enthusiastic guy and very down to earth. He’s my kind of people.
“Yeah, well…I just moved here and I’ll be going to Pretentious High ,” I say.
“ You’re a student a Heyward Washington Prep?” he says, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
“Yes. Is there a problem with that?” I don’t like the way he said it. It’s ok for me to mock the school with my friends, but I find Marcus’ remark insulting.
“Oh, uh, no. You just don’t strike me as the type to go there. First of all, you’re in this store looking at academic books. Second, well…you’re polite. Sorry, you threw me off.”
“I’ll…let it slide this time,” I smile, easing up. “So you could really tutor me?”
“Yeah, definitely. In fact, I’m on the list of tutors for your school through the college. Just sign up and put my name down. They’ll call me and get us connected.”
“Then I suppose I don’t need this book today,” I say putting it back on the shelf.
“I was just getting off work. Do you want to go next door and get a Coke, or something? It’ll save us the introduction time when we start tutoring.” Marcus says taking off his nametag.
“Sure. I was going there anyway to wait for my aunt,” I say.
We leave the bookstore and walk to the coffee shop next door. It’s the same place I first met Will and I blush a little as I remember the icy mess of his drink.
As we sit down at a table in the window I think about how lucky I am to have met Marcus. If he’s on the list of tutors for the school he’s certain to be a big help. They won’t let just anyone near their precious students.
“So exactly how terrified of trigonometry are you?” he asks.
“About as terrified as I am of chemistry. Both are honors classes. In fact, all of my classes are honors. English, Civics, even Spanish, I’m not worried about. But these two will be the death of me.”
“Well, I’ll be able to help with trig more than chemistry, but I’ll do my best to get you through both,” he says.
Marcus has dark brown hair and light green eyes. He’s attractive by anyone’s standards. He’s tall, but not as tall as Will. Will seems to have become my benchmark, which really isn’t fair to Marcus, or any guy for that matter. It doesn’t really matter anyway. I’m buying my time until I graduate and I can go back to Florida. If things continue to go well with Luke and Claire, I’ll at least have family to visit for holidays, and friends to see while I’m here.
“That’s great. Have you tutored a lot of Heyward students?” He obviously has an opinion of them, so I wonder what his experience with them has been.
“Not a lot, but I’ve had enough experiences with their kind of people to know that I don’t need to have any more. You were a surprise.” He takes a sip of his drink. “Just be sure to be on guard. There are some people associated with that school who are like vultures. If you don’t protect yourself, they’ll eat you alive.”
Claire walks by and spots us in the window of the coffee shop as she comes in.
“Did you find what you were looking for? You haven’t been sitting here long, have you?” Claire asks.
“No, not long, just a few minutes. I found a book that I thought would help, but then I met Marcus. He works in the bookstore and goes to Davidson. He’s on the tutor list for Heyward. Marcus, this is my aunt , Claire.” I say.
“It’s very nice to meet you Mrs. Weston,” Marcus says, standing to shake Claire’s hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, too, Marcus. You’re smart to get a head start on this, Layla, especially since Luke and I will be zero help in trig or chemistry. I’m very glad Layla found you, Marcus. Do you want anything, Layla,” Claire asks as she moves to the counter.
“No thanks,” I say quickly.
“I’m glad she found me, too,” Marcus says. He smiles right at me and it occurs to me that he might actually be flirting. The possibility that Marcus could be interested
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