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 Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 11:44 pm
There was a soft click as the plastic pen was placed on the table, aligned perfectly parallel with the spine of her notebook. The notebook itself was positioned directly in between the paper cup with lingering traces of chai tea (to her right) and the small zip-bag of writing instruments that she brought along for all of her tutoring sessions (to her left). The zipper was folded down, perfectly, as the bag sat directly up, balanced perfectly to rest on its center. In fact, Sophia would dare even say that everything was perfect about this situation except one small, nagging imperfection.
The imperfection in question just so happened to come with a name and that name happened to be Austin Lynch.
Offering her phone screen a tight-lipped smile, she glanced at the time. Five o’clock. Exactly sixty entire minutes after their appointed tutoring session was to begin. The same tutoring session that happened the same time every week on the same exact day, precisely how she'd scheduled it for the past year, give or take a holiday or two.
Opening the messenger application, her thumb pressed on the top name, the same name she'd messaged thirty minutes ago and the same name she'd messaged forty-five minutes ago.
[ To Austin Lynch: Please give me the decency of a REASONABLE lie, this time, as to why you're now an hour late. ]
Slipping the phone back into her purse, fingers moved out to begin rearranging her possessions for the twentieth time since she'd arrived at Just Add Coffee. Her attempt at changing the location of their usual meet-up (in hopes of encouraging his timeliness) had, most definitely, not worked.
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:22 am
Austin Lynch was a guy who didn't didn't abide by schedules without at least seven reminders and despite the fact that his dad had hired his childhood friend and old neighbor to tutor him at the same time and day every week well...He still managed to forget.
Or maybe it was that he didn't care to remember. As far as he was concerned tutoring was unnecessary. Sophia was basically a homework babysitter as Austin didn't need to help learning or even understanding, nah, he got all of that s**t.
He just...didn't do his work because it seemed stupid and he had better things to do with his time. Like work on his admittedly piece of junk car that he worked really hard to maintain. Which was exactly what he'd been doing when he'd gotten the text from Soph, which vibrated twice on his chest. He didn't even bother to respond and instead just made his way to the agreed upon meeting place approximately twenty five minutes after receiving the text.
"Yo, Soph. Sorry. Got caught up with stuff, y'know."
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:34 am
She'd given him approximately 85 minutes of her time. That was already 55 minutes more than she normally gave any of her tutoring subjects, but even for Austin it was getting close to testing her limits.
Two drinks and a bagel had passed before he'd finally, finally shown up. He was close to the wire - 90 minutes and she'd had been out the door - but the young man appeared anything but apologetic when it came to his excuse.
"With stuff?"
She didn't dwell on the comment. At the end of the day it didn't matter - there was always stuff that seemed to get in the way of his sessions. Always something that came up in lieu of spending time with her. Or, of course, her trying to make her livelihood.
Ten years ago, he would have looked happy to see her. Now he seemed like it was a chore.
Oh, how times change.
Rising from the booth, she dusted off any wayward bagel crumbs (of which there were none, thanks to her previous three dustings) before motioning for the older boy to slide in to the same side of the booth.
"Look, you only have to deal with two more of these before winter break." Which meant a lull in tutoring, which meant more shifts at the college's library. Sigh. "Then you can do all the stuff you want to do without me interrupting you."
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:43 am
Soph was mad at him and he could only shrug at her. "You know pops is gonna pay you for the whole time, regardless if I was here or not." He didn't get why she was so upset, it wasn't like his behavior was new. This was how Austin Lynch had been since junior high. "And yeah stuff."
He knew she didn't approve of his drag racing or other out of school activities, including the steady stream of girls flowing through his room. Or the cliff jumping he partook in during the summer. Or anything that gave him that heart pounding adrenaline rush.
"S'not my fault you didn't remind me before the session." He huffed, sliding into her side of the booth like he knew she expected him to. It was something she'd started doing two sessions in because Austin had a terrible habit of getting up and wandering more than was necessary if she didn't trap him in with her.
Not that it mattered, it allowed him to lean into her and 'accidentally' brush his hand against places he might not have been able to otherwise.
"Dunno why you're so worked up, you know I'll pass finals."
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:05 pm
The bridge of her nose was pinched as he slid into place, Sophie slowly counting to five in her head to stave away the urge to sass him right back. It wouldn't accomplish anything but an argument - which was not what Mr. Lynch was paying her for.
