Petey looked over at the paper Kristen was fretting over. Her second math test. 64% with a note from the professor: "Possibly get a tutor before you fall behind".
"I got a C on the first one though!" Kristen protested, pulling out her last math test.
Petey looked at it. "No you didn't," he said, "69% is a D+."
"Ugh!" Kristen whined, tossing both papers aside and plowing her head onto the face of the desk with a loud thump.
"Shh!" Petey said, "This is the library after all!"
Kristen just groaned in response.
"A tutor's not so bad," Petey said, "You can make a new friend!"
Kristen turned her head, her cheek still resting on the table. "Who makes friends with their tutors?" she asked, "Aren't they paid?"
"Yeah. But you still could," Petey said, grinning, "It could be loads of fun!"
Kristen scoffed and sat up straight again, resting her chin in her hand, resigned. "You're right," she said, sighing, "I'll give it a try."
"Good for you!" Petey said, "I'm pretty sure you sign up or apply at Student Services in the Castle Building."
Kristen nodded. "I guess I'll do that later then."
"Great!" Petey exclaimed, turning back to book, "Now what do you think Thoreau means by "It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."?"
They spent a good hour going over their homework together, sharing ideas, comparing answers, etc. before they finally packed up and left the library, burned out.
"Have you tried seeing your sister yet?" Petey wondered.
"No," Kristen replied.
"Why not?" Petey asked innocently, "I thought you said you wanted to see her last week."
Kristen sighed. "I did. It's just... well, Annalise's a bit... I don't know. You wouldn't understand."
"Why don't we go see her right now?" Petey suggested.
"What?" Kristen asked.
"Yeah! Why not? We've both got time on our hands. Let's go see your sister!" Petey exclaimed.
"Oh, uh... I don't think that's such a good idea," Kristen said, "She doesn't really like people..."
"Come on. It'll be great! When was the last time you saw her?" Petey asked.
"A year and a half ago, but..."
"And don't you want to see her again?"
"Well, yes..."
"Every minute you spend saying "I'll do it tomorrow" is just another moment wasted. Another moment added on to that year and a half."
"I know, but..."
"So don't you think now is as good a time as ever to put an end to it?"
Kristen sighed. Then she took a deep breath. "You're right," she said, "I should just do it."
"Yes!" Petey said, grinning, "So come on! Let's go!"
Annalise lived a few blocks away in an older apartment complex, The North Ridge Apartments. The two friends walked there, side by side until they approached the rusty white gates. Fortunately they were not in a car and were able to simply walk around them through the brush at the side.
"Do you know what room she's in?" Petey wondered.
"53," Kristen said.
They found the room at the far end of the complex. The windows were shut and the blinds were down. There was even dust on the windowsill, visible from where they stood. There was no sign that anybody even lived there. Who knew if Annalise was even home.
"Go ahead, knock," Petey encouraged.
Kristen raised her fist and took a deep breath. This was it. After all this time, she was finally going to see her sister. What would it be like? Would Annalise be happy to see her? Would she invite her in? Should Kristen give her a hug? Would she want that? It had been so long, maybe it would be awkward.
"Aren't you going to knock?" Petey's voice broke through her thoughts.
Kristen realized she was still standing in front of the door with her fist raised. She pounded on it and stepped back, waiting anxiously. Nothing happened.
She rocked back and forth on her heels, hands clasped behind her back, waiting as patiently as possible, but still nothing happened. Maybe she didn't hear the knock?
Kristen tried again, this time a little louder. “Annalise?” she called, “It’s me, Kristen!”
She stood back once more. Still, nothing happened. Kristen felt her spirits dropping.
"Maybe she's not home," Petey suggested.
Kristen sighed. "Yeah... maybe," she said, dejected, "Let's go."
They turned to leave, but suddenly a clicking noise forced them to look back. The door handle was jiggling. Kristen rushed back to the door, watching it hopefully.
It opened ever so slightly. The silver chain was still locked over the gap. Suddenly, an eye appeared. "Hello?" a timid voice spoke from behind the door.
"Annalise? Is that you?" Kristen asked, peering into the crack in the door.
"Kristen?"
Kristen could not see anything except for one large blue eye, but she recognized it as Annalise's indefinitely. She smiled at the eye. "Oh, Anna! It's been so long!" she exclaimed.
"Kristen, what are you doing here?" Annalise asked.
"I came to see you," Kristen replied, "I've missed you."
Annalise looked down for a moment. "I've missed you too," she said quietly.
