After everything that went down yesterday between Nate, Arya, and my lame ass attempt of an apology, I went home last night and got zero sleep. The only thing I could think about was her tear-stained face after she told me how humiliated she was when he said that and how pissed she was at me for not sticking up for her.
Though Arya and I have barely had a single conversation before yesterday, she heard that I was failing calc and was willing enough to tutor me in order to help me play football and basketball again. No one has ever offered to help me before, that's why I was so surprised when she asked. I'm not gonna lie, I was shocked at what Nate said as well, he's a dick yes, but he's never gone as far as to slut shame a girl. I could tell she was hurt just by the look she gave us when she turned around and even after seeing her storm off...I still did nothing. I cringe just thinking about my stupid half-ass apology I gave her. That's why I'm gonna make it up to her.
"Hey Arya...can- can we talk? Please?" I stutter as I look down at the girl who's back is facing me. She's currently in the middle of a conversation with some of her friends, including Lina. I stand there waiting for her to turn around and acknowledge me, but she never does.
"Arya, Xander wants to talk to you" One of her friends say
"I know, but I don't want to talk to him" She says as she continues her conversation with one of her friends
"Arya please. I just wanted to properly apologize after what happened yesterday." I say as I notice people beginning to stare at us
"What happened yesterday?" Lina asks
"Nothing" Arya says quickly as she finally turns around and gives me a glare
"You're not gonna leave me alone unless I hear you out huh?" She asks annoyed as she walks around me and towards her locker
"Nope" I say with a slight smile as I follow her
"Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry, really sorry. I know Nate can be an asshole at times and I know that I should have said something to him. Please forgive me!" I say as she stops putting in her locker combo and looks up at me.
"Oh! and I got you these" I say as I remove my hand from my back and hand her the small bouquet of flowers I got her. She looks a bit taken back by the gesture but slowly grabs them from my hand. Suddenly we hear a few "awwww's" and notice a small group of people forming around us.
"Xander...if you think that shitty excuse of an apology and flowers will make me wanna tutor you again, you're wrong." she says with an eye roll as she pushes the flowers hard against my chest and walks away. I turn around, surprised at what just happened, I mean what girl doesn't like flowers? I then hear a bunch of "oooo's" and quickly walk away, feeling the most embarrassed I've felt in a while.
Fuck! I guess it's time to move onto plan b
----------Time Skip to the End of the School Day----------
"So you need me to tutor you in calc?" Jackie asks again for the 12th time. My god what does this chick not understand.
Also yes, this is my plan b and I am very much regretting it.
"Yes, isn't that what I said the other 11 times you asked" I respond sarcastically as we begin to head to the library.
"Well yeah but I thought when you asked me to help you, you meant...other things" she says with a disappointed tone as we pick a table and sit down. So this is what a library looks like. Huh? I didn't think there would be so many people here. I honestly thought it would just be filled with a bunch of nerds.
"Oh um nope, just help with calc" I say, trying not to disappoint her even more
"Oh. Well you do know I'm not good at calc either, right?" she says
"Well you're better than me" I say getting my stuff out of my backpack
"UGH XANDER! CAN'T WE JUST GO BACK TO YOUR PLACE AND HOOKUP?" She groans...loudly may I add. That's when literally everyone in the library shushes her.
"Look Jackie, I really need to pass my midterm, so from now till then I am gonna be celibate. If you're not gonna help me, then please leave." I say to her annoyed. Oh and yes, you read that correctly, XANDER MITCHELL IS GOING TO BE CELIBATE (temporarily of course).
"Screw you Xander!" She yells as she storms away from the table and out the door.
Welp...there goes plan b. I watch her walk away and begin to put my head in my hands. Who knew finding a tutor would be so fucking difficult. God, I really wish I didn't fuck things up with Arya.
Speaking of Arya, I see her in one of the aisles clearly looking for a certain book. She looks so concentrated, I notice a bit of her tongue sticking out as she's trying to reach for a book that's just a bit out of reach for her.
