Teaching the Tutor

Boredom of Math

“Alright, what’s 14 + 6 x 11 – 7?”

“What?” I asked in disbelief.

“Use PEMDAS.” Robert advised.

I snorted, “ Pen-ass? What’s that?”

“PEMDAS. It’s spelled P-E-M-D-A-S. Not, a pen-up-your-ass.”

I give up… math is just too complicated.

I tossed my pen, sending it scattering to the edge of the glass surface of the desk. I buried my head in my arms, moaning in frustration.

“This is haaard,” My complaint muffled by the sleeves of my sweater.

Five warm fingers gripped onto my shoulder, grazing it slowly and creating warm friction that made my insides melt and spark a flame somewhere in me. Separated warm breaths were being held over my neck, tickling it. Something brushed against my ear, making the breathing more evident.

“C’mon that’s what a tutor is for, right? And I’m gonna teach you.”

Shivers rolled off the tip of my spine as I turned around to come barely nose-to-nose with Robert. My heart fluttered as I watched his brown eyes flicker between my eyes and my lips while his tongue slid over his bottom lip, licking it desirously.

He’s gonna kiss me, he’s gonna kiss me, he’s gonna kiss me… Does my breath smell? Is my hair in my face? Will I have to move forward too?

Inching closer, Robert shifted his hand towards mine before sneakily curling my fingers around the wooden pencil. I watched him smirk before facing back to the papers spilled all over his desk.

“So,” Robert continued as if nothing happened. “PEMDAS are the steps of what to do in an algebra equation. Parenthesis, Exponents, Multiplication, Division, Addition, and Subtraction.”

I groaned, propping my head in my hands. My eyes wandered around the room and finally settled down to stare at one picture pasted onto the wall. It was a big frame that circled around a brightly colored photo of Robert. He was in a black suit and tie that matched his delicate stubble, so perfectly. And his arm was wrapped around a woman’s waist. She was in a magenta strapless dress and had brown hair and gray eyes.

A surge of jealously struck me. It was such an… unfamiliar feeling. But geez, the only feeling I had for Robert was Damn-I-Want-A-Piece-Of-That-Hot-Meat. So, no need to get jealous, right?

“Who’s that?” I blurted out, pointing to the picture.

Robert looked up from the math worksheet that was in his hands, and scratched his stubble nervously.

“Oh… That’s my wife.”