Math Sesh Gone Wrong

Let's Not Stay Friends

    Krystal glanced at her watch again. 2.53 p.m.

    Her eyes found their way to the door of the class, then around the now-empty room. Tables and chairs that were occupied by students approximately forty-five minutes ago have been keeping the brown-haired sophomore company ever since. She moved around in her seat, occasionally getting up and walking to the door to see if the person she was expecting was running down the hallway yelling, "Oh my God, I'm so, so, so, soooo sorry!" with that stupid nervous-smile plastered across her face, the one she had on whenever she knew she had gotten on Krystal's bad side. When Krystal was convinced that the only thing haunting the hallways at this time were lost souls of the school, she would slowly shuffle her way back to her desk.

    She eyes fell upon her desk. She had already taken out everything that she would need for her tutoring session. Notebooks, check. Pens and pencils, check. Eraser, check. Ruler, check. Calculator, check. Graph papers, check. Protractor, check. What else was she missing?

    Oh, yes. My tutor.

    Her head unconsciously turned towards the door again. A look of desperation dawned upon the sophomore's face as she stared at the entrance of the class with her elbow propped up on the desk and hand supporting her head. Just like that, she sat there waiting and waiting and waiting. And waiting. 

    Where the heck is Amber? She's never late so she's supposed to be here by now.

    As if the Gods above had heard Krystal's cries and had decided to take pity on the poor child, the blonde-haired senior appeared at the doorway of the class in her usual jeans and hoodie. She slowly made her way to Krystal's table by the windows and sat herself down without greeting the sophomore sitting across from her. As soon as her came in contact with the chair, she immediately reached into her pocket and took out her phone. Krystal heard the sound of her senior's iPhone unlock. She stared at Amber as the latter continued on with her code of silence as she typed away on her phone's keypad with her slender fingers. Is she really here? Am I hallucinating?

    "Sorry," Amber said after an eternity of silence, with her eyes and fingers still glued to her phone, "I forgot we had a session today."

    Oh, so you're real and you're aware of my presence. And, you're late because you forgot that we had a meet-up. Ugh, so much to process.

    Krystal was still in the process of understanding Amber's words and presence when she heard the other person in the room speak again. Although she said it quickly and very, very quietly, the low mumble was undeniably heard by the sophomore. And every word of the sentence was just like a stab in the chest.

    "Wish I was anywhere but here."

    Krystal did everything she could do stop her breath from hitching. She had lost the courage to continue looking at her senior and could only stare down at her own lap to try and get herself together. All thoughts that had previously dominated the space in her head was instantly replaced by something else. Did she feel angry? Or was she sad? She came to a realization that courage wasn't the only thing she lost; her ability to pinpoint feelings have also apparently, gone with the wind. The same wind that carried Amber's hurtful words to her heart, crushing the vital organ with their brazenness and harshness.

    What has gotten into her? Krystal's mind was a jumbled up piece of mess because all she could think about now was Amber, Amber, Amber and why, why, why, why. There was nothing else that could get through that thick brown head of hers, unless it had something to do with the tomboy. Why did she forget about their session? Why was she acting like this?

    Why does she hate her?

    "What chapter are you on?" Amber's voice sunk its way into Krystal's consciousness and although Krystal had heard the question loud and clear, with all its monotonous-ness, she barely came out with a response. Her mind was still in shock. She was still in shock. And Amber's please-get-me-the--out-of-here tone of voice wasn't helping much, or at all.

    She didn't know how long they stayed that way, in silence, but she figured it was pretty long because she could feel the awkwardness setting in and making a nest between the two high school students. Not wanting the situation to take a turn for the worse, she forced herself to bring her head up to look at the human being that sat opposite her, or at least pretend to look at her direction. Slowly, Amber's clothing came into view. Then, her arms, her shoulders, her neck. And lastly, her face.