"Need some help?" I offer. She jumps back, clearly frightened as she was not expecting to see me at the library.
"What, are you stalking me now?" She asks as she turns back around trying to grab the book. I roll my eyes, reach up for the book and hand it to her.
"Thanks" she mumbles as she tries to step around me, but I block her in between myself and the shelf behind her.
"Arya look, I'm seriously really sorry. I shouldn't have let him speak to you like that, especially after you offered to tutor me even though you're already super busy with work. More importantly, I shouldn't have tried to defend him by saying that he could be a dick at times, no girl should ever be treated like that. I'm not just apologizing to get you to tutor me again but also for you to forgive me...because frankly, I don't really like when you're upset with me." I say as I look her right in the eyes. She's quiet for a few seconds but then she finally looks up at me.
"I- Okay fine, you're forgiven" she says with a slight eye roll and a small smile. A sigh of relief passes through me as I slowly move out of her way. I watch as she begins to walk back to her table, holding the book close to her chest.
"Aren't you coming?" she asks
"What do you mean?" I respond confused
"You want me to tutor you right?...well your first session starts right now" she says as she turns back around and sits at her table. I laugh a little as I head back to my table, grab my things, and join her for our first session.
----------Time Skip to after the Tutoring Session----------
"I'm home!" I yell as I quickly shut the front door behind me. No one usually answers but it's kinda become a force of a habit. My parents are always busy so I'm usually home alone unless Philip, our butler is here. This weekend him and his family took a ski trip to Utah, so it's just me. I honestly don't mind it though because even when my parents are home, everything usually turns to chaos and we all end up not speaking to each other unless we have to.
"Hey Xanny!" I let out a loud scream as I turn around and face the voice. Oh shit, what is this fucker doing here? I thought he wasn't coming home this Christmas. Someone please run me over with their car!
Ladies and gentleman meet my asshole of an older brother, Axton Mitchell. I can't stand him, he's my parents favorite and he knows it. He's their little puppet, he goes to Yale and studies film production, has a perfect 4.0 GPA, an internship with one of the biggest film companies, and he always does what he's told. Pfft PUSSY!
"What the fuck are you doing here? I thought you weren't coming home for the holidays this year?" I say annoyed as I head into the kitchen for some food. All that studying with Arya made me hella hungry.
"Jeez Xanny I know you don't like me but at least act like you do" he says as he grabs the apple out of my hand just as I was about to take a bite. Also, me being nice to him is a lot easier said than done.
I wasn't always the popular jock that everyone knows at school, I used to get bullied... a lot. My brother was by far my biggest bully too, him and his stupid friends would always pick on me because I always did really bad in school plus, I was a really ugly kid. The worst part is that it wasn't even my fault as to why I did bad in school, as a child my parents quickly realized that I wasn't learning things as quickly as a normal child should and I also had a very hard time reading and still do. They took me to a doctor and found out that I had dyslexia but since they didn't want people to know due to embarrassment, they never told anyone, not other members of our family, friends, not even any of my schools. The only people who know are my parents, my brother, and myself.
That's why I always did below average in school, I was never put into the right classes which would help focus on helping me read properly and learn better. I was put into the same classes as other kids. My brother knew yet he always made everyday of my life a living hell until he finally left for college. Him and his stupid friends would always call me horrible names and push me around. My dad thinks dyslexia is a "set back" and that it's "easy to overcome" but who is he to talk, he's not the one going through it and my mom never even bothers to defend me. All-in-all, I hate my family.
I know what you're thinking, "why didn't you ever say anything to anyone?" to be honest, I just can't. The first reason being that it's embarrassing and the second is that I honestly feel like it's too late to try and get help plus if my parents found out they would probably kill me.
What people fail to realize is that I actually do try to pay attention in class and I even try studying for the exams, but nothing registers in my head. That's why I always put on the façade of acting like I'm just the stereotypical dumb jock.
Working with Arya today, she made me feel less stupid, she explained things slowly, with diagrams, and even highlighted certain parts of the textbook that would help me learn each formula and for once I actually felt like I understood calculus. Maybe she will be the one who will help me pass.
