Started as His Tutor

Oblivious

Ever since I started high school, I never had a moment to be bored. Boredom is great. Every second I was occupied. Whether that was studying, doing chores, eating, sleeping, or sitting around with Wilbur. I do the same thing nowadays, but I'm bored. Getting used to Vincent dragging me along with him, I learned to do my homework in one-fourth of the time I usually take, leaving me many hours to sit around. With not enough food show episodes that I haven't already watched, I had no choice but to occupy myself by other means. Besides, I haven't done anything involved enough to get any scholarships or colleges even. All I have going for me are my grades.

Ally tired to convince me to join the cheerleading team, to which I definitely declined. Not only because I would hate it, but also because I would never make the cut. Unless they wanted me to wear the sweaty mascot costume, which I would still not make.

Instead, I decided to join the cooking club. At first, I thought it was purely for hobby, but we actually have to do fundraising for ingredients, cook, and then bring food to a nearby soup kitchen to donate Friday afternoons. The people there seemed nice. Although, I could do without accidentally eavesdropping on gossip. After half an hour, I decided to put in my earphones, even though I had no music playing. I spent my Wednesday afternoon peeling a bunch of potatoes.  Thursday I got to dice carrots and onions. Since I was a newbie, no one trusted me to work the stove, so I just mashed the potatoes.

Next on my agenda is to get a job, which Ally also convinced me to do. She wants to hang out with me more after school, so she urged me to get a job at the mall where she works in a beauty shop. I don't know I single thing about makeup or face scrubs, so I opted for a job opening at the food court ice cream shop instead. I'm even surprised they called me in for an interview. I guess having good grades, perfect attendance, and tutoring was enough to interest them.

"Hi, I'm here for a job interview with Ms. Ann..." I shyly ask the woman at the register.

"Oh, you must be Wendy. Come on back." She opens a small door for me to slip through and takes me to a tiny office behind metal shelves full of sprinkles and chocolate syrups. "Have a seat," she invites in the most uninviting way, pointing me to a tiny chair in the corner of her cramped office.

I do and she squeezes past the arms of my chair to get to her desk that is littered with bunches of a paper that she bundles into jumbled piles, plopping them on the floor beside her.

"I'll be brief. Can you do math?"

"Yes," I answer simply, a little scared and intimidated by the tiny but feisty old lady.

"Okay, good. Because I'm tired of having people give back wiring amounts of change... You better not do that," she wants before even giving me the job.

"I won't," I assure her, trying to sound more confident but it comes out pretty weak.

"You wrote that you have perfect attendance. So you've never been out sick or late?"

"I've never been late. If I'm sick, I still go to school," I explain.

"Who did you tutor?"

"A classmate."

"What subject?"

"Math."

"Hmm, I guess you're smart enough to count money then..." She pauses. "You got the job."

"Really?" I accidentally let slip.