7

I Tutor an Unlikely Person

Beep! Beep! Beep! Went my alarm signaling the first day of the tenth grade." Stupid alarm." I muttered as I turned it off.

I stared at my ceiling, should I get out of bed or should I not? My bed was seeming a lot softer than usual and my pillow called," Kylie you know you want to go back to sleep." I rubbed my eyes and crawled out of bed, my in appeared in the doorway," I was just making sure you were awake." And just like that she was gone.

After that I went through my morning routine. First, I got dressed. Second I made some coffee and ate. Third I relax until I have to go out to the bus. Riding the bus was a win and lose situation. It was a win because I saw my two best friends Sam and Arlene. It was a lose because I had to talk to my ex-best friend Percy Harris.

Percy was lightly taller than me, he's in the same grade as me, brown eyes (that most of the girls in school thought were drop-dead-gorgeous), messy black hair that was never styled, and he uses girls to get passing grades in school.

Yeah that last description of him was the reason that we aren't friends, that and he started acting like he was so much cooler than me. I knocked on my mom's door to tell her that I was leaving then I headed outside.

Sure enough Percy was standing there with his IPOD out ad ear buds in. Maybe I could get through one morning without having to talk to him. Just my luck that he asks," How was your summer Shay?" Now he always refers to me by my last name, Shay," It was great; I didn't have to talk to you." Percy smirked," That's cold." I rolled my eyes.

Thank goodness the bus showed up, I sat in a seat with Sam, he'd been in Australia all summer," Hey Sam!" He smiled, "Hey Kylie."" So Sam how was Australia?" He started talking his Australian accent," It was top notch but it could be improved by some friends." I smiled," It's good to see you too."

We examined our schedules and it turns out that we have two periods together (not including lunch.) That made me happy.

Sam has bright red hair, green eyes, such a fun personality, loves theatre (like me), and always manages to make me laugh. Arlene has almost white blond hair, she's a natural blond, and she has a deep purple streak in it, icy blue eyes, her mood ca change rapidly, and she has an obsession with bright colors.

We got to school and guess who was in my first period? Percy. When the teacher, Ms. Mary-Ann came in she said with a fake smile," Alright class stand at the front of the classroom and I'll give you your seats that you'll have all year."

Sam sat next to me in the chart and when Ms. Mary-Ann told Percy where he was going to sit, it's just my luck that he had to sit right behind me. I knew from when I first saw Ms. Mary-Ann that she hated kids and that asking her to move Percy wouldn't do squat.

Sam mouthed to me," I'm so sorry." I shot him a look 911! Then she said," Now for an interesting activity you have to partner up with the person behind you," I groaned quietly and let my head thud the desk," then, you will have to complete a small worksheet." She handed them out and I unhappily turned around.

Percy's hair hung lazily and some girls shot me jealous looks," Okay Percy let's get this straight, I don't like you and you don't like me-"" Who said I don't like you." I rolled my eyes, lamest flirt ever. "Let's just get these questions over with." The questions were so stupid they were like, "What's his/her favorite color?" and," What would he/she like to be when they grow up?"

"Shay isn't your favorite color dark blue?" he asked I nodded," Yeah and if I'm not mistaken yours green." That one was easy, we went on and couldn't help but feel all of the stars we were getting," So Shay, what would you like to be when you grow up?" he asked me and I replied," An actress." He raised an eyebrow," Since when?"" That wasn't part of the work sheet." Percy shrugged and I asked him," I don't really know, I like to take life as it comes at me. I like surprises."

I really didn't like how he looked at me when he said that. I simply put a question mark next to that question and the class was done.

Arlene sat by me at lunch and looked around nervously, "Do you see Sam?" I shook my head and Arlene crossed her arms," Do you swear on your life that you won't tell anyone this secret, unless I give you my permission?"" Yes Arlene, I swear." She whispered into my ear," I like Sam." Oh snap! She just dropped a bomb! Sam walked over," So, which movie are we watching on Friday?"

Arlene, Sam, and I have this thing we do every Friday night. We always get together and watch a movie after that Sam goes home and I spend the night with Arlene. Arlene smiled," Wait a second; guess what I was just asked last period?" I looked at Sam and we shrugged," I don't know what?"" I got asked to co-direct the school play that they're doing. We're going to be doing Phantom of the Opera!" I grinned," Well I guess that's the movie we're watching."

When I got home I saw something slip out of my pocket,

Meet me at the fountain in the park.

-Percy

For the next thirty minutes I mulled over this in my mind, should I go or not? If I do go what does he want… I eventually told myself that I'll go but if anybody asks I'll deny ever doing anything that has to do with Percy.

I grabbed my sweatshirt and pulled it up, and sure enough he was there casually leaning on the fountain, I pretended to be reading a sign," So you showed up Shay." Scowling I replied, "Now why would I come to see you?" Percy frowned and crossed his arms," You always did thought you were all that."

Okay, now that was offending," Well Mr. High and Mighty, at least I didn't have to use guys to pass the ninth grade!" I turned and started walking away regretting coming there, Percy grabbed my arm," I'm sorry, I need to ask you something." I pulled my arm away and frowned," It better be good."

Percy absent-mindedly ran fingers through his messy hair, "It's my dad, and he told me that if I don't make it then he won't let me see my friends." He pointed to me," That's where you come in; I wanted to ask if you could help me. I've heard you sing you're pretty good, that and you're kind of the only person I could turn to."

Hm… Percy was asking me for help, he must really want to see his friends. And was that a compliment?" Okay I'll help you, but this one time. Tomorrow I'll loan you the DVD of the movie Phantom of the Opera. Tell me the song you want to sing on Wednesday, and then we'll start practicing. Auditions are two weeks from now so you'll have work hard."

Percy's eyes had glazed over," Geez, you're serious about this kind of stuff." I rolled my eyes," Gee what gave it away?"

With that I walked away leaving Percy wondering if he made the right decision. I was wondering the same thing.