High School AU for Mags, because school seems to be frustrating you at the moment, and it really does get better.
Annie was a little girl in a little town with more than a little ambition, and she needed to get out of this place before it got into her brain. She chewed on her bread roll thoughtfully, scratching numbers on a piece of paper that was already half-crossed out. Math homework was never easy for her. Her friend, Johanna, wasn't too helpful either, when it came to getting it done.
"What's that?" Johanna asked, peeking over Annie's shoulder.
"Homework," Annie said. She snatched the paper away from Johanna's thieving fingers and started to work again.
"C'mon Annie," Johanna nudged her friend in the ribs. "Can't you relax a little? Burnout is going to find you if you don't take a break sometime."
"I don't need a break right now," Annie said. "I need to get an A."
Johanna sighed and began to massage her friend's shoulders. "You always worry about math, but you never get less than an A on the tests."
Annie turned to face her friend. "Yes, but this chapter, I really don't understand what's going on."
"Lemme see." Johanna took the paper again and started to look at the problem. The swirl of greek letters and numbers hit her face like a hammer. "Hah!" she laughed. "Nope."
Annie took it back with a sigh. "I know, Johanna."
"Maybe you should try peer tutoring. Nothing wrong with that."
The lunchroom buzzed with activity, and Annie had a harder time focusing now that Johanna was pestering her about her life choices.
"I mean it, Annie!" Johanna said, being suspiciously helpful. "You should come with me. It's after school on Tuesdays through Thursdays in the library. I think you'd have fun."
"Tutoring isn't about fun," Annie grumbled, but she silently stashed the information in her mind for later.
Tuesday came faster than she expected, and suddenly Annie was in a whole new palce with a bunch of new people who she all felt were smarter than she was, and the library was full of people, and...
She came to her senses and realized there were about seven tutors and only two people being tutored. This looked like a joke.
She cleared her throat. "Hi, I'm Annie," she said.
"What are you looking for help in?"
The voice sounded oddly familiar. "Um, Calculus?" she said.
"Sure," he said, popping a sugar cube into his mouth. "Want one?"