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 Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 2:28 pm
Mr. Price. That was formal. Barnaby had to resist the urge to squirm, knowing that somehow (it was practically a default) a statement regarding his personal failures was about to come up. Any teacher who addressed him as "Mr. Price" usually followed that name with something along the lines of "you're not paying attention, are you?" or, even worse, "you really haven't got the slightest clue what's going on, do you?" Not that either of the statements weren't true, but it was never nice to be spoken to like that.
As it was, he tried to keep his face a careful neutral until Jada finished her question. It was… well, surprisingly upfront from her. Honestly, he shouldn't have expected any less, but it still came as a bit of a shock. The redhead frowned a little in thoughtfulness, deciding to answer her question with as honest a question as he could come up with.
"Well… I'm willing to give it a try, I guess is what I want to say. I'm not good at anything, really, so I'm not sure if it's worth your time even if I did want to improve. I've kind of not got the ability to improve, you know?" He gave a somewhat awkward shrug. "But I mean if that's fine with you, then it's fine with me. You don't get extra credit for bumping kids up to A level, do you?"
It never hurt to ask.
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Posted: Thu Mar 04, 2010 3:12 pm
Bright purple eyes examined her student as he pondered her question. The little twitches and frowns were an interesting study, but after a few moments she lowered her pen to the paper, decorating the white sheet with curlicues and flowers. Jada's feminine little touches were oddly ragged, rather than smooth; she then inked them in.
As Barnaby started speaking to her she lifted her head, meeting his gaze spot on. His honesty was pleasing. She smiled at him, relaxing her rigidity just a bit. Loosening her hair, so to speak. "If you're willing to give it a try I am." she let the smile fade. "I'm not going to be an easy teacher, but I want you to tell me if you aren't understanding. If I'm not teaching in a way you get, I'll need to change my methods. Promise?" She held out her hand, obviously expecting him to shake on this. "And no, I don't get extra credit. I'm a volunteer, free tutoring. That's why it is so important to me that if you are going to need to miss a session you call me, or text me, and let me know. Please."
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 10:54 am
The red head leaned back against his chair and nodded his head in agreement with their little deal. Even if he didn’t become a genius in the next few weeks, at least he would have company and maybe raise his average just a tad. Graduation was coming soon, and his mother would really be happy if he could get into some college program. Still, the thought of doing more school after this made him a little queasy.
“Yeah, promise.” Barnaby reached out and shook the hand in his usual careful-of-soft-female-hands way. Thank god this girl didn’t shake like Ellie. He might have had to kill himself if all the girls he knew were out of control and manly. (It probably wouldn’t be a good time to break it to him that Jada wanted a ride on his bike.)
“Right. Call. Got it.” His hand slid down discretely to check for the number in his pocket. He’d really have to make a mental note to put this in his phone when he got home. “You don’t care why I miss a session then, right? ‘cause I mean I got… animals at home that need my undivided attention.” Admitting he had kittens was just a little too girly.
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Posted: Wed Mar 10, 2010 12:12 pm
"It isn't any of my business why you miss." she told him, and chewed on her lip. For all purposes, she only had another 10 minutes left in which to do some things with her new student. Ten minutes which would be better spent doing something else. "So long as you tell me. Otherwise you'll get the evil eye next time I see you."
It wasn't a very impressive threat, but it was a very genuine promise. Jada would stink-eye her pupil to death if he missed a session without a call.
"Anyways." she picked up her bag, sliding the notebook into it. "An hour a week, on the day of your choice every week. I'll get you to tell me which day you need me on the next week the session before, so I can schedule my time appropriately. I tutor Sunday through Thursday." She chewed on her lower lip, thinking of the other students she had to tutor on a regular basis. "Would next Tuesday work for you? 3:30?"
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Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 1:20 pm
Phew.
Barnaby looked physically relieved that she wasn't going to drill him on his absences, and he had reason to feel that way (at least, in his mind he did). School was enough trouble as it was without a tutor adding additional stress. But if she was going to be cool with him skipping off then he would try his hardest to let her know when he wasn't going to be there. It was, after all, only fair.
The thought of tutoring on the weekends made the redhead wrinkle his nose. Jada, however, seemed to read his mind and pick a day early in the week. "Tuesday's are good for me, yeah. Earlier's better than later, just 'cause of work, but I can shuffle schedules and stuff if there's a problem. Speaking of which," a quick glance at his watch confirmed it was time to skedaddle. "I've gotta run. But uh, I'll see you next week?"
He was already halfway out of his seat as he talked, but paused midway when he realized that Jada might not be finished with him. Hesitating in a half-sit, half-stand position he waited in case the Crystal girl had any closing remarks before he fled like a bat out of hell. When she said none, he took it as permission to leave, and very quickly made his exit.
Tutoring Lessons Survived: 1
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