what is within

When Maria was called into the Principal's office, she didn't know what to expect. For her time at the school, she had never gotten into any kind of trouble. She could admit, sometimes she talked too much, or laughed too loud, but did that really deserve a punishment worthy of being sent to the Principal? Sitting in a plush chair outside the man's office, Maria looked to Bee, her best friend, running a hand through her hair, which she had pulled down from it's ponytail, seeing as it was past school hours.

Luke made his way to the Principal's office with Calum, tugging his hoodie on to keep himself warm, among other reasons. The teacher had reassured him he wasn't in trouble, so he felt no need to be anxious, but rather, he felt curiosity push into anxiety's place. Turning the corner and knocking the door to the secretary's office, Luke looked through the small, glass window in the door to see two girls sat outside the office, too. "Huh," he murmured to himself, chewing on his lip as the secretary opened the door, allowing the boys in.

Braidy shifted anxiously in her seat. She wasn't used to being called to the Principal's office and she wondered if she was in some sort of trouble. She couldn't recall doing anything that would require disciplinary actions, but maybe she had without realizing? Offering a small shrug to her friend when she noticed the look, she sighed. "This is weird," she muttered quietly. Admittedly, she already had enough to worry about with her bad grades in Math; she didn't want to add anything else to the list of concerns. Seeing two of the school's popular kids - Luke and Calum - get called into the office, she shifted, watching with curiosity.

When Calum first heard that he was called to the Principal's office, his heart sank. If he'd gotten in trouble, he knew what would happen, and he'd wanted to turn and run immediately, but the teacher had assured that neither he nor Luke were in trouble, allowing him to breathe a little easier. But, that raised other questions - if they weren't in trouble, then what was going on? What did the Principal want? Following Luke to the office, he didn't speak a word, too curious about what exactly this was all about. When they were allowed to, he made his way into the room, blinking at the sight of two girls. He'd seen them around but didn't really know their names - one of them was definitely attractive, though, beautiful, but Calum shifted to sit down before he could let his mind wander too far in that direction.

Maria nodded with Braidy's words, but she still tried to flick through any scenarios that would of landed her in trouble. The only thing she could think of was her steadily declining grade in English, and she cringed to herself at the thought. "I'm sure we're not in any bad trouble." She murmured, although she looked up when the door opened, and she saw Luke and Calum, two of the school's resident popular boys, walk in, and Maria's eyes studied Calum for a moment. The boy was beautiful, but she wondered why he was there, too. "Really weird." She murmured back to Braidy quietly, looking up as the principal came to the door to call them into his office.

As he took a seat beside Calum, Luke couldn't ignore his heart beating rapidly in his chest. If his parents even knew he'd stepped one toe into the principal's office, he dreaded to think what would happen. Frowning slightly with the thought, Luke tried to rid his mind of it as he studied the two girls opposite them, and his eyes landed on one in particular, the blonde sat furthest away from the door to the office, and he studied her for a long moment. He'd seen her around, but he'd never spoken to her - Hell, he didn't even know her name. Offering her a small smile as she looked over, Luke couldn't help but to admire how damn gorgeous she was. Still, looking up as the principal came, Luke stood to his feet as they were ushered in, following the older, balding man.

As the principal sat behind his desk, he cleared his throat, studying the four clearly nervous students in front of him. "Don't worry guys, you're not in trouble." He reassured. "We've been looking over grades of the students in their final year, and we noticed," he looked to the girls then. "That Maria and Braidy were both struggling with a subject." He looked to the boys then. "Calum, your grades in English are near perfect, and we'd like you to tutor Maria. Of course, we'll bump your grade up for your effort. And Luke, your grades in Math are impressive, we'd like you to tutor Braidy, and we'll be bumping your grade up, too."

Braidy offered a weak smile, hoping Maria was right. She had a good school record, only screwed up by her grade in Math, and she didn’t want to make things worse there. When they were called into the office, she blinked with the explanation they were given, surprised. “Wait - sir, what if this doesn’t work?” she asked quietly, anxiously, because she didn’t want to waste somebody else’s time, “What if the help from tutoring doesn’t really… Help?” Because, she’d tried studying on her own but she just didn’t get Math, and she didn’t see how a tutor would help with that when she’d tried everything already.