"Finals, yes. If you show up," she amended his comment as she slid in next to him, smoothing her skirt out before reaching into her folder. "Did you do the homework for calculus?"
As expected, he came bringing nothing with him. And, knowing Austin Lynch, he would probably leave without anything in hand - well, maybe a coffee, depending. Nothing in regards to schoolwork, at the very least.
A fresh copy of the assignment was pulled free from her notebook. She'd gotten into the habit of making duplicates when she quickly learned that he had no desire to contribute to the session, much less bring his own work with him. "There's only two or three assignments left and if you manage to turn them in - or let me turn them in - you should be looking at a B for your overall, at the very least."
B's made her proud. Sophie never accepted anything less than an A for herself but when it came to her students, she prided herself on making sure that they not only passed, but did so with flying colors.
Austin... Austin was definitely the smartest person she'd ever taken on. Frustratingly enough, he was probably even smarter than she was. He just... well. He just sucked when it came to applying himself.
What a waste of talent...
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 2:44 pm
"School's M&D's plan, not mine." He offered with another shrug, one arm sliding across the top of the booth and around Sophie's shoulder.
Truthfully, Austin had no plan which his companion likely already knew. He didn't get what the big deal was or why it mattered. At this point, having a degree meant nothing for the amount of debt it was likely to put you in and he would rather live fast and hard than waste away doing schoolwork that wouldn't have much of a point once the semester was over.
"What do you think Soph?" He asked in lieu of an answer, which was no but she clearly knew that when she produced the paper for him and set in front of him. Green eyes flicked over to the sheet of paper, several of the equations answering themselves in his head when he pushed the thought away and leaned closer to his companion.
"Do we have to focus on this boring stuff? I can think of several ways to occupy our time instead." His free hand was toying with the hem of her skirt. "Come on Soph, you know I know this stuff."
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Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2017 4:32 pm
One hand moved up to readjust her glasses, the other slipping down to gently remove his hand from her skirt.
And so it began.
"I know you know this, but if you're not going to actually show that you know it, you're not going to make the cut." She could feel the weight of his arm as it hung on the other side of her - the arm was fine. Sophie could deal with the arm with only minor concerns of the hand attached to it. The other, on the other hand (literally) was already wandering in places it shouldn't. "Not all of us are lucky enough to be born with a brain like yours, so we all have to show that we know the formulas."
Wide eyes looked up at him as his suggestion played itself in her head. Yeah. Sure. Several ways no doubt involved various states of dress and undress with one easily distracted Austin Lynch. Become another one of his conquests?
No thanks.
Fingers lingered on his hand and she seemed to catch her error, dropping it back off in his lap before reaching up and snatching one of her pencils and thrusting it in his direction.
"Homework. Please."
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:36 am
As expected, Sophie moved his hand away and he flopped back against the booth dejected. The sigh he gave was exaggerated, clearly tailored to making her feel guilty for making him focus on work instead of pleasure. That was Sophia Thomas for you though, stickler to her rules, the very same one he didn't get why she cared so much about them.
But, whatever.
Green eyes glared at the calculus homework, large and thick fingers pushed the paper around, and he huffed another sigh. Austin looked like he was chewing on words before he shook his head, seemingly abandoning him. "You're such a stick in the mud Soph."
She never let him have any fun. "Fine. Whatever." He huffed, his tone clearly indicating that things were not fine, but he didn't have a choice so he guessed he would deal.
Whatever.
The arm around her shoulders was retracted and his large frame hunched over the table as he scribbled on the paper. It didn't take him long, he was smart, just didn't care about academia the way most people did, and when he was finished, having only paused on two or three questions, he dropped the pencil and pushed it towards her.
"There," he announced.
His hand was on her leg again.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:37 am
She smiled as he took the writing instrument, feeling a small little victory bubble up within her at not having to ask him twice to complete the assignment.
"You're such a stick in the mud Soph."
The smile faltered for a moment, the genuine curve being forced into place as the older boy's words stung. It wasn't that she didn't acknowledge that she was... well, boring in comparison to a lot of the other students. She knew she didn't have an outgoing social life, didn't have all sorts of friends to hang out with on the weekend. It was something she accepted, something she knew she had to sacrifice if she wanted to keep up with the scholarship that had her going to class in the first place.
