Playing With Fire

“So, do you have to tutor or what the fuck ever today?” Autumn asked me as she chomped away at her nachos. I looked up at her and shook my head. I had reluctantly accepted that Mrs. Thompson had assigned me a tutor. Who knows, maybe it’ll actually help. Or even better, I’ll make a new friend that will just give me answers. That’d be way better. “Well, hopefully it’s someone decent,” Autumn replied as she swallowed the last of her food.

“Yeah, we’ll see,” I said as I caught the passing glance of someone I recognized. Dark hair, blue eyes, dimples...shit. Matt. I quickly looked away, hoping he hadn’t noticed me. Don’t get me wrong, he was cute. Definitely cute. But he was just way too flirty and cocky for me. Plus I hadn’t stopped thinking about Ryan since Autumn brought him up yesterday. I missed the way he’d hug me tightly and spin me around, or the way he’d smirk at me when my jeans were just a little too tight.

The bell rang as I was finishing my thoughts and Autumn and I began to walk to our algebra class. I mindlessly walked through the hallways, not paying much attention to where I was going until Autumn spoke up. “God, I’m gonna need a pitcher of Jack and Coke after this week. Boys are so ridiculous.” I tended to ignore her comments about boys, just because that was definitely a topic we didn’t relate on. I looked over at her and gave her a nod.

Our algebra class went by quickly, although I still didn’t understand. 1:30 rolled around and Autumn and I stood outside our class, chatting like usual. But this time I found myself looking for the boy with the spiky hair and pouty lips I’d spotted yesterday.

Couldn’t tell you why, because he was most certainly not my type. I spotted him finally and began to drown Autumn’s mindless rambling out. I studied his figure. Short compared to the other boys around him, but he was probably 5’8” or 5’9”. He wasn’t big by any means, but still had a stockiness about him. He was wearing a plain red t-shirt with a black jacket, black jeans and Chuck Taylor’s. Just then, Autumn caught my stare and followed my gaze. She turned back to me and smiled slyly.

“Which one are you staring at?” she questioned me curiously. I realized my staring had been beyond obvious. I snapped out of it and shook my head quickly. I could definitely not let her know anyone had caught my eye, let alone someone like him.

“Uh, nobody. Just kind of lost in thought,” I replied as I felt my cheeks begin to get hot. I used this opportunity to excuse myself. “I guess I should get to class since it’s my first day even attending gym.”

Gym was relatively easy, just running the track outside. I exchanged a few words with other girls I had yet to meet, since Autumn and I had practically been attached by the hip since my first day. Seemed like everyone was scared of her, for whatever reason. I was walking the last couple minutes of class, observing my surroundings until I spotted a familiar figure on the football field. They waved at me and began to jog over. As the figure got closer, I could see it was Matt. He began to walk beside me.

“So I see you decided to come to gym class today,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, I have to stay after for tutoring or whatever,” I replied, looking at him just in time to see his expression change.

“Well that sucks-” the bell cut his sentence short. “Hey, I’ve got to go get padded up for practice, I’ll see you around,” he looked back as he jogged away, flashing those dimples again. God bless his parents, he is so damn attractive. I picked up my pace and headed to the locker room to get ready for tutoring.

I walked into Mrs. Thompson’s classroom just after 2:30 to see her sitting at her desk. “Hello Cailey Jo, go ahead and have a seat. Your tutor isn’t here yet.” She continued to sort through the papers on her desk as she mumbled, “We’ll see if he even shows up.” Oh great. Just as I started to think of a reply, a figure appeared in her doorway and made it’s entrance. I looked down at my feet, nervous to find out who I’d be spending an hour with everyday from now on.

Mrs. Thompson rose to her feet as the figure approached her desk. “Cailey Jo, this is Zack. He’ll be your tutor for a while.” I looked up to see exactly who I didn’t expect to see. The boy with the pouty lips. He looked down at me, his emerald eyes practically staring a hole through me. I knew he’d recognized me as the weird girl that had eye-raped him two days in a row now.

Mrs. Thompson’s voice yanked us both out of our thoughts. “The librarian is expecting you both, so don’t think about ditching. You’re also not to leave until 3:30. Is that clear, Zachary?”

“Crystal,” he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes to look over at me. I held in a laugh and began to gather my things.

The walk to the library was long and awkward. Neither of us said a word to each other, and this continued into our ‘tutoring’ session. Zack finally broke the silence.

“Listen, I don’t wanna be here just as much as you. So, just do your work and if you really need help, ask. Otherwise, don’t talk to me.” I sat there absolutely stunned. I’m sorry, did my tutor, the person who was supposed to be helping me, really just tell me to not talk to him? My mind raced a million miles an hour, but I just sat there with my mouth agap. He looked at me for a moment, probably waiting for a response, then threw his hood up and put his head down on the table. Cool, so cool.

An hour ticked by slowly, but finally it was 3:30. I began to put my books away when Zack woke up. He looked at me sleepily, realizing where he was, then got up and left before I could even say anything. What in the world?

The whole walk home, I thought about my encounter with the boy who caught my eye in the hallway. I wish he was uglier on the outside so he could match his personality. Why would someone volunteer to tutor me, but yet not even speak to me? These thoughts drilled my mind all the way home. I walked inside and saw my brother and Matt sitting on the couch. Clayton must have noticed my pissed off expression, causing him to speak up.

“What’s wrong, baby sister?” he questioned me.

“I don’t know, the fact I just wasted an hour of my life sitting in the library, basically doing nothing because my so-called tutor wanted fucking to sleep,” I replied quickly. Clayton and Matt’s eyes widened at my tone before they exchanged mischievous glances. “What?” I asked as Clayton got up.

“You know what would make you feel better?” he said as he walked over to me, putting his arm around my shoulder. I gave him a puzzled look. “My birthday is in a couple weeks,” he continued.

“Okay...what does that have to do with me?” I was genuinely confused, yet curious to where this was going.

“Well, Matt here suggested we get some people together,” my eyes instantly lit up. Clayton knew I loved a good party. “Maybe make it a Halloween and birthday party all in one?” I threw his arm off of me and turned to him, smiling as big as I had since we moved here. I was ready to dance my heart out, plus I missed my good friends Jack and Miller Lite.

“Yes! A million times yes! Let’s throw a party!”

Notes

Yay, chapter three! Zack finally makes his appearance! Thank you all SSOOO much for all the feedback, keep it coming! Comment, subscribe, message! Let me know what you guys think so far, and where you think it's going. :)

Random side note, tomorrow will be one month since I've last seen Avenged live and I'm still having some major post concert depression...waahhh!

Title credit: Kenny Chesney "Young"