had a little teardrop down my cheek and soon I found myself sobbing too. He noticed this, put a hand on my shoulder and drew circles on my back to comfort me. We sat there in silence for a little until he decided to speak:

" Can I ask you a question." He asked and looked at me.

" Shoot."

" You always act so strong but you have these areas where if somebody uncovers them you aren't afraid to cry in front of them."

I was shot up into a sitting position. I turned to him with shock spread across my face. Who knew that these simple words would affect me so much. He tuned his head towards me and signaled me to continue what I started before I started to tear up. But he was patient, he knew that it was hard for me to talk about this

" Has Mr Wilson told you why he made you my tutor?"

Aiden shook his head as a no and so I continued:

" My grandmother passed away a few days before school started. She died in the hospital bed while she was asleep. After suffering for a few years from lung cancer, she finally let go. My grandma was my best friend. We had a bond that could not be broken. Before she fell sick" A tear rolled down my cheek " she had been a smoker for almost 15 years. Even though I hated her for doing this, I couldn't hate her forever. She gave power to the thing that could kill her. And it finally did."

I wiped the tear that escaped my eye earlier. He hugged me and I leaned my head against his shoulder as we watched the sunset. We sat there for a while until I fell asleep under his touch and he carried me to his car. He drove me home and put me in my bed. I slept soundly until the morning when I was woken up to the sound of my alarm clock. I got up, got ready and went downstairs to eat breakfast with my family. We talked until it was time to go to school. My dad wasn't there since he was working his night shift at the police station. I went outside and noticed a car pull up in my driveway. It was Aiden. I jumped into the car.

" I'm glad she's doing better." said my mom.

" Me too. After grandma passed away she was devastated, but he helped her get through it and I'm happy." My sister said this facing my mother.

Aiden turned on the engine as I sat in my seat and said

" Good morning. How are you doing?" he asked

" I'm great. Thanks for yesterday. It really helped." I smiled at him

" Let's get going now, we don't want to be late for Mr Wilson's class now would we?" he said sarcastically.

" Of course not."

We got to school before time so he walked me to my locker. Molly soon joined us.

" How are two best friends doing? Oooh how was laser tag yesterday?" she asked happily.

" How did you know this I haven't told you anything yet," I asked with a confused face.

" Who do you think helped him find the laser tag place and told him that you love sunflowers?" she said all this with a 'duh' face.

I laughed at how stupid I was. This was so easy to figure out and yet, I couldn't do it. Soon classes began. I spent most of the time thinking about all the great people that I had in my life.

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Published 18th February, 2019