An Unusual Pairing

Valerie

I stared across the table at Johnson, who was struggling to stay awake. His pen barely moved across the paper, and his eyes kept darting to his phone every few seconds, a distraction that was getting under my skin.

Honestly, I had no idea why I'd agreed to help him in the first place. It wasn't like I was doing it for him. No, I'd only agreed because I needed something to get out of the house—something to make my mom proud. Helping out someone else in need was a nice excuse, I guess. But let's face it: Johnson wasn't exactly the ideal student to tutor.

He was a mess, barely scraping by in his classes. Sure, he could hold his own on the ice, but when it came to actual schoolwork, it was a different story. The only reason he needed to pass was because his hockey career depended on it. If he didn't make the grade, he was out of the game. And we all knew how much he valued that.

But me? I didn't care about hockey. I cared about not being nagged by my mom for not "giving back" to the community. So, I signed up to tutor him. Besides, I figured I could at least get some extra credit for it.

"You paying attention, Johnson?" I snapped, my voice sharp.

He blinked, pulling his gaze from his phone, barely looking at me. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry."

I forced a smile, though it was a little too tight to be genuine. "Let's try this again. You need to understand this if you're going to pass the class. You're failing. You can't afford to slack off if you want to stay on the team."

"I know, I know." His voice was absent like he was somewhere else entirely. I wasn't sure if he was pretending to care, or if he truly just didn't care.

I could feel my patience wearing thin. How was he so oblivious to how much was riding on this? If he didn't make the grade, he wasn't going to play, and if he didn't play, he wasn't going to be the big man on campus anymore. It was honestly kind of pathetic that he wasn't taking this seriously.

I tried to stay focused, flipping open my notes and pointing to the problem on the paper. "This is the basic equation you need to solve. How do we simplify this?"

His eyes glazed over again. "Uh, I don't know."

A wave of frustration washed over me. He had no interest in this. It was obvious. And yet, here I was, wasting my time, helping him because it would look good on my record. "Alright, let's start from the basics," I said, my voice trying to remain calm. "You have to follow the steps. First, you need to—"

But as I began explaining the steps again, I felt my patience slipping even more. It wasn't just that he wasn't listening. It was that he didn't seem to care. The effort I was putting in felt like it was going nowhere.

"Come on, man, we've been through this before," I muttered under my breath, feeling my irritation bubble up.

Johnson finally sat up straighter, looking me in the eye. "I get it, alright? I just… I don't know how to focus. This stuff is hard for me."

It was a weak excuse, but I could hear the frustration in his voice. He knew what was at stake, but the question was: Did he care enough to do something about it?

"You have to want it, Johnson," I said, leaning in, trying to get through to him. "This is your future. If you want to keep playing, you have to pass. Simple as that."

He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I know, but it's just... it's hard. I don't have the time for all this. I'm on the ice almost every day. School comes second."

"Then you're not going to play," I shot back, no patience left. "You have to figure this out. Do you want to play hockey? Fine. Then you need to make sure you're not failing out of school."

I watched him slump, clearly defeated. "I'm trying, okay?"

I glanced at him, the weight of his words hitting me. He was trying—he was. But it was hard to respect someone who couldn't put in the effort to help themselves. It was hard to respect someone who only worked hard when there was something in it for them.

I let out a long breath, collecting my thoughts. "Alright. Let's just do this one more time, okay?"

Johnson nodded, but I wasn't sure if he was going to do any better. Still, I pushed ahead, guiding him step by step. I might not care about hockey or his future, but I cared about the fact that if he failed horribly people would assume I'm a horrible tutor, which I'm not.

***

After I finally finished tutoring, I couldn't help but feel a little drained. The day had been long, and I wasn't looking forward to the next class, but it was unavoidable. Mr. Greene's English class was up next.

I found my seat as the bell rang, signaling the start of class. The room was buzzing with the usual chatter, but it quieted down quickly when Mr. Greene cleared his throat.

"Alright, everyone, settle down," he said, his voice carrying easily through the room. "Today, we're starting a creative writing project. You'll be paired up with a partner to write a short story. I'll be assigning the pairs, and you'll have the rest of the class to brainstorm."

A wave of murmurs rippled through the room, but I wasn't particularly excited. Writing wasn't my thing, and the idea of being stuck working with someone else felt more like a chore than a creative exercise. Still, I pulled out my notebook and tried to focus on what Mr. Greene was saying.

He started calling the pairs one by one, and I found myself zoning out until I heard two names that caught my attention.

"Jessica and Rachel," he announced. Jess wasn't thrilled by the pairing, I could tell from the way she rolled her eyes. She and Rachel had never gotten along, and I wasn't sure how that would play out for the project.

"And Damon, you'll be with Valerie."

That hit me like a punch to the gut. I looked up just in time to meet Damon's cool, indifferent gaze across the room. He was already looking back at me, a bored expression on his face. It was like he didn't even care.

I glanced at Jess again, and she caught my eye with a look of disbelief, clearly as unenthusiastic about this pairing as I was.

Mr. Greene went on, continuing to assign other pairs, but my focus had completely shifted to the thought of being stuck with Damon for the next week. I wasn't thrilled but I wasn't that upset by the pairing.

When the bell rang and the class ended Jess and I walked out together, and she immediately started venting about how she couldn't switch partners. Her words came out in a fast-paced, frustrated stream.

"I swear, it's like he planned it this way. I tried to get Mr. Greene to let me switch with someone, but he wouldn't budge. Now I'm stuck with Rachel for this stupid project!"

I couldn't blame her for being upset. Rachel was annoying and just overall not a good partner. But just as I was about to offer some words of comfort, a voice interrupted me.

"Hey, Valerie," Damon said, his voice smooth but with a hint of reluctance. I turned around to see him walking toward us, one hand casually gripping the strap of his bag while the other was shoved into his pocket. His usual indifference radiated from him, and I could already feel my irritation building.

He stopped a few feet away, standing just outside our little bubble of conversation. "Look, I know you'd probably rather be with anyone else, but we still need to get a good grade, right? Let's just try to get through this without making it a pain in the ass."

His nonchalant tone made it sound like he was doing me some kind of favor, and that irked me even more. It wasn't that I cared about the grade—of course, I wanted a good grade—but something about his nonchalance irritated me.

I crossed my arms, trying to keep my cool. "Agreed," I said, my voice cold. "Just make sure you do your part, and we won't have any problems."

"Now, if you'll excuse us," I added, giving him a pointed look, "we were talking."

Damon didn't seem fazed, his expression still neutral. "Sure," he said with a shrug, turning to walk away. "See you."

I watched him walk off, a part of me already dreading what was to come. Jess raised an eyebrow at me as soon as Damon was out of earshot.

"You two are going to kill each other before the project even starts," she said, her voice filled with amusement.

I sighed, running a hand through my hair. "It won't be that bad... Now you and Rachel is a completely different story." I teased.

Jess let out a groan "Don't remind me," she said, a scoff falling from her mouth.

To be honest, I couldn't deny that I was slightly interested in how this would play out.