The Tutor

1

Sitting in the principal's office reminds me of when I was always getting into trouble for the stupid stuff I did with my three friends back when I was in high school. It wasn't even bad stuff, just swearing at teachers because it was funny, walking out of class, or throwing paper aeroplanes around the room that had crude drawings of the teachers or dicks scribbled on them.
My parents were called in at least three times a week to give a meaningless apology about my behaviour and then took me home to yell at me about it. Of course, I never listened to them and just threw another plane the next morning.

But Karen isn't like me when I was younger; she's a good student, always punctual and hands her homework in on time. I've never been called in to speak to PC principal about her the entire time I've been her legal guardian and my parents only came in when she was being praised for her good work, so sitting in the office listening to him reprimand my sister for failing all of her classes this semester is quite hard to wrap my head around.

"I hope you understand, Mr McCormick, that we are very disappointed in your sister's performance," He says to me, slightly hesitant in calling me 'Mr' after our history, "Whether it is due to lack of motivation because of mental health, laziness, or not understanding the material, we must insist that she makes a turn around for the end of the year or she's not going to get the results she needs to do well in further education. Her teachers are having a meeting after school tonight to discuss the possibility of dropping her from her advanced classes. I will be attending to make the final decision, what are your thoughts on this?"

I look over to her, sitting in the seat beside mine. Her hands are clenched tightly in her lap and she's looking down at her feet, hair covering her face. Although she hasn't said anything the whole time I've been here, I can tell that all she wants is to apologise to me while I give her a comforting hug. She's not good at dealing with criticism thanks to our parents.

"Honey, could you step outside a second? I think you could do with a moment alone."

PC Principal gives me a strange look while Karen stands up and leaves the room to sit outside. I guess most caregivers don't care about shit-talking about their kids while they're in earshot.

Once the door closes, I turn back to the principal.

"Karen has had a rough upbringing and used her studies as an excuse to avoid our parents. I think that moving in with me and not feeling the need to hide herself away has made her slip up a little."

The principal nods and seems to understand.

"Is there anything I can do to help her? Like extra books or learning the material myself so I can try and teach her?"

"Well, you could do those things but there's another way, which may work better than trying to get her to improve on her own, or relying on your own understanding of the content." Pushing back from his desk in his wheely chair, he opens up one of his drawers and pulls out a couple of thin folders. "You could always try hiring a tutor. In the past, they've been very effective for our underperforming students and I think it could be a good idea to set Karen up with one."

He hands me the folders.

"Here's a list of some. They all have different teaching methods or prices so it would be best to go through them with your sister."

Prices? I swallow nervously.

"Is there a problem, Mr McCormick?" He asks.

"Um. No, not at all." I lie, "Thank you, we'll look over these tonight."

"Perfect. I hope it works out for you." He stands up and walks around the desk to shake my hand, "I will call you with the results of the meeting tonight so we can plan what to do from there. Until then, decide which tutor you think will work best for her."