"Why should I pretend to like someone who treated me like shit for most of my life" I say as I grab my plate of a PB&J sandwich and head upstairs to my room.
"Mom and dad are gonna be home tonight, they want to go get dinner with us" I hear Axton yell from the other side of the door. There's no way in hell I'm going to dinner with the 3 people I despise the most.
"Can't, I have plans with Jess and Ash" No I don't. I say as I scroll through my Instagram feed.
"It's not a choice" Axton says as I hear his voice fading away. FML.
—————Time Skip to Dinner with the Mitchell's—————
And here I am sitting at a dinner table with my family whom I despise. One question God, why put me through this?
"Axton I'm so glad you're home honey! Your dad and I have missed you so much! How's school? And more importantly how's the internship?" My mom asks with a big smile spread across her face
"I missed you guys too! Schools been great, still getting all A's of course and the internship is going amazing, Mr.Mendes is actually thinking of hiring me after I graduate!" Axton says as I notice him giving me the side eye with a smirk. God I wish Arya was here to throw water at him. When she did that yesterday, I'm not gonna lie...it was hot. My brother is such a kiss ass it actually hurts. I cringe after every sentence he speaks and my parents buy all of his bullshit.
"That's great son! As for you Xander, I got a call from you're principal, he said you're failing calculus" my father looks at me with a disappointing glare. Did this man forget that it's his fault as to why I'm failing!
"Yea I am but I'm working with a tutor to help me pass my midterm so I can pass this semester" I say as I begin to poke at my salad.
"I don't get it, you're brother never needed a tutor, so why do you? You should be able to figure it out on your own. ITS NOT THAT HARD!" I hear my father yell
"Yeah well are you diagnosed with a learning disability that your fucking parents never took care of? No you're not so stop saying that everything is so fucking easy!" I yell back at him
"God Adrianna! Why is our son such a failure? Why can't both of our sons be succes-" he was cut off when I threw my napkin on the table, stormed out of the restaurant and into my car. Fuck that! I refuse to be spoken badly about right in front of my face. They can all go to hell!
As I was sitting in my car, I heard my stomach growl. Fuck I didn't even get the chance to eat! I look down the street and see the bright pink sign that reads "Cherry's Diner". I could use a shake and maybe Arya will be there. What? No you just want food Xander, that's it! So, I quickly get out of my car and make my way down the street and into the diner.
"Hi! Welcome to Cherry's Diner. What can I get-Xander? What are you doing here? ...Maybe you are stalking me." I look up from the menu and see Arya looking at me with confusion.
"Calm your tits Ari, I was just in town and got hungry" I say with a small laugh
"Oh hahaha yea of course...well what can I get you?" She asks. I order a few things and watch her skate away. I see her hand my order to the chef and then skate off to another girl who looks are age. I watch as they both laugh at something the chef says, god Arya's smile is beautiful and her laugh is very contagious. I think even I started to smile. I see that she grab's my food and begins to skate back over here.
"How do you not drop anything?" I ask while she's placing the plates down on the table
"Honestly I have no clue, I'm pretty shocked myself that I haven't dropped any of my orders...yet" she says with a small laugh
"So...what are you actually doing here Xander?" she asks as she takes a seat on the chair that's right across from mine. I give her a look.
"What? My shifts over and all I want to do is take off these stupid death on wheels" she says as she struggles to take each of her skates off.
"I was just out to dinner with my family and we got into a stupid argument" I say with a shrug as I begin to stuff my face with fries. She looks at me with sympathy but doesn't say anything. Thank god, I hate talking about my feelings and getting all mushy with people. I feel better off just keeping shit like that to myself.
"Why did you decide to tutor me? and I know it's not because of college." I blurt all of a sudden. Jeez way to be subtle dumbass.
