Tutoring Mr. "Bad" boy.

Chapter 19

He flashes her his world famous sweet smile before turning to walk out.
I quickly wave her goodbye and catch up with him.

"See, that wasn't so hard," I tease, once I fall into step with him.

"Whatever," He mumbles undertone and dismisses me with a shrug before speeding his pace.
I struggle to catch up with him and his long strides.

"You're upset because I made you apologize? Really?" I throw my hands in the air.

"I'm not."
"Oh yeah? Because you sure do look very upset right now."

We stand there looking at each other for a while, before I break the silence.

"Look, a few weeks ago, I was just like Chloe. Invisible, Alone, disregarded and pretty much treated like garbage. And as if that's not bad enough, someone would knock your stuff down on occasion, without an apology or any sign of helping you getting them, because apparently you're supposed to watch where you're going. I understand how she felt, Randy. And as petty or insignificant as that may sound, it actually does go a long way to make you feel even more crappy than you already feel."
I end breathless, my eyes beginning to sting from the tears that were beginning to form.

He had no idea what it felt like to live like a ghost. How painful it was to exist in flesh, yet get treated like you weren't even there.
He didn't.
Not him, and definitely not any of all the other popular kids.
Their whole life they've lived in the spotlight....as spectacles. All they had to do was just breath, and then all of humanity would acknowledge their very existence.
But us, we wouldn't get anyone to acknowledge our existence even if we tried...like really really tried!
The bunch of spoiled brats! They had no idea what it felt like to have no sense of belonging...to just exist, like an island, with no association whatsoever to others.

"I'm not upset, Mandy."

"Then why are you acting up?"
"Because I didn't think it was such a big deal," He almost yells. "I mean, if you're walking around and someone bumps into you and knocks your stuff down all you gotta do is pick 'em up and move, right? That's what I thought! Until now...until I saw the smile on her face when I said sorry," He continues.

Is he....?
No friggin' way!...

"Damn, Randy! Are you being emotional right now?" I taunt, but he doesn't smile, which makes me realize he's actually serious.

Did realization finally hit him?
Was this finally my cue?....To talk to him about being less of a jerk?
Was this a sign?

"Feels great, doesn't it?" I ask instead.

"Yeah. Surprisingly it does," He admits, finally smiling a little.

"Great!" I squeal in delight.
"You know, a wise person once said and I quote, "The beauty in life is not how happy you are, but how happy others are because of you" ," I go on with a big grin.

O I most definitely was enjoying this, for some weird reason.

"Okay Shakespeare, spare me the lesson. Our history session isn't due for another day, save it for then. And what, are you now some kind of motivational speaker?" I can almost hear the smile in his voice.
I shake my head in amusement.

"Not just a motivational speaker, but a life coach too. Your very own personal life coach. You know, I'm not only interested in your academics. I also want to teach you to be a high quality, non sucky human being....you know, to be less of a reckless jerk and more of a likeable person. By the time I'm done with you, you won't even recognize yourself!" I blabber on, trying to keep a straight face and not burst out into laughter.

"We think the same!" He exclaims. "You won't recognize yourself when I'm done with you too," he returns my enthusiasm, but I feel he's actually just mocking me.