But to hear Austin say it to her, the same boy who used to encourage her, congratulate her on her academic accomplishments...was like a slap in the face, even after all this time they'd drifted apart. Who'd cheered her on during their elementary school spelling bee, that had helped her stay up until almost midnight one night, coming up with the coolest science project the fair had ever seen....
Well, it just plain hurt.
The absence of his arm from around her left a chill in the air. Nimble fingers, worn down with what felt like permanent indentions from where her pencils sat, tugged on her sleeve as if trying to combat the unexplained chill. As she glanced around, no one else seemed to be concerned with a draft... huh... maybe it was just her.
The paper slid forward, making an audible bump as it ran into the side of her notebook. Ignoring the hand that had returned to her skirt, she slipped her own copy of the assignment out from her notebook to place side-by-side in comparison.
He didn't explain how he got to the answer - he never did - but his answers were always, infuriatingly enough, correct. One by one, her finger trailed down the sheet of paper, eyes darting back and forth between the two, to assess the answers. Each and every one of them... correct.
How could someone with so much talent choose to waste it so carelessly?
Instead of harping on him, which he'd no doubt take a jab at anyways, she merely sighed a sigh of her own and shook her head. "I'll turn it in with mine, this afternoon."
Taking a chance to glance up at the green eyed boy, her hand fell to her lap and nudged away at the fingers trying to scale up her thigh. "Did you have anything for science due? Or do I need to email your teacher again?"
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:06 pm
Austin was too preoccupied toying with the hem of her skirt to pay attention to the fact that he'd knocked the smile right off her lips with his words. Or, maybe he did notice and just didn't care because he never seemed to give a s**t about how what he did or said affected others.
It was difficult to remember a time when Austin hadn't been the way he was presently. When he gave a s**t about school, showed up on time for things that weren't track or races. When he and Sophie had been friends, close ones even. Ones who did a whole helluva lot together.
But those days were gone, much like the image of Austin she tried too hard to hold onto. He changed and she didn't, it was pretty simple as far as he was concerned.
"Whatever," he said dismissively, even as he was leaning in towards her, surprised by the length of time it took her to nudge his wandering hand away. This time she didn't remove it completely and it caught him off guard. His mouth wasn't too far from her ear when he said, "Come on Soph, I'm still advocating doing something more fun."
Then she was going on about more school work and he groaned. "What do you think? I don't keep track of that s**t." If it wasn't for Sophie, anything not completed in class wouldn't have ever been turned in.
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Posted: Wed Nov 29, 2017 1:43 pm
She already knew what his answer would be because it was the same answer he gave her every time she asked about his other classes. Sophie had even gotten to the point of being on first name basis with several of Austin's teachers, who - like Austin - failed to see what the point was in helping the young man finish his assignments if he wasn't interested in completing the course himself.
Sometimes the entire purpose behind her tutoring seemed like a futile effort. She wanted him to succeed as the bright young man she remembered him to be as while he couldn't give two flips about it.
As he encroached on her personal space, however, the words forming in her brain began to shuffle about, eluding her as she tried to focus. He smelled of aftershave and soap - so he hadn't been running, clearly - and as he pressed in further against her, worsening her state until she physically leaned away from his presence.
"I'm not interested in becoming the next notch on your bedpost, Austin."
Her voice was quiet, almost sad as she turned and began packing up her belongings. Science was ignored, as was the assignment she'd already had long since printed and stowed away in her files. This was getting to be too much for her.
As soon as the paperwork was secured into place and her notebook closed, eyes shot in his direction, almost daring him on. "If you have suggestions that don't involve getting naked, then I'm all ears."
How's that for being a stick in the mud!
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 8:16 am
When Sophie leaned away, Austin backed off with a sigh. It was a fun game to him, to see how much he could push and how she would react. She always turned him down, always moved his hand away, or moved away. They'd been playing this game since his dad insisted that he get 'help' with his school work because he barely skated by on his grades most days.
It wasn't that he wasn't smart, he was, he just didn't get the point of homework and didn't care about getting it done and turning it in.
School was a joke, as far as he was concerned, especially college. You had to pay to be there, most people had to work one, sometimes two, maybe even three jobs just to afford it and basic expenses and they gave you enough out of class work that it was practical a job that didn't pay you for how much time and work you had to put into it.
