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Don't Stand So Close (Church x Gumdrop)

PrincessGumdrop

PrincessGumdrop

Supernova
Joined
Mar 16, 2012
Location
Sasebo, Japan
Ryan glanced towards his friends. He had to hide so much from them, his love of knowledge, his love of older men, his love for well...a lot of things. He looked towards the school doors, there were two minutes left. If they didn't hurry up they would be late to class and he would miss the beginning of the notes. Jocks had a reputation to maintain though, which annoyingly so, was about being too cool for school. He sighed "fuck it." he mumbled to himself and headed off to get to class. If anything he could just play it off as he was annoyed with one of his teammates.

He got into class just two seconds before the bell rang and was still walking to his seat as the class started. He rolled his eyes and walked calmly to his seat, sitting down and plastering his 'i'm completely bored' face on. He couldn't show too much in this class, that was for sure, too many of the cheerleaders were in this class and all eyes were on him. Except one pair. He wasn't sure why it bothered him, it wasn't like he needed that one pair to be on him at all times. But it would be nice if when they were on him it wasn't a look of disapproval.

Ryan kept his grades just above average, just enough to keep him on the football team. However, much to his dismay the team had decided that they should go partying to celebrate their victories. Which meant he had little time for studying, and therefore his grades had been slipping, good for a jock, not good for a young man that adored learning. He was nervous today because he knew they would be receiving there last test and he knew he just bombed it. High school could be so hard.
 
Charlie Overton had been dreading this day for a few days now. It was the day he gave final tests back and it always railed in some kid realizing he failed the class and begging for a few extra points or an extra credit opportunity. He was 37, past the time when he would have been willing to give it but not yet to the point when he didn't care at all. He wished he had the strength some of the older teachers had when dealing with kids like those, especially the jocks who thought they were entitled to do overs or special treatment because they could kick or throw a ball a little farther than someone else.

Most of his students fell into this category. There were still the few overachievers, the one who didn't care at all, and some who tried but just couldn't do well for some reason. He closed the door when the bell rang, barely missing Ryan's heel and didn't give a moment of rest before talking. "I've finished grading you're tests so I'll give those back at the end of class. The grade you have now will most likely be your final grade unless you bomb the state final. The final probably won't have any impact unless you're on the edge of a grade and you do fairly well. Today we're going to watch The Great Gatsby since we just finished the book and we'll finish it tomorrow or the day after."

He turned the TV off five minutes till the end of class "when I call your name come get your test and then you can go," he said, usually being nice on those days and letting them get a couple extra minutes to get to their next class. Ryan was the last one sitting in the room and he got up, going to sit beside him in the seat. He shouldn't care. He wished he didn't but he couldn't let someone throw their life away for sports. "What's going on? All of a sudden your grades just started going downhill and I know you can do better than this. You can do better than what you were doing at the beginning of the semester." He ran a hand through his black hair, pale green eyes looking at his student with interest.
 
Ryan fidgeted as they watched the Great Gatsby, he had read the book, twice already. He became a little annoyed when the cheerleader behind him started to braid his hair, but he let her be. Even though he wished the movie would end, he also wished that it would go on forever. He sighed again and tapped his foot over and over hoping that maybe he could slip out before the teacher asked him to stay. No such luck. He couldn't even see his test before Mr. Overton came over. "crap." he mumbled to himself.

He licked his lips when Charlie sat down next to him, "I just...you know, the games were going great and I sort of partied rather than studied..." he mumbled. He couldn't help show how ashamed he was, his perfectly sculpted expression already breaking down in front of just the teacher. His own dark brown eyes looked back at Overton's pale green ones. He looked away after a little while, "I failed didn't I?" he asked, glancing at the test, that he still hadn't seen the grade of. "Like...bad..." he asked, looking over to his teacher again and fidgeting.

