The Dating Tutor: Alec's Story by Melissa Frost

basket!”
    At the sound of Mrs. Harper’s declaration as she trudged down the steps lugging a large laundry basket, Ellie and Alec simultaneously broke away from one another. Ellie brushed her fingers frantically through her disheveled hair while Alec rubbed at the lip gloss he could feel resting accusingly against his lips. They’d barely made themselves presentable by the time her mother descended into view.
    At the sight of them, she gave a sound of surprise. “What are you two doing here? I didn’t expect to see you. I thought there was a game tonight.”
    Visibly frazzled, Ellie gave a breathless laugh. “There was. Alec got ejected for starting a fight.”
    Cindy smirked and swung her gaze in his direction. “Did you at least win?”
    Alec laughed and returned her grin. “Of course I did. Knocked him on his ass.”
    “Thata boy.” With a wink, she disappeared into the laundry room.
    As soon as her mother was out of sight, Ellie turned to Alec with wide eyes that would have been comical had he not been so shaken up himself.
    He let out a nervous chuckle. “That was close. I would not want to explain to your mother why my tongue was halfway down your throat.”
    His best friend narrowed her eyes at him, obviously displeased with his description of their actions. Then she seemed to give in, because she simply shook her head. “Yeah,” she agreed. “That wouldn’t have been fun.”
    Glancing slyly in her direction, Alec tossed out his next comment before he could chicken out. “Next time, we make sure we’re somewhere with a locked door.”
    “Next time?” she asked with surprise.
    He shrugged. “Sure. I mean, that wasn’t bad, but…practice makes perfect, right?” He gazed down at her with amusement. “And you need a lot of practice.” Not wanting to push the situation, he quickly returned his attention to the television and turned up the volume.
    Ellie stared at him for a moment longer before settling in against his shoulder to watch the intermission report. The way she nuzzled in against him was a bit more intimate than their usual game time ritual.
    Alec couldn’t help but smile at this. Maybe, just maybe, he was winning her over after all.

    Chapter Ten
     
    “Class dismissed!” Petite Mrs. Butterman adjusted her glasses and waved a hand toward the door. “Don’t forget. Read chapter thirty-seven for tomorrow’s class. There just may be a pop quiz in the morning!”
    Alec grinned and shook his head as he gathered up his belongings. Good old Mrs. Butterman. Announcing a pop quiz before it happened negated the entire concept. It was no longer a pop quiz; it was just a quiz. No matter how many times he tried to explain that to his kindly old history teacher, the concept never sank in. Last time, she’d patted him on the head and told him he was so pretty.
    Rolling his eyes at the memory, Alec made his way over to where Matt was gathering up his belongings. “You coming or what?” he asked his friend.
    Matt’s face fell and his shoulders slumped as if in defeat. “Or what,” he answered. A cheeky grin flitted across his lips before disappearing to be replaced with a frown. “I’ve got lunch detention.”
    “Lunch detention?” Alec asked with a look of bewilderment. “Who gets lunch detention? I didn’t even know that was possible.” He grinned widely as he thoughtfully surveyed his friend. “What’d you do? Make out with Shannon in the janitor’s closet? Peek inside the girl’s locker room? Get caught stealing donuts from the cafeteria?”
    Matt rolled his eyes. “Nothing so fun.” He sighed and slung his backpack over one shoulder. “One of the freshmen on the team bet me I didn’t have the balls to fill Ms. Patterson’s desk with whipped cream.” He shrugged a shoulder. “I won the bet, but I got caught by Patterson while slipping out of the room.”
    Alec let out a loud guffaw. “You’re such an idiot! That’s why you don’t listen to freshmen, Matty. They’re