Rose had her back slumped, walking down the cracked sidewalk with her friend Mickey. Her bright pink butterfly backpack and yellow Wellington's stood out against the cold, gray London background. She glared at the heavens, and moaned. "Oh, Mum's going to murder me, Mickey!" She frowned, and stared at her feet as the kids made their way home. Mickey smiled faintly, stuffing his hands into a dark green puffy jacket.
"Don't worry, Rosey! Your mum's nice, I'm sure you won't get into too much trouble.." he said, trying to make her feel better. Rose tried to smile, but it didn't work..
"I failed in three subjects, Mickey! Mum will throttle me.." she sighed deeply, the two sloshing through a puddle. Today was the day they all got their report's back, and Rose was sure she would get straight A's. She remembered Mum telling her strictly to keep her grades up..
"Well, just be honest with her then! Tell 'er you worked real hard, and maybe she won't kill you..?" he grinned, patting her back. Rose looked at Mickey, a look of disbelief and humour on her face. They reached the old parking lot that led to Rose's apartment, and she turned to Mickey.
"Bye Mickey! Hopefully I won't get murdered.. I'll see you on Monday!" she smiled wide. Mickey gulped a bit, and nodded.
"Yeah, yeah, sure thing! Bye Rose..!" he smiled faintly, and watched her turn around. Rose walked across the parking lot slowly, and took the stairs instead of the lift. She talked to every neighbour that walked by, and tried everything and anything to avoid going home and facing her mother. After about 15 minutes of stalling, she sighed, and pushed on towards the apartment door. With a persistent shove, she opened the door and walked in, engulfed by the smells of tea and warmth. Jackie Tyler popped her head around the corner and smiled.
"Hello deary! There's tea in here, if you want some." she smiled again, and popped back into the kitchen. Rose sighed softly, and kicked off her boots, dumping her bag onto the counter. Jackie came over with a steaming mug, and smiled, asking "So Rosey! How was your report?" Rose's stomach turned, and she nearly spat out her tea. Her face turned hot, and she grinned.
"Ohh, it was alright. Good, good.. But I left it at school by accident.." she told her mother hurriedly. Jackie nodded. "Oh a shame. I was looking forward to seeing it.." She went around and picked up Rose's bag to take out her lunch container. Out fell the brown envelope that contained her report. Jackie's face lit up. "Oh look Rose! You brought it! Looks like you didn't forget.." she bent over to pick it up, and Rose could feel tears rise up. She quickly gulped her tea down, and said
"Well mum, I'm just, uh, going to watch telly.." She quickly lept off the kitchen chair, and into the living room, switching the news on.
Dinner was silent. Rose nibbled at her spaghetti quietly, knowing her mother was cross. Jackie picked at her plate, and finally the set the fork down. She folded her hands, and looked at Rose.
"Rose. You know how I feel about your report." Rose gulped nervously, and also set her fork down. She nodded softly. "I mulled it over for a bit, while you sat in your room.." Jackie started, blinking slowly. "I'm going to get you a tutor." Rose's eyes flickered up almost instantly to her mother's face, and she pursed her lips. Her face twisted into a pleading look, and she began to plead.
"Please mum! No! I hate tutors, I hate going to their stiff, old tutoring offices, I hate it! It's so awkward mum, please don't!" Rose was on the brink of tears, having bad experiences with tutors. She once had an old coot as her Mathematics tutor, and he was the most boring man you could ever meet.
"No Rose, it's for your own good. You failed three subjects for crying out loud!" Jackie brought up once again. Rose's lips quivered, and she stared at the plate of now chilled spaghetti.
"Fine.. Just don't hire some ancient old man, mum!" she cried, Rose's face flushed with blotchy pink spots and her eyes puffed from crying silently. Jackie smiled faintly, slightly amused at her daughter making such a big fuss over some school help. The older woman sighed, and stood up, clearing the cold pasta up and doing the dishes. Rose thought her mother might have slackened after seeing her smile, so she silently crept off to the sitting room to switch on the television.
"Until your marks go up young miss, no telly after dinner." Jackie cried from the kitchen. Rose's mouth hung open, and she grumbled. She pursed her lips in a frustrated manner, and flicked the TV off. Sighing angrily, she stood up and huffed towards her room. It was going to be a boring few weeks..
It was a few days after her mother had yelled at her, and Rose was none too eager to meet her new tutor. Jackie had been doing the shopping, and stumble upon a rather interesting clip out that was stapled to the cork board of the store's advertisement wall. Jackie had hastily pulled off a stub with the phone number on it, and was now sitting with Rose on the couch awaiting the tutor's arrival. "His name is John Smith, dearie. From that clip out, he seems to be a nice man!" She smiled wide, squeezing her daughter's shoulder. Rose sighed, and rolled her eyes slightly, staring at the telly with a vengeful stare. The doorbell of their apartment rang soundly, jolting the young Rose's eyes to the door. Jackie smiled, and got up from the couch excitedly. "He's here!" she announced, opening the door.
There stood a lanky man, in his twenties. A rather young man for a tutor.. Most tutor's Rose knew were stiff old men who smelled like dust. This one however, seemed to radiate energy and had a rather abnormal feel to him. "Ah, Hello! You must me Jackie Tyler, and little Rose Tyler too! A joy, really, to be here." he grinned in a rather silly manner, and whisked around Jackie and into the living room. He raised his arms wide and grinned again. "Hello, Rosey! If I may call you that.." he smiled again, his eyes shimmering and gleaming with playfulness. Rose analyzed her tutor, making metal notes. The man wore rather strange clothing, dressed rather old fashion compared to other youngsters his age. He was wearing a dusty looking beige tweed jacket, with brown leather elbow patches and brown buttons. Her tutor also wore clunky looking black boots, and a rather stylish looking red bowtie.. Most people would say bowties are fairly uncool, but Rose thought this one suited him. It was quirky, just as quirky as he was.
She snapped out of her daze as Jackie introduced the tutor to Rose. "Rose, this is Mr. John Smith, and he will become your tutor. You'd better listen to him good, and do as he says, ya hear?" Jackie warned her, pointing a finger in her direction. John smiled and rung his thumbs into the loops of his pants.