"Demi, come on! You're going to be late for your study session with your boyfriend!" Leia called from the kitchen. I grit my teeth as I grabbed my purse and backpack and stomped downstairs. I could almost hear Leia grinning as she taunted me. Leia was leaning against the counter, holding the car keys and tapping her foot impatiently, looking mildly annoyed. I pulled on my converse high tops and glared at Leia.
"What?" she said innocently.
"You know what! You're being a pain and you know it! Jake isn't my boyfriend, not by a long shot! I've only talked to him once, and that was when Principal Jameston asked me to tutor him!" I paused to catch my breath.
Leia put her hand up like she was surrendering and grinned. "Don't need to get all up and arms about it!"
I stood up from the kitchen bench. "At least I'm smart enough to be a tutor, rather than to be tutored, like somebody in this room." I saw Leia's expression when I said that. All traces of humor drained and was replaced with anger, sadness and embarrassment.
"Get in the car." Leia said slowly, the anger clear in her voice. I took one last look at Leia and slammed the door on my way out.
I knew that saying that I was smarter than Leia really upset her, even if it has a ring of truth to it. Leia has dyslexia and has trouble reading, which makes her at the same reading level as me. Leia is 4 years older than me, and likes no reminders that she is dyslexic.
On the car ride to James' house, I thought back to the day I was assigned as James' tutor.
I was sitting through Mr. Lightwood's math class, keeping an eye on the clock while Mr. Lightwood droned on about some algebra thing. I was thinking about the irony of how my best friends and I were all named after popstars, and strangely enough, none of us could sing. I was Demi, like Demi Lovato, Katy was "Katy Perry," Taylor was "Taylor Swift" and Christina was "Christina Perri." We had all met when we all chosen as the stars of our kindergarten play, "Veggie Soup!"
My thoughts were interrupted by the crackle of the loudspeaker. "Will Demitri Carpenter and Jake Meltstin please report to the main office?" I packed all of my stuff into my tote bag and called a good bye to Mr. Lightwood, puzzling over why I could have been called to the office.
When I had reached the main office, I saw that Jake was already there, slouched in the waiting room. I plopped down in a chair next to him.
"Hey." I said, out of courtesy. Jake glanced my way and nodded. I rolled my eyes. Jake Meltstin was apparently the most popular boy in the 7th grade at Windchime Junior High. Most girls in our grade would probably just about die from even being in the same room as Jake. I honestly couldn't care less. I didn't have time for boys. I had to focus my energies on studying, and music. Boys weren't a priority. I knew that I wasn't popular, but I wasn't unpopular either. People liked me enough. I also knew that I was somewhat pretty. I had indian and greek blood, so I had light brown, almond shaped eyes, and long brown hair with some natural light brown highlights. I also had brown skin that wasn't dark. With all that, I knew that I wasn't ugly. I probably could be popular if I wanted to, if I even cared.
Ms. Rosslyn called Jake and I into Mr. Jameston's office. I glanced at Jake, who was looking just as confused as I felt.
Mr. Jameston was at his desk, reading a file. He glanced up at us.
"Oh, hello Ms. Carpenter and Mr. Meltstin. Please take a seat." He said, gesturing at us to sit in one of the fabric chairs in front of his desk. James and I both sat down.
Mr. Jameston reached down and pulled out 2 files and laid them down on the desk. I read the labels, one said Demitri Carpenter and the other said Jake Meltstin. Mr. Jameston opened up my folder, but didn't look at it.
Instead he asked me, "Ms. Carpenter, you are in the 7th grade, correct?" "Yes, sir." I replied politely. "And you are taking 8th grade advanced honor math, but you're strong in every other subject, correct?" He continued. I nodded. I had a feeling in which direction this conversation was about to take.
"And you, Mr. Meltstin." He had said, looking at Jake. "Yes, sir?" Jake had looked slightly nervous. "You have have a steady D- average, in all subjects. You are extremely close to failing. You know that, right?" "I have an A+ average in gym and I got a C+ on my English test last week!" Jake said defensively. I worked hard to keep my face from revealing that I was dieing from laughter on the inside. I literally had to bite my fist to keep from laughing. When I looked at Jake's expression, I saw that he had the click and he knew where this conversation was about to go, too. I took deep breaths, trying to calm down. It was all I could do to not burst out laughing; Jake's expression was hilarious!
"Yes, Mr. Meltstin. You have an A+ in gym, but that is gym class and that is the only class in which you have a good grade in. And because of that, I am going to ask Ms. Carpenter to tutor you 3x a week until your grades start improving. You have to end the school year to raise your grade to at least a C-. Good luck, Mr. Meltstin and Ms. Carpenter." And with that, Jake and I had been dismissed from Mr. Jameston's office.
That had been how I had gotten stuck tutoring Jake, probably until the end of the year.
Leia pulled into the Meltstin's driveway and let me off without a word. She was still pretty upset about our conversation earlier. Most likely, I was going to be disciplined about it by my mom when I got home tonight. Oh well, I would have to deal with that later.
I looked around. The Meltstin's had a big Victorian house that was the color of the sky, with a "lacy" white porch and trim. On the driveway, they had a basketball hoop and there were chalk drawings all over the asphalt. Apparently, Jake had younger siblings. I walked up the front porch and rang the doorbell. I heard 2 pairs of feet running to the door. 2 seconds later, the front door opened. In the entrance, I saw 2 identical girls wearing pink overalls and had graham crackers all over their faces. They looked about 3. Half a minute later, a tired looking woman, around her 40's walked into the foyer.
"Hi, I'm Daphne Meltstin, Shawn's mom. These two here are Arianna and Mackenzie." I shook her hand. "Hi, Mrs. Meltstin. Hi, Arianna, hi Mackenzie. I'm Demitri, but you can call me Demi." I said. Mrs. Meltstin smiled. "Demi. What a pretty name. It reminds me of a flower." A few seconds of silence passed by. "I can't thank you enough for doing this for Jake. His father and I really appreciate the time and effort that you are putting into this. We can't thank you enough for what you're doing." I smiled at her. "My pleasure, Mrs. Meltstin. I like helping people. I hope I can help Jake." Just then, Jake appeared at the top of the stairs. "Oh, good. There you are Jake. Say 'hi' to Demi." Mrs. Meltstin commanded. "Hi, Demi." Jake mumbled. Mrs. Meltstin frowned, but before she could say anything, Jake said, "Let's go to my room," before taking off. I shrugged and followed him.