Quarterback's Study Buddy

Chapter One

It was 4:58PM on a Thursday at Lakeview Public Library and he was late...again. Tapping her pencil impatiently against her Biology textbook. This kid was two hours late for a tutoring session his mother scheduled for him. Noelle booked the private study room for only two hours and it was getting close to the end of their 'scheduled' session. She started to pack her books and notebooks into her purple book-bag. There wasn't even a blemish on that backpack. She carefully zipped her bag. 

She stared at the clock on the eggshell colored wall and lifted her bag onto her shoulders. Right when the long-hand of the clock hit 5:00, a stocky young man grabs the handle before she does. She jumps back a little.

"Are you Ms. Noelle Cartwright?" The seemingly over-grown boy with boyish features asks. He was sweaty and flushed. 

Noelle keeps her hands on her backpack straps and looks up at him. He was just an overall large boy. He could definitely play offense if he wanted to. "This is she." She frowns a bit. 

The boy breaks into a smile and holds out his hand for her to shake and she does, "I'm Carson Holt, I'm here for tutoring." He looks around the cramped stale room. She shakes his hand reluctantly. She glances down at her watch.

"You're late." She looks him in his steel grey eyes. Even though the color of his eyes should seem cold, his energy gave them a warmth.

"Yeah, by a couple of minutes." He flashes her a smile. He was expecting her to melt into a puddle for him, considering that's usually what happened when he would flash that dazzling Holt smile. But instead, Noelle looked at him like she couldn't be less amused. Her warm brown eyes held a coldness behind those tortoise shell frames. 

Carson's heart was racing out of his chest. If his mom found out that he ditched tutoring to hang with the boys after practice, she was for sure going to kill him. He could practically envision his funeral. 

Here lies Carson Jacob Holt, whose mother put her foot so far up his ass, he had toes for teeth.

"More like a couple of hours, Mr. Holt." Said the short girl with the unruly shroud of raven curls surrounding her face. Noelle wasn't a stranger to late clients, it happened more often than you think. She stopped taking them personally a long time ago.

"Can't we just do it now, since I'm here?" He said as he slipped his backpack on the floor and pulled a chair.

She couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. Her schedule didn't revolve around only him and he needed to understand that. "With all due respect, Mr. Holt. I have another client at 5:30 that I can't skip out on. And even if I didn't, you would need to call the scheduling office and arrange an appointment." She replies calmly and she walks towards the door.

"Wait!" Carson scrambles to catch her before she opens the door. She stops and looks back to hear him. "I'm desperate, Noelle. If I don't pass my next exam, I'm gonna be benched for the whole season. I can't let my team down, I gotta take them to Regionals." 

Noelle saw that desperation was evident in his irises. She looked at him with sympathy in her eyes. She thought about bending the rules just this once, but she weighed the repercussions of her actions, "I'm really sorry, Mr. Holt. Our next session is next Thursday. We'll send a confirmation email. But, if you need someone sooner, I can give you their contact information." She offered. Her stone cold professionalism voice was turning into a conversational voice and it was less robotic. Carson could tell she was just doing her job.

She opens her bag and pulls out the tutoring contact sheet. He wasn't sure why she kept that with her but, she was just being helpful and he couldn't get mad at her for that. He looked down at her again and recognized her.