Tutor

Part 8

"You wanted to talk?" Angel finally broke it.

"I saw a video of you at a party yesterday."

"I wasn't at a party yesterday?" Angel questioned confused.

"No, I saw the video yesterday. I don't know when the video was taken. And for the record I am fine with you partying if you want to, I just didn't like what happened in the video."

"What happened in the video?" Angel asked, trying to think back to the last time she partied.

"You said some things. Some not so nice things about me." Angel was even more confused. She was always the one to stand up for Erin when people tried to talk bad about her or convince Angel she was better off without the girl.

"Can I see the video? I'm not saying you're lying, but I can't seem to recall anything I've said bad about you."

Erin brought up the video, and before she even pressed play Angel already knew what it was.

"Don't press play."

"Huh?"

"That video is from the day that I cut our tutoring short. The day that I thought I was sad/mad at myself for turning down the party before. The day I realized that I was upset with myself for how I was treating you. That argument you see, and I don't know what all you see, was between me and Levi. Levi was calling me out and ended up saying we weren't friends anymore because he was trying to wake me up. That is the day before you said you didn't want to meet for the week. The day before I came to you and figured everything out. I have no excuses for what I said, and I shouldn't have said those things. I am deeply, deeply, sorry. I can tell you my thought process behind them if you want it, but I am not saying that it was right or that I should have done it."

"Why? Why did you say it?"

"Levi had just called me out for liking you freshman year. He said that I got drunk one night, while dating Mallory, and admitted to only dating her because I was trying to get over my crush on you. I was scared that he was right, and still trying to hold on to who I was at the time that I didn't think about how my words would effect you, or whether they were the truth or not. I am so sorry and you didn't deserve those things being said about you."

"Was he right? Is that the reason you dated her?"

"I... I don't know... I don't remember saying that but I do know that I liked you freshman year."

"Is that why you're dating me now? To get over a crush on someone else?"

"No! Please don't ever think that. Mallory knew that I liked you and offered something to get my mind off you, and she wanted a bit of fun. One thing led to another and we started dating. It didn't work out for obviously because we weren't in it for the right reasons. With you, I actually like you. You make me a better person. We have fun when we're together. And not to sound cocky or anything but I like who you are when you're with me."

"Why didn't you say anything about it?"

"What was I supposed to say? Hey, I know you already hate me right now and I don't want to make you hate me more but I drank a few last night and got in a fight with someone and they got a little personal and I threw you under the bus. No! I was not saying that. I was not giving you more reasons to hate me at the time, and then I forgot about it. I don't even know how that video got leaked."

"You haven't said anything like that since."

"No!" Angel answered, thinking Erin was asking her.

"No, I know you haven't. That was a comment, not a question. I'm saying that this seemed so out there and wild that when I saw it I was stunned. I couldn't believe you had said those things and I wanted to crawl under a rock and never come back. It reminded me of who you were when we first started doing the tutoring and that scared me. I was so scared that, THAT you was coming back and I knew that things would get ugly if it was."

Angel simply nodded, not really knowing how to respond.

"Can you promise me that you aren't going to be that person again? I can tell that you've smoked this morning because I could smell it outside and it's even stronger in here."

"I won't lie, I did smoke. I was stressed that you were going to break up with me and I don't have good coping skills. I'm sorry."

Erin nodded.

"I promise that I won't go back down that road, even if, heaven forbid we do break up. I don't want to be that person again. And I don't want you to feel forced to stay with me just so that I don't become that again. I can't promise I'll never drink again and I can't promise I'll never smoke again, but I can promise to not do it excessively. I can promise that if you ask me not to I will do everything I can to respect that."

Erin smiled slightly. "That's good enough for me."

"Yeah?" Angel questioned. "So, are we good?"

"Yeah, we're good." Erin smiled and walked over to Angel and hugged her.

Angel tried to kiss her, but Erin moved to be kissed on the cheek. "Please go brush your teeth first."

Both girls chuckled and separated so that Angel could go do that.

The rest of the day the girls were completely back to normal. Erin sat with Angel as she worked on her homework and then the girls spent the day watching shows together.

The rest of the school year went by in a flash. Erin was even able to make it to a few of Angel's meets.

Angel had been recruited by a couple schools and ultimately ended up committing to one an hour and a half away where Erin had already accepted a job with a tech company.

Erin was nervous at first because she was afraid that Angel would regret her choice, but Angel re assured her that it was already one of her top schools, and that she would be required to live in the dorms for the first year so it wasn't like she expected the two  to move in together.

This made Erin feel better and when time came to move they helped each other out.

It was a bit saddening to leave behind the town that had brought them together, but they were more than excited to continue their journey in a new place.