You Are and Never Will Be Better Than Me

When will he learn? I feel sorry for his mother. It must have been hard to get him up for school. No wonder she seems annoyed when I come over to visit with him.I’d be annoyed and frustrated too. I quietly stood over Brian,my roommate and best friend, with my arms crossed. He is such a lazy bum. I could barely get in this room in the first place. Clothes are everywhere and food,ew.He seriously needs to clean this room up.

"Brian get up. Your class starts in twenty minutes."I shouted. I didn’t know when I ask for a roommate that it'll be like having my own teenage son. Brian can be stubborn when he wants to be but most of the time he's cool. "Brian."I shouted again. He moved but only a little bit. Okay well time for plan B. I walked over to the window and pulled up the shade,letting some sunlight in the room.

"Ugh Zacky!"he groaned. I smiled. I knew that'll get him up. I turned around to see Brian pulling a pillow over his head. "Pull the shade back down."

"Dude,it’s like 9:43.You have class to go to in seventeen minutes. Remember what Professor Byrnes said, if you’re late one more time he's going to fail you. I don’t think your mom is going to be happy with you."

"You know what Zacky....fuck you." I laughed. He always tell me that but I know he's just kidding.

"If you say so,hurry up and get dressed. I'll make you something to eat. What do you want:cereal,waffles,french toast,toast?" Now I really do feel like his mom. He's like a year older then me and I'm making him breakfast. Brian owns me big time.

"I'll settle for some toast."he mumbled. I yanked the sheets off of him as a final warning to get his ass out the bed.

"Okay okay I'm getting up,god damn Zacky. I wish this happened to you one day so I can do the same to you." I know this will never happen because I enjoy my class. I take a history class so I can become a history teacher at a high school. I always loved history for some reason. Its just something about it that interests me.

"Your toast will be ready when you come out." Brian gave me the finger as I left. “I love you too Brian.”I laughed. I shook my head as I walked to the kitchen. What will I ever do with him? I opened the cabinet to get out the bread. I untied the bag and took out two slices and put them in the toaster. "Hey Bri do you want anything on your toast."I shouted.

"Um butter."he shouted back. At least he's making it easy for me. Sometimes he wants to be stubborn and ask for all this crap on it. I checked the time again and sighed. He isn't going to make it and Professor Byrnes said he would fail him if he comes in late again. There has to be a way where Professor Byrnes wont fail him. Suddenly I got an idea.

I ran to my room and grabbed my phone from my bed.Yes,I usually sleep with my phone in the bed because I dont feel like getting up in the middle of the night to get it.Since its in my bed,all i have to do is reach over. I ran back to the kitchen to keep an eye on the toast so it wont burn. Professor Byrnes gave me his number for emergencies and other things. I dialed his number quickly hoping he'll pick up.

"Hello."he answered.

"Hi Professor Byrnes,this is Zacky,Brian's roommate.Um Brian is going to be a little late and please don’t fail him cause it was my fault. His alarm broke and I told him I'd wake him but I over slept so can you excuse him for today?" I lied.

"How late is he going to be?"he asked.

"Um he's leaving out now."I said,as Brian entered the room. His eyebrow rose and he had this confused expression on his face.

"Okay. I'll let him slide this time but the next time I wont." I sighed in relief. I just saved Brian's ass.

"Thank you so much and next time I'll wake up early to get him there on time." I said.

"No problem Zacky." I hung up and smiled at Brian. He still looked confused.

"Who was that?"he asked,he popped the toast out the toaster and began nibbling on it.

"It was your professor.I just saved your ass from being failed but this is the last time I can save you. Professor Byrnes said the next time he's failing you no matter what." He almost choked on the piece he was chewing on. I patted him on the back as I laughed. "You okay there buddy." He nodded his head,as he continued to cough. Once he knew he was finished,he responded.

"You did that for me!"he exlcaimed.
"Yeah. I promised your mom I'd take care of you so that's what I'm doing. Plus I see you as another brother but with you,you appreciate the things I do for you. Not like my younger brother Matt."

"Aw thanks man." Brian pulled me into a hug. "You're the best. I don’t know how I can ever repay you."he smiled.

"Just get to school on time please."

"Okay. Well I'm heading out. See you later.Oh and remember we're hanging out tonight and no backing out this time. You don't have class tomorrow so don't be like I have homework and crap."he shouted.

"Fine."I laughed. Brian waved goodbye and left.

***

I entered the class room ten minutes early before anyone else. I like to get ready for class and do what homework I didn’t do the night before.

"Good morning Professor." I said,pulling out my notebook and pen. I hope we're not going to do anything major today. Usually Friday's is just a note taking day.

"Hello Zachary. How are you today?" I groaned. I hate when he calls me Zachary. It's Zacky. Z.A.C.K.Y. ZACKY!! How hard is it to understand that? Brian thought it was funny to mess with me and call me Zachary over and over again the first two weeks he moved in with me. He’s lucky I needed help with the rent cause I would have kicked his ass out.

"I'm great. How about yourself?" I asked.

