The Tutor

Chapter 15

Rafe looked at the slim figure walking away from him. He followed her.

"I'm walking you home," he announced. 

Nora stopped. "You don't have to do that. It's a long walk."

Rafe shrugged. "Hey, you stayed behind because of me. It's way too dark. I'm walking you home."

He couldn't believe just how dark it was. Closer to the festive season, London was like a festival of lights. Streams of car headlights all night, tourists flooding the shopping districts, LED screens on every corner and Christmas decorations lit up and hung out on almost every street. It was like having Christmas on steroids.

"Honestly, the scariest thing that can happen to me is I step on cow poo."

"Then we're definitely not taking that risk." Rafe was having none of it and walked next to her. Anyway, besides the fact that it was the right thing to do, he didn't have anywhere to be since he had cut down on his outings to the pub with his mates and wanted time to recover from the Christchurch match.

His homework these days was always done in advance thanks to Nora and frankly, she was much more intriguing company than his roommate Alex. Luke, ever since getting together with Amber hadn't left her side or her house for that matter.

"Oh wait...can I do something? It's really killing me," she said, snapping him out of his thoughts and looking at his neck.

"You better not step on my foot again."

"It's not that..." She said with a laugh. He liked the sound of her laugh, the notes were rich and smooth. He wanted to hear more of it.

He rubbed his chin self-consciously. "Okay, what is it?"

She walked up to him and gently re-adjusted his tie and smoothed down the front of his shirt. It didn't really surprise him; he was already used to her obsession with neatness and symmetry.

She had rearranged all the books in his locker, organised his pencil case and looked at his ironing work by scrutinising his shirt. He pretended not to notice the last part because she tried to be discreet about it.

"Thanks. Are you happy now? Can we go?"

With a small smile, she nodded and walked ahead.

It was weird being with her and finding a topic of conversation that didn't involve homework or school. Conversation and curiosity came naturally to him, but she was always so guarded and reluctant to talk. 

And if he has to talk about another Jane Austen novel, he'll actually start wearing a bonnet.

As they walked, Nora stopped several times to adjust her bag straps. He noticed how much they dug into her slim shoulders. On a whim, Rafe reached out to check the weight of her bag. He pulled it up by the top strap as she walked in front of him.

His eyes widened. "Holy shit."

It felt like he tried to pick up an anchor. Her bag was almost bursting at the seams from too many books.

"What the heck do you have there?" he said in shock. Was she carrying this load every day?

"I'm used to it," she said with a shrug.

"Tch. Give me that," he said, pulling the bag off of her shoulders.

Nora looked at him in confusion as she stumbled back, the weight lifting from her.

"Learn to pack lighter. You don't need to lug all this shit around. Leave some in your locker. Man, you're going to break your back one day." As he barked out these instructions, he found that he was beginning to sound like her.