Page 5 of Tutor With Benefits

“We would probably have a better start if we knew if she lives on or off campus,” I say. “So let’s start there.”

“Great idea!” Zach sarcastically replies. “So how do we go about doing that? It’s not like there’s some list posted of the students who live on campus versus those who don’t.”

“Wish there was. That would make it a lot easier for me to figure out who to take home when we hit up those sorority parties,” Taylor says.

“Fuck, who knew it would be so fucking hard to figure out where she is?” I say.

After a minute, I suggest, “We could go back and ask Professor Hudson if she can tell us anything about her. She’s the one who said we ought to find a tutor, so she sure as shit should give us a hand with finding one.”

“First of all, fuck that bitch. Second of all, I don’t see her handing out information to three guys over where a female student resides. I can see that coming down on her hard. She’d probably just tell us to wait until we see her in class again and go from there. But that’s not until next week,” Zach says.

“That’s like four days wasted,” Taylor says.

“Hey, at least we know you’re not failing math,” I tell him.

He gives me a look.

“The only thing we really know about her is that she’s quiet and likes to keep to herself. The only solid lead I can see with that being the case is the library,” I say. “If anything, we can probably get one of the kids there to spill whether they’ve seen her around or give us some way to find her.”

“It’s an idea at least,” Zach agrees with a shrug. “I mean, I can’t think of another place on campus she would be likely to hang out, and you know those library kids love to gossip. All we have to do is make it sound like this could really be something good for them to tell us and we’ll have it in the bag.”

“Or, at the very least, we’ll have another step toward finding her,” Taylor says.

We set off toward the library. The entire way, we all keep throwing out suggestions of where we could find her or who she might hang out with. I am blown away by how little I know about this girl. For being one of the popular guys on campus, I’m pretty used to being the one who has other people come to me.

This is the first time in my entire school career I’ve had to go out and try to find someone, and that person just happens to be the world’s biggest wallflower.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and she’ll just be here,” Zach says when we reach the campus library. “Save us the time of having to try to talk to the geeks behind the counter.”

“Don’t bet on it,” I tell him. “That would be just too convenient for us, given how today is going. I mean, it’s more likely we’re going to find out she doesn’t even exist and she’s some joint fabrication of our imaginations.”

“That’s trippy,” Taylor says.

We walk into the library and split up. The fastest way to determine if she’s here is to just scan the place, and we all know the wallflower type kids love to sit down in the middle of the aisles with books open on their laps. It’s the geekiest thing I can think to do, and I’ve never understood why they do that.

But, if that’s how we find this girl, that’s fine with me. I just want to get the chance to talk to her.

It takes all of five minutes for us to reconvene close to the front of the library.

“Nothing?” I ask.

Both my friends shake their heads.

“Fuck,” Zach says. “Guess it’s the geeks we need after all.”

We walk over to the counter and all put on our most charming smiles. The girl on the other side of the desk looks at us with suspicion in her eyes. It’s clear she knows we want something.

We don’t pay attention to girls like her, and she knows it. Since we are, she’s bracing herself for whatever it is we’re about to throw her way.

“Haley,” Zach says in his smoothest tone. “How are you? Love the sweater. And the glasses. Looks…great.”

He elbows me in the chest, and I clear my throat. “Really does.”

“Yep,” Taylor chimes in.

“What do you assholes want?” she demands.

“Not a very professional way to talk to us,” Zach says.

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