#2 - Calc-u-later
Prompt: "It's really not that complicated."
Summary: HS fic. Beca is struggling with math, Chloe tutors her.
Beca sat in the library, anxiously awaiting her new tutor. She failed her last calculus test, and her cumulative grade has officially dropped into the D range. Her father was not too happy to discover the failed mark, nor has he been thrilled with the grade Beca had been achieving all semester. But in her defense, Beca didn't ever see a use for math in her future. She'd much rather focus on her music, which she ultimately did this past week, staying up late into the night each night, neglecting her studies for her most recent calculus exam.
So here she sat, in a hard wooden chair inside the mostly empty library at the end of the school day. Her father insisted, (threatened Beca felt was more accurate) to take away her mixing gear for two weeks if her grades did not improve. In an attempt to avoid that from happening, the brunette was quick to suggest some after school tutoring. Appreciating the initiative, her father agreed and granted her a few weeks to allow her grades to show improvement.
Beca ended up requesting help after class two days ago, and her teacher Mrs. Connolly was happy to oblige, setting her up with a student from her AP calculus class to tutor her after school.
Beca glances around the large room again, shifting her head back towards the closed door to the outside world, to freedom, before turning her attention back to her wristwatch.
4:10. I wonder if this person will actually show. Beca thought, irritated by having to wait so long. It's just moments later when she sees a familiar looking redhead pushing through the exterior doors and rushing into the library, slightly out of breath.
"I am SO sorry I'm late. My best friend was having a bit of a nervous breakdown about her choir performance tomorrow and I kind of had to help keep her from projectile vomiting everywhere." The redhead says in a huff, throwing her backpack down on the table.
"Gross," Beca mutters, kind of disgusted at the information.
"Hi, I'm Chloe. Beale." The redhead sticks her hand out to shake.
"Yeah, I um, I know who you are. We've been going to the same school together for the last seven years." Beca says awkwardly. Beca did know this girl. Well not know her know her, but she knew of her, from afar. One might even say, if the person knew the brunette well, that Beca has pined after the girl in front of her since their freshman year of high school. Chloe Beale: smart, beautiful, popular. Captain of the math team, co-head cheerleader. Brains and beauty, it was a lethal combination that had every single guy at Barden High lusting after her, and even a few girls. But unlike most Queen Bees of popularity, even from a distance, Beca knew Chloe was genuinely kind.
"Oh, um right. But I don't believe we've ever actually spoken to each other in this whole time, you're a bit of a, well, I mean I've noticed you keep more to yourself around school." Chloe says a little embarrassed. Beca raises her eyebrows at the admission that Chloe has noticed her around. "So… you know, proper introductions and all!" The redhead finishes with a chipper lilt to her voice.
"Beca." Beca takes the proffered hand in front of her.
"Mitchell. That I do know." Chloe smirks.
"Um…"
"Mrs. Connolly told me who I'd be tutoring. But like you said, we've been going to the same school for years." Chloe shoots a wink Beca's way.
"Right. Of course." Beca says dumbly.
"SO, shall we get to it?" The redhead says, taking the seat next to Beca, scooting her chair closer to the petite brunette girl.
"If we must."
"Ok, so I was given quick briefing about your sitch, and I thought we could review your last test and go over some of the things you got wrong." Chloe says pulling out her textbook, TI-83 calculator and a pencil. Beca proceeds to pull out the test in question from her bag and lay it on the table.
"A 48?" Chloe glances at the grade in the upper corner of the paper, written in large red ink, then glances over at Beca who looks embarrassed. "Not to worry, we'll have that grade of yours up in no time. What do you seem to have the most trouble with?"
"Everything? I don't know, math has never really been my strong suit." Chloe smiles sympathetically. "But I guess I don't really understand derivatives or differentiation."
"Well, both concepts are pretty tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you'll be able to solve these problems in your sleep. So this first question here," the redhead points to an equation on the sheet.
Differentiate: y = (3x^2+5)^1/x
"Alright, first," Chloe taps the tip of her pencil on the exponent. "Because a variable is raised to a variable power in this function, the ordinary rules of differentiation don't apply. The function must first be revised before a derivative can be taken."
"Uh huh." Beca feels like her head is already spinning from all the complicated math terminology.
"Then you apply the natural logarithm to both sides of this equation…" Chloe scratches out her work on the paper, talking through the problem until she comes to the solution. "And voila."
Beca stares at the redhead, confusion highlighting the features on her face.
"It's really not that complicated." Chloe smiles, having just finished explaining the equation breakdown.
"Yeah, maybe not to a brain like yourself. I just can't get it." Beca grumbled, frustrated over her inability to grasp any concepts of calculus.
"You can Beca. You just need to relax and focus on the steps." Chloe places her left hand softly on Beca's right arm. Beca's eyes shoot up to meet the redhead's own, seeing assurance swimming in them.
"Okay." She exhales. "Walk me through the next one." Chloe squeezes Beca's arm, but doesn't remove her hand as she continues on with their tutoring session.