    Amber's lips were tightly pursed when Krystal's eyes fell on them. She saw Amber part them slightly, making it seem like she was about to say something, but all that came out was nothing. Nothing that could explain why she was acting this way: nothing that could make the sophomore feel better about Amber's recent attitude change: nothing that could bring Krystal to be herself around Amber again.

    I hate this.

    "You know, if you're here just to waste away both our time," Amber finally said, face blank and completely free from any emotional ties, "the door's right there."

    I hate this so, so, much.

    "I'm sorry," Krystal replied meekly. It was the easy way out, and she'd be a fool not to take it. "I'm just a little confused," she confessed.

    "Well, confusion comes along with a huge amount of time-consumption, which isn't something I like to do. So, why don't we just start off with what I came here for?" Amber asked as her eyes pierced right into Krystal's.

    "Uh, y-yeah. Um," Krystal croaked out and then began flipping through her notebook in search of a page filled with unanswered questions which she was planning to ask Amber about before, but no matter how many pages she flipped over and re-flipped over, that one page just wasn't meant to be found. "I, uh, I can't find it," she said when her hands were getting tired from all the page-turning.

    "Find what?"

    Krystal slumped back in her seat and shyly looked up at her senior. "I had all my math problems written down in one of the pages but I can't seem to find it right now."

    With a sigh, Amber reached for Krystal's notebook that rested on the desk and began looking through it without saying another word. She flipped and flipped and flipped. And all Krystal did was stare and stare and stare as the blonde skimmed through the pages of her math notebook. She couldn't help but think as Amber flipped through her notes, how the 'old' Amber would've reacted to this situation.

    "I don't understand how anyone could lose a page in a book. Unless you have a dog and it had it for lunch."

    "And wow, I see your handwriting haven't improved much, eh? It's okay though 'cause you know, they say the smartest people always have the ugliest and messiest handwriting."

    "You know what, screw your page. Let's go out for cake instead."

    "Is this it?" Amber asked suddenly, interrupting Krystal's thoughts. She turned the notebook over to Krystal and pointed to the page she was referring to.

    "Yeah, that's the one," Krystal at first attempted to laugh it off, but the second she caught sight of the blonde shaking her head, probably in disapproval, the slight curve on her lips fell and she was back to square one again; back to her questioning about Amber's actions and 360 degrees change of attitude.

    "Alright, do you have any idea on how to answer these questions?" Amber asked, tapping her pen on the notebook.

    "Uh, I guess?"

    "Show me." Amber put down the pen and shoved it towards Krystal who then reluctantly grabbed hold of it and started scribbling away on her notebook. A few minutes into her work, Krystal's writing came to a halt. She bit the of the pen as she stared at the question she was trying to answer.

    The midpoint of P(0,5) and Q(4,2) is M. Find the coordinate of M.

    , how do I do this? How do I find M? . I need help.

    "Do you need help?" She heard Amber ask from across of her desk. Amber had probably been staring at her as she did her problems.

    "Uh, no," the hard-headed side of Krystal spoke up before she had time to stop herself and to come up with a less stupid answer.

    "Are you sure?"

    "Yes. Now, can I please go back to focusing on my work?" Well, too late to ask for help now because there ain't no turning back.

    When she didn't hear a reply from Amber, she took it that she had once again succeeded in pissing Amber off even more than she already had although she had not the slightest clue on how she managed to do that. Great job, Krystal. Hoorah for you.

    Facing the fact that she couldn't turn to Amber for help with the math problems because of that dumb- smart- mouth of hers, she quietly moped to herself as she carried on trying to write down whatever she could think of. It didn't matter if it was totally unrelated to the math problem, all she that was aiming for was to make it seem like she tried, like at least she had written something.

    "Krystal."

    The said person stopped her writing to look up at her tutor. "What?"

    "You know, you could just ask if you can't do it," Amber stated.

    "Nobody said I couldn't do it," Krystal scoffed and attempted to roll her eyes, but stopped herself in time as she thought that it might not be the best time to act her usual y-but-not-quite-so self.

