The Moon's Boy

Chapter Seventeen

By the time Monday came around, Kadir had made up his mind. He stood in front of his literature teacher's homeroom and allowed himself a moment to fill his lungs before knocking on the closed door. "Come in." Kadir walked in, clutching the strap of his backpack for stability.

"Hello Mr Cordova."

"Oh, hey, Kadir!" The literature teacher looked up at the boy from the pile of papers on his desk and smiled. He put down his red pen and turned to face his student. "You don't usually come find me outside of lessons. What's up?"

"I was... I was wondering if you still needed me to tutor someone."

The teacher's eyes lit up like fireworks. Kadir saw him almost jump up from his desk chair in delight but he gripped the armrest tightly instead. "Really?"

"Y-Yeah." It's for my own good.

So you think.

Mr Cordova rifled through one file out of the several on his desk. "Let me hook you up with someone then, give me... one second..." He flipped through the collection of eggshell white pages before landing on one with a triumphant 'ah ha'. "I've got just the person for you." He snapped the folder shut after pulling a leaf of paper from it, and beamed at Kadir. "Her name is Tsubame. She's in class C, the one just down the hall from here and her grade in my class is far from the best at the moment. She's definitely got potential — she just needs help realising it, and I think your assistance would be really good for her." Kadir offered a polite smile, trying to counteract the dread coursing through his body at his words.

"I'll send her to you after school today so you guys can get to know each other then you can make out plans for yourselves. Is that alright?" Kadir nodded. "Great. I'll send her to the library for 3:30."

Kadir nodded and excused himself, a little dizzy from the weight of the commitment he'd just made. When the end of school bell rang, he didn't turn towards the courtyard as he usually would. He and Clementine had alternated walking each other home for the past week but he'd managed to get her to give him Wednesdays to himself. He was nervous to build patterns with someone again.

As he made his way to the school library, the dull bass of his heartbeat knocked the inside of his head as one of his veins throbbed. The little bell on the door jingled the moment he pushed the door open, causing the librarian's eyes to gently meet his over the high edges of her desk. He waved a hello as he approached the reception; she nodded back at him. Before long, he had perched at his favourite desk hidden between the bookcases and waited, playing with the silver ring on his finger.

The bell rang again not too long after and the soft click of rubber-soled boots against the floor echoed in Kadir's ears. "Hey, Ms Cadence."

"Hello."

"Do you know if a boy named Kadir is in here? Mr Cordova sent me."

Kadir peered over at the reception desk from his corner and stared at the unfamiliar person speaking his name. Their long black hair spilt down their back like a glossy waterfall but he couldn't catch sight of their face.

Cadence pointed at him, making gentle eye contact. "Right over there, love." The person turned and locked eyes with Kadir, cocking their head to the side slightly. The smile that spread across their lips exposed a pair of little sharp canines among a row of shiny, straight teeth. He couldn't help but wonder if they cut their lip on them often, if it would hurt if they nipped him. Their purple eyeshadow and dark lipstick brought out the twilight of their eyes and the patches of red spots on their face didn't take away from their sharp, androgynous features. They strolled over to him, book bag slung over her shoulder, and plopped down onto the chair in front of Kadir, hands between spread out legs.

"Greetings."

Kadir waved. His mouth dried a little but he willed himself to speak. "Hi. I-I'm — My name is Kadir, it's nice to meet you."

"A pleasure." They reached out a hand and he shook it, albeit awkwardly. "I'm Tsubame as I'm sure you're aware." She placed a booted shoe on the seat. "I'm a multiple pronoun set kind of person but today I'm using she and her," she said, pointing to the green badge on her shirt that read as much. "What should I use to address you, lovely?"

"H-He works." He'd never been asked that before. "I'm a boy."

"You're a very pretty boy."

Kadir flushed as easily as he always did. He'd never understood why people thought that. "Thank you."

"So, I was told you're an intelligent one," she purred. "Literature isn't my best subject—that's putting it gently—although it used to be. I hear you're willing to lend me a hand?"

"I am."

"Do you genuinely think you could help me get better?"

"I... can do my best."

Tsubame flashed a toothy grin. "That's all I want to hear." Her beauty was sharp. Kadir smiled gingerly in return, hiding the mild tremor of his hands under the table. It's okay.

"M-Mr. Cordova suggested that we use this time today to plan when we'd like to meet more regularly. Is that alright with you?"

"It is, pretty boy." From the way her gaze had softened and she leant back into the chair, she seemed almost comfortable. Kadir couldn't imagine being that comfortable with a stranger this quickly. And yet she was.

"I'm free on Wednesday afternoons around this time. Do you... Would you like to meet once a week or more?" Tsubame's slender fingers ran over the black and red cuff on her wrist. The sound the beads made as she moved against one another was grating and stimulating all at once.

"Is it possible for us to meet twice a week? Meeting once will restrict us to one large chunk of time which would be difficult for me. I don't do well with staying focused on one topic for long periods of time. Meeting twice would be best. If it's not too much trouble on your end that is."

Kadir sat in silence for a moment, staring at the desk. "...Sure we can."

"Thursdays work well for me too," she said. "I think it would be better for us to make week to week arrangements instead of set times so that I don't bog down your schedule. I'd hate to be a hindrance."

Kadir opened his mouth to object but instead he sat in contemplation. "I think we should settle for Thursday afternoons as well as Tuesdays," he said quietly when his thoughts collated. "You... won't be a hindrance and more than anything I need routine."

"I can respect that, pretty boy," replied Tsubame, fiddling with their bracelet again. Kadir cleared his throat to distract his brain from the embarrassment of being called pretty more than once.

"Alright, so Tuesday and Thursday afterschool?"

"Yes."

"Great." Kadir scrawled a reminder in one of his notebooks and closed it with a quiet snap. He got up to leave and Tsubame followed suit, brushing their bangs away from their eyes.

When they got to the library door, Tsubame offered him her hand. "I'll see you on Tuesday then." He shook it, the grip of their hand on his tight, mildly intimidating.

"Tuesday."