The alarm went off in Samuel's ears, screaming at him to wake up. He slammed his hand against the button to shut it off. He yawned before getting out of bed and traipsing off to the bathroom. He brushed his teeth, then his hair, taking great care to keep the chestnut strands out of his face. He made sure to check his teeth and floss before moving back toward his room to get dressed. He put on a nice pair of pants and buttoned up his dress shirt. He put on his yellow sweater vest, and tied his necktie before tucking it in.
He walked out of his room, picking up his back pack as he went. "Bye, mom! I'll see you after school!" he called. He locked the door behind him, and went on to walk to school.
"Samuel Carter and Trevor Summers, please come to the Counselor's Office. Samuel Carter, and Trevor Summers, please come to the Counselor's Office," rang across the school as Samuel entered the main lobby.
Samuel groaned, but went to the Counselor's Office anyway. He wrote his name and the time into the sign in sheet on the front counter, as well as his Counselor's name.
Mr. Fisher.
Samuel knocked on Mr. Fisher's door and waited until he received the okay to come in. He opened the door to find that another boy was already in Mr. Fisher's office. This boy had blond hair and light brown eyes. He glanced at Sam and that one glance was enough to stop him in his tracks.
Trevor and his friends laughed at Samuel, who held his books close, tight to his chest. "Oh, Sammy. How hard is it for you to go through life knowing your father never wanted you in the first place?" Trevor asked. Samuel hung his head, trying to force his tears to stay inside.
"Huh? How does it feel?" Trevor asked, shoving Samuel against the locker wall. "Knowing you weren't good enough for your daddy to stay?" He shoved Sam again, causing Samuel to drop his books to the floor.
"Your dad left you and he's not gonna come back, because he doesn't want you!" Trevor shoved him again, this time to the side.
Samuel scrapped his head against the lockers as he went. He held his head when he hit the ground, and listened as Trevor and his friends laughed at his misery as they left him.
Sam took a deep breath to bring him back to reality. "What's this about?" he asked as he sat down in the chair, sitting as far as he could away from the boy.
Mr. Fisher pulled out two sheets of paper and set them in front of him on the desk. "These are your respective grade reports. Samuel, you are passing with flying colors. Trevor, though..."
"Is failing," Samuel finished.
"Yes. So, since I'm a kind man, I want Trevor to have a chance at graduation. So, Samuel, I want you to help Trevor get his grades back up."
Samuel shot to his feet. "Tutoring?!" he cried.
Mr. Fisher nodded, and Samuel scoffed. "I've got enough on my mind, right now," he said as he packed up his bags and walked out the door.
"Tutoring is after school starting tomorrow!" Mr. Fisher called as Samuel shoved the door open and growled.
"Sam!" a voice called after him.
Samuel groaned again, but turned around to find Trevor had followed him. "What do you want?" Samuel demanded.
"Sam! Why don't you want to tutor me?" Trevor asked.
Samuel sighed, glaring at Trevor. "You don't remember me, do you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Just...forget about it..."
With that, Samuel left for his first class.
Later that night, Samuel typed on his computer, before three new faces came onto his screen.
"Sammy!" they called in unison.
"Hey, girls."
"You look stressed," the girl in the top right corner of his screen had said. She brushed her curly, dark brown hair out of her face as she spoke, her thick London accent lacing almost every word.
"I am, Charlotte," Samuel replied. "I was summoned this morning to the Counselor's Office. As I'm sure you've all heard. But I was requested to help Trevor Summers with his grades."
"Isn't that the kid who bullied you in Middle School?" the girl in the bottom left corner asked.
Samuel nodded. "The same one," he replied.
"What happened? Don't you want to be a teacher?" the girl in the bottom right corner asked.
"Not to him, I don't. Can you believe this kid?! He fails his classes and then expects me to be able to save him?!"
The three girls nodded, and the one in the bottom left corner leaned in a little, enlarging her face a little.
"What else happened this morning?"
Samuel slouched in his chair. "So, after I left the office, this boy had the nerve to follow me!"
Charlotte cocked her head to the side. "He wouldn't let go of middle school issues?"
"It wasn't that. What makes this whole situation worse, is that this boy doesn't even remember me!"
The girl in the bottom right corner leaned her head against her clenched fist, with her elbow on the desk. "You could try being nice to him, since he doesn't remember you."
Samuel crossed his arms. "Well, it's not like I had that drastic of a glow-up, Kiera."
"Well, it is your junior year, so it's been a long time, Sam," Charlotte put in.
The girl in the bottom left corner clapped her hands together, and her smile beamed like a star through the camera lens. "I can't believe this! It's like the perfect start to a romance novel!"
"And how, pray tell, June, is this like the perfect start to a romance novel?"
June gave Samuel a devilish grin. "Have you heard of the enemies to lovers trope?"
Samuel shot to his feet, his hands slamming onto the desk. "No! I will not become his lover! That kid is a rotten, no-good trouble-maker!" He ripped off his head phones, and left the call.
He moved away from the desk as he huffed and stamped his feet. He pulled out his textbooks and homework packets to finish them in silence.