"WHY? Just why? Why on earth would you do that?" I ask Sydney, running my hands through my hair in frustration. Realising how angry I am, Tyler silently backs away from us so as not to get caught in the line of fire.
"What do you mean?" She replies innocently, twirling a strand of her hair around her finger.
"Don't play dumb with me. You know exactly what I mean! Why would you set me up like that?! We just had a conversation about how I'm too shy to do this! Do you want me to die from spontaneous combustion?!"
"Deep breaths honey, deep breaths," she says trying to calm me down. "Look I know what you said, but I didn't think you would freak out like this. I was doing it for you! You're trying to get over Mason, and Noah is the perfect candidate to be your rebound! I was just impressed with how he managed to get you out of your shell the other day and I thought a guy like that would be good for you, that's all. I didn't mean to upset you, I'm sorry."
"I'm not meeting with him tomorrow." I cross my arms and start stomping away from her.
"Yes, you are. He needs it and you just promised him you would!" She trails after me.
"Because you told him I was free and gave me no choice!" I yell turning around to face her. "I'll just message him tomorrow telling him that I'm sick or something."
"I'm not gonna let you chicken out of this Maddie. This is exactly the kind of situation you need to get you out of your comfort zone. You said it yourself, to his face might I add, that you want to be noticed and stop being shy, so this is your chance to do that. Think about it, if anything goes wrong, which it won't, it'll just be the two of you there and you can pretend it never happened. But if it goes the way I think it will, you can thank me in a couple of months." she smiles confidently.
I take a second to consider it. I did promise Noah I'd help him and it would be mean to leave him to fend for himself in a time of need. "Fine, I'll do it," I say, giving up. "But only because he needs it."
"Yay!" she claps. "You'll thank me for this, mark my words. Now let's go find Tyler, I'm starving."
***
The next day after school I sit in the dimly lit library, the tapping sound of my pencil hitting the table echoes around the empty room as I stare at the ticking clock strike 4:15.
I feel stupid sitting here waiting for him. Should I leave?
Right as I start seriously considering that option I see Noah hurriedly turning the corner and entering the library, backpack hanging off his shoulder and a stack of books in hand. "Sorry, sorry, I'm so sorry I'm late." he apologizes as he frantically sets his books down and they sprawl out on the table.
"It's fine," I assure him, smoothing out my hair, a little annoyed but not so much that it's obvious to him.
"I just got held back after class to talk to Mr. Sainsbury about my grade in History, and then I had to run all the way across the school to get my books from my locker and then back here and-" he blabbers shuffling through his things.
"Noah,"
"What?"
"Relax."
I never thought I would be the one saying that to him, but he's obviously very rattled right now. He lets out a breath, his shoulders slouching forward as he deflates. "I'm sorry I'm all riled up, it's just been an intense past couple of weeks. I'm trying to secure an athletic scholarship for college, you know? It's been in the works for a while but now as we start getting closer to the end of the year the pressure is really on. So between dealing with training and trying to keep up my GPA I'm overall...really stressed." he explains. "Anyway, I don't know why I'm telling you all this, the point is I'm here now and I came prepared." he gestures at the spread in front of us.
"I can see that." I nod. "And don't worry, I'm a pretty good listener if you ever need an ear. I guess this just makes two of us with a venting problem." I joke referring to my outburst at the party, which draws a little laugh out of him.
He runs a hand through his hair nervously. "I just really need to ace this test tomorrow. Then I can focus on training all through winter break and everything will be fine."
"I'm sure it will be. And that's what I'm here for, so tell me, what do you need help with?" I ask as I start flipping through my notes.
"I'm really lost on vectors, mainly. The other stuff I can kind of figure out as I go but I missed a few classes on this and I can't seem to catch up now."
"Oh okay, those are easy enough to explain. So..." I start, taking out a notepad and putting it between us so he can see what I'm writing, "Geometrically, a vector is a segment which has both magnitude and direction; and you can do all kinds of mathematical operations with vectors, like addition, subtraction and multiplication by a scalar. You just have to learn these formulas," I explain and he nods along.
I write down all the formulas he'll need, going into detail of how each one works individually and making sure he understands by making him do some exercises before we move on to the next one.
As time goes by it becomes apparent that I've underestimated Noah. I'd assumed he was a dumb jock, but he's actually pretty smart and a fast learner, which makes the whole study session more dynamic for both of us. So before I notice, almost two hours have escaped us, which is way longer than I usually tutor for. I'm not complaining though, his company is quite the reward.
I study him and his focused expression as he solves the last exercise I have for him today. His hair shines even under the dim lights, which cast shadows on his face, accentuating his hollowed cheeks and a defined jaw. His brows furrow as he concentrates, and his lower lip is brought between his teeth. He has two pretty distinctive moles, I've noticed; a tiny one right above the corner of his mouth, and the other one just behind his right ear. He smells of clean laundry and mint gum.
"Okay, done!" he exclaims as he puts his pencil down. He slides it over to me on the table and I look over it quickly scanning for any errors, but I don't find any.
"You got it!" I smile proudly.
"Yes!" he high-fives me, catching me off guard but I go along with it, letting out a little chuckle.
"Trust me, you have nothing to worry about. As long as you don't let nerves get to you I'm sure you'll ace this no problem."
"Thanks, Maddie. I don't know what I would've done without your help." He smiles sincerely as he holds my gaze.
"Anytime," I return his smile and he breaks eye contact, taking my phone from the table and into his hands.
"What are you doing?" I ask.
"Making sure you keep that promise," he says casually returning my phone as his own beeps from the desk and I see the screen light up with a message notification that has my number on it. He smiles and I return it, but shy away from his stare as I start putting my stuff away into my bag.
We pack up our things and head out of the school towards the parking lot. "You need a ride?" he asks.
"No thanks, I'm good. Tyler's picking me up, he should be here any minute."
"Oh, okay." Silence falls between us as we both face forward. I bury my hands deep in my pockets to keep them from the cold air that's biting at the tip of my nose, and I rock back and forth on my heels to keep myself warm.
"So listen, the guys from the team and I are organizing a little get together this Saturday, just so we can all hang out before everyone goes away for winter break. Tyler already told me he's coming. You should too." he offers.
I turn to face him with a confused expression, "You're inviting me to hang out with you and your friends?"
"Yeah," he smiles, "As a thank you for today."
"Oh," I reply, kind of disappointed that he's making this out to be more of a favor to me than an invitation, "You don't need to do that, it was nothing."
"No, I want to," he finally turns to face me "Come on, it'll be fun! You can bring your friend Syd too if you want to." he leans in lowering his tone, "You didn't hear it from me, but I think my boy Jackson kind of has a thing for her." I chuckle thinking Syd is going to love hearing about this.
I pause, thinking about his proposition.
"You know I'm not gonna give up until you say yes, right?" he grins.
"Okay, sure. Why not?" I reply smiling.
"Great! You guys should be there by eight." He says right as Tyler pulls up into the parking lot and honks calling out to me.
I start walking towards the car and turn around for one last reply, the wind blowing in my face as I tuck my hair behind my ear, "Guess I'll see you Saturday then."
He smiles with dimpled cheeks "See you then Mads."