“Alright, I’ll be back to pick you up at six.” Zayne smiled gently at his daughter as he spoke.

Harper shook her head. It was already mortifying enough having him walk her to the library door. “I can walk home, Papa. It’s fine.”

“Lugging those books around with you?” He eyed her skeptically for a moment. “I promise, I won’t even get out of the car this time. Just meet me over in the parking lot.”

The young girl sighed in defeat. Walking home with a full backpack would be pretty sucky. “Fine. See you in a few hours, I guess.”

“Bye, baby girl.”

Harper winced inwardly as she turned and headed through the heavy front door of the library.

The last time she was here, it had been the night she’d first hung out with Rylie and Devin. And they hadn’t even set foot inside. In fact, she couldn’t even remember the last time she had. Maybe when she was a little girl? Probably one of the afternoons when her Oma was feeling nostalgic for Mark. He’d been the librarian there for many years before he passed away, so Jocelyne had always had a soft spot for the place. And the two of them had even met working in a library up in Falkenburg, from what Harper had heard.

But the library the two of them had built in their home had been more than enough for Harper when she was growing up. Not that she read very much anymore… But reading (and writing, of course) was one of the only academic things she’d ever been able to enjoy. If only math could be even half as interesting!

As Harper entered the library, she glanced around at the rows of tables and lines of bookshelves covering the walls, her heart racing in her chest. She knew it was silly, but she was just so nervous. And for a few moments, she felt that familiar itch — the urge to steal something, and relieve some of that tension she was feeling. But there was nothing small or easily concealable in sight. And she couldn’t exactly shove a book in her bag and be subtle about it.

Damn it…

Defeated, Harper forced herself to instead focus on the small handful of people sitting at the tables and browsing the bookshelves. The place was nearly deserted. Surely her tutor wouldn’t be difficult to find. After a few moments, her eyes finally fell on a young man sitting at one of the tables, listening to headphones and typing on a computer. Could that be him?

He seems way too cool to be some math geek. Harper thought to herself, almost amused. Still, he was the only person around who seemed close enough to her age to be a uni student.

Harper gave a small wave as she approached, hoping to grab his attention. “Um… hello.” She mumbled somewhat awkwardly. “Are you Erik?”

The young man pulled out his earbuds and looked up at her, smiling. “That’s me. You must be Harper?”

She nodded.

“Great to meet you.” He gestured toward the empty chair across from him. “Shall we?”

“Actually, do you mind if I sit next to you?” Harper asked uncertainly.

Erik raised an eyebrow.

It was then that she realized how her request must have sounded. “Oh no, not like that!” Jesus Christ. He must think I’m such a freak! “I just… I can’t hear very well. And it’s kinda easier for me if you’re next to my good ear. That’s all.” She explained, trying to hide her embarrassment.

To her relief, he appeared completely unfazed. “Sure, no problem.”

Harper took a seat in the chair to his right and placed her backpack on the floor beside her. Her heart was beating even faster than it had before. She bent over and retrieved some supplies from her bag, doing her best to will the feeling away.

Beside her, Erik continued talking as he closed his large laptop and tucked it into the case by his feet. Unfortunately, being distracted by her nerves and having her body turned away from him made it impossible to hear what he was saying.

“Sorry… I missed that.” She muttered apologetically as she turned around to face him once more. Great. He’s probably wondering how he got stuck tutoring the deaf weirdo…

Erik shrugged. “Wasn’t that important. I was just saying my nephew got a hearing aid a few months ago. So I get it.”

“Oh yeah?” Harper smirked at him and reached up, pulling her hair back to show her own hearing aid. “Tell him ‘welcome to the club’.”

“Okay, he’d totally be jealous if he saw yours.” He laughed softly. “His is boring beige. And he hates it already. Poor kid.”

“Tell your…” She hesitated. “Sister?”

“Brother.”

“Sorry. Tell your brother to check out Oticon. They’ve got a bunch of pretty cool looking ones.” Harper smiled. “His kid’s gonna have to put up with enough shit already. At least let him do it in style.”

Erik chuckled. “I’ll let him know.” He promised. “So, uh, what do we have going on for math?” He gestured down at her textbook and calculator for a moment. “Not to change the subject or anything, but…”

“Oh, duh. Sorry.” Harper laughed nervously. “Good call. My parents would probably kill me if they found out I wasted the whole time talking.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s a waste.” Erik replied with a shrug. “We’ll be spending a lot of time together, so it makes sense to get to know each other. But… yeah, I’m not getting paid to sit here and shoot the shit.” A soft laugh escaped his lips. “What if we multitask though? I’ll help you with a few problems, we talk in between?”

“Works for me, I guess.”

The two of them spent the next two hours doing exactly as Erik suggested — working on her math homework, and getting to know each other better in between. After a while, it even turned into a game of sorts. For every math problem Harper solved, they each got to ask the other person one question about themselves.

She talked about how much she loved writing (and how much she hated school too). She told him how she loved watching cheesy sitcoms with her mother, and shared her father’s love of superheroes. She went on and on about Rylie and Devin too, and how much she looked up to them. It felt like she told him everything there was to know about her. Everything worthwhile, at least.

And, by the time six o’clock rolled around, Harper had learned quite a bit about her new tutor in return.

Erik’s favorite ice cream flavor was cookie dough. He was twenty years old, and his major was computer science. He loved playing basketball, but hated watching it on TV. His older brother had a five-year-old son with his on-again, off-again girlfriend (currently ‘on’). He actually knew Devin’s cousin — she was the one who did his tattoos. He was a big fan of rap and hip-hop. And his favorite color was purple, just like Harper’s. But his friends always gave him a hard time about it.

“It’s so stupid, right? I mean, what the hell do colors have to do with being ‘girly’ or whatever?” Erik shook his head. “They’re just nice to look at. Doesn’t make any sense.”

Harper smiled warmly at him. “You sound just like Devin — Julia’s cousin. He’s an artist.” She explained. “And he feels the same way.”

“Smart guy.” He returned her smile. “Y’know, your friends actually sound pretty cool.”

Her smile widened at his words. “They are. Or at least, they are to me.”

“Well, that’s what counts, right?” Erik glanced up for a moment, peering out the window across from them at the darkening sky. “Oh shit, I think it might be past six already.”

“Is it?” Harper pulled out her phone and saw that he was right. It was nearly 6:10. And she had a text from her father from several minutes ago, letting her know he’d arrived. She was almost surprised he hadn’t made a spectacle of himself by coming inside to get her. Maybe he’s finally learning. That was what she hoped, at least.

“We’re at a good stopping point anyway.” Erik continued. “And hey, you managed to do the last three problems on your own! I’d say we were pretty successful.”

“You’re right! We were.” Harper gave him a small smile, then quickly gathered her things and threw them into her backpack. The time had gone by so fast! Much faster than she’d been expecting. “Thanks, by the way.” She continued, turning to face him once more. “I think that was one of the first times math almost made sense to me.”

“Oh, good! Because honestly, it still doesn’t make sense to me half the time.” Erik laughed. “But I think I’m getting better at pretending.”

Still laughing, Harper rose to her feet and threw her backpack over her shoulders. Part of her was almost reluctant to leave… Until she realized that leaving meant no more math work for the day… and getting to finally eat dinner. She was starving.

Still, her tutoring session had been so much less painful than she’d thought it would be. In fact, it was almost… fun.

“Well, thanks again.” She said at last. “I guess I’ll see you next week?”

He nodded. “And the school gave you my email, right? Just shoot me a message if you need help with anything else before then.”

“Will do. See you next time.”

“Later, Harper.”