Perfect love

You Wouldn't Care, Right?

It's been three days since Jude volunteered to be my tutor, and we still haven't met up to study.

I'm walking mindlessly around the empty halls. Everyone has already gone home or to their clubs, so my steps resonate through the school.

"Hey!"

I hear steps getting near me, so I turn around.

"Hi!" I say, as Celia stops in front of me.

"What are you doing on your own this late?" she asks.

"Oh, nothing, just killing time," I answer with a smile.

"I heard about Jude!"

"What about him?"

"He's your tutor, right?"

Oh, damn.

"Yeah, yeah, I forgot. Though for a genius he doesn't seem to manage time well," I joke.

"What do you mean?" she asks as we start to walk.

"We still haven't met up, but you know, that's fine with me. I don't really want a tutor," I brush off.

"Well, that's odd. He's been saying that he had to go tutor you so he could go earlier from practice," she says, frowning.

We walk to the school door and the fresh air hits us hard.

"They are training now, but it shouldn't be much longer. Come with me and we will clear out this stuff with my brother."

I nod and follow her to the school's field.

The boys are training on the grass. It looks like they are doing fitness. They are in organized lines as they do push ups to the whistle of the coach.

I follow Celia down the slope and into the pitch.

"Hey, Celia!" one of the girls says.

"Oh, hi Silvia. Girls, this is Shiori Natsumi," she introduces me to the girls.

"Hi, I'm Silvia Woods, and this is Nellie Raimon. I don't think you know us but we've heard about you," she explains smiling.

"Nice to meet you," I say extending my hand.

She takes it and then leads me to the bench on the side of the field.

Celia looks around with a small frown on her face and then turns to Nellie.

"Have you seen my brother?"

"He said he was going to tutor the girl. Same as the past three days."

"Shiori is the girl he's tutoring, and she's with us," Celia says.

"Oh."

Damn.

So now I'm his excuse.

Wow.

Nice to know.

"He talked with Mark before walking off. He may know something," Silvia offers.

She calls him over and the coach let's him go off. His dark brown hair is messy over his bandana, and some strands fall on his face. He picks up a towel and Nellie offers him a bottle of water, which he accepts.

"Mark, this is-"

"Shiori Natsumi," he interrupts.

"You know me?"

"We've been together since elementary school, I should know you," he winks and Nellie looks away with sad eyes.

I feel the blush creeping up my neck.

So embarrassing.

I didn't know I went to school with half the National Team.

I didn't even know one of the players had been with me in elementary school.

More specifically the captain and star goalkeeper.

Great.

Way to be decent.

"Moving on, do you know where Jude is?"

"Um..." he takes his hand and scratches his neck, "He told me he would be tutoring the kid. Yeah. That's it."

I narrow my eyes at him. He doesn't look too convinced.

"Well, Shiori here is the student he should be tutoring, so if you know something, do tell," Nellie intervenes.

Mark's eyes grow wide and he brushes his hair away.

"I-I... Um..."

"Take her with you," Celia sighs, "and tell him we're going to have a long chat."

Mark turns to the coach, who nods approvingly, and starts walking towards the school.

______________________

We're now at the back of the school building, with no luck finding Jude.

"I know he wasn't going to tutor you. That's just his cover. But I really don't know where he is, okay?"

"Fine. I really don't need a tutor anyway," I huff.

"I mean. If you have one, there must be a reason why, right?" he asks, looking at me.

"Yeah, Mrs. Get a Tutor Because Your Grades Are Dropping made me do it."

He chuckles and his laugh resonates in my ears pleasantly.

"May I know who that teacher is?"

"Mrs. Tanaka."

"Isn't that advanced maths?" he asks, completely turning to me.

"Yeah... My grades have suffered a small slip," I mutter.

"I can help you."

"I don't need two tutors ghosting me, thanks."

"So you're assuming that I'm like Jude, huh?" he asks.

He's barely taller than me, but right now I feel very small.

"Yeah. Does it bother you?"

"I'm not stupid, you're trying to provoke me so I actually gohst you. But you should be careful typecasting people for one thing someone else did," he says.

"Why would you help me?"

"Because you're very smart. The whole school knows. So why are your grades going down? And I mean, I'm not a bad person, and Jude isn't doing anything, so why not?" he says.

I look into his deep chocolate brown eyes. A big smile is plastered in his face, like on my TV during the FFI.

"And I'm sure he won't care."

"Care about what?" someone says behind me.

"Oh, Jude. Hey, I was just saying that-"

"What are you doing here?" he asks, looking at me.

"I-Celia, um... And Mark-"

I stumble with my words, not making any sense.

"As I was just saying before you interrupted me, you wouldn't care if I tutored her, right?"

"Well, turns out I do. I'm her tutor and it's final," he snaps, "and what is she doing here?"

"Since you weren't actually tutoring Shiori, Celia dragged her to practice and then sent me with her to look for you. Oh, and mate? Celia seems pissed," Mark tells him.

He always looks so bright and innocent but right now he just looks dead serious.

"You're not going to ask me where I was?"

"Nah. And I'm not going to tell you to stop skipping practice. But Coach isn't going to be happy."

"Yeah, I know," Jude laughs coldly, "such a shame that I don't care."

He takes a few steps towards us. He's still in his football clothes, and his cape waves rhythmically behind him.

"Because I'm quitting."