Crush or Be Crushed (EDITING)

Chapter 22: Gimme My Money

CS
~ Fallin' For You ~
By: R5

Derek's P.O.V.

"Okay. So, after that, what do you do?" Alex asks me as she stares at my concentrating face.

"Umm...add?" I say.

"Ugh... No, Derek, no. We just did a problem similar to this." She sighs as she runs a hand through her hair. "You-"

"Multiply?" I say as I cut her off.

"No, Derek. You-"

"Divide?"

"Derek. Listen to-"

"Oh! I got it now. You subtract."

"NO!" She screams in frustration. Everyone in the library turns to us and we quiet down. "Oops...sorry." Alex mumbles to them and then turns to me. "Okay..." She sighs. "Derek. Keep your mouth shut and let me explain this to you."

I nod silently as I watch her hands write down the math problem.

"Let's start over. So you have this problem right here. First you have to do whatever is in the paranthese before you do anything else. Okay?"

"Mhm..." I mumble.

"After that, you have to find out what x is by multiplying this and subracting that. Here, do what I just told you to do." Alex hands me the pencil and I start to write.

"Like this?" I ask looking at the problem.

"Good. Now you have to transfer this over to the other side." I do what she indicates and she nods in approval.

"Then, you divide nine x by nine and one thousand one hundred twenty-five by nine as well." I solve the problem and circle my answer. "There's your answer." Alex says as she slumps down in her seat. "Who knew tutoring you was this frustrating?"

I whack her on the arm. "Hey! That's hurtful yet true." I laugh.

She sighs and gets up. "Well, time to find a book." 

"Really? A book? Who has time for those?" I say as I watch her scan the shelves.

"Apparently I do." She answers back and crouches down to look at the bottom shelf.

I sigh and get up. I walk beside her and crouch down as well. "What are you looking for?"

"Nothing in particular. I'm just looking for something interesting to read." Her finger scan the edges of the books. "Hmm...Read this. Read this. Read this..." 

"Whoa. Seriously? You read all those?" I say surprised.

"Not all of them."

"Uh huh. Not all of them." A silence stretches between us. She keeps seaching for a book while I just stared at her. Not to sound creepy or anything. Her hair is in a high bun today and she is wearing black leggings, a marvel t-shirt, and boots. Her face is twisted into a concentrated expresion which I find cute. "Aha! I found it!" Alex exclaims as she pulls out a book and scans the back for a summary.

"What's it about?" I ask.

"Some guy who-"

"Nevermind. I'm bored already." I say as she rolls her eyes and we get up. We both walk over to the desk and check out the book. "So...wanna grab lunch?" I ask once we're outside.

"Sure." She says as she puts the book in her bag. 

"Actually scratch that. Let's go watch a movie." I say. I grab her hand and start walking toward the direction of the movie theater. I feel her tense up under my touch and I smile to myself.