On My Way To Mr. Right

Chapter 7

Today was a Tuesday and we had just finished lunch and made our way to our next class, which is our favorite class since we're all in this class. The only class we all share. But, here's the thing, it's a class called Science. Even if it was run by the most easy-going, fun-filled teacher, Science would be Science. Science will always be hard. Not for me, at least. But for most students it is difficult and I even struggle with it from time to time.

"I hope Mr. Gesek doesn't give assignments today. I'm still beaten by his latest tasks. Those were hard numbers." James whined as we walked the halls.

"Everything is hard for you, Tucker. If you only do your assignments days before the actual deadline, then you won't be rushing to pass rush." Bea countered.

James grunted and rolled his eyes and we all laughed. James is James. He never likes to study. He claims that he only goes to school for a good life in the future. 'It's so much more trouble to be good at it. I'm passing, aren't I?' That's what he said.

"Why are you guys being so hard on James? He's passing everything, isn't he?" I defended him and he smiled cheekily at me, knowing I could never let these losers team upon him. I'm a good friend. What can I say?

"Charlotte, he's barely passing. Mr. Gesek said he'll have to fail him if he doesn't pass the quarterly exams before Christmas break." He's going to fail Math?

"We're performing something before the dance, that should be enough credit," James reasoned.

I looked at him worriedly and he creased his brows at me.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that? It's gonna be enough, I swear." He chuckled and it made me more worried.

"Dude, if you don't pass this, you're going to fail. Does failing ring a bell in your head?"

"What am I supposed to do? You know I can't study." He said with a tone that didn't give me relief. He's going to fail and he's not doing anything about it.

But I guess James can't study. Literally. Every five minutes of looking at scribbled words, he gets distracted with something and ends up not studying at all.

"Charlotte, come on," Beatrice nudges me, trying to tell me something using her eyebrows.

That's not possible, I thought to myself. I don't understand eyebrow language or sign language. Or whatever language she was trying to pass in.

"Use words and mouths, B," I told her and she rolled her eyes at me.

"Why don't you teach him, Lottie?" I was gonna laugh at that suggestion when I realized she was being serious.

"Why can't it be Charles? I don't want to bother Charlotte." James countered her suggestion.

"It's not a bother to Charlotte, right, Lottie? Besides, Charles is James-intolerant. He doesn't have enough patience to be with you for an hour or more." Bea chuckled.

Teaching isn't in my genes and I don't have the longest patience, but I'm a good friend and I don't like the sound of one of us failing. Besides, I think I can tolerate James longer than Charles could. If he teaches James, I'm sure one of them is going to end up with a swollen eye. I don't have to wonder who.

"You up for it, Lottie?" James asked with his ever-famous cheeky smile.

"Of course, yeah, as long as it's okay for you to get hit on the head every time you annoy me," I said with a laugh. James' eyes widened in horror for one second before realizing that I was joking. I do hope it's only a joke. I don’t want to take extreme measures.

"Thank you, Charlotte. I appreciate it." He said as we got inside the room. I slapped the back of his neck and he glared at me.

"What was that for?!"

"You're being so sentimental. That's not the James I know." I told him, laughing.

I took my seat, which was in the back of the class, along with my friends. We still had five minutes before the bell rang and twenty minutes before Mr. Gesek arrives. He's not exactly the teacher who comes early for class. He's quite the opposite. That is also why he gives so many assignments and why lectures with him get difficult. He lacked time to teach, therefore squeezing everything in the little remaining time he had.

It's hard, you know?

"Would you rather I talk about my night with Lila?" James whistled and I couldn't help but scrunch my face in disgust.

"I don't want to hear it, Tucker." I dismissed them and turned my attention to my book.

"She was very pretty, though," he rambles. I glanced at him to see him staring at the wall. "It's just, it wasn't a very successful night. She's not very bright."

I sighed, knowing full well he wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

The class started as Mr. Gesek has arrived. I stared at the empty seat beside me. It was Ross’ seat. She hadn’t come to school for two days now. The last we saw her was Saturday night when we slept over at her place. We had waited until noon for her to return from ‘buying food’ but she never did, and some of us had important places to get to.

I worry as I think about her. She wasn’t very good at handling her emotions. She gets overwhelmed easily and I just think it was important she reached out to us for support. We didn’t offer much, but what we had was genuine. Something that doesn’t fade nor falter over time.