"Can I let you in on something?" he asked, "Something that you won't tell anyone?" he clarified. "I mean, it's not gonna be like anything life threatening or anything." He waited for the other to respond and then started in "I'm not like the others. I'm actually pretty smart, or at least I would like to think so. I study hard and keep my grades up." he licked his lips "But that's not how being a jock works. It's a lot of pressure to not be smart." he mumbled, "I know it's rather stupid, but I have to be you know, smart about being stupid." he explained, licking his lips again. "I guess I just let it go too far." he went on, "I guess what I'm attempting to ask is...extra credit?" he gave a slightly hopeful look, "perhaps some that...doesn't get me caught?" he asked.
 
Charlie watched the boy to gauge his reaction to knowing that he had failed. He would have to do very well on his final to pass and that might not even save him. "Yes. You failed. I know it's hard sometimes to please everyone you feel like you need to but the only one worth pleasing is yourself at the end of the day." He nodded when the other clearly wanted to tell him something, nodding as he spoke. He pressed his lips together and frowned slightly, hating that he couldn't just say no. But he just loved the kids too much to let any of them fail when they wanted to try so hard to pass or do better.

"I think we might be able to arrange something. I know you've got practice after school so you'll have to find a way to get to my apartment if you want extra help. I'm not going to just give you some work to give back to me." Charlie was willing to help him because he seemed really genuine with his plea and he wanted to do better. He ran a hand through his hair and scribbled a number and address on the back of his test before handing it to him. "You need to call sometime tonight to set up a day and time to come over. If you forget you'll just have to study yourself and hope it's enough so that you don't have to sit in here again next year."

He stood back up, awkwardly unfolding his long legs from underneath the desk before going back to his own to get books or for his next class. He let his encounter fade from his mind until he went back home and started preparing dinner for himself in the evening after making a pot of tea. He had already changed into sleeping pants and a t-shirt, much preferring it to regular clothes. His phone was on the counter though he didn't much expect the kid to actually follow up with the plan to try and salvage what he could of his grade.
 
Ryan nodded and sighed, "easier said than done, teach." he said, looking away from his teacher for a little bit. When Charlie said that he could possibly arrange something he smiled a bit and looked at the paper. "Thank you." Ryan said, nodding to his teacher. "Thank you, I will." he took the paper from Overton and eyed the number for a bit. He didn't actually think that his teacher would go so far for him, but he wouldn't be let down either.

After practice and homework he sat in his room, staring at the number that his teacher had given him. He had dialed the first part probably half a dozen times, before he finally dialed the fool thing and waited. "Um...hello? I'm um...I'm um calling for Mr. Overton. This is Ryan, Ryan Reed, from your English class." he explained, sounding extremely awkward over the phone. "I um....I guess I should probably ask you what time and day is okay with you, since you are doing me a total solid and doing this for me." he said, scratching the back of his head. He was sitting straight up at his desk, and fiddling with his test.

"I don't really know what you would like to go over with me, but if it would be possible I would like to go over this test....and some of my other tests." he mumbled into the phone "I kind of worked on them...and I think I have the right answers now, I'd just like to double check them before moving on." he licked his lips and fidgeted, glancing down at his grade, a 27 on a book that he had read twice. He felt sick to his stomach about the grade, this wasn't cool at all and he was much smarter than this.
 
He had just finished cutting up some vegetables and dumping them into a pan with some olive oil before stirring occasionally, watching them brown slightly. The phone rang and he pulled the pan off of the heat before answering "Hello? Oh yes, hello Ryan." Charlie was honestly very surprised that the boy had come through and called him. "Well I think tomorrow is good, you can come over around six and I'll fix something to eat while we talk about what to do."

He nodded into the phone even though he knew the other wouldn't be able to see him. "You should definitely bring all of your tests as well as whatever notes you may or may not have taken. I think that's all you'll need since I've got copies of the books here. Do you have any other questions?" He waited a bit to make sure he had all the information he needed before telling him that he'd see him tomorrow in class and to have a good night. He finished cooking and smiled as he felt a pair of arms wrap around his chest before they shifted and fingertips pulled at the hem of his shirt. "Lemme finish cooking," he said gently but let the shirt come off.