    "Like they actually needed to?" Amber responded with a scoff herself. "Just take a look at your working. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you're just bulling your way through."

    Bullting my way through?!

    "I'm sorry, some of us weren't tutored by idiotic blonde seniors who come 45 minutes late to a thrice in a week tutoring session," Krystal replied, voice dripping with sarcasm that she thought was well-deserved by the blonde. She saw Amber's mouth hanging slightly open. "And maybe if the tutor was actually helpful, and not as useless and she seems to be, her student would actually know the right way to solve these complex mathematical problems and not, as you said it and I quote, bull her way through," Krystal continued.

    When she finished talking, she let her eyes stay glued to Amber, keeping tabs on her every movement. Amber's mouth closed and she seemed to be biting her inner cheek, a universal sign that she was trying to stop herself from speaking. Silence fell between the two and before long, Krystal found herself staring right into Amber's black irises. She waited for the latter to make a move by looking away or flinching(because let's face it, K-Jung's stare are no-joke), but who would've thought that Amber had an unmeasurable amount of determination in her to beat Krystal in their unofficial stare-down.

    Staring at a pair of eyes that stared right back with as much emotion possessed by a mannequin, Krystal caught her mind asking a question and letting it go on repeat in her head. Who is it really behind those eyes?

    Time stood still and everything else dissipated. Only the rapid beating of her own heart could be felt by Krystal. And thank goodness for that as it was the only thing that was keeping Krystal here, keeping her from losing herself in a certain blonde's eyes. It wasn't because she found Amber's eyes attractive, intriguing or anything of the sort, but rather, she was curious and confused whether the eyes of this person she was staring at was the same pair of eyes that stared back at her when she unintentionally had a mental breakdown in school; or when she was described in the most correct and accurate way possible when confronted about her feelings; when she was told nothing but the truth that she had so much trouble trying to come to terms with, to just, admit it to herself.

    "I think," Amber paused and leaned slightly forward, closing the distance between her and Krystal, "you're sad right now."

    Leaving her eyes unmoving as they continued staring into their target, Krystal slowly her lips in. Was it all an act? Or is this an act?

    Who are you?

    "Are you done?" The voice shot right through Krystal's ear, reminding her that she was still here, and so was Amber. And that, it wasn't just her and Amber. Time was still ticking, the rest of the world was still moving and Amber was still being kind of a douche

    "Can I take a look at your answers now?" Amber asked after finally moving her eyes away before it could cause any further brain damage to Krystal. A minute into their staring session and Krystal was pretty sure she could hardly spell her name right. What if Amber hadn't looked away? What if she let herself carried on staring into Krystal's dark orbs?

    Krystal would have forgotten the past 16 years of her life.

    While Krystal was still struggling within herself to bring together and organize the jumbled up pieces of her mind, Amber reached for the notebook and dragged it right out of Krystal's hand. She took the pen from Krystal too and started checking her work while the sophomore did her best to remember the year they were in. When she finally managed to list out all her family member's full names, she brought her eyes towards the figure opposite her. She looked at Amber as she sat in her seat, writing and correcting Krystal's work with a look of absolute focus and concentration.

   For now, it looked like things were the way it was supposed to be a week before. Krystal doing her work then passing it to Amber for corrections and Amber passing it back when she was done with it and after making a few lame jokes about how horribly pathetic Krystal's calculating skills were.

    "You did this, and this, and this wrongly," Amber turned the book over to Krystal and pointed to the said questions, "And you need to read the chapter on Quadratic Graph of Functions again before answering this one." She glanced up at Krystal before starting to speak again. "All in all, you got 5 out of 7 questions wrong. 7 easy questions," Amber didn't fail to emphasize on how bad Krystal did.

    Amber's hands then retracted from the notebook. She leaned to her side and picked up her backpack from the floor. "I wrote the correct solution and answers at the side of the questions. Go home, read it, and understand it. Step by step," she said while adjusting the strap on her shoulder. "If you still don't get it, we'll discuss it during our next session."

