"So?"
"Alli, I kinda have plans. I'm just not going to drop them for your 'boy-friend'." I argued. I knew there was no point, though. Alli had already won this battle.
"Writing vampire fiction about Eli does not count." She teased.
I scowled. It pained me to think about him. His emerald eyes, his classic smirk, or his snarky come-backs. He was different from everybody else, but he didn't seem to mind. I really envied him for that. The fact he drove a hearse or that he only wore black didn't bother me. Somehow, he subconsciously dared me to try new things, to not be afraid. He was the only person I could have a sincere talk with.
But we haven't spoken in weeks.
I still can't understand the logic of it all. What did I do? Was he flirting or was he really just being all-around nice? I honestly thought he liked me.
Wrong.
Alli noticed my sudden change of emotion and kept talking.
"Ugh, Clare, please? Drew needs tutoring and all, but I have to go to this audition. It's a once in a lifetime opportunity!" she whined.
I weighed my options. Alli was always there for me when I needed it…no. I couldn't let her win.
"Who better to tutor Drew then St. Clare herself?" Alli added.
I sighed. She had me there.
"What subject does he need tutoring in the most?" I asked.
She squealed and ran in for a hug, almost pushing me down.
"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she giggled, a huge smile plastered on her face.
I noticed all the people's gaze turning toward us. It didn't occur to me the big scene we had been making. I tried prying her off, but she wouldn't budge.
"Alli….people are starting to stare…" hinting at my lack of comfort.
She finally let me out of her grasp and rolled her eyes.
"Now, don't get too excited, 'kay? This is the one and only time I'll do this." I warned.
She smiled even wider and began the list of directions she had for tutoring Drew. She told me the best methods of teaching, his likes, his dislikes – "Drew gets distracted really easily, so you'll need…"
I interrupted, "Alli, I'm tutoring, not babysitting. It can't be that hard."
I stopped at Drew's locker, like Alli told me to, and waited. He finally came down the hall, laughing with a bunch of his friends, and his step-brother Adam.
Me and Adam used to be best-friends, along with Eli. We were the outcasts, a lonely trio. I hadn't spoken with Adam much either.
Drew had stopped at his locker, and started packing his bag. I let out an 'ahem' and his head looked up.
"Oh, hi, Clare." He said, uninterested. I cleared my throat. I had forgotten about my terrible social skills.
"Are you ready?" He gave me a questionable look. I sighed.
"For the tutoring…." His face lit up, and he smiled.
"Yeah, let's go."
"Okay", I said, looking down at my book. "If x=2, then y is….?"
I looked over at him, and saw him fidgeting with his phone.
"Drew!" I nudged him.
He jumped, and put his phone away.
"Sorry." He mumbled. He grabbed his book and pencil and sat it on his lap. His eyes began darting back and forth between the page, putting on an intense thinking-face.
I never really noticed how Drew really looked before. I mean, I knew he was good-looking but I thought it was all too superficial. He had tan skin, perfect white teeth, and spiked-black hair. He was perfect.
But I had never noticed his baby blue eyes. I had never noticed that he had a slight wisp to his voice. I had never noticed how muscular he was, or how his skin looked airbrushed. He was too perfect.
"So, boss," he looked up and smiled. "What were you saying?"
The way he smiled at me made me nervous. I repeated the question slowly.
He nodded, opened his mouth to speak, but quickly shut it and hesitated.
"…4?"
I giggled.
"Ooh, so close! It's 15." I mocked.
"Ha, ha, very funny. I don't understand how you can get that answer."
"Here." I guided the one hand that was grasping his pencil, and showed him step by step how to solve the problem. He hadn't made a sound, and I looked up to see his eyes on me, and not the paper.
I quickly let go and said, "Do you understand now?"
"Um…yeah." He said reassuring
"Good."
This was going to be a fun 2 hours.