He spooned some of the vegetables onto rice and carried the plates into the living room, sitting on the couch watching a smaller man who had a drink in each hand come towards him. Charlie expected the other to sit, blinking when he straddled his lap and kissed him. He had to set the food down, ignoring it for now. "The food's getting cold," he mumbled against the others lips "so?" Was the reply he got along with a firmer pressure against his stomach. The next morning Mr. Overton seemed to be in a better mood than he had in weeks, comments and giggles going around the room that he had probably gotten laid. Also probably one of the only times they got something right about him.
 
"Around six?" he asked just to clarify, "yeah, not a problem." he smiled, even though he knew that Charlie couldn't hear it over the phone. "Okay. I can do that." he said, already collecting his notes and tests to make sure he had everything ready for the next day. Ryan made sure to clarify the address, and when the they hung up he was on the internet checking to see if he could take the bus over to his teacher's place. His grandparents didn't believe in owning cars, so he was forced to either take the bus or catch a ride with his friends. Even though it could be an inconvenience, he found it wasn't too much trouble.

Ryan spent the rest of the night preparing for the next day, getting his work together and double checking what he thought was the correct answer. The more and more he wrote the madder he got because he knew he knew this stuff. He was in class at about the same time as the day before, just making it. He gave a weak smile to his teacher and hurried to his seat, showing that even if he hadn't gotten it quite yet, he was getting there. Though it didn't seem like Mr. Overton really minded as he looked positively radiant. His hair already braided that day the cheerleader behind him had nothing to play with, this made it a little easier for him to focus on what Mr. Overton was saying and taking notes.

He never realized how hard it would be to focus while at the same time making it look like he could care less about what his teacher was saying. And he wasn't really doing very well on making him look like he could care less. Ryan made it through that class and the rest of the classes, doing the same thing. Surprisingly the rest of his grades weren't all that bad, he was passing. That was much more than he could say for Mr. Overton's English class. After practice he headed to the showers as quickly as he could before slipping off to go to the bus stop near his school.

"Hey! Ryan!"

Ryan heard his name being called and sighed, "fuck...seriously?" he growled and turned around. "What?" he looked at a team member and gave a smile "Look man, I got to go. My grandma and grandpa need me to come home like now."

"Then let me give you a ride, I bet your grandma made some of that fresh bread of her's. You know how we all love it."

"No, Johnny. Thanks, but I don't need you bothering them about bread." he mumbled and even though his friend looked a little pissed off with him he let it be.

"Yeah, whatever, see you later." Johnny said and headed off.

Ryan watched Johnny leave before getting on the bus and making his way to Charlie's place. He was at the man's door at exactly 6:15. He felt bad, but hopefully the teacher wouldn't mind too much. He couldn't help it if the buses ran late. "Hey, it's me....Ryan...." he called through the door, feeling a bit awkward at being at his teacher's home.
 
Mr. Overton paid his class very little attention that day, playing the rest of the movie and not even yelling when a few of his students insisted on talking or texting through the entire thing. In his next class they all wanted to know what her name was, the person who could change their teacher so drastically and all he could do was snicker to himself about how little they knew. The only thing to sour his mood was a kid trying to be funny and insulting another student of his which ended in being sent to the administration.

He got back home shortly after 5, kicking his shoes off and debating on whether it would be appropriate to change clothes or not. Damon got out of the shower a little bit before 6 so he had put on pants and was moving about the apartment when he heard the kid at the door. He opened it and looked down at the kid "Charlie, is a kid supposed to be coming over?" He called out, waiting for the answer before letting Ryan in. He left momentarily to change into his work clothes, coming back out and kissing Charlie quickly "I'll call you when I get off. Love you." "Love you too," he replied, watching as he left and then glancing at Ryan.

He wouldn't share his personal life because that meant others finding out that he had gone to his teachers house so he would have obviously cared a lot about his grades. "Here, chop these up while explaining some of the symbolism in Gatsby." He gave the boy some vegetables and he sliced up some tofu and made a quick stir - fry. He liked talking while cooking. It made things more relaxed and less like a testing environment. He made a plate for each of them while they talked. It was clear the kid knew the majority of what he was saying, a lot more than he had been led on to believe initially. There was really no reason he couldn't have gotten an A on his tests, any of them.
 
