TAP, TAP, TAP.
That was all I heard for the past five minutes. Hearing Mason's fingerpads tap the surface of Mr.Howard's office desk makes me want to rip out his fingers one by one. Sighing, I cross my legs, accidentally hitting his leg in the process.
His eyes narrowed. "Why'd you kick my leg?"
Rolling my eyes, "I didn't mean to, but I'm glad I did."
Sneering that last bit, I looked up to the ceiling, daydreaming of paradise instead of bickering with the imbecile beside me. Mr.Howard waves his goodbyes to the assistant he was conversing with and finally shuts the door. Strutting in, he gives a lop-sided grin.
Settling into his velvet office chair, he takes up a stack of papers, shuffling and organizing it.
"Hey y'all, so, I got some news." Holding up packets of cream-colored paper, he hands it to us.
"STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES" was scrawled at the top of the packet. Flipping the pages I came to find that this packet marked all my not-so-good Unit test scores from the past years. Highlighting all my flaws and problem areas, I faced Mason and seeing that he received the same packet. My eyebrows drew together,
Okay so, we've established that I'm not a perfect person...but why do I need this?
Just ask.
No! What if it's a stupid question?
At least you'd know then.
Taking a leap of faith I asked the question, "Mr.Howard, I'm unsure on what this means for us, why do I-I mean WE, why do WE need this packet?"
His expression hardened. "I know you both want to go to this "prestigious school", but with both of you being impeccable students we needed to decide something. The packet contains all of your weaker areas. You'll take a test near the end of four months to determine your acceptance. To help you study I've gathered two sophomore Sbocciare Accademia students so they can tutor you both."
As soon as he said that, two people burst through the doors. A boy in a vivid cobalt blue shirt waves and in a slight Italian accent he chirps. "Hi guys!"
He had muddy blonde hair and bright cerulean eyes that guaranteed him to be a heartbreaker. Freckles dusted his cheeks and thick dark eyebrows framed his face. He was the definition of charming. He shakes Mason's hand with a firm grip, and he takes my hand and lightly kisses the top of it. Making my face turn crimson red, suddenly it feels way too hot in here.
His eyes sparkling with mischief, he asks. "And your name is?" Raising his eyebrow, he studies my expression and gives me a once-over.
My jaw went slack. I think I stood there for a good five minutes struggling to find my voice, only to hear Mason answer for me.
Are. You. Kidding. Me? All he did was ask for your name, get a grip Alinna.
"Alinna, her name is Alinna Windham."
Clearing my throat I uttered, "Yeah, yeah, it's Alinna Windham."
Suddenly I hear cackling from the other side of the room, A girl in a violet hijab places her hand over her mouth trying to muffle her laughter.
"Lukas why must you flirt with every girl you see? Leave that poor girl alone" She says with a faint English accent.
Standing up from her seat, she saunters over to Mason and me, sticking out her flawlessly bronzed hand in front of me. Elegance radiated from her presence, she donned a silk maxi dress with sleeves that ended up to her wrists. Lush eyebrows shaped her glittering chestnut eyes, with sweeping eyelashes. After shaking her hand I turned to Mr.Howard, "So are they both tutoring us?"
"Yes and no, they get to decide HOW they tutor y'all, whether it be individual or joining together as a group." He explains.
What if we both get the same score? It's bound to happen right?
Getting the same score? That's not happening, don't let that happen Alinna.
His eyes flickered between us, "Are we clear on that?"
Raising his hand, Mason asks, So do we get to pick whoever we want to tutor us?"
Lukas struts past us and stands in front of the office desk, "Actually that's up to us, Amira and I get to choose who we want to work with. Hopefully, I don't pick the annoying one."
Mason chuckles, "Don't pick Alinna then." Throwing me a sarcastic half-smile, he rests lower into his seat. Lukas and Amira give each other a knowing glance,
"Something tells me that Alinna isn't the annoying one." Lukas retorts.
"DIBS ON ALINNA!" Amira walking behind me, throwing her arms around my neck. The scent of Chanel N°5 instantly hitting my nose, I look down and see her perfectly trimmed and polished fingernails painted boysenberry to match her dress.
Does this girl have any flaws?
Mr.Howard pulls me out of my thoughts, and checks, "Do we have anymore questions?"
Glancing at Mason, giving him a nod, him returning the same, "No Sir."
"Nope." We both reply in unison.
"Good. Amira, show Ms.Windham outside and Lukas do the same." Pointing his finger to his polished doors. Amira takes my hand and leads me out. Stepping outside into the hallway, she asks,
"Do you want to grab some frozen yogurt?" Tilting her head slightly, eyeing my appearance, making me feel a bit self-conscious. Taking note of this, she places her hand on my arm.
"You look very beautiful, please do not feel uncomfortable around me, that is never my intention." She assures.
Giving her a lopsided grin, I agree to her offer,
"Sure, let's go grab some froyo."
Intertwining her hand with mine I drag her out to the parking lot and head towards my pink Jeep Wrangler. Amira turns to me with a puzzled look, asking,
"Really? A pink Jeep? What are you? Barbie?"
Giggling as she opens the car door and perches down. Opening my side door I snort,
"I'm sure your car isn't any better Amira."
Playfully rolling her eyes she shakes her head and pulls out a handheld mirror and starts touching up her make-up. Not even a minute later she starts flipping through radio stations and suddenly "I Knew You Were Trouble" by Taylor Swift starts playing. She shrieks and cranks up the volume.
"THIS IS MY JAM!" She yells and starts to sing along. Missing. every. single. note.
I guess this one girls' flaw is that she can NOT sing.
"I KNEW YOU WERE TROUBLE WHEN YOU WALKED IN!" Tugging on my arm, she desperately pleads,
"Come on Alinna I know you want to sing along, please sing with me!"
Sighing, I give in and belt out the lyrics. The cycle continues, attempting to harmonize with every song we hear on the radio until we pull up to the Froyo shop. Pulling into the parking lot I pull the keys out of the ignition and grab my school bag. After checking over to see if I left anything I close my car door and grab Amira's hand, walking inside the shop.
Amira's eyes examine the frozen yogurt selection and suddenly she pops a question,
"Okay Alinna this is very important question I must ask you. Choose your answer wisely okay?"
Nodding my head, I follow her to the vanilla and chocolate froyo machine, anxiously waiting for her "very important" question.
She giggles and asks "Chocolate or Vanilla?" arching her eyebrows, hoping I'd give her the answer she'd want.
I glowered at her, assuming that this wasn't the question she was gonna ask me. She pouts her lip and laughs at my facial expression. She arches her eyebrow, "Well? I'm waiting."
I chew on my bottom lip trying to decide which flavors to choose between. Placing my index finger on my chin I lightly tap it.
"Hmm...I like chocolate." Waiting on her approval, she cheers in excitement,
"YES! YUP! Chocolate will forever reign supreme." Holding up her hand for a high-five I hit her hand a little too hard and she winces in pain, "Damn girl, you got hard slap."
Throwing her a sheepish look, I hold her hand and rub her palms. "Oh no, you poor thing, does this feel better?" Giving her a teasing puppy-eyed look, she pulls her hand away.
"I can't help but overhear you girls' conversation, but honestly vanilla is so much better."
Turning to see who's voice it was I paled. Amira giving me a befuddled look, she asks, "Sorry, and you are?" Her eyes sizing him up.
"Oh I'm sorry, I'm Dylan Santoro.
authors note: ooo did yall think i forgot about Dylan? LOL i kinda like this chapter but idk