Chapter 4 - The Tutor

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — RENN — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

*4 days later…*

A few days have passed ever since Jessie transferred, and things have been smooth sailing from here. Syrra, Jessie and I have joined together, having fun in school. Of course, I also helped them out whenever they found a lesson difficult. Jessie also took remedial lessons every after class to catch up with us. It hasn't been long since classes started anyway.

But today is Saturday, and I got ready for…

"Tutoring?!"

Vance and Cherry were surprised to see me wearing formal clothes and a backpack, ready to tutor someone.

"It's something I wanted to try out. I have been excelling in my academics, so I have no reason to decline this one." I stood there smiling with confidence with one hand holding my back pack and the other in my pocket. Never in my life have I got ready to tutor, this is the first time this happened to me.

Now you might ask me: "I need further context! What made you accept this?!"

Well… It all started yesterday...

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — FLASHBACK — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

*Yesterday*

Our last class has officially ended, and I'm now ready to head home.

"Oh, Renn? I need to tell you something…" Syrra tugged my shirt, as if she was going to tell me something important.

"Fire away." I looked at her and was curious what this is all about.

"So, my mom was thinking of looking for a tutor to help me catch up to the next topics. My mom noticed that I was struggling, but can't seem to find a tutor…" Oh, they're looking for tutors? This caught me off-guard. I thought there'd be reliable tutors in the area…

"So you're looking for a decent tutor, and you're telling me to help you find a tutor because your family is struggling?" I basically stated the short version of what she needs.

"Damn, you're good. Yeah… We need a tutor soon… My older sister wanted to go and look but I think she won't have the time…" Poor sister. I felt bad for having them look. I sighed.

"Tell her she doesn't need to look anymore. I know a good tutor." I confidently answered with my hand in my pocket.

"WAIT, REALLY?! WHO?!" She rejoiced, grabbing my shoulders and shaking me, full of energy.

As she asked the question, I went silent. Just smiling in front of her.

"Who?" Her happiness is slowly reducing. Should take a few seconds…

3… 2… 1…

And it snapped in her brain, and her happy face turned into a face of disbelief.

"YOU'RE NOT SUGGESTING…" Syrra, why look for a tutor when you got me?

"Yes." I said with a grin. She whined and pouted.

"You're really becoming too generous, Mr. Alrose… I really can't keep up how many times you've been helping me over the years! But… Thank you… I'll see you tomorrow at 8 am?" She agreed to it with a thumbs up.

"I'll see you tomorrow at 8 am." I gave her a thumbs up back as a gesture of approval to her.

"Good! Here's my sister's phone number if you want to keep in touch." She gave me a piece of paper with her sister's number on it.

"I'll surely keep in touch, it's also my first time going to your place." I saved the number in my phone.

"I'll be counting on you tomorrow, Sir Alrose." Syrra called me "sir" before leaving the room. I couldn't help but giggle.

"Sir Alrose… I never thought I'd evolve from a Mister to that…" I said to myself before leaving as well.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — PRESENT DAY — — — — — — — — — — — — —

"I can see that. I see Mr. Alrose has begun getting some teaching tasks today." Vance gave me a pat on the shoulder, I can see the proud look on his face.

"Vance, he's probably going out to get a girl… I mean he's already as handsome as he can be. Not to mention, he just received a gift from a girl recently…" Cherry pouted, shaking her head.

"Tutoring or not, he can get a girlfriend whenever he wants. He's not a kid anymore." Vance looked down at Cherry and she got mad.

"NOT WHILE I'M STILL ALIVE! I WILL NEVER GIVE MY BROTHER AWAY!" Cherry clung on to me and Vance forcefully pulled her away. She was trying to break free and was whining that I can't get a girlfriend yet while he was stuck holding her back.

"Sorry, Renn… I can't cook today, why don't you head out and find someplace to eat?" I was thinking about that, Vance.

"Will do. Try to calm Cherry down while I'm gone!" I went out the door, and took a sigh of relief.