It was bullshit.
Austin didn't care for bullshit.
"Who said I kept notches?" The tall boy climbed out of the booth after his tutor. "I have plenty of suggestions. You don't need to be naked to have fun with me Soph." He waggled his brows, the grin on his face a s**t-eating one. "I have the exact thing in mind." He passed her and grabbed her wrist to make sure she was coming along with. "It'll be fun," he declared as he headed out of the cafe and towards his car.
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:00 pm
She thought she'd gotten off without a hitch when the sudden tug on her wrist had her jerked in the direction of the door. Letting off a startled yelp, Sophie had just enough time to grab her bag of belongings before being whisked away - she hadn't even gotten to throw away her cup, yet!
Fun and Austin were a dangerous combination and the young college student was immediately wary at his insistence. Sure, her brain was still in Frazzled Mode from having him grip onto her like that, but the real startle came when she realized he was taking her to his car.
It wasn't as if she wanted to think about the fact it was the same car he'd spent months and months repairing, the old beater that he'd talked about restoring, once upon a time, it just happened to flash across her thoughts. There had been childhood innocence behind the offer, that once he finally gotten his very first car up and running, that he'd take Sophie for the first spin around in the heap of junk.
At sixteen his parents had given him a dilapidated hunk of metal that he'd spent months restoring. He'd worked on it night and day, during any free time, out in the driveway while she read her books out on the porch next door. It had been distracting, sure, watching him sweat and tug his shirt off to use as a face rag - not that she paid much attention to him, of course.
Part of her had waited for that message, the one asking her to ride with him. But her invitation had never come and soon enough, he was off burning rubber with half of the cheerleaders from their high school.
Car probably hadn't been up to inspection anyways.
But now... now he was practically shoving her inside of this potential death trap, though it looked far nicer and far more decked out than it had when they'd been sixteen. Clearly drag racing had been a lucrative sport for her former best friend and it was showing through his favorite possession.
She didn't know what she was doing, she didn't know why she accepted the passenger door and she sure as heck didn't know why or how she somehow managed to slide her way into the seat. Sophie knew he drove like he was going to be a future NASCAR driver - and she still got into the car for whatever godforsaken reason.
Maybe Austin still had some sort of effect on her.
"If you're driving me to your house, you may as well let me know now so I don't waste your time."
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Posted: Thu Nov 30, 2017 2:36 pm
It was a down right miracle that Austin Lynch's six feet and six inches managed to fit in the honestly small vehicle but he did. Compared to him, Sophia looked like she had all of the space in the world for a car that should have looked cramped even if he wasn't a giant.
The outer shell of the vehicle was as beat up as it'd been when his parents first gifted him the car but he had rebuilt the entire engine and replaced pretty much everything interior.
His stereo had been the first upgrade. Austin wouldn't say it, but he was damn proud of his car and the work he'd put into it to make sure it ran like a dream. (Most of the time.)
"Chill Soph." He huffed, key sliding into the ignition. "You made it pretty clear that was a no-go." Even if it hadn't stopped him from putting his hand on almost inappropriate places. "I'm not a total d**k." Just mostly. Like eighty-eight percent, give or take. His car roared to life, the engine purring proudly for the dark skinned man who flashed the girl a grin.
"Better put your seat belt on." She'd never been in the car with him before, when he was driving as they'd stopped being close by the time either of them could drive. "And I suggest you hold on because you're in for a wild ride." He laughed, just before he peeled out of the parking lot and onto the road.
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Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2017 12:35 am
She had enough sensibility to look sheepish when he told her to chill and explained that he was well aware that his touches and comments weren't received well. It wasn't as if she didn't like to be flirted with - then again, it never really happened, either - but to know the same tricks and comments got used on other girls all the time too?
Call her old fashioned, but Sophia Thomas didn't believe in sharing when it came to relationships.
Fingers grasped for the seat belt at his suggestion, the young woman looking far too eager to comply. She knew he drag raced - but did that mean he also did it with other people in the car?
Surely not, right?
“Wait, what are you going to d---Austin!!!!”
Her words dissolved into a screech as the car lurched, throwing her back as he spun out of the parking lot. The last thing she expected to do that afternoon was die but it seemed Austin was well prepared to send them both into the afterlife with his maniac driving!
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