"So why don't you come out?" Kristen asked, "Look, I brought a friend."
Kristen gestured to Petey behind her. He gave a wave. "Hi, I'm Petey!"
Annalise looked away. "I can't," she said.
"Why not?" Kristen asked, reaching out to her, "If you just--"
"I just can't!" Annalise snapped, "Now please, just go away!"
Kristen lowered her hands, crest-fallen. The door closed.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kristen took large bite of her donut as she marched down the sidewalk. Custard spurted out the sides, but she didn't care. Her encounter with Annalise was still replaying in her mind and quite frankly it was really bothering her. It was the first contact they had made in over a year and she had told her to go away. Why? What had happened to make her so reclusive and afraid? Had Kristen done something?
Kristen reached the Castle Building and half-consciously made her way inside through the wild throng of students, still munching on her donut. What if she had done something? Something so horribly awful that Annalise never wanted to see her again? ...But she did say that she missed her. So why didn't she just come out? Or at least talk to her?
She suddenly became aware that she had reached Student Services. She didn't even look at the person sitting behind the counter, still mostly focused on Annalise. "I'd like to sign up for a tutor," she muttered as she took another large bite of her donut.
"Kristen?"
At the sound of her name, she suddenly looked up. Much to her surprise, David sat behind the desk, name-tag and all, smiling at her.
"Da-fff-id," Kristen said with a mouth full of donut.
He watched her, still smiling as pleasant as ever as she struggled to swallow her mouthful. She finally managed to empty her mouth and looked up at him, smiling as well. "Hi!" she said.
He chuckled slightly and pointed to her cheek. "Uh, you got a little..."
"What?" Kristen reached up to the spot he was pointing at and felt custard smeared across her cheek and lip. "Oh!" She turned away while she tried to wipe it away. Seriously, could she look like a bigger idiot in front of him of all people?
She turned back once more. "Hi!"
"Hi," he said, "A little hungry, I see."
"Oh that. I passed a donut shop on my way here and they had some donuts and I was feeling kind of down and I always eat when I'm upset so I bought one to eat on my way over, but then I didn't expect to see you. Not that I mind eating donuts in front of you, it's just..."
"You were upset?" David asked.
"Oh, yeah. It was nothing really," Kristen replied, "I just tried to visit my sister, but she... didn't want to see me."
"I'm sorry," David said.
Kristen nodded with a sigh.
"You could try again some other time," he suggested, "Maybe she was just having a bad day."
"Yeah, I guess," Kristen said, looking down at her feet. But then she thought about it for a moment. Maybe if Kristen showed Annalise that she truly did care about her and honestly did want to see her, she might eventually open the door! "Yeah... you're right. I should just keep trying. She should let me in eventually, right?"
"Absolutely!" David agreed.
Kristen smiled at him. He was just as handsome as she remembered. And he popped into her mind through the day more than she liked to admit. And now in his green vest with the school's crest embroidered onto it, it just brought out his stunning eyes even more.
"So uh, about your tutor?" David said after a moment.
Kristen realized she had been staring and quickly looked away. "Oh yeah, right," she said quickly, flushing a deep red, "Um, it's for math."
"Ah. The ones who are in highest demand," David said, "Let me see what we've got."
He turned around and opened a drawer, sorting through files and papers. Kristen watched his back as he sorted through them. "So, you're not a tutor?" she asked.
He laughed. "No. I just work the desk," he replied, "I can barely pass my own classes, much less show people how to pass theirs."
Kristen laughed herself. "I know what you mean."
He finally turned back around. "Here you are," he said, "How does someone who got a scholarship for math sound to you?"
"Ha! Sounds like a perfect candidate," Kristen answered.
David handed her a sheet of paper. "Fill this out," he said.
Kristen quickly filled out the paper. It was just her contact information like what her name was, her address, email, and telephone number. She handed it back to David.
He looked over it. "Everything seems to be in order," he said, nodding.
"Yeah," Kristen said suddenly dejected, realizing it was time for her to leave.
"Now fill one out for the tutor," David said, pulling out another paper.
Kristen's head popped up in surprise. David was giving her a half smile as he pushed the paper towards her. He winked and stuck her first paper into his pocket.
Kristen felt her stomach flip. She smiled back and took the paper. She quickly scribbled down her information once more, but was hardly aware of what she was doing. Her head was in too much of a buzz. She handed it back to David, doing her best to keep her smile to a minimum.
"You can expect a phone call within the week," David said, "...Or maybe two."
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