"(Sheesh… Cherry can really get overprotective about me and girls…)" I thought to myself, feeling weirded out by her actions. Like I wonder why Cherry gets extra clingy whenever I'm going out on a weekend with someone. Well, enough with her and I headed to a nearby restaurant to eat my favorite creamy tofu rice breakfast bowl!

Ahh… That never gets old. Now that I'm done with breakfast, I continue onwards. I pulled out my phone and contacted Syrra.

Or should I say, her sister.

They only use one phone in the household, and it's the older sister's phone.

"Hello?" The sister answered.

"Hello, this is Syrra's older sister, right? I'm just wondering about the-"

"Tutorial session? Renn Alrose? Huh, so that's what you sound like… I was expecting someone older, what a shame~ Where are you now?" She interrupted me. She was expecting someone older? Is she looking for a boyfriend? I feel weirded out.

"Uhhh… Greg's Restaurant. I was wondering about where to go from here." I answered.

"Ah! That place! I usually go there whenever I'm on my way home at night. When you take the exit door, walk left. Keep walking left until you walk by a gate, then enter it. I'll let the guard know you came for the Winters household." She told me the directions.

"Very much appreciated. Let Syrra know that I'm on my way as well." I hung up and began walking on the way there.

I received another call, this time it's from Jessie. I answered.

"Renn! What's up?" She checked on me.

"Heading out to tutor Syrra. Aren't you at remedials right now?" I asked. She should be in school right now.

"Just heading there. You're tutoring Syrra, huh? Don't go too hard on her." I chuckled at what she said.

"It'll be like usual, you don't have to worry about that." I happily reassured that there will be not much stress while tutoring her..

"Good. I'll chat you again on Monday." She hung up.

I kept walking my way. I know that they are poor so I have a feeling I might be cramped when I walk in their house, feeling the slight nervousness right now...

I saw a gate, I am getting close to their home. I stumbled upon a guard that blocked my way.

"Excuse me, do you live here?" He interrogated me.

"Oh, I'm here for the Winters household." I answered.

"Winters? Oh, are you Mr. Alrose?" So the sister did tell him about me, thank goodness. I felt relieved hearing that.

"Yes, Renn Alrose." As I answered, the guard happily let me in. Damn, he must really love his job.

I also happily walked all the way to the house where I can see Syrra outside, waving.

"Just in time!" I ran to her, panting slightly.

"2 minutes early, actually." Does everyone have to tell me how early I am… I'm starting to feel annoyed.

"That's good enough…" I looked at her house.

It's a tall but slim house… Are they really poor?

"Let's go to my room and start there!" She led me inside her house. Outside seemed decent, but the interior was very clean! I guess all those chores kept it alive all these years. In one room though, I heard a loud burp. It's her father. I felt slightly uncomfortable seeing him just sitting there drinking beer. But enough observation, I enter Syrra's room.

It's neat and tidy, but slightly cramped for 3 or more people to stay in. Luckily it's just me and her, so there is still space to work on.

"Okay, time to start on our session today!" I pulled out my Science book first and began tutoring the next lesson to her.

"I'm under your care!" Syrra sat down on the floor as we began.

And in the next few hours of tutoring, she's surprisingly getting good. She understands my lectures greatly, since I also make examples in front of her. Nothing to worry about Math since I made solving most of the next set of problems simpler than expected. She's developing well in the rest of the subjects. Computer, TLE, English, and MAPEH.

But then... Here comes History.

"What started the Chilling Rebellion in 1872?" I asked.

"Ummm… Isn't that the Banishment of Religion?" Eh? Looking at the book... That's not right, Syrra…

"Nope, that started the First Global War of the 1600's." I corrected her. She still needs to get this right.

"The Treaty of Panolima?" Oh dear… I'm starting to feel a little nervous for her.

"That... ended the 2-King Anger in 1801." I once again corrected her. She's really not one for History, huh?

"Ummm… Hmmmm… The Mutiny in Russia?" I sighed. Is she going to keep answering it wrong? Might as well give her the correct answer then.

"Syrra, it's just an illegal warship blockade over East Asia." I was slightly disappointed, but that was to be expected of History.

"Oh." She nervously giggled while scratching her head for getting that wrong.

