Infuriated

•6•

Mr. Smith stands with his back to the class. We have to copy the sums from the board. I hate math. I'm truly convinced that my mind is not made to solve equations and understand even the relevance of mathematical problems. That's why I stay quiet during every math class; my eyes are focused on my book every time Mr. Smith asks a question, praying he forgets my existence. Unfortunately, Mr. Smith always notices me and always lets me answer questions in front of the whole class.

,,Beca, how about you?" And there it is. The sign for me to answer the question he wrote on the board. A few classmates are staring at me, including Sam. Sam is the only one who helps me in this class. If I don't know the answer, then he answers it for me.

,,I, um..." I'm doing my best to focus on the question, but I feel embarrassed. I feel the sweat on my face and on my hands. Focus on the sum. An airplane flew for 8 hours at an airspeed of x miles per hour (mph), and for 7 more hours at 325 mph. If the average airspeed for the entire flight was 350 mph, which of the following equations could be used to find x? I sigh. I don't get it at all! X + 325 = 2(350), no wait... 8x -7(325)= 350... No! Come one Beca! 8X +7(325) = 15(350)... Ugh, one answer is probably right, but I don't know which one! I wish Chloe was here. I keep quiet.

,,Anyone else?" Mr. Smith annoyingly asks the rest of the class and I watch as Sam raises his hand instantly. He gives the answer. I don't understand it. I wish I could fail math forever. When I'm famous, I'll hire an accountant to do math for me. Mike gives Sam a high five and I look back to my book. ,,Good job, Sam. How about you help Beca with this week's assignment? Pages thirty-one until forty, everyone." I'm glad that the whole class sighs because I'm pretty sure the lump I swallowed in my throat is otherwise hearable by everyone around. I watch Sam move in from the corner of my eye. I look up and am met with his bright smile.

,,Don't worry Beca, I'll help you."

,,Thank you. I was just trying to fix these sums." I hit my pen at the book and nod as if I'm satisfied with my answer, which I'm not.

,,Okay, let's do this one first." Sam grabs the book and puts the end of the pen in his mouth as he scams the question. ,,Read." He says firmly and I try to understand the words in the book, but I just can't.

,,Now that you looked closely, what do you think the answer is?"

,,I don't know, these aren't even words." I point to the sixth question.

,,Yes they are." Sam laughs. ,,Here, look. If Y equals to sec X plus tan X, then what equals to DY/DR?"

,,See, they're not words!" I exclaim. Sam giggles again. The bell goes off and Sam is on his way out already. I take my time stuffing the book in my bag before getting up as well, ready to leave the room last when Mr. Smith stops me.

,,Beca," he tells me. ,,I want to talk to you for a minute." Help! ,,I'm a little worried about your grades. You were never great at math, but not this bad. You need some help. Maybe we need to find someone from senior year to tutor you." What?! No! If that happens, Chloe can't tutor me anymore! I inhale for a moment.

,,I already have a tutor."

,,Oh, and may I ask who that is?"

,,Chloe Beale, sir."

,,Hmmm, does the headmaster agree on that?" I nod. ,,Okay, we will try this for now but if I don't see improvement in two weeks, then the tutoring will stop and I'll tutor you myself." Oh, my God. I think I just threw up inside my mouth. I don't want tutoring with HIM! The only way I can get math is when Chloe explains it to me. I nod. ,,Good that you understand the situation, Beca. You may go now." I don't know how hard I have to leave that classroom. Oh, my God. I only have two weeks to understand all these sums! I'm pretty sure I won't get it at all. What is my father going to do when I have another F on a test? And if that happens, I have to get tutoring by Mr. Smith. Let's face it, I've screwed both ways!

,,Hey Chloe!" I hear when I'm walking back to my locker to meet with Jesse, Stacie, and Marley. We always agree to meet every break, but Finn couldn't be here because of Glee. I just hope I'm not losing my best friend because of the Glee club. I look at the girl who has stolen my heart. I'm immediately caught up in the way Chloe flips her hair to the other side of her head, the way her lips curl into a small smile when our eyes meet. I realize that I'm staring and quickly move my eyes back to Jesse, who's already smirking.

,,Hey, Miss Rouge." Says Jesse when I arrive at my locker. I feel myself getting mad.

,,Shut the fuck up, Swanson!" I say and open my locker with force.

,,Ouch!" Jesse grabs his forehead.

,,You shouldn't have teased me." I say and close my locker again.

,,So, how is tutoring with Chloe going?" Marley asks me and I feel my cheeks getting red again.

,,Well, I don't understand math, but -"

,,Chloe distracts you." Stacie gives me a wink.

,,Did you kiss her already?" Jesse looks at me.

,,No, we just talked."

,,What?" He turns to Stacie and Marley. ,,Hey girls, did she say that they only talked?" The girls nod and Jesse turns back to me. ,,Dude, you're not making any progress. I practically put her in your arms. I want to hear the sound of clothes ripping."

,,Hey, girls like a bit of romance." Says Marley.

,,Romance?" Jesse walks really close to her now. ,,Are you saying I'm not romantic?"

,,Well I don't know. If you're such a romantic, where is your girlfriend?"

,,Oh, burn." I give Stacie a high five and we laugh at Jesse.

,,Ha ha, very funny." Suddenly music is heard from the auditorium. What is that? I walk over to the auditorium, but I'm not the only one. Jesse, Marley, Aubrey, Chloe, and Stacie are following me. We get inside quietly and see five students on the stage. Finn and Kurt are the only ones I know, but I don't leave. I'm the first one to sit down on a chair and just watch the performance.

Wow, Finn is really good and he seems to enjoy himself up there. Damn that girl with the long black hair, singing with Finn is really good and pretty. Not as pretty as Chloe. Chloe sits next to me and smiles at me. I really enjoy the performance and start to sing with them, quietly of course, so Chloe doesn't hear me: ,,Working hard to get my fill, everybody wants a thrill. Paying anything to roll the dice, just one more time. Some will win, some will lose, some are born to sing the blues. Oh, the movie never ends. It goes on and on and on and on."

Stacie, who sings with Marley is way louder and that's the only voice Chloe can hear: ,,Don't stop believing, hold on to that feeling. Streetlight, people!" When they're finished, we all startled by the clapping of Mr. Schuester.

,,Good, guys. It's a nine. We need a ten. Rachel," The beautiful girl with the long black hair looks at him. So, her name is Rachel huh? ,,you need to hit the ones and the fives. Finn, I think if we work on it, you can hit a high B." Finn nods and notices me. He smiles and takes Rachel with him towards me. I stand up and shake her hand.

,,Hi Beca, I'm Rachel." She says.

,,How do you know my name?"

,,Finn told me a lot about you. Don't worry, all good things. Were you in here for a long time?"

,,No, but we couldn't stay away. This was freaking awesome!" Yells Stacie excited.

,,Aw, thank you. If you enjoyed it, you could watch all our performances." She tells me.

,,We would love to." I tell her and smile.

,,Bec, you wanted to try out for the Glee club, right?" Finn looks at me and my eyes widen. Dude, what are you doing?! I can't sing in front of Chloe!

,,Oh, you want to sing?" I shake my head. ,,You want to make music?" I look Rachel in her eyes and just nod. ,,That's awesome. Maybe you can help Mr. Schuester with some songs." I would love to. I smile at Rachel and then leave the auditorium. I hope Mr. Schuester will let me help, but first I need to concentrate on tutoring with Chloe because if I don't want to end up dead, I have to pass the next test!