Ryan blinked at the man that answered the door, this most definitely wasn't his teacher. He eyed the man, and gave an awkward smile. He stepped inside and watched Damon leave for a bit "Hi. Sorry I'm late, the bus took a while." he apologized and then watched as this boy he had just met kissed his teacher and walk off saying he loved him. He watched Damon walk out of the place, his eyes lingering in a few places a little bit longer than they probably should have. His teacher seemed to have good taste in men. "Hm? Oh! Yeah, okay." he said and took the vegetables.

He started to explain the symbolism, showing that he knew that book forward and backward, though he missed a few of the points, and went off what he thought it might have been. Some of what he said was just memorized junk that he could honestly care less about. He hand Charlie the veggies and leaned back. "-And that's why The Great Gatsby represents the character Nick's impotence of freedom from his vision of Gatsby." he explained and shrugged a bit, "Does that about sum it up?" he asked after a little while and moved to sit down at the table. "So...um...he seems nice." he said as he started to eat the stir fry.
 
Charlie smiled as Ryan came in, watching Damon leave and watching Ryan eye him. He smirked slightly, Damon would definitely appreciate the attention if he had noticed it. I could've come and picked you up if you needed a ride, or I would've sent Damon," he added, the latter more likely the truth. He nodded occasionally or added something if Ryan didn't explain it well enough for him. Overall he was doing very well "if you had come to me earlier I could have told you your real grade whole showing another to help out with your friends."

"Yes, that sums it up very well." He ate a few bites of the vegetables, happy with how it had turned out and took another bite. He glanced at the other, hoping he enjoyed it as much as he did. Damon put up a fight sometimes with the vegetarian dishes but ate them nonetheless. "Who? Damon? Yeah, he's generally pretty nice," he smirked, shrugging and pushing the rice around on his plate as he was thinking about it. "We don't see each other much since I work during the morning and day and he works nights." There was more that he could have said but it wasn't really appropriate to share his personal life with a student.
 
"I'm used to taking the bus, don't worry about it." he explained and shrugged a bit as he continued to eat the vegetarian meal. He had no problem with the meal, and actually rather enjoyed the tofu that Charlie had made. "This is really good." he said, seeming almost like he was just being polite but he was being honest about it being good. "Yes, if that's the guy's name." he said, "I didn't realize you were...I mean...um..." he frowned, poking at his food for a bit, not really sure how to address something that didn't really matter. "I mean, it doesn't matter or anything, just makes this morning a little more interesting." he smirked, wondering if Charlie even noticed what he was like earlier in the day.

"So um...what is this extra credit?" he asked, "I can't believe that all you wanted to ask was the symbolism of the Great Gatsby." he continued to munch on the food, "where do you get your tofu? My grandma would love this, ours kind of sucks." he chuckled and continued to eat it, smiling softly. "And that would have been nice...but you aren't exactly known for your kindness to the students." he explained.
 
Charlie couldn't help but smile when he was told that his foods tasted good. It wasn't often that he got compliments on his cooking so he would take the pry compliment over none at all. "Thanks, it's not too hard but I think it tastes pretty good." He raised an eyebrow at the other, halfway wondering what he was babbling about though he had a hunch. "Wait, what happened this morning that was interesting?" He asked, searching his memory for a clue or something and coming up blank. He couldn't think of anything that had happened to him this morning that had anything to do with him being gay or having a boyfriend.

"I haven't exactly decided yet but I might just go in and manually change your test grades to what I think they should be depending on how well you know the material, which are how grades are supposed to work," he added, smirking at him. "Well the symbolism is a huge part of the book, it's basically Gatsby's whole character." He nodded a little, he supposed Ryan was right though he didn't exactly want for it to be true. He might need to work on that for future classes, or just quit trying to teach high schoolers who already thought that they knew everything about everything.
 
