Glamoured: A Modern Fairy Tale

5. Hot for Tutor

The next day at four forty-five, Eleanor waited outside the library where she was supposed to meet Daniel. She crossed her arms and glared down at her phone, willing the time to move faster. A devilish part of her wanted him to be late so she could bail and have a convenient excuse. But no tutor would probably—no definitely—mean she'd fail economics, and she couldn't afford that. She tapped her foot, continuing her vigil.

He was late, but then, she didn't recognize him when he strode up to her. He was tall and lean, dressed in a pair of jeans that fit just right, and had a pair of high cheek bones that matched equally lovely green eyes.

"You're Eleanor?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh...the tutor, Daniel...right," she stammered. "Yeah, Eleanor. That's me. Would shake your hand, but mine are full of books."

He smiled at her, shaking his head. He held the door open and said, "Shall we?"

"Yeah," Eleanor said, feeling her mouth go dry. Somehow, tutoring now seemed less like a chore. She was definitely going to ask Daniel if he wanted to do an extra night—or two—a week. Of studying only, of course.

They sat down, and Daniel asked, "What are you having problems understanding?"

"Everything," Eleanor said glumly. She'd come prepared and handed her stack of bad grades to Daniel. He flipped through them, frowning while he read her answers.

He sighed and said, "You're not kidding."

"I wouldn't be here if I was the next John Keynes."

He laughed, which was a rich sound that smoothed Eleanor's nerves like an iron pressing a wrinkled shirt. She folded her arms and let him lay out a lesson plan. They started to work backwards through some of the old material that she'd struggled with.

"What tanked this homework set?" Daniel asked, pointing out a particularly bad grade, which was even worse than her normal fare of craptastic scores.

"Math." Eleanor wrinkled her nose. "Numbers were never my thing."

"Ah," Daniel said, pulling out a pen and a note book. He explained what a standard curve was and how to calculate the standard deviation; more importantly, he explained where these things would come into play during her economics class.

"What's your next exam on?" he asked her. She shrugged, and Daniel rolled his eyes. "Come on, I can't help you if you don't open up to me."

He gave her a winning smile, and Eleanor melted under it like butter in the oven. She said, "It's about the slow growth model, and I understand that zero percent."

"What that means is how fast capital accumulates," Daniel explained. "Basically, it's an equation that you need to understand. Can you tell me the assumptions you need to make or the variables you need to understand to use the slow growth model?"

"Are there turtles involved?" she asked hopefully.

Daniel shook his head, pressing his lips into a straight line. "Focus," he said. "The first assumption is a continuous time. Can you name another factor?"

Eleanor chewed on her lip. She guessed, "No international trade?"

"Yes," Daniel said, coaxing her forward. She shook her head, letting him know she was out of ideas. Not that she had any genius level thoughts about economics to begin with.

"That's okay," Daniel explained, scribbling down her assignment. "I want you to really understand this equation. I wrote down all the variables and conditions upon which the slow growth model depends. Let's meet up this weekend to go over this before your test, why don't we?"