Downfall [h.s]

↞ Chapter 10 ↠

After a lot of deliberation, I had finally decided that I was no longer going to be tutored by Mr. S. Not only did we not get along, but after yesterday's incident I just didn't feel all that safe around him. With the dark bruises on my arm as a reminder, I tried to work up the courage to tell Mr. West that I needed a change. I wasn't sure what excuse I would come up with but I would figure something out.

I contemplated telling him that Mr. S and I just didn't get along. With his demeanor, I'm sure Mr. West would understand. If push came to shove, I would just stop showing up for our sessions. Sure, I would get in trouble but it was my last year. As long as I passed, I really didn't care.

Luckily, Mr. West was passing by my locker as I was thinking of what to say to him. I was even more glad that Mr. S wasn't with him. The last thing I needed was to try and have this conversation with him there. So before I could lose all the courage I had just worked up, I called out to Mr. West and stopped him from disappearing.

"Hey Mr. West. Do you have a minute? There's something I need to talk to you about," I said nervously. Concern immediately showed up on his face and I felt bad for making him worry. It wasn't that big of a deal.

"Of course Daisy. Why don't you walk to my classroom with me? I have a free period so we'll be able to talk."

I trailed after him, trying to come up with the perfect excuse but figuring out nothing. In the end, I decided that the truth, or a close version of it, would work out the best. He was a reasonable man. He would work with me on this.

When we got to his classroom, he leaned against his desk and crossed his arms over his chest. He was staring at me intently as he waited for me to speak up. I didn't want to keep him waiting but I was having a little trouble articulating what I wanted to say.

"I wanted to talk to you about tutoring with Mr. Styles... I don't think it's going to work out between the two of us. We don't get along very well, or at all to be honest," I finally admitted after a few seconds had passed.

His concern only grew. "Did your first session not go well?"

My fingers drifted to the bruise on my arm concealed by the long sleeves of my shirt and winced at the pain that even a small amount of pressure created. How was I going to explain that for a second I really thought that Mr. S was going to hurt me, on top of all the snarky and sarcastic comments that he had been making throughout the session without getting him kicked out of school? Even though he clearly didn't want to be here, I recalled the conversation that he had with Mr. West who very obviously stated he needed to be here. I didn't know why, but I wasn't going to be responsible for him getting in trouble.

"We just... we're not a compatible pair the two of us. He's not very patient or willing to teach. And if I'm going to give up my time to go to a session with him, I would hope that at the very least he wouldn't make it blatantly obvious that he didn't want to be there either."

"Ah, I see. I know Harry can be a very brash and snarky person and most definitely not the easiest to be with. But that's why all of the students I had who were eligible for tutoring, I put you with him. Even though you're not a math teacher, you still teach ballet which requires a lot of patience and calmness to do. I knew you would be the best person to put him with because of that." He sighed, long and exhausting. It only reminded me that Harry, or Mr. S, was Mr. West's nephew. And for him to be speaking about his family this way, only proved to me that Mr. S was probably a lot more of a handful than I thought.

"Listen Daisy, I know that you want to quit but I would appreciate it if you could just give him a try... a real one. He's not that bad once you get to know him, he's just got a lot of layers to get through before you make it down to the nice part. If in a few weeks you're still having problems with him, I'll switch so that your sessions will be with me instead. But if you can, please try to stick it out."