Teach Me (GxG)

Fourteen

My alarm sounded for a millisecond before I turned it off. I had been lying awake in bed for almost an hour. I don't know why my body was suddenly so energetic and eager to go to school, but I knew not to question it.

After getting ready in record time, I skipped down the the stairs and into the kitchen. Mom stood near the island, her black coffee mug in her hand. "Good morning," she pushed a bowl of fruit towards me, "I cut these up for you."

My lips curved into a smile. "Thanks Mom." I took a seat and munch on the fruit. Across from me, Mom watched me with unwavering eyes. If this only occurred for a few seconds, I would not pay it much attention, but this went on for way too much time.

"Am I in trouble or something?"

She fixed her blazed and averted her gaze to her phone. "No. I  don't think that I've ever seen you in the kitchen this early before. Except for that time your father and I found you drunk and passed out on the kitchen floor." She said that last part with distaste, but I expected that.

I kept eating my fruit. "Yes, I know. I'm an terrible and immature girl who's a bad influence on Avery and a constant disappointment."

Mom's eyes landed on me once more. "As your parents, your father and I want the best for you." She sighed and took a sip of her coffee."But you could never be a disappointment in my eyes. You're smart, confident, and beautiful. You go to school, tutor, and still have time to model. I saw you on a billboard once and almost crashed." That managed to make us both laugh.

She reached her hand out and put it on mine. "I would be lying if I said that there weren't times that your actions angered me, and I've scolded you too many times, but I'll always be proud of you. I'll always love you."

Those last few words were enough to stop me in the midst of putting the fruit in my mouth. I don't think I've ever heard my mom tell me that she was proud of me. "Okay, this is getting a little too cheesy for me." I got up and put my bowl in the sink. "I should get going now. I love you, Mom."

•••

I sat in class, but I did attempt to pay attention this time. Only, I was not fully paying attention since the work was too easy. I tapped my pencil on my desk, letting the words of my teacher settle in my brain.

"Peyton, would you like to answer this problem on the board?" The teacher, Mr. Bell, requested.

I kept tapping the pencil on my desk. "No, not really." It's not that I couldn't do it, but I didn't want to.

He persisted. "Can you at least try?"

"Sure, Mr. Bell." I gracefully walked to the board and wrote the solution. I turned around and looked at him with a disinterested face. Truth be told, I was very much disinterested. "Am I done now?"

"Yes, you may sit down now." He cleared his throat and continued with the lesson. "As Peyton has demonstrated, the domain is all real numbers except zero, negative one-"

At that moment, the classroom door was opened. The counselor stood in the doorway, the same  cat glasses and a purple-shaded lipstick stood in the doorway. "Sorry for the interruption. I need to see Peyton Wright."

Today must have been my lucky day. I grabbed my things and followed the counselor to her office. I stopped in my tracks when I saw Noah already in her office, sitting and gazing out the window. My lips twitched, begging to smile. I kept it in and sat in the seat next to Noah. The counselor sat across from us.

She flipped through some papers. "How has the tutoring been going?"

I sat up straight in the chair and gulped. I turned to see Noah, who was now looking at her fiddling hands. "Um, it's been going...well," I spoke up.

She looked up at me with a confused look. "How about you Noah?"

Noah only nodded and kept her eyes on her hands. "Well, that's good, I guess. I thought that it was time to check in with you two since it's almost been two months. Noah, you have shown great improvement in Biology. Keep up the good work, the both of you."

The bell for the first lunch period sounded. "I guess I shouldn't take anymore of your time. See you soon, ladies."

I gave a small smile and grabbed my things. Noah did the same and we walked out of the office together. "Where are you headed?"

Her eyes then landed on mines as she combed her fingers through her hair. "The cafeteria. I have first lunch."

I groaned. "Lucky. I have a free period, so I'll be in the damn library forever."

Noah laughed. "The library isn't that bad."

I folded my arms and leaned against a locker. "It is when you have nothing to do." Suddenly, an idea popped in my mind. "Unless..what if you came with me?"

Noah furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

Because I like being around you- "Because that way, I can tutor you and be less bored for a little while." I grinned. "Unless I'm that terrible to be around?"

Noah shook her head and frowned. "You're not. But what about lunch?"

"I'll treat you after school. Deal?"

She replaced her frown with a smile. "Deal."

•••

A/N: Long time, no see. Yeah, sorry for not updating in so long, but don't worry, I'm not giving up on this adorable romance I'm creating! This chapter is for all of you readers out there, you all motivate me to keep going! Thank you so much for all of the amazing comments, theories, votes, etc. You all are amazing <3.

-Celeste