Chapter 2

•ADRIAN•

"Go...away," I grumbled into my pillow, the words lacking the intended anger since my brain was still in sleep mode.

The hand persisted, shaking my shoulder. I turned to face the other side, hoping to discourage the idiot from waking me up. Their hand felt increasingly aggressive with each passing minute.

"What do you want, for fuck's sake?" I shouted, finally turning around to see Nate standing beside my bed, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Coach wants to see you," he informed me with his serious captain-like voice.

I rolled my eyes and stared straight ahead. "Can it wait?"

"Now," he stated firmly.

I groaned, reluctantly getting up and sitting straight while scanning the room. My roommate Amir's bedroom door was wide open, revealing his neat and empty bed. He was probably already gone for his classes, the early bird.

Typical Amir. Always makes sure to be an extra hour early for his classes. That's what makes him such a nerd.

I glanced at Nate and noticed he was still standing in the room, eyes glued to his phone.

"Do you know what this is about?" I asked him and his eyes snapped up to meet mine.

"Last Friday game. Ring any bells?" Oh, that.

Shit. Coach is probably still pissed about that. Ever since we left the rink, we haven't had any proper conversation to talk about what happened.

But of course, it's not exactly a conversation if he's mostly the one doing the talking and the yelling and I just had to be there to take it all in while keeping my mouth shut.

God, that dude can be scary sometimes.

I dragged myself out of bed and grabbed my things to go take a shower and then get dressed before heading down to the coach's office with Nate.

My class doesn't start till noon so knowing coach, he will take these extra hours to give me the lecture of my life about the fight I had started last.

Friday.

But hopefully, he's not going to bench me during the upcoming games. That would be a major blow, both to my ego and reputation in school.

I'll take any punishment, as long as it's not getting benched.

OoO

"Excuse me?" I blurt out in shock, still trying to process the news.

Coach placed his coffee down and raised his brows.

"You heard me loud and clear, boy."

I scoffed. I know I agreed to myself that I would take any punishment but not this! What the fuck is this, man?

"Coach, you can't be serious. I can't tutor people."

"Why not?" He asks, curious.

"It's weird! Me? Tutoring freshmen? No way."

He frowned while plucking out a tissue from its box to wipe his hands with.

"Well, you take those advanced English courses right?"

"Yes?" I answered uncertainly, not sure what wheels were spinning in the old man's head.

"Well, there's a student who needs tutoring for that. Professor Kimberly had recommended her to you."

Jesus Christ. Are they serious right now?

"Really? For English? Who needs tutoring for that?" I exclaimed in disbelief and he leaned back on his chair and shrugged.

"Students that don't speak English as their first language. Now get out of here, I've got work to do."

"But coach c'mon-"

"Out, Levont!"

I held back my frustration shot up from the chair and left his office.

I can't believe I'll have to tutor someone about English for three whole weeks! Jesus Christ. And who is failing their English class, like what the hell bro?

Were they homeschooled for the past four years of their life?

Fuck.

•KAIA•

I pushed through the double doors and scanned the faces sitting around the tables inside the study lounge area. Professor Kimberly never showed me a picture of my supposedly tutor and the only description she gave me was that it's a male with blond hair.

I paused on the side of the doorway and scanned the room for any blond heads. To my disappointment, three guys were sitting inside with blond hair.

Shit. How am I supposed to know which one of them is my tutor?

I looked at the first guy and saw that he was surrounded by two other girls who were both laughing and typing on their computers.

Nope. Probably not that one. If he's going to be tutoring me, he's probably alone.

I looked at the second guy and saw he was already fast asleep on the table with thick textbooks spread all over the table. Then I looked at the third guy and my heart skipped an excited beat. He was good-looking and very attractive and he was sitting alone with a can of coke on the table and he's staring down at his phone.

No, it's probably not him. He doesn't look like he's here to tutor anybody.

I glanced toward the dude sleeping on the table and then back at the handsome guy on his phone.

One of them has got to be here for tutoring. But I'll check with the handsome guy first, just to make sure it's not him because, at this point, I'm convinced that the guy sleeping is probably my tutor.

I slowly started to walk towards the table where the handsome guy was sitting. I was just two feet away when he suddenly looked up and we locked eyes.

