Page 7 of Pages of Amber
Amber hesitated, searching for Beverly but her friend had escaped class the minute the bell had rang. Amber would find her later but she doubted Beverly would be happy that she had to wait longer. Her teacher folded his fingers above a stack of papers and met her eyes from behind the lens of his glasses.
“Welcome back, Miss Coleman. How are you?”he began.
“Good. Thank you, Sir.”She wished he would drop the formality of her last name but the school insisted on it as a way of promoting decorum and cordial conversations. In her opinion, it was a little unnecessary.
Her teacher nodded.“Have you been able to work out what you’ve missed while away?”
“I have. Beverly and Lexi have been helpful in sharing their notes. I’ve gotten the notes for other classes too.”
“That’s good to hear. You’ve been my student in one class or the other since starting at Redmington, correct?”At her nod, he continued,“Then I feel obligated to encourage you. I know you have always managed good grades despite your extracurricular activity but as this is your last year at Redmington, I thought you should know its concerning that you may not be able to finish the year strongly.”
Concerning? Her stomach took a sharp dive.
“Why? What makes you say that? Is there a problem with my grades?”
“Nothing urgent.”He attempted to placate her, reading the distress on her face.“With your recent absence, I’m merely concerned that you’re behind with the course work. The midterms are coming up soon so I thought to ask if you would need assistance.”
Amber took a breath.“I know I still have a few things to catch up on in class but I’ll be fine, Mr. Loughrey.”
“I understand, but my class isn’t the only one you take, is it? Don’t hesitate to ask for help. My honest suggestion would be that you get a tutor.”
“A what?”
“A tutor, Miss Coleman,”he enunciated.
Oh. So she had heard what she thought she’d heard.
“While I would not encourage another leave of absence, it is likely that you may need to be called away from school when your extracurricular demands it. You have quite a number of lessons to catch up on in all your subjects so wouldn’t it be best to engage the services of a tutor? Even if temporarily?”
Amber hated to admit she saw his point. She didn’t know of any more ballet competitions coming up but it wasn’t unusual for her mom to suddenly announce that she had enrolled her in one. But getting a tutor? It made Amber fidget to think about it. She had never really needed one before. She had always caught up with her classes on her own even when she struggled to understand a few things. Her hand clasped at her notebook. Amber’s mind went to the dinner with her mother. The order had been for Amber to finish well this year.No complaints. No excuses.
Sure, she had caught up on her own in the past but she had also never been away from school for a whole two weeks. She had checked the things she had missed and the list had seemed insurmountable. Shouldn’t she accept the help of a tutor if it could help her catch up faster?
Mr. Loughrey must’ve seen the steam blowing out her ears with how fast her wheels were churning. He softened his tone, a smile tugging up at his features.
“You’re a good student, Miss Coleman. This is a simple suggestion that could help you before the midterms start. It doesn’t have to be a huge thing. There are students at school willing to add tutoring to their records. In fact, I have an idea of someone who would be perfect for this. He’s top of his class, and as head of the student’s board, I would say this falls under his duties.”
Amber groaned, her head spinning.“Please don’t be who I think it is.”
“The student body President, Noah Rhodes.”
Of course.Amber shut her eyes and counted to five. Figures the one person Mr. Loughrey suggested to tutor her was the last person she wanted to receive anything from.
There was no way Noah could know she was struggling with her classes. She could bet he would love to lay his hands on that information if only to taunt her with it. She shuddered from imagining the droll tone in his voice as he’d rub it in her face. She couldn’t let him win another round so soon. He was already a point above her. Mr. Loughrey was still talking about his insane collaboration idea but Amber was barely listening. She took the distraction to fish her phone from her purse. If this could work in movies, it could definitely work for her too. All she needed was to channel the theatre kid in her.
“Did you hear that? It sounds like a ringtone.Is that my phone?”
The older man paused his rant, his head tilting quizzically.“I didn’t hear anything.”
“I definitely heard a ring. Oh, there it is again. It’s probably an important call. I need to take this.”Amber dove for her phone as she spoke.
“Miss Coleman, aren’t all phones to be on silent during class hours?”
Obviously, no one was buying this. But she had already gotten this far. Press down and push through, Amber.
“Um, yes?”She swiped on the blank screen and brought the phone to her ear. Her steps were quick as she moved away from the desk, aware of the high pitch of her voice as she spoke to the non-existent caller.“Bye, Mr. Loughrey. I need to go now.”
“Miss Coleman, we are not done here. Hey, wait a minute!”