Calum watched Maria while they’d waited, unable to really help it. A part of him wanted to talk to her, but the nervousness he felt with being called to the principal’s office made it too hard for him to form actual words, because his mind was clouded with concern over how his parents would react. When they were allowed into the office, he listened to the principal’s suggestion quietly, uncertain, but… Well, a bump in his grade would definitely make things a little easier at home, and tutoring would mean he’d have to be home a little less… “I don’t mind giving tutoring a try,” he said after a moment, peering over at Maria, “If you’re up to it, I mean.”

The principal smiled. "Braidy, I have faith that with a little extra help, you can really bring up your Math grade. Dare I say, I think Mr Hemmings is more qualified for the job than your actual teacher." He winked. "Go with it for a few weeks," he encouraged. "If you find it's not helping, come back and see me and we can discuss something else." He promised.

Luke offered Braidy a weak smile as she looked over to him, nodding along with the Principal's words. Although he couldn't deny that he was nervous about teaching somebody else, he was keen to get out of the situation he was facing at home. Braidy seemed like a nice enough girl, he and the improvement in the grade - which would bring him up to an A+ - would go in his favour. Chewing on his lip ring at the thought, Luke nodded. "Sounds good to me." He smiled.

Maria looked to Calum for a long moment, clearly apprehensive, but she eventually nodded. "Okay, that sounds fair." She turned back to the principal. She was nervous, suddenly, finding that she had to spend time, alone, with one of the most attractive and popular boys in school, and Maria knew that tutoring her was going to be difficult because all she'd be able to concentrate on was him, and that seemed a little unfair.

The principal smiled. "Fantastic. You can make meeting arrangements among yourselves." He smiled. "Now, go and enjoy your lunch."

Braidy listened quietly to the suggestion, shifting a bit, still uncertain, but she eventually offered a small nod, hopeful that maybe it would help, even a little. “I guess it’s worth at least trying,” she murmured eventually, but she breathed out quietly when the principal dismissed them. Adjusting her bag, she peered over at Maria nervously before she headed out of the office first, but she looked back at Luke. “Um, if you want, you can just make a list of days and times that work for you, because I don’t really have anything to occupy my time, so I’m pretty much always free, which leaves the… Tutor schedule depending on your free time.”

Calum watched Maria quietly, trying not to admire her as much as he was - he knew that wouldn’t work in his favor, not with everything going on at home, - but he couldn’t help it. Still, when she eventually agreed, he offered a smile and nodded slightly. “Alright, I guess we’re pretty set when it comes to the basic agreement,” he murmured, shifting a bit, though he settled his gaze on the principal when he dismissed them. Nodding, he looked to Maria before motioning as he led the way out. “So, uh, how many times do you want to meet up a week for tutoring and for how long?” He figured that was the best way to figure out how to work things around it.

Luke led the way out of the classroom, toying with his lip ring anxiously. He didn't mind tutoring the beautiful girl, but he really didn't want to get her involved, or expose her with what was happening back home - the only person who knew that Luke didn't have the picture perfect life was Calum, and he intended to keep it that way. Turning though, to let Braidy catch up, Luke heard her offer and nodded. "Sure, we could meet up at the library every afternoon? After school until four?" Luke suggested with a smile, eager for the excuse to get out of that god forsaken house. "Uh, let me..." He moved, suddenly, to fish his cellphone from his pocket, offering it to Braidy. "Put your number in." He instructed with a small smile. "Better than pigeon mail."

Maria peered at Braidy anxiously as she ran a hand through her hair. Following Calum out, having felt his eyes on her the whole time they were in the office, Maria shifted on her feet, unable to shake off the feeling that Calum was judging her for something or other, although she was sure he wouldn't be so cruel. "Uh," she cleared her throat, looking to the handsome boy. "Whenever is good for me." She told him with a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I mean, we have Science together, so you can make a list and give it to me then or something." She shrugged.

Braidy looked to Luke as she caught up to him and she listened to his suggestion, offering a small nod in response. “Sure, that works,” she decided. She didn’t have much to occupy her after school, anyways, and she knew she would have to work hard either way to bring her grade up. The pressure was mounted more, though, because she didn’t want to waste Luke’s time. Blinking, though, she accepted the phone to put her number in, saving it and texting herself. “Do you want to start today or do you have a specific start day in mind?”

Calum listened quietly to her words, nodding as he walked alongside her. “I’m fine with any time, too, really,” he assured her, “If you want, you can sit with us at lunch and we can try to figure out what works best? Though it could be as simple as meeting up for an hour every day to work.” And, he’d gladly take an hour away from home any and all days of the week, if he could. In truth, he wished that he wouldn’t have to go home at all, aware of everything that would await him there the moment he walked in. “It just mostly depends on what works best for you, really.”

