Don't know yet

Chapter 4

"Hey, honey" Louis' mum sits down on the chair next to him, letting out a tired sigh.

Louis puts down his tea and gets up, grabbing the plate that's on the counter and putting it in the microwave.

"Listen, I need you to take care of the girls tomorrow after practice again"

"Working late again?" Louis says rather annoyedly. He really appreciates what his mother does for them but he doesn't like that she can't be around much.

"I know you don't like me working late but i have to do it."

"You don't have to keep picking up shifts, we are fine with your normal salary. The girls and I miss you, Mum"

"Honey, it's not just the money for now, next year you'll be going to university. We have to save up just in case you don't get a scholarship."

"Then, maybe I can get a job and ask for extra assignments at school to boost my scores. There has to be other solutions." He looks at her begging with his eyes. He desperately wants to help his mum and take some weight off her shoulders.

"You should be focusing on your studies. You're too young to be worrying about stuff like this. Don't worry about it, I'll be fine."

Louis opens his mouth to disagree with her but the microwave cuts him off before he can even say the first word. He takes the plate out and hands it to his mother who smiles at him as a form of thanking him. He pours her a glass of water and sets it on the table right in front of her.

"Alright, I'll take care of the girls tomorrow."

Louis mum looks up and thanks him before diving into her food. Louis still wants to help but at this point he knows it's best to not discuss it with his mum. He kisses her on the forehead and wishes her a goodnight before going to his room.

That night Louis can barely sleep trying to come up with a good way to earn more credit at school. He would also think of places to work at to earn some more money but it would be a lot harder to hide from his mum and he really doesn't want her to know because he knows she'll just worry about him. He turns on his bed letting his eyes wander around the room as he thinks of things that he could do. His eyes suddenly stop at his desk where his chemistry book is. He's good at chemistry and actually likes it so earning some extra credit wouldn't be hard.

Next morning he wakes up earlier than usual. He has chemistry first thing and he wants to get there before class starts so that he can talk to the teacher. When he gets to school he stalks all the way to class ignoring anything around him.

"Louis, good morning!"

"Morning, miss"

"You're awfully early today.You must be excited about my class today." Louis chuckles.

"Actually, I was hoping i could speak to you before class."

"Sure, go ahead."

"So, I was wondering if you could give me any assignments to earn some extra credit. I really need it if I want to get a scholarship."

She thinks for a second, ruffling through some papers before looking at Louis with an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry, i'm afraid I don't any extra assignments right now"

"Oh" Louis looks down at the ground in disappointment.

"Although, there is something you can do."

"Really? What?"

"You could tutor one of your classmates. Some students do it every year to earn some extra credit, plus it looks really good on your application later on."

"That'd be great. Who could I tutor?"

"Let me think about it, I'll tell you at the end of the lesson."

When the lesson starts the teacher hands out some tests and tells the class that they are having a surprise test. The class seems annoyed but not really surprised, she always does a surprise test a week after finishing a topic and they just finished a topic a week ago. The tests aren't long and they're not very hard either. The teacher always makes them to see how the class is doing and they don't count much for the final mark. After they are all done,they switch with their neighbour and mark each other as the teacher says the answers out loud. Louis has thought of marking Harry's test wrong once or twice but he feels bad because Harry doesn't really do well in them as is. In the end, he gives Harry the mark he's earned which normally disappoints him anyway.

After they are all done they mark each other's tests as usual. Louis gets a 100% which makes Harry quite angry because he's the one that has to write that score on the top of his paper. Harry gets a 47% and having in mind his usual scores, he hasn't done that bad. The teacher approaches Harry and quietly whispers something to him after having collected all the tests and given the class some work to do. Louis can't make out what she's saying but he assumes it has to do with Harry's bad marks.

"I don't think that's necessary, miss. I'm sure I'll do better next time."

The teacher whispers to Harry again and this time the boy frowns, clearly annoyed by what he just heard.

"Alright."

Louis feels curious as to what the teacher might have said to him but he doesn't give it much thought, after all it's about Harry so, why should he care? When the class is over he walks up to the teachers desk awaiting for a response to the question he asked at the start of the lesson. Louis raises his eyebrows in question and the teacher understands.

"I thought maybe you could tutor Harry. He's struggling a bit and you two seemed to work quite well together on your project."

"Miss, I'm sure there's someone else I can tutor. Him and I just don't get along so I don't think this could work."

"Sorry, there isn't anyone else at the moment who needs tutoring. I'm sure you two will be fine."

Louis rolls his eyes before agreeing to tutor Harry.

"Great, you should probably start with organic formulation. He has a retake exam next Monday and he needs to pass it if he wants to pass the subject."

Louis takes out his phone and texts Harry.

Meet me at my house today after practice and bring your notes of organic formulation.

Harry doesn't respond but quite frankly Louis couldn't care less.