    With that she stood up from her seat and walked towards the door of the class. She came to a halt when she reached the door. With one hand holding on to the strap of her backpack, she turned around to say one last thing to her student.

    "Make sure you don't play the know-it-all idiot the next time we meet or else I can't guarantee that you'll see me again. At least not in this classroom anyway," the blonde senior said before making her way out the classroom, leaving behind a very much offended sophomore to deal with her problems. Both her math related problems, and her non-math related problems.

    But either way, they both involved the tomboy, so it was just all the same for Krystal.

    She looked down and started reading her notes. Indeed, Amber had written down the answers, but would it really help to just read them and then try to understand the whole thing? Key word, try. Everything was either in Latin or Sanskrit as Krystal read from one question to another. She needed someone to explain this gibberish to her, someone that was patient enough, and understanding enough to go over this one step at a time with her.

    Someone preferably with the name Amber. At least, the old someone with the name Amber.

    We're having another session tomorrow, maybe she'd be her old self again?

    And so, Krystal decided to turn a blind eye to their ordeal that had just taken place and to focus on their one-on-one session tomorrow. She didn't want to jump into any conclusions and would prefer to just wait it out and see if things were happening the way it seemed to be happening. Whether Amber was still the same Amber she had come to know and had grown closer to this past month.

    Over the period of 31 days, she had never, not even once, forgotten about our tutoring session like it didn't matter to her. She never dreaded being around me and she damn sure have never talked to me in that way before. 

    It all comes down to tomorrow.

    I don't care if this is just a one-time, mood-swingy kind of thing, but if it's still the same with her tomorrow, I--

    Krystal's thoughts stopped short. Her eyes widened and she tried to control her breathing.

    She closed both her eyes slowly and then placed her palm over them.

    I don't know what I'd do.

 

 

A/N i hope this wasn't too mehh. it took me a while to get this posted cause i injured my left hand and well, i won't lie, it's a little hard to type on the keyboard ahaha but yeah hopefully this update was worth it. sorry for the errors made! i'm a little too tired to go through it

 

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paradoxicalninja
#1
randomly remembered this fic. still one of the best out here. hoping to see this continued someday and hoping youre well, author!
GGfxalways
#2
Chapter 26: Yoyoyoyooooo This is sickkkk!!! I am absolutely loving thiss!!!! Please come back for an update??? I'l be waiting :((( That was a bad way to end a chapter though.... You were too much of a tease :(( I can't handle not knowing what's gonna happen next DX
blackhello
#3
Chapter 26: YOU ARE BACK OMG! WELCOME!
Come on, you need to get up and continue this. There's no use kneeling. Well ain't all of us got no together lol
Damn it, it's one of the story that I don't need to read because I can always remember this one. But again, I read it from the beginning for the sake of building my feelings. So be like Krystal and stay! Hahahaha
imnoGoo
#4
Chapter 26: Omg this must be a blessing!!!! Thank you for coming back!! God! I can't wait for your next updates!! I'm so happy!!!!!!!!!!!!
KryBer is so cute gosh!! Can't get enough I want to see them kiss every chapter. Yay! HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
dongdonglin #5
Chapter 26: Welcome backkkkk
neriva #6
Chapter 26: finally you're back haahahhaha luckily didn't forget the flow of the story.I hope you could update more often now author hahahaa.
spaint86 #7
Chapter 26: Omg...you finally back, when i saw this update i almost forgot how this story is going, so i ended up re-read it from chapter one, and glad i did it because it was my favourite story back then
JungPRINCESSpet
#8
Chapter 26: Oh my god..this is what I call a comeback!! Thank you so much for not abandoning this fic. Don't care if you update every 2 years, the wait is worth it. And is it just me who think that having a girl running her hand at the back of our hair is a low move? 'Cause every time it happens to me, it makes me so weak, that she can do everything to me and I will let her willingly...
MyKryBer #9
This deserve more upvotes and subscribes.
NeZuMiLiU #10
Have I said how happy I am ?!! Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa