As planned, Don and I met up the following day after school in the library.
He'd been avoiding me for most of the day - not that I even talked to him anyway - and I'd seen Gilbert give me a few glances every now and then so it was safe to assume Don was hardly looking forward to our tutoring session.
Nevertheless, I was determined.
I prepared some material to go over and wrote a study plan for him to follow. I spent the night highlighting important bits that would most likely be tested and reviewed my various notes. I put all the materials together in one neat file and was quite satisfied with the result. Hopefully, my efforts would pay off.
At the library, the two of us sat together at a table and I pulled out the file I had prepared and handed it over to him.
He looked at the file with raised eyebrows and asked, "What's this?"
"Your lesson plan," I replied. "I went over the textbook and my own notes and singled out the important bits I think you would need to know for the final examination. I've also prepared some worksheets you can practice on and I wrote you a study plan that you can follow during the weeks leading up to the finals."
Don's eyes widened as he opened the file and skimmed through the contents. He then turned his gaze towards me, shocked, and asked, "You did all of this for me? Isn't this too much?"
"It's actually a lot less than what should be done," I shrugged pointing at the file. "This is merely the shortcut way. I would honestly prefer that you understood everything from the beginning but we're already half-way into the semester so time is short. Plus, if, after this session, you decide that you don't want to continue, I didn't want to risk putting in more effort and time and wasting it all."
"Oh. I guess that makes sense," the boy replied. He sniffed, rubbed his nose, and pulled out his own notebook with a sigh, "Well, lay it on me. Let's get started so we can finish quickly."
I was tempted to roll my eyes but refrained from doing so.
"Did you bring your past quizzes and tests?" I asked him.
"Uh yeah," his arm shuffled through his bag, "It's somewhere here...ah! Here they are."
He handed over a small stack of papers, most of which were crumpled and dirty, and I skimmed through them. After a few minutes, I put the papers and down and looked at him with a tired gaze, "Shall we begin?"
——————[oo]——————
[General POV]
Donald (Don) Velmont liked to have fun.
He was naturally an energetic person who loved to cause chaos and make people laugh. Being in the spotlight was normal for him and as someone who loved attention, it was the perfect place to be.
He knew that people thought of him as a clown, a jokester, or a prankster.
To everyone, he was the boy that could never be serious. Even his best friend Gilbert would often comment on how he needed to take a step back sometimes and focus on things more important than playing around. Like school.
But therein lay the problem.
Don hated school. He hated sitting in a classroom from 8 to 3 in a space that demanded silence. He hated listening to teachers drawl on about subjects he could care less about. He hated having to turn in homework and assignments. He despised studying and anything that came with it. Had it not been for his father forcing him to attend school, he would be at home right now doing what he wanted; becoming a streamer.
But his father disapproved and since he lived under his father's roof and used his father's money, he had no choice in the matter.
When he took home his report card after the mid-semester tests, his father was utterly furious.
There were two Fs, two Ds, and one C which was English.
His father wasn't the only one disappointed with him but so was his homeroom teacher, Mrs. Douglas, who took it upon herself to assign him a tutor to teach him. At first, he was annoyed.
A tutor? Fuck no!
He complained to his father but was displeased when his father agreed with Mrs. Douglas's decision.
'Don't want a tutor? Ha! Get over yourself, boy! You're going to be tutored whether you like it or not!' is what his father had said over the phone.
With his father's approval, Don couldn't step out of the arrangement.
When he found out his tutor was the girl who scored the highest mark in their grade, he was momentarily surprised.
Lynette Parker was her name.
No one knew anything about her; she was the quiet type. Ever since the first day she arrived here at Stonewall, she has always kept to herself and never took the initiative to talk to others. Her existence was so small, so insignificant, that she was pretty much forgotten by the second week.
Almost forgotten.
Don who was naturally an observant person was probably the only one that noticed her every now and then.
He knew she was the studious type who took her studies seriously. She always paid attention during lessons and was always scribbling away in her notebook. She was also the only one who turned in the homework on time and it was clear she was the teachers' favorite. Outside of class, she would disappear somewhere and only reappear when it was time for the next class period.
Lynette Parker was unnoticeable.
Had she been a drop-dead gorgeous beauty, perhaps things would've been a little different but her looks, while far from ugly, were only a bit above average.
The only time Don and everyone else really took notice of her was when the results of the mid-semester test were published on the bulletin board.
Her name was right at the top.
She completely dominated every single subject and overthrew Reese Benson, toppling the boy from his number one position.
The look on that guy's face at the time was hilarious.
He wished he got a picture. Reese, though very smart, was a total jerk and an uptight snob. The exact opposite of Don so it wasn't a surprise they didn't get along.
'I'm sure he's pissed his place dropped on the rankings,' thought Don at the time.
Lynette was really something else.
And that was proven when he sat down at the table in the library opposite her. She had pulled out a file and handed it to him explaining everything she had prepared for today's tutoring session. To say he was shocked was an understatement.
When Don skimmed through the file, he couldn't believe his eyes.
Don was expecting to come today and be annoyed at receiving another long lecture on stuff that still didn't make sense to him. He was expecting to be shouted at or maybe insulted by the girl who was sure to lose her shit with him that refused to learn. He was expecting to walk away from here, satisfied that he no longer would have to attend any more stupid tutoring sessions.
And yet, nothing he expected happened.
Lynette Parker had prepared everything in advance and utilized his past test papers to pinpoint his weak areas. She explained concepts and theories to him in a calm and simple manner and answered him politely whenever he asked questions that most people would dismiss by saying stuff like; 'We learned this already!' or 'You should know this by now!'
She never berated him and never looked at him like he was stupid.
She took their tutoring session very seriously and didn't even bother flirting with him.
Don was surprised. He was enjoying this tutoring session a lot more than he predicted he would. He was able to understand her explanations far easier than when teachers taught the same thing. The way she broke down difficult equations and concepts allowed him to grasp them step by step.
Before he knew it, an hour had passed and the session was over.
Lynette glanced at her watch and said, "I guess we'll end here today."
Don looked up in shock and blurted out, "Eh? Already?"
His unexpected words caused him to blush while she tilted her head.
"One hour only, right? Don't you have basketball practice?" Lynette asked.
"Oh, right," Don muttered with a slightly disappointed expression. Rubbing the back of his neck, he bit his lip before saying, "So...tomorrow same time again?"
The girl paused in her movements and looked at him in surprise. Then, to Don's astonishment, a small relieved smile graced her lips as she responded, "Sure."
First tutoring session - a complete success!