Ryan chuckled and shook his head "Yeah, like we all figured you had no idea." he smirked, "Most of the school knows you got laid last night, you were practically beaming with thrills." he munched on a piece of tofu and looked at his teacher. "I mean, most of the girls in our class were going on and on and you didn't even throw them your usual glare." he explained, "By the end of class we were positive that you had gotten laid." he said, rather blunt about the whole thing.

Ryan looked almost bewildered when Charlie mentioned that he might just change the grades. "Seriously?" he asked, "I mean...you would seriously do that?" he asked, biting his lip. He had never thought Mr. Overton would have done something like that. "Well, whatever you decide, I want you to know I really appreciate this. It bothers me that I let my grades get this low." he said, "I haven't told my grandparents about it either, I was hoping I could avoid that all together." he sighed and poked at his food again, "they never really liked my school anyway."
 
He had been rendered speechless by his student's words. A blush had spread across his cheeks and his jaw hung open. There was no way that he had been that obvious that morning that they could have figured that out, was there? Well he couldn't remember anything that had really gone on in that class, and he had thought the girls had behaved better than their usual annoying chatter but apparently it was just him living in his own head. "Well that's embarrassing," he muttered, looking into his tofu and eating a few bites of it while he waited for the heat to leave his face.

Charlie nodded at the boy, this was why he was willing to do it, the gratitude for the help was obviously sincere and it was clear to him that Ryan knew what he was doing in the class, but had just gotten caught up in his social life and trying to please his friends instead of worrying about his grades. "I'm helping you out but you have to realize that your grades will take you farther than sports will, and if you have to hide who you actually are from your friends you might want to look into getting some new ones," he added, knowing that was easier said than done.
 
Ryan chuckled a bit as his teacher turned red. He looked away for two seconds only to look back, focusing on his teacher's face. "It was kind of cute really." he muttered before he realized what he was saying. He finished up with his meal, fixing up his area so that it was easy enough to carry into the kitchen and wash. "I know, I know." he said, "I just...it's not exactly easy to admit you are a total nerd in that school. They have all their stereotypes and what not, and school jock doesn't exactly fit the bill of total nerd." he said, shrugging "I don't even really like football." he laughed, "I always figured that I would get into college and then I would let myself change. Break out and let myself be the total nerd that I am." he sighed, "But my grades..." he sighed "I let them slip way too far. Everything just started to get way out of hand."

Ryan got up and grabbed his dish heading over to the kitchen and started to wash them. "I have my stuff in my bag if you want to take a look at my test. I redid all of them." he explained, "And I mean all of them, even if I did well on the essay answers, I still redid it." he explained, finishing up cleaning the dish, "I guess the one I'm most mad at is the Great Gatsby one. I've read the book twice. I shouldn't of even had to study for the damn thing." he growled a bit at himself.
 
The blush lingered on his face longer than he would have liked, hearing from his student that his actions this morning had been "cute". He really needed to work on his poker face or something even though nothing bad had come of it. "I understand. I've never been a big fan of the school myself, people are way too worried about appearances and who knows who instead of worrying about the future." Charlie stood up and carried his plate and cup to the sink, rinsing them off before putting them into the dishwasher. "How are you doing in the rest of your classes? You might still be able to get into a decent college if your GPA isn't too low and your test scores are pretty good."

"Yeah, I'd like to look at them. We can talk about them later after I look over them again. Would you like some dessert? I've got cake and ice cream and some fruit," he said, opening the fridge and pulling out a cheesecake and fresh strawberries to put on top of it. He made a couple plates and handed one to Ryan along with a glass of milk. "Hey, we'll get it figured out. I know you know the material. You've got to quit doing this though, you're going to screw yourself in the end."
 
