Tutoring the Alpha

Chapter One: Unpleasantville

                    "I'm insane, well I can feel it in my bones," Ronnie Radke, the lead singer of my favorite band, Falling in Reverse, screamed into my ears as I trudged across the muddy lawn in the direction of my Monday morning Chemistry class. I was a Premed major, studying to become a pediatrician one day; therefore I had to take a ridiculous amount of science and math courses to get in to medical school. Averaging eight classes per day, with a virtually nonexistent social life, I was living my college dream.

"Hey Benny!" I heard someone to my left shout faintly, and I turned to meet the gaze of one of my sort-of friends, Jenna Wallace. As she was also aspiring to be a medical student, Jenna was in most of my classes and we were on friendly terms. Still, I tried my best to avoid her whenever I could, and now I offered her a slight wave before heading to the back of the classroom and removing my earbuds. As much as I hated being isolated from my music, I couldn't afford to have them on in class in case I missed something important. While I was most definitely a loner, and some would even say a nerd, I drew the line at academics. My fantasy was to graduate college with a 4.0 GPA, move to London, and attend medical school at Cambridge University before becoming a pediatrician and living in a cute little cottage in a small, quaint town. That whole dream blew up in my face if I slipped in even one of my classes, so I studied hard and stayed busy.

            After a bone-dry, hour-long lecture on ionic compounds and oxidation, I flipped my notebook shut, slid on my iPod, and headed over to the little café on campus to grab a cup of coffee before my next class at ten-thirty. As I walked through the Quad, a football went whizzing past my head and almost decapitated me. Quick as a flash, I turned ninety-degrees and caught the ball, inches away from my face. The burly jock who'd thrown it sent me a grin, motioning for me to throw it back, and I grimaced, palming the ball the way my older brothers had shown me. Growing up with two older brothers had made me attune to throwing and catching most types of balls, although I hated all sports and refused to play any the second I was out of middle school. Tossing the football back in a neat spiral that my brother probably would have called "decent", I turned on my heel and continued along the sidewalk towards The Muddy Cup.

"Wait! Hey, you, wait up!" Rolling my eyes, I swiftly yanked out one earphone and cocked out a hip, giving the guy an exasperated look. On general principle, I despised social interactions of any kind and avoided them at all costs. Having Mr. NFL try to strike up a conversation with me was no exception, despite his dazzling good looks. Standing at what must've been at least six foot three, maybe more, and built like a linebacker, what really struck me were his eyebrows. They were thin and very, very dark, slanting over his aqua-blue eyes and framing them nicely. The tan skin, high cheekbones, and shiny brown hair that tucked under his ears only accentuated his beauty.

"Can I help you?" I drawled sarcastically, rolling my eyes again for his benefit. The jock smirked, tucking the football underneath the cradle of his armpit and examining me closely.

"Actually you can."

I raised one eyebrow, silently telling him to elaborate. Time was ticking, and now I only had ten minutes to get my caffeinated hot beverage and get my ass to the Creative Writing course I'd stupidly signed up for. Sam, my best and only friend, had convinced me to do it with him, and it was a decision I was now coming to regret.

"You're Benny Chambers, right? You tutor people?" I nodded, recognizing the jock as Mickey Lafitte – star center for the school basketball team. Despite my inherent hatred for all sporting events, basketball was the one game I enjoyed watching. I'd grown up sitting on the sidelines of all of my brothers' games, and since Sam was on the UVA team, I came to every single game. And even I had to admit, Mickey was a damn good player.