Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Abby knew that Parsons was a prestigious part of The New School. She was very proud of the fact that she was accepted and was doing quite well in the Fine Arts program. Not only that, but she was still in the city and loved it there. Abby wanted to travel all over the place and experience everything the world had to offer, but she knew that she would return to New York City every time. It was home.

Parsons allowed her to stay close to home without having her family right on top of her. She loved her major, she adored her friends, she was interested in (most) of her classes, and she was involved on campus.

So that didn't explain why she had to take a math class, of all things.

Supposedly, it was elementary math. There was nothing "elementary" about this course at all. Abby had failed the first two quizzes and had proceeded to tank the first exam. Once she had received that grade, Abby decided that it was time to admit defeat and go find a tutor.

The tutor center was a foreign place to Abby. She generally excelled in the rest of her classes, so she had no need for it in the first place. The only reason she was even taking this math course was because it was one of those general education classes that she was required to take in order to graduate. The only one of the Hudson kids that was math savvy was Scott, and she wasn't going to ask him for help because he was busy with his girlfriend. Abby was pretty sure that Scott was going to get married to this girl, so she excused him for his often mushy behavior.

Abby flipped her curly hair over her shoulder and marched into the tutor center. She filled out the required sheet, handed it to the student that was manning the desk, and then decided that she deserved a cup of coffee as a reward for taking charge of her academic future.

She was halfway done with her white mocha when her phone buzzed. They had found a tutor for her, one that she would meet with two times a week—his name was Mason Davis.

Abby had to admit that she a brief fantasy of having some torrid affair with her tutor. It would be so One Tree Hill of her. Abby made a mental note to call Ellie and tell her that; One Tree Hill happened to be one of Ellie's favorite television shows.

Abby didn't allow herself to entertain the idea much longer than a brief moment, however. She had to pass this math class, and the only way she was going to successfully do it would be if she focused completely during these tutoring sessions. She couldn't waste any time fawning over her tutor... and honestly, she didn't even know yet if he was cute or not.

He was definitely cute.

Abby found Mason Davis right away. He was kind of hard to miss, what with the mop of red hair on his head. He wasn't terribly pale, but he did have quite a bit of freckles. He even had a pair of wire-rimmed glasses perched on his nose. Mason definitely had to whole hot nerd thing going for him.

Abby sat down primly in the chair across from him. "Hi, I'm Abby Hudson and I suck at math."

Mason blinked once, as if he wasn't sure he had heard her correctly. And then he laughed, revealing a warm grin that spread across his lips. "Well, Abby Hudson, I'm Mason Davis. And it's my job to make sure you don't suck at math."

"Good luck with that," Abby told him truthfully. "You might have to be an actual math teacher in order to help me at all."

"Well, I am in the strategic design and management program. It requires a few finance classes, and I've taken a couple other math electives."

Abby gave him a wide-eyed stare. "You actually like math?"

Mason chuckled and nodded his head. "I do." Now that the introductions were over, he pulled out a notebook and the curriculum for the course that Abby was taking. Apparently, it was time to get down to business. "Why don't we go over what you've done in class so far and see what you need help with?"

"Oh, I need help with everything," Abby stated bluntly. Nonetheless, she pushed aside her disdain for math and buckled down.

But she was definitely going to have to call Ellie and tell her about her new cute tutor.

In an earlier chapter, I said that Mason and Abby met when Mason was tutoring her in English. I changed it to math because math is way worse lol.