//------------------------------// // Chapter 4 // Story: Sour Love // by RomeoDKat //------------------------------// It was now the day after my first tutoring session with Sour Sweet, and I really didn’t know what to expect from her today. It wasn’t because I didn’t know what material we were going to cover, since the homework assignment involved whatever we were doing in physics. But it was because Sour Sweet really wasn’t being herself today, or at least she wasn’t when I was around. In the hallways and during class, she would remain silent and give me side glances every so often with a sad look on her face. It was somewhat relieving for me, since this meant that I wouldn’t have to deal with Sour Sweet’s usual attitude. But at the same time, I was actually somewhat worried about her. Like earlier today, during lunch when she was talking and laughing with that girl with the sun shaped hair clip that was hanging around the halls yesterday, until she saw me. Then her smile slowly faded and she walked out of the cafeteria as fast as she could, ignoring her friend who was calling after her. My other friends noticed this as well and practically demanded me to tell them what happened between Sour Sweet and me during the tutoring session yesterday. Even Sugarcoat, who let me get away with not telling her anything yesterday, wanted me to tell her what happened. I didn’t see any other way out of this, so I decided to tell them everything that happened yesterday, including the moment that I called Sour Sweet out on her insults. My friends looked more worried than they were yesterday, and started to whisper amongst themselves. I couldn’t really hear what they were discussing about, although I had a good idea what the discussion was about. But before I could ask them what they were talking about, the bell rang to go to the next class, and the three of them immediately ran off to their respective classes. Well, looks like I’m asking Sugarcoat about what they talked about when she drives me home. I thought to myself as I started to head off to my next class. When the last bell rang to let the students out of school, I started to make way to the classroom that we were using for our tutoring session at a moderately fast pace. Sure I didn’t really want to be there, but I didn’t exactly want my grade to get any lower either. Worst case scenario, Sour Sweet decides to be even more of a bitch than she was yesterday. It was around 2:40 when I walked into the room, but unlike yesterday, Sour Sweet wasn’t there waiting for me. “Okay, she’s not here right now.” I thought to myself as I sat down and started putting my notes and homework assignment out. “She’s probably just caught up with something, I’m sure she’ll come in within the next five minutes.” Five minutes went by, and she still didn’t show up. “Okay then.” I thought with confusion. “I’ll give her another ten minutes to show up.” It was about eight minutes after that when I finally lost patience with her. “Well, if she hasn’t shown up now, she’s probably not going to show up two minutes from now either!” I yelled out in frustration and started to put my notes and homework into my bag. As if she could hear me, it was when I started to get up to leave that Sour Sweet decided to walk in. She was walking rather slowly and she was looking toward the ground with a sad expression on her face. I sat back down and started to pull me notes and homework back out of my bag. “So, what caused you to be so late?” I asked, making my frustration with her clear. She looked up in surprise, apparently not expecting any form of question when she walked. “I….um,” she shakily said as her eyes started darting around the room, “Had to help somebody out! Yeah, I had to help somebody out with a...thing. It just took longer than I thought it would.” She said sheepishly. I could tell that she was lying, but decided not to question her further about it. I didn’t exactly want to get into a shouting match with her before the session started. She took a seat at a desk to the right of me, but didn’t pull out any notes or blank pieces. Confused as to why she wasn’t doing anything, I asked, “So, what do you have for me to do today?” She just sat there for a moment before answering. “How about you just do the problems that are in today’s homework? I’ll check your work from time to time and let you know what you get wrong. If you have any questions about anything, just… let me know.” She said in a monotone voice. I raised an eyebrow at her response, but decided that it was better to not question her. This was probably just her way of getting through the whole tutoring session without speaking as much as possible. Instead, I just started working on the homework. The assignment wasn’t too hard, mostly about finding the capacitance, charge, or the voltage of a capacitor. It wasn’t anything too complicated yet. As I worked on the assignment, I kept making side glances at Sour Sweet to see what she was doing. Every time I did, she would be fidgeting in her seat and muttering to herself. I couldn’t really hear what she was saying, except for the one time she spoke in her sour tone. “Come on you fool, you’re going to have to talk to him at some point.” That caused me to pause. Talk to me about what? I thought to myself. What could she possibly want to talk to me about, why she’s been giving me the silent treatment? After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided that it would be a good idea to be the one to break the silence. Turning to her, I said, “Hey, I need your help with this problem.” I figured that pretending to have a problem with a question would be a good way to get her to start talking. She looked up at me with a surprised look on her face and just stared at me. She definitely wasn’t expecting me to suddenly speak to her at that moment. After a few moments of staring, she finally decided to speak. “Um, I…uh…*sigh*, I can’t do this.” She said as she grabbed her backpack and started to get out of her seat. “Wait, where do you think you’re going?” I yelled. It was at this point that I was really pissed at her. She stopped walking and turned to me. “Look, I’m sorry that I’m just walking out on our tutoring session early.” She said, clearly distressed. “I’ve just been out of it today and need some time to myself, okay?” She then continued walking towards the door. Not wanting her to just abandon our tutoring session, I started to get out of my seat as well and said, “Hey, you mind telling me what’s going on? I can tell that something’s been on your mind today, so why don’t you-” Before I could finish, she just suddenly turned around and yelled in her sour tone, “I said leave me alone!” She then turned back around and ran out of the room. I just stood there dumbfounded and frustrated. I knew that going after her would only make things worse, regardless of how angry I was. After staring at the door for a few moments, I muttered “Fine, have it your way.” I then turned back to my desk and began to haphazardly put my notes and homework back into my bag. Too infuriated to care how they would look tomorrow, I threw my bag over my shoulder and headed out of the room. When I made it to the hallway, I saw that same girl from yesterday standing to the side of the hallway, only with her back turned to me so that I couldn’t see her face. I tempted the thought of speaking to this girl, but decided that today just wasn’t the day. All I wanted to do at this point was get home as quickly as possible. So, instead, I made my way to the front entrance as quickly as possible and thankfully saw Sugarcoat waiting out in front by her car. When Sugarcoat saw me walk out of the school, she seemed surprised that I was coming out this early. When I reached her, she stopped from getter in her car. “What happened in there? You shouldn’t be out this early.” She asked with concern. “Nothing. She just sat there mumbling to herself while I was working on the homework assignment, and when I asked for her help, she just sort of freaked out and left.” I said, frustration clear in my voice. “Are you sure that’s all that happened?” She asked. I sighed before continuing, “We had a small argument when she started to leave the room, but that’s pretty much all that happened.” She just stared at me for a few moments before saying, “Come on, let’s get you home. You look like you need some time to yourself.” She then got into the driver’s seat of her car. When I got in the passenger seat, I turned to her and asked, “So, what did you and the others talk about at the end of lunch?” Sugarcoat sat there for a moment before turning the car on and said, “We've decided we’re going to see how you and Sour Sweet interact for a little while. If things don’t get better from here, well,” She paused as she started to accelerate, “we’ll figure something out.” In other words, they don’t have a plan right now. I thought with disappointment as I stared out the window. I was beginning to think that my best option is to hope and pray that Dean Cadance would find me a new tutor, sooner rather than later.