Demon: Book 1

Chapter 35: A Ticket

I rolled my pencil back and forth as Comrade droned on about variables.

"Aden."

I grunted a response.

He whacked me with a notebook.

"Ow!" I sat up and glared at him. "That's abuse."

"Barely. I think it'll slide."

"Whatever." I laid my head back down.

"Stop it with the teenage drama," he groaned. "I'm trying to be professional here." He fixed his glasses. "But after three weeks of you moping around, we need to try something different."

"Like what?"

Comrade took off his glasses and tossed them on the pile of papers. Leaning back in his chair, he folded his arms. "Give me the dirt."

"What?"

"The dirt. Whatever drama that's going on that has you all uptight, spill it."

"Why should I talk to you?"

"Third-party, I have no influence, so no consequences. I won't tell a soul." He crossed his fingers. "Promise."

I fiddled with my pencil. "It's school stuff."

"It always is," he said with a little sass.

"Um... well, I was friends with his guy, and some stuff happened over the summer. He's pissed at me now and made the whole school think I'm a freak."

"Did he find out you were gay?"

My mouth opened. It better not be that obvious.

"How did you? My mom said something, didn't she?"

Comrade smiled. "Don't be all defensive. They match the tutor to the student. I've had my share of boy problems."

"You're gay, too?"

Comrade nodded. "Perfect, right? Gay failing math." He motioned to me. "Gay majoring in math." He pressed his hand to his chest. "What could be better?"

I rolled my eyes. "I didn't have a crush on him." I fidgeted in my seat. "Maybe a little, but I met someone else."

"Boyfriend problems, then?"

"Yeah, but I'm on a break with my boyfriend at the moment." I rubbed my forehead. "School sucks, and so does my love life." I slumped down on the table. "Failing math is one more thing to add to it."

"Well, how about we take math off the list?"

"It's impossible. I'm stupid."

"No, it's not." He shuffled through some of my old assignments. "You see this. You did all the work right, but you used the wrong formula. On this one, you forget a step." He pointed to a problem. "You're not stupid, Aden." He grabbed my shoulder and shook me. "You only need to pay more attention to what you're doing."

I sighed. "Fine, I'll try. I'm tired of my dad lecturing me."

"Alright, then." He pulled over my math book and flipped to a fresh sheet of paper. "Let's try this one."

I started to write down the numbers.

"Question for you."

"What?"

"How do you get a zero on an assignment when the odds are in the back of the book?"

My face flared red. "I copied down the wrong answers."

Comrade chuckled. "That will do it."

Sucking in my lips, I glanced at him. "Do you have a boyfriend?"