The Tutor

Chapter 34

Nora could feel the tension and the stress in the air as the students lined up to enter the gym turned examination hall. The air seemed stuffy or maybe it was her nerves suffocating her. It was hard to tell.

She looked around. Some students still had their last-minute flash cards, some played aimlessly with their water bottles, and some just prayed. Some were standing rigid and waiting, and a couple plonked on the floor as if waiting for their execution. Jonah was playing Candy Crush on his phone and Alex was snoozing whilst standing against the wall. Nora shook her head and envied the amount of fucks those boys gave to academics.

She heard the door open, and Rafe came in, taking a seat on one of the armchairs. Most were too nervous to sit. She stood further apart from most students, convinced their nervousness would rub off on her. Rafe spoke with some of his friends, but she could tell her was looking for her. As soon as they made eye contact, she gave him a small nod. He held her gaze and got up, making his way towards her.

She hoped he didn't pick this moment to talk about whatever it was they had left to talk about because her brain would combust.

"Hey," he said, leaning against the wall next to her.

"Hi."

"Nervous?"

"A little bit..." Nora said, resisting the urge to bite her thumb. She had read a couple of books on stress resilience and took tips from videos from pro athletes on reducing performance anxiety, but she was only human. "Are you?"

"Yeah. Kinda freaking out if I'm honest."

Nora smiled at his honesty. Nothing about the way he looked seemed like he was stressed.

"You'll do fine, Rafe."

Rafe blew out a sign and gave her a half smile. "Whatever happens in the exams, I just wanted to tell you that I uh— I'm really grateful for your help. I couldn't have done anything without you."

"You're welcome," Nora said. "Break a leg."

Rafe winced. "I'd rather not, we've got the last match of the season after the exams."

Nora chuckled. "It's a saying."

"I know. It's a terrible one."

There was a short silence before he spoke again. "Come to the game if you aren't doing anything."

That suggestion alone was enough to lighten her mood. "I'll come."

Somehow their conversation felt so formal. Is this how everything between them will end? It wasn't such a bad ending. At least it didn't end in any drama. Their friendship or whatever it was fizzing out naturally, going back to just being classmates, and once he's out, she'll be someone he'll have on his Facebook friends and that's all she's ever going to be.

"All right people line up and have your ID cards ready, I hope you've had your bathroom trips and removed the labels off of your water bottles," their deputy head teacher's voice boomed across the hall making the students even more jittery. "I want no funny business."

* * *

Once the exams had finished time seemed to fast forward. It was already the middle of the spring term and Nora made her way to the final, anticipated match of the season against St Paul's school. She had been to Rafe's games before and knew that they would bring victory home in this match too. Rafe was a talented player, and the rest of the team was equally formidable.

Even though they were no longer pretending they didn't exist, they had been seeing less of each other since the tutoring finished. Ever since his confession, it was harder to go back to the way they were before, to how natural it was to be around each other.