Geometry

Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard

"Mr. Garfunkel."
Art looked up from the papers he was grading. His brow furrowed for a moment as he momentarily wondered why Amanda was standing in front of his desk.
"Yes, Miss Vincent?"
"James always comes to you with his problems. And, well, I got a problem, a big one," Amanda said crossing her arms.
"I can try and help," Art said frowning slightly.
"James is really mad at me. I know what I've done, but I don't know how to fix it..."
"I can't help you if you don't tell me what you did to make him mad," Art said.
Amanda looked down at her hands. She looked up at the roof and took a deep breath and swallowed despite the fact that her mouth was very dry.
"I may have asked him to pretend to be something he isn't..."
Art frowned and put his hands on his desk starting to get quite frustrated. "Miss Vincent I understand that it may be hard for you to tell me what's going on with you, but I must remind you that you came to me for help," He said curtly.
"Mr. Garfunkel... I don't know what to say. If I tell you what's wrong you might tell my dad or another teacher, and I'm not ready for everyone to know," Amanda said dropping her hands.
"I promise I won't tell anyone."
Amanda let out another sigh. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth for a few moments. "I'm pregnant, and I asked James to pretend to be the father because I don't know who the real father is." The words just spilled out of her mouth, and as soon as they were out she wished she could picked them up and put them back in her mouth.
Art stared at Amanda shocked to silence. He closed and opened his mouth a few times trying to decide what to say. He scratched his hair for a moment before looking at Amanda again.
"I'm think the first thing you should do is apologize to James," Art said.
"Mr. Garfunkel, I said some terrible things to him. I don't think he'll forgive me," Amanda said.
"He might not, but you'll just have to live with that."
Amanda stared at Art. Her brow furrowed. "That's all? Apologize to James?"
"Well, you should tell your parents. That's a good place to start," Art said shaking his head slowly.
Amanda's face turned red. "What type of advice is this? Tell my parents, say sorry? Anyone could have told me this. You're no help," She exclaimed turning around and storming out of the classroom.
Art watched her leave in silence. He didn't know what to think. He stood up and walked to the teacher's lounge. Judy and David were the only teachers in.
Judy smiled at Art. "Oh, we were just talking about you," She said before sipping her mug of tea.
David grimaced and didn't say anything. Judy noticed that Art didn't look at all happy. He went to the coffeemaker and poured himself a cup which he proceeded to drink without saying a word to either of them.
"What's wrong?" Judy asked standing up. She walked over to him and touched his arm gently.
Art looked at her and shrugged. At a time that words would be very comforting he found himself at a loss for them.

James slipped into Geometry tutorials. Amid the students seeking help with their math he saw Candice sitting at a desk near the front. He walked towards her very quietly. He smiled at the soft tilt of her head as she stared intensely at her Geometry textbook.
"Hey," James said sitting down next to her.
Candice jumped and looked up at him from her textbook. She smiled at him.
"Oh, hey," Candice said biting on the end of her pencil slightly.
"Need any help?" James asked leaning forward to look at her work.
Candice shook her head. "I actually understand the lesson today," She replied.
James smiled as he straightened up. "That's good. What're you doing in tutorials if you get it?" He asked.
"In case I get to one I don't know how to do," Candice replied going back to her work.
"Oh, good idea," James said leaning back towards Candice's work.
Candice blushed as James leaned over her arm. His cheek was so close to her cheek. She tried not to breath any faster even though she was panicking. He was so close.
James smiled. "Are you wearing perfume?" He asked breathing down her neck.
Candice turned bright red. "Yeah," She said looking down at her homework. Her heart was beating so fast that she thought it might beat right out of her chest.
"It's nice," James said nuzzling her hair for a moment. "Your hair smells good too."
"Thank you," She said.
"Are you free anytime soon?" James asked as his hand brushed hers.
Candice felt her cheeks heat up again. "I just got out of a really bad relationship..." She said slowly. Her chest felt like it was collapsing.
Candice really wanted to say yes to him.
She really wanted to go out with him.
But she was too afraid.
Terrified.
"Oh..." James moved away from Candice giving her space. "I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"I really wish I could," Candice said. But I'm too scared.
"Eh, I'll get over it. It isn't the first time I've been turned down and I doubt it'll be the last time," James said. "Tell me about the idiot that broke up with you though. I want to know why."
Candice looked down at her homework again. Her eyes began to burn as she thought about what happened last week. "I don't want to talk about it..."
James frowned and touched her hand. "He was an idiot," He said.
Candice looked up at James for a moment before going back to her homework with a blush still present on her cheeks.

(The title of this chapter is a song by Paul Simon.)