From Tutoring, to Friendship, to More...

Chapter 3: Nerd Boy Meets Popular Girl

"Honey! That was rude!" Liza exclaimed after Delilah slammed the door.
"You can't be fucking serious right now!" Delilah exclaimed. "No way I am being tutored by Beaker!"
"Beaker? I could've sworn his last name was Bleaker," Liza said.
"It is!" Delilah continued to shout. "It's just what everyone calls him because he's a giant nerd!"
"Then he must be smart," Liza pointed out.
"That's not my point, mom," groaned Delilah. "It's bad enough that you got me a tutor, but to also hire one of the biggest nerds at my school!"
"Your English teacher, Mr. Fichner recommended him,"explained Liza. "He said English was Ion's best subject. Seemed like the perfect match for you."
"Oh god! Don't word it like that," Delilah groaned.
"Either way, you have no choice in the matter," Liza retorted. "Now, I'm reopening the door, and this time we're letting that young man in."
"I can't fucking believe this is happening," Delilah said under her breath.

Liza opened the door, Ion was still standing there, his expression showing no sign of offense.
"I am so sorry for how Delilah reacted," Liza said warmly. "She must've just been a bit... surprised."
"Nah, don't worry about it," Ion said with a shrug. "She must've gotten me mixed up with someone else. Got plenty of weirdos at our school."
Ion and Liza shared a mild chuckle over his remark.
     "I can't believe this shit," Delilah thought. "Ion Beaker of all people! Not that I know him, but I've seen him enough around school with his weirdo friends! No fucking way I can let anyone know he's my tutor!"
"Delilah," her mom said, taking her out of thought. "Be polite and say hello."
"Hey," she said.
"Sup," Ion replied with a smirk. Delilah rolled her eyes over that.
"Would you like to study in the living room or Delilah's room?" asked Liza.
"Whatever she's comfortable with, Mrs. Gellar," answered Ion. "It varies with each student."
"Liza, please," she said with a warm smile. "So honey, where do you want to study.
"My room works, I guess," said Delilah. "I can have a more private talk with this little shit up there compared to down here."
"Sounds good," replied Ion. "This is gonna be a fucking nightmare."

Delilah's room was tidy, and fairly girly as Ion expected it to be. He's tutored other girls, so this was nothing new for him. Plus he had a younger sister.
"Nice room," Ion commented.
"Ok, cut the bullshit," Delilah retorted.
"Beg pardon?" Ion asked with legit confusion.
     "Did you know it was me you were tutoring?" she asked in an interrogative way.
     "You're the only Gellar at our school," he answered, arching an eyebrow. "Doesn't take a genius to figure that out."

Delilah began pacing back and forth, muttering to herself. Ion stood there like a statue, only his eyes moving back and forth with her motions.
     "I had no idea she was this high strung," he thought.
"This is a fucking nightmare," she groaned.
"Why?" he asked.
"Seriously? Do you know who I am?" she asked. Ion had a feeling it was rhetorical, but figured he should answer.
"Delilah Gellar," he answered slowly.
"And you're Beaker," she retorted.
"Sure, people do call me that," he replied. "I'm not really seeing your point."
"We run in different social circles," she continued. "I'm part of the popular crowd."
"While I'm part of this loser crowd," he finished her sentence.
"Not exactly how was I was gonna word it," she said flustered.
"Nothing I haven't heard a million times," he replied nonchalantly. "But, you aren't the first popular student I've tutored."
"Really?" she asked with genuine concern.
"Yeah," he replied, not understanding why she was nervous. "There's no shame in needing help with something. I'm not great in every single subject. Hell, I even had some tutoring done in middle school."

Delilah stopped pacing finally, staring back at Ion. He wasn't sure what to make of her expression.
"Then... I guess it's not as embarrassing as I thought," she finally said.
"I don't see why you would ever think that," he retorted.
"Because high school sucks!" she exclaimed.
"That we can agree on," he chuckled.
"You never know how some asshole is gonna react when they hear you need help with school! I... I just don't want people thinking I'm stupid..."

     Ion was seeing a side of Delilah he didn't expect. Not that he thought popular people had zero problems. But he'd seen Delilah at school enough to see that she always exuded confidence walking down the hall. He was also aware that she could be very brash, and barely filtered her language.
"Needing a tutor doesn't mean you're stupid, Delilah," replied Ion. "From what I've heard, you get really good grades in math and science."
"Who'd you hear that from?" she asked suspiciously.
"I've got friends who share classes with you," he answered matter of factly. "Despite my nickname, my GPA in math and science is more in the mid to high B range."
"Oh yeah," she said. "My mom mentioned English being your best subject."
     "Which is what I mostly tutor in," he explained.
"Ok then," she sighed. "Let's do this."

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NOTES: And there's another chapter! I plan to get more detail oriented in more chapters, but for now I just wanted to keep things short and sweet.

Thanks for reading! ^__^