An hour and a half later, the two students had thoroughly gone through Beca's old exam as well as some of her current homework assignment.
Chloe proceeds to walk the junior through a series of steps on the latest problem as they work their way towards the solution. After five minutes of listening to the redhead calmly and coherently explain everything, Beca finds herself finally retaining the information and actually understanding it.
"Alright, so try this next problem on your own." Chloe encourages.
Beca nods and looks down at the sheet, beginning to work the problem out. After about a minute of putting her sole focus into completing the equation breakdown, she feels some kind of pressure against her right arm. The brunette subtly glances over towards the sensation, only to find the redhead next to her stroking Beca's arm lightly with her fingers.
Beca tenses up for a moment, before swallowing hard and trying to turn her attention back onto her worksheet. But the pressure remains consistent, and she finds herself losing focus rapidly, her head spinning at the sensual contact. Chloe must have noticed the stoppage in Beca's work, because she leans her body in closer towards Beca's and asks if she's okay.
"Yeah, just um, just working this section out in my head." The brunette covers, her heart rate elevating.
"Ok, well you're doing great so far!" Chloe says enthusiastically, finally stopping the motion of her hand and moving it off Beca's arm. For a moment, the brunette felt like she could breathe again. Unfortunately, it was short-lived as the air was completely sucked out of her lungs by the feeling of the redhead's hand now placed gently on her knee, Chloe's left shoulder brushing up against Beca's right.
"I-I um, yeah, thanks. Do you, would you mind, um, h-handing me the calculator there?" Beca stammers out, completely overwhelmed by the contact and closeness of their bodies.
"Sure thing, Becs." Chloe reaches over to grab the requested object. In the split second the redhead's body turned away, Beca scooted a few inches further away, for the sake of her own sanity. Because if Chloe Beale kept touching her in those ways for any longer, Beca wasn't sure she'd be able to control herself and might do something stupid, like lean in for a kiss. And the last thing Beca wants to do is scare off the girl she's finally wanted to interact with for so long.
Chloe hands Beca the calculator with a smile, and Beca thanks her, now attempting to regain her focus on the reason they're sitting together in the first place… completing her math homework. After several more minutes, Beca finally puts her pencil down on the table.
"Well? How'd I do?" She asks Chloe, sliding her paper over for review. Chloe spends a moment checking through the work before lifting her head up with a bright smile.
"That's the correct answer! Awesome, Beca!" Beca grins satisfactorily, glad that she was able to accomplish something herself.
"Thanks. Well, that seems to be all of it. And," she clicks on her phone screen to check the time. "Woah, it's getting kinda late. I guess we should wrap it up for today?"
"Yeah, that seems like a good stopping point." Chloe moves to stand up from the table, pulling her backpack closer to pack up her items, Beca doing the same with her own items. When both are packed up and situated to go, Beca pipes up.
"I, uh, wanted to thank you, I guess, for helping me out today. I think I'm starting to get it a little better now."
"Of course! I'm happy to help." Chloe smiles, rocking back and forth on her feet a little, doing her best to prolong the conversation with the petite girl in front of her.
"So… do you think you'll be needing my services any further, or are you pretty confident in your math solving abilities now?" The redhead winks.
"Oh, no, I definitely want you!" Beca's eyes go wide when she processes that sentence in her head, and Chloe smirks at the declaration. "Y-your help, I mean, obviously. I want that. Still." The brunette finishes awkwardly.
"Is that right? Well then," she inches a little closer to the flustered brunette. "How bout we meet up again on Friday for another tutoring session?"
"Um, y-yeah, sure. I'm free." The smaller girl stammers out.
"Maybe, say... over a cup of coffee or something?" Chloe asks, hopefully. Beca's voice caught in her throat before clearing it and recovering to respond.
"I'd like that." Beca says, shyly, her head dropping a bit before her dark eyes meet shining blue.
"Great. Here, let me have your phone." Beca hands the device in question over to the redhead, watching the perky girl fiddle around and punch in something on the keypad. A second later, she hears a distinct ping sound. "Annnd, now I have yours. Well I should get going."
"Yeah, me too." The pair walk towards the exit of the library.
"I guess I'll be seeing you, Beca Mitchell."
"Yeah, I'll uh… calc-u-later." Beca immediately squishes her face up at the bad math pun she just made. "Sorry that was dumb." Chloe giggles, and Beca suddenly doesn't seem to care how dorky she may have sounded.
"I will absolutely calc-u-later, Bec. See you tomorrow." A with a quick wave of her fingers, Chloe Beale presses the door handle and exits the building, looking back over her shoulder with a smile before heading out.
"See you." Beca says quietly as the door closes completely. Beca smiles to herself, reflecting on the last few minutes of their conversation. Who knew math would impact her future for the better. Suddenly, she couldn't wait for school tomorrow, as it brings her one day closer to her date with Chloe Beale. Beca shrugs her backpack strap up higher and forces her way out the exit door to head home, leaving with far more excitement than she'd came in with.