Ryan looked over to the other and smiled, "It's what gets us around in the world." he mumbled and shrugged as the other asked about his other grades. "Eh, they're okay." he shrugged "they could be a lot better but they aren't nearly as bad..." he explained, "Straight C's and a Z." he smirked at what he thought was a cute way to say it. "Plus...most of the other teachers give us jocks a lot of slack..so I'm sure surprisingly I'll have all B's by the end of the year." he said, rolling his eyes. "Stupid...but I'm glad at least one of those teachers doesn't give us slack, but is still willing to help out." he shrugged.

"Sure, dessert sounds great." he said, glancing at the clock. He would have to walk home at this point, the buses were about to shut down. He took the plate and moved to sit down at the table with his plate and glass of milk. "There are days I feel like I already have." he said, looking at his cheesecake. He glanced up to his teacher "Most of us drink, you know. I've gotten into some trouble there as well. I'm just lucky I haven't managed to kill myself. Screwing myself seems like a great idea after half the shit I've done drunk." he mumbled.
 
Charlie smirked and nodded, understanding what he was saying. He knew a lot of the teachers would give the student athletes slack in their classes, they figured that they had practice for long enough and they spent every friday playing and traveled a lot for their games so they didn't have as much time for their school work as the other students did. He had been a student athlete and knew better and knew that as long as those teachers were willing to give them the extra credit they would keep abusing their leniency and not do any of their own work on time.

He pursed his lips, not wanting to hear of him destroying his life with alcohol. He knew first hand what alcohol could do to someones life and he hated to see someone with so much potential ruin it with alcohol. "Is there just too much peer pressure for you to get yourself out of those situations?" He knew that they drank, that wasn't a surprise at all. He knew how teenagers brains worked, they didn't. "Is there anything that I could do to help you with those situations? Drinking is a terrible way to fuck yourself over and you're too intelligent to throw your life away like that." He shouldn't have swore but it just came out and they had already crossed the teacher/student boundary.
 
"Too much peer pressure? Have you seen the football team?" he asked, as he munched on the cheesecake. "I mean, they aren't exactly a upstanding student group." he sighed and shrugged "It's only been a few times, most of the time I get out of it by mentioning my grandma and her dislike for the stuff." he smiled softly and shook his head "I mean...these will probably help with the whole going to party things. It'll take me a while to get back home, so by the time I get there it will be far too late to go to parties." he explained.

He didn't seem to be freaked out by the other cussing, almost like it was completely normal. "Thank you." he whispered, blushing a bit at the words. "I'm trying hard not to fuck myself over." he smirked a bit as he said fuck. He glanced at the time "is there anything else you would like to go over, or..um...should I just leave my tests and notes here for you?" he asked, finishing up his cake.
 
He laughed quietly and nodded "yes, I've got a few of them in my classes," he said, staring into his cheesecake. He inhaled deeply, glad that the other was looking for reasons to get out of the drinking with his 'friends.' He was glad that he wouldn't be attending so many parties, a lot of kids got caught at those and it screws up your life at an early age, even before the alcoholism could set in. He realized then that it was too late for the buses to run and there was no way that he was going to let him walk home in the dark.

"I know you are, I can tell you're trying." Charlie looked the other over, getting up and putting his plate in the dishwasher before putting on his coat and grabbing his keys. "I'll keep them and look over them for next time, I'm busy tomorrow and this weekend but next week we can meet around 6 again." He told the other, leading him outside. "If an emergency comes up you've got my number so just give me a call but I'll give you a ride since I don't trust the people in this city after dark," he said, starting the car when they were inside. It was a fairly quiet ride besides having Ryan give him a left or a right direction every so often. "I'll see you in the morning," he offered as the other got out, watching until he closed the door behind him before he left.
 
Ryan pulled his tests out and his notes, leaving them on the table as he hurried to follow Mr. Overton outside. He stopped at the car door and hesitated "I-it's okay, Mr. Overton, I don't mind walking." he explained, though it seemed his teacher was very dead set on driving him home. He got into the car and buckled up, giving his teacher instructions on how to get to his place. "Thank you, Mr. Overton for the ride home and the help." he gave a weak smile and got out of the car heading inside.

