Alex woke up in the morning when the sun has not shown itself to the world. The birds have not woken up yet but Alex doesn't have the leisure to look at them. He quickly prepares himself for the day. He takes the school bag and heads out. Alex walks to the newspaper distributor and takes his share of newspapers and a cycle. He leaves his school bag there and sets off to distribute the papers.
'The sky is a bit clear. Today is a great day. My life is getting better.' Alex thinks to himself. Getting a job has made him very happy. He feels that his future goal will be accomplished for sure as long he works hard and doesn't give up.
'I don't have any obstacles in my way from getting into the Imperial college.' Until yesterday, Alex was concerned about money for fees, house, food etc. He wanted to take another job but was worried about the job affecting his grades as well as health but with the job of a tutor, he doesn't need to worry about his health as it is not physically demanding and the grades because he can study while teaching.
Alex cycles while humming a little. Alex completes the newspaper delivery and takes his bag to walk to the bus stop. He decides to celebrate getting a job by treating himself with his favourite sandwich. The sandwich he bought was expensive for him but he doesn't care about it.
'You should work hard today, for a better tomorrow but you should not give up on today's happiness for tomorrow's. I can just skip breakfast for next 2 days to make up for this.' Alex thought. He makes it a point to treat himself whenever something good happens to him.
He treats himself for getting good grades, for getting his monthly wage etc. Alex felt that he should celebrate these things to keep himself striving for more. Doing nothing but work and studying regardless for results would definitely exhaust his mind.
He walks into the class. Students look at him but don't pay much attention. Alex's relationship with his classmates is a bit strange. They don't hate him for he did nothing to provoke them. He doesn't ignore anyone arrogantly because of his grades but answers them politely. He doesn't refuse anyone from asking doubts about studies but he doesn't take initiative to talk to anyone.
Their parents use Alex as an example to motivate them. They say 'Alex is supporting himself but manages to get good grades but what about you? You should work harder to improve.' This caused the students to have a bit of rejection towards Alex. Few people invited Alex to play outside during first year few times but Alex's constant refusal due to work made them distance themselves from him.
The bell rings and the classes start. Alex reads the book about tutoring in the time between classes. Alex packs his bag and walks towards Shelly's house without waiting for her after school. He doesn't want to be seen with her. He knows that a girl walking home with a boy would make people misunderstand or speculate unnecessarily.
Alex reaches Shelly's house and waits for her. She comes in and sits down at the table after freshening up. He told her not to wait for him and she seems to have understood his thoughts. Shelly and Alex started to study.
Shelly occasionally steals few glances at Alex while he is explaining. Alex gives her few problems which she answers.
"There are a few mistakes here but you have got more questions correct than yesterday on this topic. You can improve your grades after a bit of hard work." Alex praises her.
"Hehe...that because you explain it well yesterday." Shelly smiles and answers. She had studied hard until night to show improvement. She also paid great attention in class.
'Yes. The effort was worth it.' Shelly inwardly thought.
Alex smile and continues to teach. He was inwardly both happy and relieved. Shelly improving her grades will secure his job. He has a risk of being dismissed after one month if he doesn't teach well. He is sure that Shelly will definitely improve so he puts more effort in teaching her.
They study till it was time for Alex to leave for the next job. Shelly stretches for a bit after Alex leaves and starts studying again. Chris didn't come back home early to observe Alex because of work but had hired a private detective to look into Alex's history.
Alex cheerfully walks into the restaurant. Uncle Mike notices Alex's mood.
"Alex, you look so cheerful today. Has something good happened?" Mike asks Alex.
"Uncle Mike." Alex greets him after noticing the slightly bald and fat middle aged man near the counter.
"I got a tutoring job and the pay is quite good." Alex answers him.
"Really?!!" Mike is surprised by the news. He knows about Alex's plans and wanted to raise his salary but Alex refused because he felt that he would be taking advantage of uncle Mike who is kind and that it would cause dissatisfaction among employees for him to receive more than them.
"That's great. That's great." Mike says it twice which shows that he is genuinely happy for Alex. Mike was preparing to loan Alex some money incase Alex doesn't manage to save enough. He knew that Alex won't accept money as a gift but loaning him some money would be acceptable.
Alex completes his shift and goes home. 'It's weekend. I can take time to check my expenses and savings.' Alex checks his finances every weekend to draw accurate plans for the future. He some times takes other part time jobs such as handing pamphlets to make a quick buck.
Things went on with Alex getting used to his new routine and the month passed. Today is the day when Shelly gets her results from her recent test in school. Shelly's grades improved and this secured Alex's job. Chris had got reports from the detective and was now sure about Alex. The couple had dropped their suspicions and fears and put their trust in him.
"Alex. Wait." Shelly comes down and walk up to Alex when he was leaving for the restaurant.
"What's the matter?" Alex asks. He is now quite comfortable in her presence after a month of talking.
"I have a gift for you." Shelly replies and gives him a cellphone. It was a keypad phone.
"No. Don't refuse. It's as a thanks for helping me during this month. I know that you did this because it was a job but I want to thank you. This phone is not that expensive. I have already saved my contact in this. Now we can send messages to each other. I can also use this to inform you when I will be going out with my friends."
Shelly doesn't give him time to refuse and quickly stuffs the phone into his hands. Alex had some money to buy a phone but didn't bother because he didn't have anyone to contact it with.
Alex was really happy with this gift because it was the first gift he received as a person and not as a orphan. He received few clothes, books etc when he was in orphanage from visitors during festivals and special occasions but while they made him happy they happiness was not the same as receiving a gift from a friend.
"Thanks. I will cherish it." Alex says this to Shelly and quickly turns away and puts the phone in his bag. He got a bit emotional from the gift.
"Okay then. I will not hold you from your work." Shelly smiles and walks towards her home.
'He took it.' Shelly is happy that Alex accepted her gift. Now I can contact him whenever I want to.