"History really getting the better of you, huh? You just need a recollection of what you read." I suggested to her as I gave her the book to review.

"That or there's just too much information…" As Syrra was about to review, there was a knock on the door. Syrra went to open it, and we were both greeted by the sister.

"Hello, I hope I am not disturbing anything! You both might want to eat my cooking right now." Oh, she was cooking downstairs… I stood up, feeling hungry.

"Let's go!" She went down to eat, and I followed.

But as I was near the stairs, I got pulled by Syrra's sister.

"Well, this is the first time we're meeting in person, Sir Alrose." I looked at her from top to bottom. She's taller than me, not expecting her height to be taller than me. I know she's older than me but this is a surprise. I feel like I can be squished by just her legs alone.

"Uhm... Pleased to be your acquaintance, ma'am." I greeted and bowed.

"Pffft! Don't be so formal after being so close to my young sis! Call me Jenna, Jenna Winters." She patted my head. It felt odd to be patted, so I got slightly flustered.

"O-Of course, Jenna." My face slowly became red.

"ARE YOU TWO GONNA GO DOWN AND EAT OR ARE YOU TWO GONNA FALL IN LOVE WITH ONE ANOTHER?!"

We both got shocked and I got scared by Syrra. My face got even more red.

"Time to eat~" She went down in a flirty town and sent me a flying kiss. She's definitely a weird one.

I regained my composure by slapping myself on the face before going down to finally eat lunch.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

*5 hours later…*

I'm done with the tutorial session for today and I will tutor her again next Saturday. Damn, is History that hard?

"(For the first time in a while, I felt tired…)" It's a rare moment for me. Being tired isn't the state I naturally am, being a tutor tends to be difficult. Despite that, I felt happy. It didn't feel like it wasn't worth my time. Syrra said the exit of this place is at another gate, I have to pass the park to get there. So I began walking to the park. I watched the other people hang out here and play with frisbees, jump ropes, hula hoops, and even dance.

But there was one thing that made me stop. I saw a girl, distressed. She was looking down. I looked around to see if any of her family was going to comfort her. But it seemed like no one was even noticing her. I approached her and mustered the courage to talk to her.

"Hi." Was all I said, but no response from her. Does she want people to ignore her on purpose?

"Is something wrong?" I asked, hoping for a response. But there was none. I waited for a bit, took a deep breath and tried again.

"Want to… Talk about it?" As I asked that question, she stood up and turned her head slightly towards me and showed her eye that intimidated me and pierced my soul. I got scared and backed away.

"... Annoying. Didn't other people tell you to mind your own damn business?" She said in a menacing tone, and walked away. As much as I wanted to try again, it could make things worse for me. So I gave up and went to the exit.

What was I thinking, approaching a depressed person thinking I could be any help? But it was worth a shot, I won't be seeing her again anyway. I should follow what she says and move on. Focusing on her too much will drain me.

I arrived home and put my things aside.

"HMMMMM…" Cherry seemed to be eyeing me very strictly tonight. Walking around me with a suspicious look.

"Cherry, what are you-"

"She's making sure you never get too close with that best friend of yours." Vance answered, with his head lying flat on the table.

"It's not like that! I promise!" I was getting nervous around her. As Cherry stopped, she clung on to me.

"... Mine." She's stuck on me like tape on an illustration board.

"She's one overprotective girl…" I sighed. Vance nodded in agreement.

"Cherry, let go of your brother before he starves to death." Vance stood up and prepared dinner. He literally exaggerated that statement...

"Hmmmm... Fine." She let me go and I sat down on the dinner table.

I began eating, feeling tired and distressed.

"I take it that some struggle happened? It's written all over your face." He noticed.

"I was afraid you'd notice, but it was worth it. Just a day of tutoring tired me out, nothing more." I faked it with a smile, hoping he doesn't ask if it's about something else.

"Well, if you're happy about that… I'm sure you can handle tutoring once in a while, though I'm a call away if you need help." Vance advised. Phew... I started sweating a little back here, had to wipe it off.

"I'll keep that in mind, thanks." I continued eating while the feeling of distress stayed…

Is it that hard to let go of that depressed person?

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