Chapter 3
Neither of my parents talked to me after I told them why I was failing. They either didn't care or they were too shocked.
I was back at school and Levi was already making fun of me.
"We're going to do something different," Mrs. Timmons said. "Since we're studying Romeo and Juliet, I assigned everyone with a partner. Together, you will write a short tragedy story." She pinned a list up near the door. "Here is your partners. You can check it now."
Everyone, except me, hurried to the list. I hate the assignment. I was going to be paired with someone and it nicked writing. Great.
"Hi Hunter," someone said. I looked up and saw Violet Wyatt. She was probably the only person who didn't treat me like a loner. "We're partners for the project."
"Cool," I said. She was the smartest girl in school so it was no surprised I got paired with her.
She pulled up a chair and sat down. She handed me the criteria. "Can you read the outline?" she asked. "I'll write things down."
I looked at the outline. "Um....What's this word?"
She looked at the word I was pointing at. She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Are you being serious?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Tragedy," she said. "Can you read the rest?"
I silently sighed. "Sure. Create a tragedy store....Can you just read it?"
Violet took the paper from me, luckily not questioning me. "So," she said as she wrote stuff in her notebook. "If you don't mind me asking, how much are you failing by? Word got around."
Of course word got around. Levi probably told everyone. "Thirty-two percent," I muttered.
Violet didn't seemed shocked by it at all. Instead, she wrote something in her notebook and handed it to me. "Read this," she said.
I looked at the word, confused. I sighed and handed it back to her. "I can't," I said.
"Does the school know you're dyslexic?" she asked. It was funny how she found that out in a matter of seconds yet my parents or the school didn't. "Didn't your parents tell them?"
"My parents found at about it yesterday," I told her.
"But you're sixteen," she said. "They didn't notice at all?"
"They're too busy with their careers," I said.
"I'm sorry, Hunter," Violet said. "It must be horrible having Levi bother you about your grade when he doesn't know about your learning disability."
I shrugged. "It is what it is."
"I'll tell you what," Violet said. "I'll do all the writing. We'll both plan it."
"Are you sure?" I asked.
"Positive," Violet said. "I don't want to push you into writing."
"Thanks," I said.
While we were planning the story, Mrs. Timmons walked over to us. "Hunter, I'll need you to stay in after the bell," she said. "I'll call your next teacher to tell them you'll be late."
"Why?" I asked.
"I scheduled a meeting," she said. "I called your parents but since they can't make it, your dad said that your uncle is coming instead."
She walked away, leaving me a bit shocked. Cameron was coming to the meeting? Cameron Venturi? He was just as famous as my dad. Whenever he came to pick me up from school, he never left his car. What will happen if people actually saw him.
"You okay?" Violet asked. "You seem shocked."
"Yeah, I'm fine," I said. "I just got used to having nobody come to any of my meetings. Now my uncle is coming."
The bell rang for lunch, but I had to stay there. "I'll see you in algebra," Violet said before leaving. Algebra, yet another class I was failing.
Right as the last person left, Cameron walked in. "I'm here about my nephew," he said.
Mrs. Timmons looked shocked to see him. "Cameron Venturi? It's nice to meet you. So you're Hunter's uncle."
"More or less," he said as he walked over to me. "He's my best friend's kid."
Mrs. Timmons nodded, but then blinked a few times. "Hunter Bolton. Is your dad Austin Bolton?"
Oh no. Someone found out that Austin Bolton had a kid. Note the sarcasm. I wonder what would happen if word got around.
"Yup," I said.
"I never knew he had a kid," Mrs. Timmons said. "I never knew I was teaching his kid."
"Austin would liked to keep it classified for certain reasons," Cameron said. "No alerting the media."
Mrs. Timmons nodded. So word wouldn't go around. Darn.
"Anyway," Mrs. Timmons said. "I scheduled this meeting to discuss Hunter's grade of thirty-two. He almost never handed anything in, he failed all his tests, never completed his homework and his work is sloppy. I suggest getting him a tutor."
"I don't need a tutor," I said. "I can work on my own."
"I tried suggesting it yesterday," Cameron told Mrs. Timmons. "But he's very stubborn. I talked to his dad and he told me what's going on though."
"What is going on?" Mrs. Timmons asked. "If it's not too personal."
"The school doesn't know?" Cameron asked. "Hunter is dyslexic." Might as well tell the whole world.
"Dyslexic?" Mrs. Timmons repeated. "Why wasn't the school told?"
Cameron shrugged. "I just found out about it yesterday."
"So did Mom and Dad," I muttered.
"Hunter, dyslexia is very serious," Mrs. Timmons said. "You could have gotten extra help if the school knew."
"I don't need extra help," I said. "I've passed English before. I can pass it again."
"It isn't just enough to pass," Cameron said. "You should have gotten help. I talked to your dad and you're getting a tutor."
I sighed. I really didn't want to spend more hours outside of school learning.
"And," Cameron continued, "we think it's best to got someone from this school to tutor you."
"May I suggest a student?" Mrs. Timmons asked. "I know a wonderful girl who is friendly with everyone." Cameron nodded. "Her name is Violet Wyatt. She's the top student at the school."
"If I do have to get a tutor, Violet's the only one I'm approving of," I said.
"Deal," Cameron said.
"I'll talk to her after school," Mrs. Timmons said. "Thank you for coming to the meeting. It was nice meeting you."
"You too," Cameron said. "I brought you some McDonalds, Hunter. It's in my car."
I got up and followed him out of the classroom. But right away, Levi, Lucy, Ezra, and Lucy's friend Maria Diaz walked over.
"You're Cameron Venturi," Levi said with a big smile
"Yes I am," Cameron replied.
"What are you doing at our school?" Levi asked. Everyone else seemed to starstruck to reply.
"I had a meeting concerning my nephew," Cameron replied.
"You're nephew goes to this school?" Lucy asked. Cameron nodded.
"There should be more meetings for students," Levi said, trying to make small talk and impress Cameron. "There's one student in my grade who's getting a thrity-two in English." My guess was that he didn't see me. "He must be really lazy."
"You know, it's not nice to talk about other students," Cameron said. "Do you know what the student is like?"
Maria spoke up. She was a bit of an airhead, so what she said next didn't surprise me. "Yeah. A freak."
"Maria!" Lucy said. "She didn't mean it."
"But I thought that's what we called Hunter," Maria said, sounding extremely confused. See? Airhead.
I snorted. "I'm standing right here!"
"This Hunter?" Cameron asked, pointing at me. "You four call him a freak?"
"What, of course not!" Levi lied. "I hate it when people get bullied."
"Just yesterday, you called me a freak and a loner," I said. "And you made fun of me failing."
"You must be mistaking me for someone else," Levi said. He was really trying to make a good impression on Cameron.
"What's your name?" Cameron asked.
"Levi," he said.
"Levi," Cameron repeated. "As an actor, I can tell when someone's lying. That and I believe my nephew here." Cameron placed a hand on my shoulder.
Levi widened his eyes. "Hunter's your nephew?!"
"Since the day he was born," Cameron said. "And let me just tell you that I don't like bullies. They kind of irritate me and I would appreciate it if you didn't bother him." He faced me. "Let's get your food, Hunter darling."
"Don't call me darling," I said as I followed him outside. But not before I smirked at the speechless bullies. In their faces.