Tutor and Tutee (ver. 2) [HIATUS]

Chapter Four

It was lunch now. All the students were already making a beeline to the cafeteria, ignoring the shouting of teachers reminding them not to run in the hallway. This happened every single day. Students breaking the common rule of running in the hallways only to ignore the reminders the teachers always give them.
When the students had first broken that rule, the teachers gave them a friendly reminder. However, their eyes always mismatched their smiles as it's as if they were looking at the students in irritation. I felt sympathy for the teachers since they had to go through this almost every year.
Well, was I one of the students who ran down the hallway just to go to the cafeteria? The answer was quite obvious. However, I used to when I was younger. Now, I don't even go for lunch since Mom always leaves lunch at home.
I arranged the pile of papers which included a few math and science homework and some of my notes only to remember that I hadn't confirmed the actual day when I would be going over to Nate's house and tutoring him. He only told me that I could go on weekdays but didn't specify which day I could visit.
Once I stuffed the once neatly arranged papers into my back quickly, I looked over at Nate's table. I thought maybe it was pointless to do so since he probably had blended in with the students who ran down the hallways and to the indoor sports hall, but to my surprise, he was still here.
He was on his chair, slouched back facing me as his knees supported his elbows while holding what was most likely his phone in his hands. Great, I though. Now's my chance to ask him. I groaned mentally at how stupid it sounded. I sounded like someone who was struggling with a confession or something. Well, not that I'm denying that I am.
    I stood up and awkwardly and quietly went over to him with a calm manner. I opened my mouth at first, but nothing came out. He still has yet to realize that I was behind him. I was struggling to ask him since I could still feel the awkward tension.
    I took a silent breath before I began to speak, "You . . . You know that phones can't be used unless allowed by a teacher, right?" I took the short moment to smack my forehead. That wasn't what I was supposed to say . . . Nate cursed softly in a short panic as he almost dropped his phone before turning to face me with a blank expression. "I really don't care . . . ?" he stated, as if asking a question.
    His eyes were blank, his lips a thin line as his gaze focused on me. I only gave a sigh, mumbling, "Of course you don't . . ."
    I cleared my throat, only to look at his stoic expression. "Actually, well—" I hissed sharply at the playing around of words in my head, unable to tell him clearly what I meant. He only raised a brow as if ushering me to continue.
    I took another breath before finally managing to tell him clearly what I wanted. "You said that I could come over in the weekdays, right?"
    "And?"
    "You didn't specify on which day I could come over."
    "Right." He looked up at the ceiling as if pondering on which day I could come over before looking at me again, stoic expression remained. "Today is fine. You can come over after school. I've given you my address, haven't I?"
    I nodded. "Yes, you have. So, today after school then?"
    "Yup. If you want, I can even walk you there."
    I liked the idea of that but I knew that I needed to eat lunch if not, I'll be hungry. I might even get a stomach ache later if I don't. "Well, that's okay. I need to get back home to change and eat anyway."
    He frowned a bit at the answer, as if disappointed—at least that was what I thought I saw but he just nodded with a plain look. "Sure. Don't get lost."
    I almost snorted at his sarcastic concern. "I'm sure I won't."
    He only nodded in return before turning his back on me once more, scrolling through social media. I stood there, frozen. What was I doing? Why couldn't I go back to my seat?
    My mouth started to open on its own even though I tried to keep it shut. "Um—" I smacked my hand over my mouth and frowned at the betrayal of my voice. I didn't know why I couldn't keep it shut. It's as if it had a mind on its own.
    "What is it?" Nate already had his blank face in my direction.
    My mind started to fumble with words, searching for a question or statement. Until it finally found one in thankfully an instant such that it wouldn't seem as embarrassing as I had thought it would be if I hadn't managed to come up with anything.
    "How come you're not in the sports hall like you always are?"
    He only groaned at the question. "Because Leo and his stupid gang are in the hall. It's their turn today. So I can't play basketball with my usual group. Besides, I don't wanna see the guy. He's annoying."
    I nodded promptly. "Right." And forced my way to my seat right after. I sighed in relief as the tension was finally lifted. I just rested my head on the table and faced the wall. If talking to him now was difficult, how the hell was I suppose to tutor him?
    Hours flew by quickly and before I knew it, school was already over. Once again, I could hear the screaming of teachers reminding the students not to run in the hallway. I walked briskly out of the school if I started running back to my house. I was starving. I was surprised that I even had some energy left for running.
    By the time I got home, I was panting in exhaustion. Mom was, as usual, waiting for me. She wanted to give me a hug but noticed the sweat dripping from my forehead only to quickly bring me a towel. I mumbled a quick thank you as I wiped my sweat, giving her a kiss on the cheek before almost dashing to my room if only she hadn't stopped.
    "Whoa, young man. You have to slow down," she chuckled. "What's gotten you so energetic?"
    I decided to go into my room to change with the door opened as I spoke with her. "Tutoring after lunch. Also, I'm hungry." Knowing Mom, she definitely wouldn't just come into my room even if I had left my door opened. She would ask for my permission first so changing with the door opened really wasn't that much of a big deal.
    Finally getting myself in a new pair of pants and a comfortable tee, I went to the kitchen and started eating.
    Mom sat on the chair beside me, chuckling once again. "My, are you that hungry? Or are you just impatient such that you can visit Nate?" If I had to be honest, I would say both but I definitely wasn't going to. In fact, I only gave her a playful frown before continuing to eat.
    Once I was done, I placed my plate and the utensils in the sink before going into my room to get my school bag. I might as well since I really didn't want to think about what to pack.
    As I opened the door, Mom stopped me with a small bag of beautifully decorated cookies. "Give this to your boyfriend."
    I almost dropped the bag of cookies only to glare at her. "I'll see you later, Mom."
    And with that, I headed off to his house, which actually wasn't that far away from mine. When I knocked on the door, I could hear footsteps approaching the door. I thought it would be Nate's parents or something but he was the one who opened.
    I only gave a small smile and a short wave.
    "Yo." The same blank expression was still plastered on his face before he walked back into his house, reminding me to shut the door after I've entered. I did as told, only to notice that he was already walking up the stairs, not caring if I got lost in his house. Which wasn't really possible since it's not as if he lived in a mansion. But I quickly caught up to him anyway.
    I was hoping that I wouldn't feel as awkward as before knowing that it would just waste time if I were to keep stumbling on my words. I calmed myself down and reminded myself that this wasn't a big deal, also telling myself to pretend as if we were having a normal conversation as friends. However, I had no idea if reminding myself would even help lift the tension at all.