“Hey, Aiden!” one of my friends, Marco, called me as I was about to grab my backpack. “Come with us. We are going to grab something to eat.”

“Can’t. Mr. Wolf wants to see me,” I groaned in frustration now that I can’t go with them. Instead, I’m stuck to see a teacher because of my grades. They are not that bad.

“You should just ditch him,” he grinned as I sighed.

“Yeah, but if I don’t, he’s going to call my parents. I don’t want to deal with it twice.”

“It’s not going to last long, right? Come join us when you’re done,” he shrugged as I nodded.

“Yeah, will do. The usual place?”

“Yup! Hurry up, okay?” he said before going to join the others outside.

As I trail my feet the whole way to the teachers’ office, I stare with envy as the other students rapidly leave the building. I knocked at the door in front of me and waited until someone came to answer.

Mrs. Williams, my English teacher, opens the door. “Aiden, who are you looking for?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Mr. Wolf, he asked me to come after school,” I answered as she scanned the room to see if he was at his desk.

She nodded and let me through. I avoid the other teachers’ stares as I make my way to the man who summoned me. I didn’t like him. All the girls fawned over him, saying that he was hot and all that shit, but I found him intimidating. So, I did everything I could to make him dislike me even if he couldn’t show it.

“Mr. Wolf,” I called as he looked up from the papers he was grading.

“Ah, Aiden. I was expecting you. You can sit,” he pointed with his chin to the empty chair next to his desk.

“No, thanks. I’m alright,” I rejected his offer.

“Alright, I’ll be brief then. At the rate you’re going, you’ll fail my class. Do you know what it means?”

“I’ll repeat a school year?” I answered using the same tone as him, but he ignored it as his eyes darkened as his hand twitched. He was mad.

“Yes, so why aren’t you making an effort? You’re doing well in all your other classes.”

“I just don’t understand it. Maths doesn’t like me,” I shrugged as he sighed.

“You do understand. Here, take a look at this,” he took out all the tests and examinations from this year. I failed all of them, but only by a few points. “What do you see?”

“That I suck at math?”

“Don’t take me for a fool, Aiden. You know the answers, but you’re making mistakes on purpose. Why?” he seriously asked as I stared at the man in front of me, starting to get nervous. How did he know?

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I answered, hoping that I didn’t seem too nervous.

“As I see it, you need a 73 at the final evaluation to pass my class. With your current effort, it’ll be impossible for you to succeed. But I get the feeling that you will because you’re good at maths.”

I swallowed hard as I fought the urge to look away from the man’s intimidating stare. No matter how many times I swallowed, my throat remained dry. After being silent for a few minutes, he started to gather all the papers into a pile.

“Thank you, Aiden. I’ll see you every Tuesday and Thursday after school for some tutoring.”

“What?” I said incredulously. “You can’t do that without me agreeing to that.”

“Your parents signed the agreement already. And there will be consequences if you don’t show up. Have a nice day, Aiden,” he smiled as he watched me leave the teacher’s office.

I can’t believe that. When did he meet my parents to discuss my grades? They never mentioned it. I didn’t even need tutoring. I could ace his class; my eyes closed. Damn it, my plans failed.

I angrily stomped toward the fast-food chain where my friends were waiting. I quickly order a burger with some fries before going to sit at my usual seat with the others. Before I couldn’t even take a bite of my food, Marco asked me what the teacher wanted.

“He knew I was failing the tests on purpose, so he got my parents to agree that I need tutoring,” I grumbled before munching on the burger.

“Hahaha, you got caught because you failed on purpose?” Ray laughed at me.

“I still don’t understand why you’re doing that. You love maths,” Stefan seriously asked while sipping his coca-cola.

“I hate our maths’ teacher,” I grumbled after swallowing the food in my mouth.

After I had arrived home, I first took a shower and changed into more comfortable clothes. Before supper, I got time to finish some of my homework and study a little for a future test. I wanted to go to a good college, and I knew that playing with my grades like that was detrimental to me. But somehow, I couldn’t help it. Each time I was around that teacher, I don’t feel comfortable. I felt cornered and intimidated. So, I decided that I would just do what he hated the most, which were students failing his class. Around seven o’clock, my mum called my name to inform me that supper was ready. When everyone was present around the table, we started to eat the meal my mum had prepared.

“How’s school?” my mother asked as she was cutting a piece of her chicken.

I stared at her and decided to go straight to the point. “I won’t go to the tutoring sessions.”

“Honey, you just need some help. I met your teacher, and he will be able to help you get better grades,” mum explained with concern.

“I don’t need it.”

“Don’t get complacent. You will go to the tutoring sessions,” dad warned as I rolled my eyes. It wasn’t like they would believe me if I said that I got those grades on purpose.

“Fine, I’m done eating,” I grumbled as I push my plate away before going to take a drink in the fridge.

“Where are you going?” she scolded with a frown.

“Study.”

I opened the can containing the carbonated liquid and drank everything down in one go. This was so annoying. I didn’t need a tutor. I sat down behind my desk and resumed to write where I stopped before supper. After an hour, I started to feel sleepy. No matter what I did, I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I couldn’t understand why I was so tired. It was only nine o’clock. But after a while, I gave up. There was no point struggling to stay awake when I couldn’t get anything done, so I went to bed.