The next morning he was actually early for Mr. Overton's class and had walked up to his teacher's desk. "Um..." he licked his lips and pulled a small bag out of his backpack, handing it over. "My grandma wanted me to give this too you." he said, "It's some of her frybread." he explained and shrugged "She wanted to thank you for driving me home last night." he smiled and then moved over to his desk, pulling out his notebook, he doodled on the edges, just to make it look like that was all he was really doing, rather than studying for their next test.
 
Charlie was surprised to see Ryan there that early in his class. He was even more surprised that he came up to his desk, wondering what it was that he needed to say to him that required him to get here extra early to speak with him. He took the bread, looking a little taken aback. He smiled a little and slid it into his bag to take home and to hide it from the other students "will you thank her for me and tell her it's completely unnecessary, I don't plan on letting you walk home in the future and she'll make me fat if she does this any more." He teased the boy lightheartedly before pulling out his own papers and writing a few things up on the board about the book they'd be reading next.

He had calmed down considerably from the previous class but still wasn't down to his usual grouchy self. The girls began speaking amongst themselves yet again so he simply stopped talking this time, waiting for them to catch on "Christina, you'll be presenting your final project first and then Anna and then Emily will follow before the rest of the class since the three of you enjoy talking so much." Then without another word he began talking about To Kill A Mockingbird as though he hadn't said anything to the girls. They were silent the rest of the class period though, probably hoping that he'd either forget or forgive, and he planned on doing neither.
 
Ryan gave a very weak smile, "Yeah, not a problem...I don't know if I'll be able to stop her with that. You can ask any of the team, if she decides to make you bread, you are getting bread." he chuckled and looked back down to his books. He remembered reading To Kill A Mockingbird before, but what on earth it was about, he wasn't sure. Ryan wrote the notes down from the board and chuckled when Charlie called out a couple of the students like it was nothing. He rolled his eyes when Christina hissed out a swear word under her breath and tried to placate herself by braiding his hair.

Ryan all but ignored her until she tapped his shoulder for the tie on his wrist. He handed it over just as the bell rang. He gathered his things, slowly, because he wanted to ask a few questions and he new they would have about five minutes before the next class came in. He waited for people to leave the room and headed up to Charlie "Okay...so I remember reading this book before, but I've always been lost with how much symbolism they put into that damn tree of theirs."
 
Charlie glanced at Christina when she cursed, thinking it was more disrespectful than anything. He was debating on whether he should send her to the office but decided he would wait until the next time she started braiding Ryan's hair. It made him more upset than it had originally since he knew the teen better now and knew about his struggles. She was one of his worst students, lazy, never did her work, talked all the time, and distracted others, which probably made him the most upset.

He looked up at Ryan and frowned a little bit. "Are you thinking of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn? Because that's really the only thing I can think of since there really isn't a lot of symbolism with any tree in this one," he admitted to the boy. He admired his persistence and that he wasn't waiting until their meetings after school to say something to him about what they were learning. "I'll see you Monday in class but go ahead and reread the book if you've got the time. It's a great read and not too hard to get through, that way it won't be so distracting when some girl decides to play with your hair." He sounded a bit more upset than he should have at the statement but it wasn't directed at Ryan at all.
 
"No...I..." he frowned and pulled open his backpack pulling out the book in mention and flipped through the pages really quick, "Here. right here." he pointed to the page, "With Boo and her stuff that she puts into it. I get the items, but the tree itself...I keep reading about different symbolism ideas about it, but I don't really get any of them." he explained and glanced over to the door, so he could check the clock. When Charlie mentioned the girls braiding his hair he chuckled, hearing the tone of his voice, "It's not that distracting, they do it in every class." he pulled the braid over his shoulder and looked at it, "Kind of nice really, sometimes I don't have time to do it myself, so when they do it, it's like being able to get to class a bit earlier." he shrugged, throwing the braid back over his shoulder.

"I'll re-read it for sure though." he explained and glanced over at the door again, "I should probably go...your next class will be here soon, I'm sure." he said and headed towards the door so that he could make it to the library and let Charlie get to his next class.
 
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