Luke listened to Braidy's agreement with his plan and he nodded to himself. Exposing anyone else to what happened at home ran too much of a risk of other people in school finding out, and it was a possibility Luke didn't want to explore. Tugging at his lip ring once more, running his tongue over the polished metal, Luke watched as Braidy put her number into his phone and he smiled weakly. "Well, it's all up to you." Luke shrugged. "I can do every afternoon, I'll text you if I can't?" Luke offered. "But starting today is something I can definitely do." Luke nodded, trying to appear his usual calm, confident self. The one his peers knew. "How about you sit with us at lunch, we can get like, a timetable going." Luke suggested.

Maria listened to Calum's words closely, appreciating the sound of his voice. "Sure, we can get something sorted. I'm pretty much free every day, but sometimes I have to babysit, so, you know." Maria shrugged lightly. She studied Calum then, for a moment, trying to decipher how he was feeling. He seemed so unsure, and she couldn't help but wonder if it was because of her. "We can swap numbers too, so I can let you know the days I might have to babysit?" Maria offered, fishing her phone from her pocket and offering it to the golden skinned boy with a gentle smile, running a hand through her hair to calm herself, hyper aware of her quickened heartbeat.

Braidy nodded slightly with Luke’s decision, offering a smile to him. “Sure, that works for me,” she decided, figuring that it would at least make things easier, though she hated the thought of taking up every day, certain Luke would have better things to do than to tutor her. But, at the same time, she knew she needed all the help she could get. She blinked, though, with his suggestion, watching him. “Are you sure that’s okay? I don’t want to intrude…”

Calum nodded in understanding. “Yeah, that’s fine. Just let me know the days you can’t make it,” he told her, wanting to help in any way he could, despite his own personal problems at home. Hearing her suggestion, he smiled, seeing that she was on the same wavelength as him, and he nodded, pulling out his phone to offer it to her. “Yeah, that would make things easier.” He watched her for a moment, letting himself admire her, despite that he knew he couldn’t get close to her, and he shifted. “We can figure out everything overall when we get to the table.”

Luke felt his heartbeat quicken as he caught Braidy's smile, and he returned the gesture genuinely, glad that the two, although worlds apart, could come to an agreement so quickly. The last student Luke had to tutor - Jackson - was a complete asshole, but Luke knew, he was certain, that Braidy wasn't like that at all. Playing with the sleeves of his jacket with the thought, Luke's tongue ran over his lip ring once more, nervously. Nodding, Luke cleared his throat. "Of course it's okay," Luke confirmed. "You won't be intruding, I promise. If anyone has anything to say, they can fuck themselves."

Maria smiled, dimples etching into her skin, as she realised she and Calum had the same thought - Calum Hood, one of the most popular boys in school, had the same thought as she did. It wasn't much, of course it wasn't, but Maria wanted to keep a positive mind that maybe there wasn't much of a difference between them apart from school popularity. Gently accepting Calum's phone, Maria caught sight of a bruise, dark against his wrist. Not saying anything, Maria input her phone number into his phone, humming softly.

Braidy watched him for a few moments, still unsure, but she offered a small nod in response. She’d opened her mouth to speak, but when Luke had played with his jacket sleeves, she swore she saw bruises on his arms, and her brows furrowed, concerned, leaving her silent for a few moments. “Okay,” she said eventually, “As long as you’re sure… I don’t wanna cause any trouble between you and your friends…” But, she was grateful for the invitation either way; she knew Luke didn’t have to invite her to have lunch with them, and the thought made her heart swell a bit, relieved. More than that, though, it would give her the chance to try to figure out what those bruises were from…

Calum smiled slightly when Maria took his phone, and he watched her for a few long moments, taking her in, really admiring her, taking in her beauty. He never really got to see her up close like this - hell, with everything going on in his life, he never really took the time to notice anybody, to see anybody, and being like this with Maria, he wondered why the hell he’d never tried before. Shaking the thought away, he stuffed his hands in his pockets as he watched her. “So, you wanna eat lunch with us?” he asked with curiosity, “Not that you have to if you don’t want to, but… If you want to, the offer will always be there.” And, more than anything, he hoped she’d accept it, because he wanted to spend more time with her, he wanted to get to know her more.