"Untitled" - part one and two
Posted: Oct 12th 2004, 12:13 pm
She’s in love. He’s in denial. How it could have been.
Untitled
By Lizka
They work together in silence. He diagrams sentences while she corrects the spelling errors in his essay. There aren’t as many as there were two months ago, and they’re both proud of that. When he asks about a particular word, she gently explains. They’ve fallen into such a comfortable pattern that it’s easy to forget that they lived in two separate worlds before tutoring.
He never really knew her before this. He knew her name and that they’re in English together, but they never talked unless it was for an assignment. Mostly, she was just that weird blonde that manages to hang out with both Graff and Sharon Cherski, and dates some brainless jock that he once stuffed into a trash can last year. The first time he and her really talked was just after Halloween, when she urged him to start going to class again. It was awkward and neither of them was comfortable. She seemed to want to say more, but couldn’t.
“Prove her wrong,” she said, finally. “She doesn’t have to be right about you.”
She turned, and walked into class. He followed her. He’s still not sure why.
Things didn’t magically get better, but he was trying. When Katimski took over the class, he improved, slightly. Katimiski made sure to read things aloud when possible and would stay behind to explain things to him. After New Year’s, he was signed up for peer tutoring.
That’s how he got to know her.
During their first session, she asked him what kind of music he listens to, and he’s surprised to find that they like some of the same bands. They settled down to read The Odyssey, and at their next session, she handed him sheets with the lyrics of his favourite songs, the more difficult words highlighted. She had him write the words on big flashcards, and underneath, she wrote the definitions. She made him take tests out of some manual and never laughed when she saw the results. She just gave him more work.
They talk, sometimes, during the sessions, and he found out that her dad’s a cook, that she was forced into the tutoring program like he was, and that she has a theory about why their old English teacher quit.
“I made her quit. Me and Anne Frank.”
She laughed when he asked her to explain, shook her head, gave him a sheet of words to use in sentences, and he smiled when he recognized “guitar” and “musical.”
She’s really helped him, he realized.
He started to look forward to tutoring and they began to nod at each other in the halls. She didn’t deserve to have his friends rag on her, so he stopped them. When her boyfriend was a jerk, he offered to beat the guy up for her, and he meant it.
She smiled, said no, but appreciated the thought.
It’s interesting; to have a girl as a friend. It’s even more interesting when it’s a girl like her. So maybe that’s why he looks out for her, why he invited her to watch his band perform, why he doesn’t like that kid with the curly hair always coming to their table.
He doesn’t get that much time with her. He just wants to make the most of it.
Author's Note: Any thoughts on the title? Criticisms?
Untitled
By Lizka
They work together in silence. He diagrams sentences while she corrects the spelling errors in his essay. There aren’t as many as there were two months ago, and they’re both proud of that. When he asks about a particular word, she gently explains. They’ve fallen into such a comfortable pattern that it’s easy to forget that they lived in two separate worlds before tutoring.
He never really knew her before this. He knew her name and that they’re in English together, but they never talked unless it was for an assignment. Mostly, she was just that weird blonde that manages to hang out with both Graff and Sharon Cherski, and dates some brainless jock that he once stuffed into a trash can last year. The first time he and her really talked was just after Halloween, when she urged him to start going to class again. It was awkward and neither of them was comfortable. She seemed to want to say more, but couldn’t.
“Prove her wrong,” she said, finally. “She doesn’t have to be right about you.”
She turned, and walked into class. He followed her. He’s still not sure why.
Things didn’t magically get better, but he was trying. When Katimski took over the class, he improved, slightly. Katimiski made sure to read things aloud when possible and would stay behind to explain things to him. After New Year’s, he was signed up for peer tutoring.
That’s how he got to know her.
During their first session, she asked him what kind of music he listens to, and he’s surprised to find that they like some of the same bands. They settled down to read The Odyssey, and at their next session, she handed him sheets with the lyrics of his favourite songs, the more difficult words highlighted. She had him write the words on big flashcards, and underneath, she wrote the definitions. She made him take tests out of some manual and never laughed when she saw the results. She just gave him more work.
They talk, sometimes, during the sessions, and he found out that her dad’s a cook, that she was forced into the tutoring program like he was, and that she has a theory about why their old English teacher quit.
“I made her quit. Me and Anne Frank.”
She laughed when he asked her to explain, shook her head, gave him a sheet of words to use in sentences, and he smiled when he recognized “guitar” and “musical.”
She’s really helped him, he realized.
He started to look forward to tutoring and they began to nod at each other in the halls. She didn’t deserve to have his friends rag on her, so he stopped them. When her boyfriend was a jerk, he offered to beat the guy up for her, and he meant it.
She smiled, said no, but appreciated the thought.
It’s interesting; to have a girl as a friend. It’s even more interesting when it’s a girl like her. So maybe that’s why he looks out for her, why he invited her to watch his band perform, why he doesn’t like that kid with the curly hair always coming to their table.
He doesn’t get that much time with her. He just wants to make the most of it.
Author's Note: Any thoughts on the title? Criticisms?