I finally caught my breath. “The class president
is kind and intelligent. Looks aren’t everything.
And we’re just classmates. Not everyone’s life
revolves around dating.”
Her face fell. She dropped her cigarette.
“You’re so boring, Ethan!” She kicked over the
bucket of equipment, scattering badminton
birdies everywhere. Not satisfied, she stepped
on them as she walked past. Her friends
followed suit.
I watched them go, staring at the crushed
birdies, feeling a strange sense of loss. What
kind of person had I been in love with?
Junior year flew by. Midterms were coming up.
Finally, I could see the results of all my hard
work. I wolfed down dinner and was heading
out of the cafeteria when Sarah grabbed my
arm. “There you are! Ethan, you have to help
me!”
I instinctively tried to pull away, but she held on
tighter. “Exams are next week! I haven’t studied
<
at all. If I fail, I’m screwed! My mom’ll send me
to that academic boot camp! Then I’ll never see
Jake! I’ll die without him. Ethan, please, just
give me your notes. I promise, I’ll study hard
this time!” There it was, the helpless act. She
was so sure I wouldn’t refuse.
“You said you didn’t need tutoring anymore. I
haven’t been taking notes,” I said, which was
true. I memorized the key points, reinforced
them through practice problems. Writing notes
was a waste of time. And the notes I did make
were shorthand, she probably wouldn’t
understand them anyway.
A flash of triumph crossed her face. “It’s okay,
as long as you’re willing to help. I need them
ASAP. Pull an all–nighter, it’ll be fine. Give them
to me tomorrow, okay? I need time to memorize
everything.” She’d planned this, how to use me.
I shook my head. “I can’t. An all–nighter will
mess up my entire week. It’ll affect my exam
22
<
performance.”
She stared, incredulous. Her voice sharpened.
“What do you mean you can’t pull an all-
nighter? You used to pull all–nighters making
notes for me when you tutored me! Why not
now?” She acted like it was my duty, my
obligation to cater to her whims.
“That was then. Back then, you still wanted to
learn. Now… I don’t want to waste my time.”
Her eyes blazed. She poked me in the chest,
furious. “Oh, so you think you’re so great
because you can study? Let me tell you, not
many straight–A students end up being the
boss! You’re so clueless, you’ll never amount to
anything!”
Her words didn’t sting. Nothing could hurt
worse than what she’d said in my past life.
As she stormed off, she deliberately slowed her
<
pace. Waiting for me to chase after her,
apologize, offer to help. Like so many times
before. This time, I did call out to her.
She turned, arms crossed, a smug look on her
face.
“Oh, and you haven’t told your parents about
canceling tutoring yet, have you? If you don’t, I will,” I continued. “But I’m not good at lying. If
they ask why, I might just tell them the truth.”
Her face turned a sickly green. “You jerk, Ethan! You just wait!” She glared at me with
pure hatred, like she wanted me dead.
