The Tutor

Chapter 16

Nora would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she fancied William Manuel at one point. How could she not? He was perfect: tall, handsome athlete, straight A student, devoted boyfriend, polite and kind to a fault. He didn't need to stick to a particular group of people; he was the kind of person who got along with everyone and could be friends with whoever he chose. And really he chose to be friends with everyone, even the social recluses like her and Benny or with all the members of the SciFi Movies appreciation club. It's those traits that made him the Head Boy and captain of his football team.

It was a fleeting crush, an admiration of sorts. Everyone at one point loved William, and he was the most coveted boy in school until Rafe came along with his infamy, blasé attitude, and Italian profanities that made him seem more like a movie star than a teenager.

She never saw his girlfriend, but everyone knew William spent nearly every weekend in London with her and that she was, unsurprisingly, gorgeous. Nora wasn't looking to date, so she never considered him romantically. It was nice to just always have him around, hear his voice in the classroom, or see him smile at everyone in school.

His two-week-long absence was noticeable to Nora, who would always secretly compete with him to answer the most questions in class or glance at his final marks to see if he had done better than her (it rarely happened). Without him to compete with, the thrill of getting high marks almost seems to lose its appeal.

Now he was back. He stood by the lockers, chatting to the girls from the year below who flocked to express their sympathies over his nasty injury. As soon as the girls left him alone, his eyes locked on to Nora's.

"Hey," he said with a warm smile and waved her to come over.

"Hi," she replied in a small voice. "You're back."

He showed his leg wrapped in a cast and leaned onto his crutch. "Yep. Got so sick of lying around. This will take ages to heal," he said with a sigh of frustration.

"Yes, I can imagine. I'm sorry..."

"It is what it is. But no football for me this year. Rafe is taking over as captain. He seems to be in better spirits these days. I think you've been a great influence on him."

Nora warmed at the thought that Rafe had been making progress, and it was noticeable to all, not just the teachers. If she ever got tired of being a lawyer, being a teacher wouldn't be such a bad option.

"He just needed a little push," she replied, which was a bit of an understatement. What he needed was more of a shove and a drop kick down the stairs. 

"He mentioned you were really worried about me."

"H-He what?" Nora asked.

"Honestly, I'm fine. This sort of thing happens. And it's cool that Rafe takes over as captain. He's great. I'd rather he lead the team than some idiot..."

Nora had an inkling that the idiot he was referring to was Jack. Her cheeks flushed with colour and heat. She kept her facial expression in check whilst imagining going over to Rafe and sellotaping his mouth shut for good. Why would he tell William she was worried about him?! They weren't even friends.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay now. It's nice to have you back," Nora managed to say in an even voice. She never felt so awkward in her life.

"See you in class," he said.

She walked towards the classroom, down the long corridor, and at the end of it, she saw Rafe leaning against the lockers with a triumphant smirk on his face. He had watched her talk to William. Students were already gathered outside the classroom, waiting to go in.

"Happy to have Manuel back?" he teased.

"Why would you tell him I was worried about him?" she said, adding a smack on his arm. He barely felt it.

Rafe shrugged. "You were. You thought I was stealing his thunder whilst he was all alone and injured. You made it sound like I was some sort of a usurper."

"Yes, because I knew how much it meant to him. Being a captain."

"It means a lot to me, too. I need this for my application. It would prove to my dad that football is useful. I thought you were on my side," he said.

"I'm not on anyone's side," Nora muttered.

"Well, I told him because you obviously fancy him."

"Oh, for the last time, I don't. Yes, I admit I was attracted to him, but I don't have any intentions or feelings," she muttered. "So stop telling him stupid stuff."

"You can go for him. And thanks to me, you two just had a proper conversation, probably the first ever," Rafe said, pointing at himself with his thumb.

She held the deadpan expression on her face. "Look, Cupid, let's focus on schoolwork, okay?"

"It's not the most important thing, Nora. You're eighteen, for god's sake. Let loose. Go snog someone for once in your life."

"Who I snog and when is none of your concern, Rafe. I'm your tutor and my job is to get you good grades."

"Fine, you're such a killjoy. By the way, when are you giving me a proper tour of this crappy town? Check it out," he said with a grin and pushed a report into her hands. There was a significant leap from last term's grades. He got 90% on some of the coursework. Nora could feel her chest swell with pride. This was her hard work too.

"Well done... all looks good," she said, scanning the paper with her eyes. "Hmm, conversational French we need to work on... and I don't like that B in History—"

"Must you ruin it?"

"Sorry. Well done. The rest is easily remediable. You see? I told you you could do it. Let's do Sunday walk around the town then. There's going to be a farmer's market. A deal is a deal."

"It's a date then," he said with a wink as Miss McGrath began calling students into the classroom.

"No it's not," Nora muttered. Rafe took on a habit of flirting with her as a means of teasing and seeing a frustrated reaction out of her seemed to encourage him further.

He'd begun doing it more often as they spent more time together. She didn't mind it before, in fact, she didn't even realise it was flirting until Benny pointed it out to her, but recently it had become increasingly distracting to Nora. And she couldn't understand why.