"Wait, how do I find the X, again?" Paulina asked again, as she quickly erases her equation, thinking it was wrong.
"Wait, no, no!" Tucker quickly replied, grabbing her hand that was furiously erasing the sample equation. "That was right!" Tucker exclaimed.
Paulina stared blankly at her paper, irritation making its way onto her brows, and making her want to shred the paper into pieces. "Oh."
She scribbled her equation again, muttering curses on how Math shouldn't exist and cursing the universe of how she had the worst teacher ever.
Tucker quietly chuckled as he watched the Hispanic woman trying to recover her equation. Tucker told her that she was a smart and fast learner, but she wouldn't believe it. She believed the lies of the school and her parents that she was nothing but a pretty face.
Tucker wasn't innocent when he saw her the first time. She was eye candy, but their tutor sessions proved him wrong that she was more than just an idle doll on display, too expensive to buy.
Besides, Tucker thinks Paulina is more beautiful with her messy bun and casual non-main-stream clothing. He also admires how she looks up to her friend.
"I want to be more than just a pretty face! I want to be as smart as Star! Can you help me?" That was the question she asked Tucker when they met in that old park. He was baffled by her request and hesitantly agreed to it, with the promise of Paulina paying him. She also asked to keep it secret, to which Tucker agreed.
"There," Paulina slid her paper in front of Tucker, with it filled with crossed-out numbers and multiplication sets. Paulina waited as Tucker scanned her paper. Her heart lifted with hope as she saw Tucker put it down and smile at her. "You're improving," he said, "buuut, you forgot to distribute the 7."
"UGH!"