With a quick wave to Traci, Vicky hurried up to sit beside Levi.
"Today we will be studying the cell structure of common bacteria and fungi. Each of you have a sample on the table in front of you..." said their teacher as she wrote down the instructions on the board.
"Let's quickly get this over with," said Levi aligning the sample under the microscope. He sneaked a look into the lens and gaffed. "This looks like cafeteria spaghetti from a couple of weeks ago."
Vicky laughed. "Here, let me take a look." She quickly peered into the lens and declared. "Oh it resembles Corynebacterium diphtheriae. No wonder it looks nasty."
Levi looked overjoyed as he hurriedly passed her all the samples. "You're good at this." he commented as she deftly went through the experiments.
"If only Math was so easy!" groaned Vicky. "That subject makes no sense to me. And we have a test on trigonometry. Imagine not knowing how to swim and signing up for the Olympic freestyle competition."
"Hey it's not that bad. You do know the basic formulae and some of the simple stuff."
"Levi, have you not seen me in Math class? I know nothing!"
"Here, I'll write down some formulae for you. Memorize these first and we can work out something."
They worked in companionable silence for several minutes. Levi was slightly distracted and kept checking his phone for something. Vicky shrugged it off and looked back into the microscope.
It was almost an forty five minutes by the time Vicky managed to finish analyzing all the slides.
"I'm done with the experiments. We still have a while before the teacher asks for the readings though." said Vicky. Maybe her tutoring could begin now?
Levi gave a little jump just then and Vicky wondered what was wrong before Levi plucked out his cell phone again.
His eyes widened as he read something on the screen. If Vicky wasn't mistaken, the emotion flicking across his eyes was that of rage, He angrily pushed the hair away from his face and looked at Vicky with a new resolve.
"Vicky I have to go. There is something I need to do." he said firmly handing her the paper he'd scribbled on. "You'll do fine, I'm sorry for bailing on you, but I really need to leave."
"Is everything alright Levi? Do you need any help?" asked Vicky, concern etching her forehead.
"No Vicky, I just need to run. I don't have much time." he said quickly packing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder.
"Okay Levi. But won't you miss the test too?" said Vicky knowing well that it didn't matter to Levi.
Levi laughed. "I doubt it'll be significant in the long run. See you Vicky, take care." He planted a kiss on her forehead and hurried off to speak to the teacher.
She watched him convince the teacher effortlessly and walk out the door without even glancing back. Vicky felt weird, awkwardly hollow and simply confused.
Why did he rush off like that? Why couldn't he tell her the reason? Did he not trust her enough?
She returned her gaze to the piece of paper Levi had written on.
In his fine handwriting he had scribbled down twenty increasingly complex formulae. Vicky groaned. She was doomed!
"Hello summer school." she said as she plunked her head on the table. Despair was comforting and she closed her eyes to think of the horrible implications of failing a high school Math test.
"Psst. !" hissed someone, causing Vicky to jump up startled. It was Traci from the far end of the classroom, looking concerned.
"You ok?" she mouthed.
"Yes." smiled back Vicky. It is true she reasoned, she was fine, she just didn't feel that way. Besides, she hadn't really expected to pass without any preparation and with her tutor gone, she was as good as a misguided satellite.
When the bell finally rang for the first period, Vicky hurried up to the teacher and submitted her work. The second period of biology lab was optional if you finished the experiments in the first half itself. Traci was only midway through her sample slides so Vicky picked up her bag and headed off to the cafeteria for an early solo lunch.
Food was good for the nerves, she told herself. She couldn't wait to eat that entire meal her mom had packed. Hey it was always better to go into war well fed.
She found a secluded corner table and sat down with a huge sigh. Pulling out the enormous brown paper bag she extracted the feast her mother called lunch.
Her table filled up quickly with turkey sandwiches, pumpkin pie, strawberry shortcake, some chicken salad, a pack of frozen yoghurt that had warmed up and an enormous bottle of orange juice.
"Wow. Nice picnic you got there."
Vicky looked up to see David looking at her with an amused glint in his eye.
She blushed. "Take a seat, I'm just trying to eat away my sorrows. Yo are welcome to join me."
"Speaking of sorrows, how come your boyfriend ran off so early?" he asked accepting the sandwich Vicky gave him.
"I'm not sure. He said he had something to do." said Vicky, realizing how little she actually knew about Levi. Hell he could be a secret agent for the M16 for all she knew.
"Uh huh." said David taking off his lip ring to take a big bite. "Man this is delicious. Your mom makes awesome food."
"Thanks. I'll tell her when I get home." said Vicky with a laugh as she started on the salad.
David looked like he'd fallen in love with the sandwich, so Vicky thought small talk would be futile. She just wanted to get the stupid test over with. Like Levi said a tiny test won't matter in the long run.
Levi.
She hoped he was okay. Even though she hated to admit it, she and Levi were not that close. They had a connection, a past, and even had undeniable attraction between them, but quite honestly they barely knew each other.
This thought hurt and suddenly the salad didn't taste so good.
"Worried about Walters?" Asked David suddenly.
Vicky shook head vigorously in what she felt was more to reassure herself than answer David.
"Can you teach me trigonometry?" she blurted out. "Traci said you're a whiz kid. I'll give you all my desert."
"Sure. I'd have helped without the bribe." He said digging out a notebokk and pen from his bag.
"You would?" asked Vicky in disbelief recalling how David had just walked off that morning. "You didn't offer to help."
"You never asked." Shrugged David. "We'll talk later, now look closely as I draw a right angled triangle..."
And thus began Vicky's crash course in trigonometry. David didn't write dull formulas or ask her to memorise anything. He simply explained how she should think in order to recall it. It took him thirty minutes to give her the basics and another thirty to solve likely questions.
By the time Traci joined them for lunch, Vicky was already revising and David was halgwat through an impressive array of desserts.
A/N: Hi everyone!
Is it trouble in paradise for Vicky?
Why do you think Levi ran off anyway?
Also what do you think of David?
Thanks for reading!â¤ð¤ Hope you are doing well.
Do tune in tomorrow for the next chapter. :)
Lots of love,
Andy