"Hey, what's up?" I asked my mom calmly.
I had a feeling she was calling about my grades.
"Elizabeth, your grades!!!" She hissed.
"Mom, I can explain it's just."
"No, you have a tutor tomorrow at 3:30; no questions asked."
"But mom, I have an art club."
"You're going to have to skip it. Tutoring is more important than."
"Yes ma'am"
She hung up before I could say anything else.
I collapsed onto my bed and groaned.
Dreading this would be an understatement.
Art club was my favorite thing, and now I have to miss it for tutoring.
Ugh.
I ended up falling asleep around 4 p.m. after I got off the phone with my mom.
***
The next morning, I didn't want to get out of bed.
Let alone participate in society today. But I had to.
I only have one friend at school, and he's pretty popular, so we rarely hang out anymore.
I threw on a red hoodie I got at H&M during Christmas with baggy jeans and black Converse.
I grabbed my backpack that was leaning against the wall by my door and walked out of my door, down the stairs, and out the front door.
My mom had already left for work, so the house was quiet. Molly, the cat, was sleeping on top of her cat tree.
She was deaf and didn't notice me leaving.
I drove myself to school and made it there without a near-death experience. Which is unusual for me.
I walked through the halls, trying to avoid confrontation with any of my classmates before making it to class.
I finished all of my morning classes and ended up eating lunch locked in a bathroom stall, staying quiet because the girls started messing with me.
I made it through the day and finished all of my classes around 3 and headed down to the library, where I was going to meet the tutor.
I was expecting a grumpy middle-aged dude who didn't know how to talk to people and hated his job.
But to my surprise, when I walked in,
A tall blonde girl who looked not much older than me.
She had black cat-eye Gucci glasses, a plaid shirt, and a white cashmere cardigan.
She was gorgeous.
"Hey, you must be Lizzie or Elizabeth; which do you prefer?" She asked.
Even her voice was pretty.
"Oh, uh, yeah, Lizzie is fine." I stuttered a lot—more than I usually do.
Ugh. Another first impression was messed up.
"It's lovely to meet you. I'm Amelia; I'll be tutoring you and getting you back on track."
She laughed softly.
"Ok, cool," I replied.
"Let's go over here and sit down, okay?"
"Yeah yeah. That's fine." I pulled my backpack up and started walking towards an empty table.
"So, where are you struggling? I didn't hear much from your mom. She kind of just wanted to get you seeing someone as fast as possible." She said.
"Math mainly." I flicked my pen back and forth between my fingers on the table, trying to avoid eye contact.
She helped me a lot.
She was kind and patient.
And she made jokes that made me laugh.
We met every Tuesday at 3:30 for months, until I was finally on track and didn't need her help anymore.
The last day she tutored me, she handed me a gift and a letter.
"Don't open it till you get home, ok?" She said it softly.
I hugged her tightly and whispered "thank you" in her ear.
We said goodbye, and I drove myself home.
Once I got home, I went straight up to my room and opened the letter and gift.
The package was carefully wrapped in brown and white-spotted wrapping paper.
Once I opened the wrapping paper, there was a vinyl record with "beginnings" by the girl in red.
We had talked about the girl in red quite a few times.
Amelia went to her concert a few years prior and showed me pictures.
The letter was 3 pages, double-sided.
I cried while reading it.
What she wrote on the last page before closing the letter is what shocked me.
It said:
Lizzie, I've had the best few months with you, and I'm incredibly grateful for you.
You've taught me more than I could ever imagine. Over the months, I think there's one key thing you've taught me, and that is that you can meet the love of your life anywhere. And I think, for me, that person was you. When I saw you walk into the library, it felt like sparks flew. I didn't want to make it weird while I was still your tutor, but now that it's over, I just wanted to ask if you'd ever want to go out.
I stood there with the letter in my hands.
Knowing now that I had all the power.
Obviously, I liked her; I liked her a lot, actually.
And to actually have a chance with her now.
I was speechless. I called her and told her to meet me at the library at 20.
I rushed over and met her just as she was walking in.
"Amelia! Wait." I called out.
We made eye contact for a split second before I collapsed into her.
She wrapped her arms tightly around me as our lips met. I kissed her, and she kissed me back.
It was incredible.
We pulled away, and I pinched myself, just to be sure this was real.
It was—that pinch fucking hurt too.
She smiled softly, just like the first time we met.
"Oh shit. I should've said something; I'm sorry, I just"
This time she didn't say anything, and we kissed again.
Everything just made sense.
963 words
_______________________________
(A/N)
Thank you so much for reading.
Hope you enjoyed:)