"Oh I'm just fine,just having trouble with my nephew as usual. Other then that,everything is fine. Thanks for asking."he replied. His nephew sounds like a douche. I feel sorry for the Professor. He's such a nice man and a cool one at that. I remember I stayed after one day and caught a glimpse of his nephew. I can't really remember him that well but he even looks like a douche. I just want to punch him in the face.

"I'm sorry to hear that sir."I mumbled.

"Yeah,he's failing school somehow and all his parents care about his popularity. Since his family is rich,he thinks he can get anything he wants. I know he's my nephew but he's spoiled to the core." I could tell by the tone of his voice that he was pissed off.

"Someone needs to teach him a lesson like he needs to be put to work. He needs to start buying his own stuff without mommy's and daddy's help."I snapped. I hate those type of kids who think they're better then everyone else because their parents are rich. You see when I was younger,I had to work for the things I wanted. I just couldn’t snap my fingers and bam there goes the new video game in my hands. I had to get a job and save up my money.

"I know how you feel Zachary." ZACKY!! "I tried telling my brother,my nephew's father, that but he wouldn’t listen. He told me that that's his son and he can do whatever he wants. If someone doesn’t teach him correctly I'm afraid he'll never get anywhere in life."

"Well hopefully he'll meet that person soon."I said. Our conversation was cut short as the other classmates began filling the room. I sat at my desk in the middle. I don’t like sitting in the back nor the front. My other friend,Matt,sat next to me grinning. "Well someone's happy. What happened last night?" If you know Matt like I do,you know he got a date when he grins the way he does like right now.

"You have to meet her. Kimberly is sooo amazing."he exclaimed. I bet she is..... Another thing with Matt,he can't make up his mind when it comes down to girls. He goes out with one for a week then break up and by the following day he has a new girlfriend. "Zacky,I don’t like that look your giving me. I know she's the right one this time. I have this feeling in my gut."

"You sure?"

"Positive." I smiled.

"Well when do I get to meet this girl."I asked.

"Anytime you want." I smiled again before paying attention to the Professor. He was explaining that we just needed to read a chapter from the textbook and maybe expect a quiz on it after. That didn’t sound too hard. I'll pass this with flying colors like all the other quizzes and tests I've taken.

"Psst. Hey Zacky,can I copy off of you during the quiz."Matt whispered. I couldn’t help but laugh. At least he was being honest and asked first.

"Sure Matt,just don’t get caught or get me in trouble for letting you copy."

"I promise and thanks." Professor Iero resumed back to grading papers as we read the chapter and answered the questions. I finished in no time because I already knew this subject so well.

About thirty minutes into the class,Professor Iero handed out the quizzes and I finished mine in under five minutes. Matt would lean over and take a peek when the Professor had his back turned. I laid my head down,acting like I wasn’t paying attention. "Matt! Please keep your eyes on you own paper."Professor Iero shouted. Ha busted Matt!

"Damnit."he mumbled. I laughed. "Shut up Zacky." I hid my face so no one could hear me or see me laugh.Once everyone was finished their quiz,Professor Iero came around and collected the papers. I stretched my arms,seeing that they fell asleep on me from laying on them.

"So how'd you do?" I teased Matt. He glared at me.

"Shut up. I thought I was being careful. I swear that man has eyes on the back of his head." I cracked up laughing. Everyone turned around and looked at me. I turned red,I'd could tell.

"I hope you all passed it without any difficultly...Matt." he said. Matt groaned. I just laughed some more. "Well class is pretty much over so class dismissed." Everyone gathered their things and headed for the door. "Zachary,can you stay behind for a moment?" My eyes widen.What did I do? I've never been asked to stay behind by a teacher in my entire school life.I hope it isn’t about Matt copying me.I watched as the emptied. My heart was racing so fast.

"Oh shit. I hope I didn’t get you in trouble man."Matt said.

"It's fine. I'll take the blame. I never get in trouble anyway so the punishment won’t be that bad if it were you in my position."

"Thanks man. I own you one. Maybe I can take you out for a drink sometime." I nodded. Matt waved goodbye and I was left alone in the classroom.

"Can you come here for a minute?" I slowly made my way to his desk. I was scared as shit,and my hands were shaking. "You're not in trouble if you're wondering. I want to ask you a favor. Remember I was telling you about my nephew earlier. Well apparently one of the classes he's failing is history and since you're my best student I was wondering would you mind tutoring him for awhile. It would mean a lot to me if you said yes." I sighed in relief.

"Sure. When do I start?"I asked.

"Tomorrow,next week. It doesn’t matter as long as he's being tutored. I don’t know how he can be failing that class. I know the teacher personally,and he told me Frank doesn’t pay attention at all. His parents just emailed me and came to a conclusion that he needs to work on his grades. They even told me the person that agrees to work with him,will be paid or whatever agreements they come up with." I thought about it,and I liked it.

"I'll do it."

"Great! I'll just let his parents know." I watched as Professor Iero typed away.

"So when do I get to meet him."I asked.

"Um how about tomorrow?"

"Sure,just give me a call and I'll meet him somewhere." Professor Iero thanked me once more and I left. What have I gotten myself into?