Boyfriend for Christmas

Three

"So you're here because you're struggling in creative writing?" Ally asked the boy sitting across from her.

"Yep." He said, "My professor suggested a tutor, so here I am."

He didn't look like the type that would be struggling in any class honestly. He was tall with dirty blonde hair that was kind of messy and he was wearing glasses like Camille's, only slightly smaller. He wore and Alta school of tech sweatshirt and overall, he just kind of gave off a really nerdy/hipster/awkward vibe.

"Okay then..." Ally plastered on a smile, "Well, let's see what you've got on that essay so far."

"Okay," He said and pulled a slightly crunched piece of paper from his bag and handed it to Allison.

"alright..." She said, regarding the paper carefully, "Um.. First of all, your heading is on the wrong side."

"Yeah I thought something looked off about that..." He admitted.

"Yeah, and uh, your name..." She struggled to read his handwriting, "Rory Anderson?"

"Anderton." He corrected her, "It's weird, I know."

"No, it's not weird!" She assured him, "It's just, it's your name, so it needs to be capitalized."

"Oh." He said, "Yeah that's probably true." 

"Um it is true. Actually. You should always capitalize your name." She said pointedly, "You should've been doing that since like first grade."

"Right. yeah. I know." He said.

Everything he said seemed so passive. Like he was hearing what she was saying, but wasn't really listening to her. 

"Ok then..." She continued, "So You're missing a hook altogether, which might be why your essay is hard to follow. You should try telling a story or something at the beginning just to get the reader interested."

"If by 'The reader', you mean my professor, she's not going to be interested in anything I write. She hates me."

"I doubt that's true." Ally countered.

"Have you met her?" He asked.

"Well no..." Ally admitted.

"Then forgive me if this sounds rude, but I don't think you'd understand." He told her.

"Look, I think it might be your attitude that's an issue here." Ally pointed out, her voice laced with annoyance.

"Yeah?" He asked, "Maybe you're right. Maybe it's the other way around. Maybe I just hate her. And her ridiculous class."

He said it so casually Ally almost didn't register what he had said.

"I'm sorry?" She said uncomfortably, "If you don't mind me asking... why are you even taking it?"

Rory shifted almost nervously, "I uh... I don't know."

Allison raised an eyebrow in question, but he didn't answer.

"Anyway, can we just get back to why we're here?" He asked impatiently.

"I mean, we can. I just feel like you don't really want to be here." Ally pointed out.

"What gave you that idea?" He asked sarcastically.

"Maybe the fact that you haven't looked me in the eyes this whole time, and you don't seem to be listening to any of my suggestions." She said impatiently.

Rory sighed and looked up to meet her eyes.

"Look." He said, "It's not that I don't appreciate this. I do! really! And I get it. You're sacrificing your time to be here and I'm being rude by wasting it. But Christmas is in like two weeks. Do any of us really want to be here?"

"Well..." Ally tried to think of something to say, "If you work with me we can finish this essay. And the sooner you finish it, the sooner you can take your final and go home for Christmas."

"Oh. I'm not going home." He said looking away again.

Allison suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up.

"Oh I'm sorry..." She said, unsure of how to react.

"Hey, It's no big deal." He assured her halfheartedly, "My family lives way out of state, so I'm stuck here most holidays."

"Oh... well. Okay." Allison mumbled awkwardly.

"And you?" He asked casually.

"Oh I'm... Yeah I'm going home for the holidays." She said awkwardly, "With my fiance."

Fiance. It felt so good to say that.

"Fiance?" Rory raised an eyebrow.

"Yes." Allison said finally. "Why do I get the feeling that you're unconvinced?"

"No reason," He shrugged "He's got great taste in rings."

It took a minute for Ally to figure out what he meant. She looked down at her empty ring finger and then back at Rory, annoyed.

"Well. I'll have you know that I'm getting my ring tonight." She stated finally.

"Mhmm." He looked like he was trying not to laugh, "Well congrats."

"Thank you." Ally said, trying not to let on how annoyed she was, "Anyway! You've got to finish this essay before the end of the semester whether you're going home or not, so you might as well take advantage of this tutoring session."

"Fair enough." He decided, "Carry on then tutor."

"It's Allison." She told him.

"Alright then. Carry on Allison." He corrected himself.

"Ok." She said and skimmed through his essay, "It's not bad, what you've got so far."

"But..?" Rory prompted.

"But it's a little disorganized, and your overall tone just seems bored." Ally explained.

"Well, that might be because when I write that, I am bored." He informed her.

"Okay," She agreed, "I can understand that. But that doesn't mean your essay has to reflect that. They key is just to fake it 'til you make it. Try writing it while pretending to be passionate about the subject. Throw some sarcasm in there too if you want. You'll know you're not serious, but your professor won't."

"I guess I can try that. I am pretty talented in the art of sarcasm." He grinned.

"Yes. I can tell." Ally agreed.

Rory kept grinning. He seemed to be getting a kick out of her annoyance and she glared. His smile disappeared and he coughed uncomfortably.

"And uh..." He straightened, "The disorganization?"

"T.R.E.E. strategy." Allison suggested, "T-Topic sentence, R-Reasons, E-Explanation, and E-Ending. Make each one of those a paragraph and make each paragraph follow it too. It's super simple and it keeps your essay neat."

"Alright." He agreed, "Is that it then? Are we done here?"

Allison raised an eyebrow. Was he serious? They had only been here for like twenty minutes!

"Um no?" She said, "This session is supposed to be an hour long."

"Well," He stood up, slinging his bag over his shoulder, "I won't tell if you don't."

"What?" Allison asked, also standing, "You can't just... I didn't even..."

"Until tomorrow Ally." Rory winked before walking away.

Ally scoffed. 

Rude. 

He hadn't listened to anything she said, besides the part about Logan, and then he just made fun of her for not having the ring. What a jerk. It was a good thing the semester was almost over. There was no way she would be able to handle him for any longer than she had to.