"Man! I can't believe he assigned us a ten-page paper on the first day!" April and I slunk out of Mr. Ratburn's class, along with all his other downtrodden students. "How does he expect us to write 5000 words, on top of our other homework?" "Don't worry," April grinned over at me. "I'll come over later and we can work on it together. We'll do it after the guys go out on patrol." "Sounds good." "Was that Mikey texting you back there?" I shook my head. "Raphael, he was "checking in"," I said doing air quotations with my fingers. "Oh, why? Is something wrong?" "I don't think so. Just saying hi, I guess." Then April smiled, glancing up at the ceiling. "He's so stubborn."
We arrived at our lockers and began to put our books away until an unfamiliar voice caught our attention. "You April O'Neil?" We both spun around to see a lanky boy wearing a black hat and hockey gear. Although he said April's name, he was looking at me. "Well, rejoice, cause I'm the guy you're gonna tutor this year," his wrapped hand went up into the air. "Uh, I'm not April; she is," I pointed to my best human friend, who didn't look at all impressed. "Oh, well you're cute too," he announced turning to her.
"Tutor you?" Her eyebrow rose suspiciously. "Yeah, I signed up for that peer tutor program." "Are we part of that?" She whispered over to me. "I think Mr. Ratburn signed the whole class up; something about character-building? I'm tutoring creative writing, you're doing math- remember?" Then we both gazed back at Mr. Hockey Jock over here. "Clearly not," April gave a predominant frown.
"So you gonna help me or not?" "Uh…." "Cause if you don't, I'll get kicked off the hockey team." "Your grades are that low?" I accidently asked out loud, earning a sharp glare from April. "Dude! I don't have time to study! I got hockey and football practice, plus La Crosse and track and….." "You don't have time to study, yet you have the time to be tutored?" April's arms crossed. "Eh, I'll make time," he smirked leaning in towards her. "If it's with a hottie like you." And I had to cover my tiny laugh with my hand while a wave of disgust washed over April's face.
April looked at him for a moment before blinking at me. "We're getting marked on this, aren't we?" "Knowing Mr. Ratburn, probably." Then she let the longest sigh ever. "Fine! I'll tutor you." "Hey great! Name's Casey Jones. Meet you say in the park tonight?" "Tonight? Sorry but we're already swamped with homework. Would tomorrow or Wednesday night work?" "Sure thing," he flashed her a brilliant grin. "See ya then. Good evening, ladies," with a wave, he set off down the hall. April's eyes rolled while I laughed. "Oh, now he tries to be charming."
My red-hair friend let out the longest groan. "Ugh, Baby! I don't wanna tutor anyone, especially "him"." "Why? Was it the body odor, missing teeth, or utter lack of allure that put you off?" "Haha, very funny. But this year's already busy enough and now I'm stuck babysitting Mr. Puck Pock on top of everything." "Yeah, that's pretty much it. But unless you want Mr. Ratburn to keep you after class, you have to do it." April didn't reply right away, staring off into the direction Casey disappeared to. Eventually she sighed- a sigh in defeat. "Alright, I guess I have no choice; I'll be his tutor this year." "Heh," I smirked which she noticed. "Donnie's gonna love this." "Hey!"