Tutoring the Alpha

Chapter Three: Ordinary People

       By the time I got home that night, I was exhausted. Monday was one of my longest days, considering I tutored until eight, then had Molecular Biology, then volunteered at the University Virginia Hospital, and then attended my eleven o’clock Physics class. It was brutal; all lecturing for an entire hour coupled with the late hour meant I usually struggled to keep my eyes open. When I’d finally stepped into the home I shared with three other roommates, I could care less whether or not I was even in the right house. I just needed sleep. Unfortunately, Jess and Josh didn’t seem to be on the same page.

“SHE SAID YOU ASKED FOR HER NUMBER!” Jessica’s loud, southern voice blared through the old Victorian house, and – I swear – seemed to shake the walls with her rage.

“AS A FRIEND! I WASN’T HITTING ON HER FOR GOD’S SAKE!” Josh screamed back, and I cringed as I hurried up the stairs. The noise only increased as I passed Josh’s room, and I swiftly cranked the volume on my iPod to try and block out their fighting. Josh and Jess clashed often and loudly, and when they did the whole house suffered. I peeked into Sam’s room on my way down the hall, and was relieved to see he was soundly asleep, with headphones on I might add. There was a big game the next night and I didn’t want him to be worn out or fatigued. Closing my door as quietly as I could manage, I undressed rapidly and practically dove into my queen-sized bed.

                    My room was pretty plain, with just a few band posters on the walls and a set of speakers on the desk. It was also quite messy; there were textbooks, unopened letters, pictures, wrappers, and different odds and ends of things strewn all over my desk, and clothes, shoes, more books, and even a purse or two flung haphazardly on the black-carpeted floor. My bed was the center of the room, with black sheets and dark red covers in the theme of my all-time favorite TV show, Supernatural. To the right of my bed was a dark wooden bookshelf, mostly full of crappy horror books and of course, the Supernatural books. I constantly read and re-read them, as well as the Harry Potter books. Those were full of life lessons, I was sure of it. As I snuggled up in my bed and closed my eyes, I wasn’t entirely surprised to find my dreams immediately fly straight to Mickey Lafitte.

***                                                      ***                                                            ***

            The world is a cruel, cruel place, I thought pessimistically as I showered the next morning. With my busy schedule, I was forced to volunteer at the hospital at eight a.m., which meant I got exactly six hours of sleep, if I was lucky. Last night I’d fallen asleep pretty quickly, although I’d woken up a couple times in the middle of the night. It was a bad habit that I’d been trying to break, but no matter how hard I tried, I always ended up waking up at least twice before morning. It was a curse. Now as I hopped out of the shower and stumbled into my room to get dressed, I was struggling to keep my eyes open. That was how it was going to be all day, but by now I’d gotten used to it. Just drink a lot of coffee and nap between classes. After I volunteered for an hour, I had about an hour and a half before I had to be at my Biology class, and I usually came home to take a quick nap then.

            I danced around a little in my room to “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers while I pulled on a red plaid skirt that had cute suspenders over a sleeveless black band tee. I paired this with black stockings that came up about mid-thigh, red flats with little white skulls decorating them, and a black cardigan that had slashed sleeves. My outfit was a little risqué for the hospital, but I figured with a white apron over the ensemble, I wouldn’t piss off too many narrow-minded old people. 

***                                                                  ***                                                      ***