"Kaia Lilian? English 404?" I was thrown off guard by his question.

"Yeah, hi. I'm Kaia....and you're my tutor?"

He nodded while reaching for his Coke and taking a sip without even breaking eye contact.

"I didn't expect you to be the tutor. I thought it would be him." I told him while pointing toward the dude sleeping at the table behind us.

"I wished he was. So, shall we get this over with?"

I nodded before pulling out a chair and sitting down across from him. I placed my books and laptop on the table and glanced at him.

Well, this is weird. But not that I minded it, he's pretty cute, I just wasn't expecting someone this cute to volunteer for tutoring.

"Okay, so what do you not understand about English 404?" He suddenly asked and I raised my brows at him before glancing to the side.

Damn, the guy sure makes strong eye contact.

"Um, the basics I guess? At least that's what Professor Kimberly told me that I'm lacking in understanding. I get what the whole concept is about, just teach me what the basics are."

He gave me a long stare like he was suddenly seeing a retarded person sitting in my place.

"The basics. Right." He said slowly before pulling my laptop towards him and opening it.

Oookay. You're the tutor, help yourself then.

He switched the screen back towards me with his eyes narrowed.

"Passcode?"

I quickly leaned forward and typed the password to unlock the laptop and when it was done, he switched it back towards him and started to type quickly on the keyboard. I waited patiently and glanced around the room, only to be met by surprise when I caught a few people glancing in our way.

What were they looking at?

Then it hits me.

Of course, he's the cute guy in the study lounge and there's a mid-looking weirdo sitting next to him and they're all probably wondering how we're suddenly breathing the same air right now.

Great.

"Answer these online questions for me first and write me a short paragraph on that topic mentioned in the first passage." He said while pushing the laptop back in my way.

"These are the basics?"

"No." He answered firmly. "Think of it as a test. Just to check out your progress and we'll work out the basics on your pace after I see your results."

Oookay. I can work with that.

I opened a new page and started writing the paragraph first to get it out of the way because looking at these test questions right now, they might take me an hour or two just to finish them.

There isn't a multiple-choice anywhere. Just long answers only. Seriously, where did he even find these questions from?

Half an hour later, I was halfway through the questions when he suddenly put his phone down on the table causing me to look up at him.

"Are you done?" He asked, impatience written all over his face.

"I'm almost done. Just need to finish with question 58-"

"Well, how long is it going to take you?" He interrupted sharply. "I have to get to hockey practice in twenty minutes."

I frowned at him over the screen of the laptop.

"Can't you have hockey practice another day?"

"No. Hockey practice is always on weekdays. I don't make the schedule."

I scoffed and leaned back while crossing my arms together.

"Well, you shouldn't have signed up for these tutoring sessions if you knew it was going to clash with your hockey practice." He started to glare at me.

"It's not like I had a choice."

"Not my problem," I argued defensively. "You're getting extra credits just for tutoring, so do your job, or find me someone else who could do the work for you."

He narrowed his eyes and clenched his jaw tightly, I could see the tick from all the way where I was sitting.

"I have hockey practice in less than twenty minutes from now." He repeated with a much calmer tone.

"And I'm going to fail my classes if we don't finish this tutoring session. Looks like we both have problems on our hands."

He glared at me, and I glared back.

I wasn't going to back down and let him get away with this or let him become the reason why I was flunking the class because Mr. Tutor over here wanted to cut our session short every day just so he couldn't miss his stupid hockey practice.

No fucking way. Over my dead body.

But at this rate plus his attitude, I don't think I'll be passing the class at all just because I can't even get along with the guy. It's a shame he's cute, God gifted those genes to the wrong person.

"Fine." He spat out with annoyance. "Let's finish those tests and I'll-"

"Yeah, no." I cut in while standing up and collecting my stuff. "I'll just get myself a new tutor, thanks."

He stared dumbfounded at me as I grabbed my laptop and glared at him one last time before leaving the study lounge.

He was being an inconsiderate jerk. It's better having to find a new tutor than being a kiss-ass to someone like that just so they can help you get better grades for a class they're doing better in.

Yeah no. Not today, asshole.