DRE'S P.O.V
I sit outside the school's guidance counsellor's office, waiting for my turn to see Mrs Hampshire.
I don't see her often, only when necessary.
This time she called to meet with me.
A girl is seated beside me, also waiting to see Hampshire.
I know her from class, advanced physics to be exact.
I'm not sure if she's in the mood to talk, but I try anyway.
"Hello, fellow intellectual," I blurt out.
What the fuck was that?
God, I'm so lame.
"Fellow intellectual?" The girl repeats, followed by a laugh.
I smile shamefully.
"I don't know why I said that, sorry," I say quickly. "We're in the same physics class; it's a difficult class."
"Hmm," she says. "Difficult?"
"Yeah," I say nervously. "You have to be really smart to be in the class, so I heard."
I'm so embarrassed, I want the ground to open up and swallow me.
"So you think you're smart?" She asks. "I mean, you're in that class too."
"Probably, who knows?" I say, trying to sound humble. "I know you are."
She smiles to herself.
"You're Andrea," she says.
I nod eagerly, glad the awkward moment has passed.
"And you're Silver, soon to be Valedictorian."
She laughs awkwardly before responding.
"Looks that way."
The silence is loud between us, and I remain quiet. I don't trust myself to speak again.
"Do you know why we're here?" Silver asks me.
"I don't, probably for college applications," I suggest.
But Silver shakes her head.
"I doubt that."
She nods towards a couple of students walking down the hall.
"The school needs tutors for struggling students. Finals are six months away."
I sigh.
Even though tutoring counts as extra credit, I'm not in the mood to babysit struggling students.
"What's wrong? You've tutored a few students before, right?" Silver asks, noticing my change of mood.
"I don't want to do this," I tell Silver honestly.
"Why not?"
Before I can answer, the students approach us, walking into the office one after the other.
My eyes search them, and just when I think he's not among them, I see him.
My ex-boyfriend, TJ.
He says nothing, his eyes pass over me, like he doesn't see me, but there's that smug look on his face.
I wait for him to go inside before turning to meet Silver.
She has a smirk on her face already, like she already knows what happened between TJ and me.
Silver pushes her bangs away from her face, revealing her eyes, which shimmer with excitement.
"I get it," she says, teasing.
" There's nothing to get," I say. "I just don't want to tutor my ex."
"Honestly, he shouldn't even be here. My friend helped him with Biology last year; he's getting better. He's getting B's now, that's far above average."
Silver explains.
"Then why's he here?" I ask.
"Maybe he's failing again."
Of course his dumb ass is failing.
Whatever it is, we'll soon find out because Hampshire steps out of her office.
Silver and I sit up straight, but she comes to sit with us.
"I should have let you know before. This meeting is about this semester's tutoring sessions."
Hampshire goes on about how a lot of students need extra help, and how there are not so many students who are available for tutoring sessions.
It'll be unfair to opt out anyway. If I do, Silver will have to tutor on her own.
"Two other students have agreed to help with this session's tutoring programme, and there are about eight students who are in the programme," Hampshire explains.
That's two for each tutor.
"Can we select the students we want to tutor?" I ask.
I just don't want to tutor my ex.
"It's quite the opposite, Andrea, the students are the ones to choose their tutors," Hampshire responds.
TJ is definitely going to pick me to mess with me.
I just know it.
"I'm cool with anyone except TJ," I blurt out.
Hampshire raises her eyebrow, and Silver bites down a laugh.
"TJ as in Tobias Joslan?" Hampshire asks.
"Yes," I reply eagerly. "Anyone but him."
"You're in luck because he specifically said, anyone but Andrea Waters."
My cheeks burn, and I close my eyes, clearly embarrassed.
Hampshire speaks briefly, promising to communicate with us later. She returns to her office.
I don't want to tutor TJ, and I guess he doesn't want that either.
A part of me wanted him to choose me, so I could have the satisfaction of rejecting him.
That'll feel so good, but he didn't.
Silver leaves and so do I.
I walk further into the corridor when a door opens behind me.
Hampshire has just dismissed the students. I try walking faster because I have a feeling TJ will show up, and I don't want any interaction with him.
It's too late anyway; a familiar scent of his cologne precedes him.
"Anyone but TJ?" he says, coming to stand beside me.
I feel even more embarrassed that he heard me say that.
"What do you want?" I ask angrily, staring at my most recent ex.
His tall frame towers over me, and his hazel eyes burn into mine as his lips curl into a smile.
"You're fucking sexy when you're angry," he whispers, licking his lips.
My cheeks go hot immediately, and I push past him.
TJ follows me anyway.
"Leave me alone, TJ," I whisper.
"You know, I heard what you said to Hampshire. The walls are very thin," he says.
"I knew you didn't want to be my tutor, but I didn't know you were so against it," he adds.
I turn sharply, stopping at my heels.
"Stop following me," I snap.
TJ rolls his eyes.
"We haven't spoken in months. I just want to talk to you, Andrea."
"We've broken up," I remind him.
"So?" he scoffs. "It doesn't mean we can't be friends."
"I have a boyfriend, we can't talk."
"You mean Nate?" he asks, followed by a mocking laugh.
I wait for his laughter to die down, watching him in disbelief.
"You also cheated on me," I say.
The memory of him and the broad, still fresh. I try not to remember, but seeing him now brings back all the hurt I felt when I found out.
My eyes burn and slowly begin to blur.
I don't want to cry, especially in front of the cocky bastard of an ex.
"Leave me alone," I say, my voice burning with hatred. "And I mean it."
I turn away from him, and just at the end of the corridor is Nate.
I don't know how long he has been there, but he doesn't look happy, seeing me with my ex.
𝐹𝑢𝑐𝑘.
"Andrea?" Nate calls.
I leave to meet him; fortunately, TJ doesn't follow.
Nate's hand is stretched out to me, and I hold it, locking my fingers in his.