The Summer I Met Them [short story]

week one: syllabus

Lucy Danvers stood in the well-lit room and decided she hadn't planned on doing anything this summer, let alone be generous. Around her were plush chairs with different hues of blues arranged in a semi-circle facing a bookshelf. The area felt warm and welcome as light settled on the chairs and the colorful rug centered on the floor. Originally her summer had been filled with ideas of binge-watching The Worst Bakers in America  while practicing her 3-tiered cakes and icing techniques, all the while studying for college admittance tests she would have to take in a year.  But now, as Lucy stared at the clenched colored pamphlets and worksheets she had printed out earlier she was assured when she found out the Heritage Public Library wasn't charging her for printing. She wasn't sure if Patty Norton had called ahead and said "This girl is organized. She'll probably take up your entire fund for printing but she's the best we got." At least, that's what Lucy liked to imagine she had said.

During the first week of May, when Mrs. Norton approached her, Lucy had instantly thought she had done something wrong. Why else would the Student Committee Personnel be targeting her? But then when she seen her chipper demeanor and her bright skirt and shirt bouncing towards her, she realized she probably wanted something. When the idea was proposed to tutor five students from Heritage High her first question was "Why not a teacher?" To which Mrs. Norton smiled saying, "it would look great on your already flourishing resume and," she added this with a sinister flash in her eye, "I was looking at your transcripts and you seem to be lacking on your community service hours. It's only once a week for ten weeks." At that moment, Lucy realized that the school couldn't afford paying a teacher to actually do their job, and so they did the next best thing. They volunteered her.

She thought it was ridiculous how the school gave her pictures with their names, their GPA, and the reason why they were in this tutoring session. The main thing they tried to drill in her head was that these students were not problem children, they were just going through a rough patch. Yeah, freakin', right.  The one thing the school seemed to have forgotten was she was their classmates and she knew them. She knew their names and the reasons why they weren't showing up to class. 

Lucy glanced at the clock and seen there was ten minutes until class started and yet no one had arrived at the Library yet. This action only confirmed her suspicions because she made it a point to arrive at least ten minutes early to a class, to get the best seat and introduce herself to the teacher. So, as she waited impatiently, she decided to look over the student forms one more time:

STUDENT NAME \ GPA \ REASON FOR TUTORING \ ABSENCES 

Oscar Jones || GPA: 3.0 || The inability to attend classes consecutively || Absences: 10+ || 

Harper McFarlane || GPA: 2.8 || The inability to focus in class || Absences: 3 || 

Cassidy Moore || GPA: 2.5 || Quiet and reserved, won't reach out || Absences: 5 ||

Adam Rice || GPA: 3.6 || Knows the work but will not attend classes || Absences: 10+ || 

Daniel Song || GPA: 3.8 || Very bright but grades plummeted junior year || Absences: 0 ||

The moment she read the form Lucy had begun to make her own 'reasons for tutoring' for each student. Oscar Jones was what some may call 'careless' but to Lucy he was simply arrogant. She knew he wasn't as ignorant as he let on. When she was a freshman he had been in as many extra curricular as her AND he volunteered at the hospital with his dad. But then he stopped and this is what happens. Harper McFarlane was preppy and too positive, always thinking minimal things like school didn't matter. Cassidy Moore was strange, classified in Lucy's dictionary as 'odd,' and didn't have any friends, probably why she won't reach out. Adam Rice was smart because he used to be on Quick Recall but he doesn't attend class because he doesn't really give a shit. And Daniel Song, he's incredibly smart but also incredibly cocky and let his after school life get the better of him. Yep, Lucy thought, these people are ruining my summer.