Gently

The Tutor

~ Thanks for everyone who has been taking the time to read this story, especially Amyclg. Please be sure to check out her story, Countdown, if you have the chance to.

Thunder rumbled in the distance. It wouldn't be long before the rain poured down onto the city streets, drenching the unlucky few who forgot to pack umbrellas for the day.

Rain reminded me of Kat. Not because she enjoyed the rain but rather, she had this uncanny ability to predict when it would pour outside. 'My elbow has been itching up a storm today,' she would say. Followed by, 'it's definitely going to rain today.'

Zane tapped the steering wheel with his thumb as he waited for the light to change. Something soft and dark played in the background, lulling me to sleep.

Today, Hannah was introducing me to her boyfriend's brother, the guy who was going to tutor me in the bio course. I was just about to leave the apartment when Zane walked in and offered me a ride. As he scratched his elbow, he freaking told me that it was going to rain soon. My throat closed up but I managed a nod. It was just a damn coincidence, I told myself.

"I didn't know you were having trouble with a course at uni," Zane said as he sped up when the light turned green.

The thought of antibodies and microorganisms made my mind spin like a broken carousel at a carnival. Not the fun kind of carnivals either, where you could eat cotton candy and win stuffed animals, but the creepy and desolate kind.

As of right now, I was pulling a C+ in the course. If I did well on the second term test and final, I could bump that up to at least a B-, especially if the tutor was good. Apparently, he was a high school science teacher. Hopefully working with him would pay off.

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yeah. I took a bio course this year. There were no prerequisites required. That's why I took it."

"I wish I could help you. I majored in Political Science and Criminology." This was not news to me. Kat told me that Zane spent four years at UofT before going on to complete three years of law school. At 27, Zane had moved well beyond spending hours in lecture halls. I wasn't quite done with school yet. "Let me know if the tutoring session works out."

We came to a stop in front of a tiny brick building. A local hotspot for high school and college students, the café was where Hannah and I spent our teenage years. I waved to Zane, who gave me a nod before he raced away.

The smell of coffee and cinnamon engulfed me before the door to the café was even opened. I inhaled deeply as I stepped inside, allowing the smell to transport me back in time to when things weren't so complicated. When Kat was still alive and I was just a dumb high school student interested in studying English.

Hannah was sitting at the back, her tiny frame hunched over a plate of scones. The shop owner, a sweet woman in her 40s, waved at me as I strode past. Her husband died a few years ago, so she hired a couple of kids to help her with the shop. They stood behind the bar with bored expressions on their faces, filling coffee orders.

"Hey, Sarah." Hannah waved as I slipped into a seat beside her. She pushed the scones towards me. "How are you?"

Dramatically tossing my hair over my shoulder, I said, "as cute and cunning as ever." Hannah dropped her head back and snorted.

Max Kunning, the boy that messed with us in high school, would do this every time someone would ask him how he was doing. Knowing him, he probably still did it today. When we were younger, Hannah and I thought it was the cutest thing ever. After Max screwed us over, we started to mock him and his catchphrase. Never to his face, of course.