"I don't know...I just wouldn't want someone to not help me if I was in your shoes. Plus I saw you standing by your locker after class yesterday with the last math test in your hand and- and you looked upset so I figured it wouldn't hurt" She says as she starts to look up at me. Oh, she saw me with my test, how fucking embarrassing. She probably thinks I'm an idiot... I mean I am but you know what I mean.
"Well I know I never said this before but thank you, I know how much you work and how much school work you have so I really appreciate you doing this for me" I say genuinely. I honestly don't know what I would have done if she didn't offer to help me or if she never forgave me. She smiles and heads back over to her friend while I finish my meal. Another waitress hands me my check and I head back to my car. On my way I notice Arya walking down the sidewalk, does she not have a car?
"Do you need a ride?" I yell out across the parking lot.
"I'm okay! Thanks though" She yells back as she turns back and heads towards an alley. Oh hell no! If something happens to her I could never forgive myself. So... I follow her.
"Arya, please let me drive you home, it's the least I can do and plus I don't want you walking in an alleyway, alone at 10 pm!" I say as I stand right in front of her.
"Relax bodyguard, I've done this multiple times" she says. I can tell she's getting irritated but I still refuse to let her walk alone.
"No, Arya just let me take you home. Please! I don't know what I would do if something were to happen to you. SO PLEASE LET ME DRIVE YOU HOME!" I say getting fed up with the stubborn girl.
"Okay! okay! fine" she says as she turns around and heads over to my car. Thank god, I was worried I was gonna have to carry her over my shoulder. We both get into my car and I blast the heat since it's about 38 degrees out. I don't know how she's not dying from how cold it is, all she's wearing is her work uniform, which is a dress and a small coat.
"Can you put in your address?" I ask as I hand her my phone. She grabs it and puts in her address, I notice that she lives about 35 minutes away just by driving, which means she would have had to walk over an hour to get home. HOLY SHIT THIS CHICK IS CRAZY!
As soon as the car gets warm enough, I put the car in drive and begin to head in the direction the GPS tells me to. The car ride is quite... a little too quite, I look to my right and notice Arya's head leaning against the window of my Range Rover as she's looking up at the stars. She looks super exhausted almost as if she's about to fall asleep.
"Can I be honest with you?" I say to her. She turns back to look at me with a curious glare.
"Yeah of course" she says still curious
"I don't think I can pass the midterm. You might as well give up now Ari" I say still looking ahead, knowing that if I were to look at her she would probably try to strangle me. However, what I'm saying is the truth though, I have a disability and no ones ever been able to help me, so why try now. What my dad said tonight really got to me. I mean, what if he's right? maybe I could get through this without the help of anyone. Maybe I should be like my brother.
"Xander, I'm not gonna give up. I get that calc is hard, but we've only had one session and I can tell that you really want to understand, you just have to let yourself absorb the content. It's almost as if you're holding yourself back. So if you think that I'm gonna let you try and push me away, I'm not going anywhere, I promise." she says as she gently places her small had on top of mine in a reassurance. Her touch sends goosebumps all across my skin. I can't help but enjoy it a bit more than I should, which is why I don't bother to move my hand. She eventually lets go and my hand begins to feel cold again, missing her touch.
We finally pull up in front of her house. It a small, beige, one-story house with two large windows by the front door. Inside the house I see an old woman sleeping on the couch with the TV on. Must be her grandma. Her parents must be out of town or something.
"Thank you Xander" she says as she opens the door and begins to grab her things but I quickly grab her arm before she can leave.
"I- um- Thank you Ari... for not giving up on me" I say as we both look at each other for a few seconds. She gives me a small smile with a nod. She grabs her things, waves goodbye once more, and heads into her house. I watch as she walks over to the old woman and gives her a kiss on the head and wraps her in a blanket. Then she walks towards the windows and closes both the blinds. After realizing she's safe, I quickly drive home thinking about what just happened and about what she said.
Arya Ali I really hope you keep your promises.
----------Author's Note----------
Hey Guys! Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Let us know what you think of Xander! Do you guys like him and Arya? We love hearing form you. Enjoy the book <3
-Pradabagg
Word count: 3698