Page 24 of Apparently, I’m Torture

My anxiety hummed, beating through me steadily. I wasn’t going to solve this tonight. The only thing I could do was finish Trevor’s lecture. I pulled my laptop toward me and settled deeper into the cushions.

Chapter 9

Lilly

Monday Morning

Verra Convention Center

Phone still strapped to my ear, I sped to my desk. 9:05am. I wasn’t late. Not really. Was I? Shit, what if I was? What if Shawn called me into his office like I was a tardy truant? What if he yelled at me in front of the other teachers?

Arrrghh, this was what being a student felt like. It’d been years since I felt like this.

Heat pricked me as I angled my butt into the seat. It groaned, offended, like it was begging me to lose the five pounds that’d gone straight to my ass last summer.

Sorry pal. Not today.

“Did you make it?” Nikki asked, still on the line.

“Yeah… hang on a sec, okay? I can’t breathe in this skirt.” I held the phone away as I sucked in a lungful of air, and adjusted the waistband of my outfit.

“Didn’t buy that new one, did you?” she drawled, on the verge of laughing.

“No,” I answered, trying to sound annoyed instead of panicked. “I didn’t. I spent the weekend looking for an adult, female tutor who specializes in literature. Want to guess how many of them are in Manhattan right now? Itching for the chance to teach a high school student over the summer break?”

“Fourteen?” Nikki asked, teasing.

“Zero. I have zero people lined up for this. And Mrs Hernandez won’t raise the rate from twenty dollars an hour. So, you know, as enticing as the job sounds, I can’t really blame anyone for rejecting it.”

Nikki clucked her tongue. “Well, that’s not great. If I knew anything about literature I’d step in, buuuuut...”

“Yeah, yeah. I know you would.” I let out a breath as I booted up my computer. “It’s my own fault for not setting boundaries with the parents. I offered Mrs Hernandez my number. My number. I mean, I can’t blame anyone but myself.”

“You’re not wrong about that.” Strike one for No-Bullshit-Nikki. “And Mia doesn’t have anyone she can recommend?”

“She sent me the first tutor. And you know that did not go over well.”

Nikki let out a laugh. “I guess we can’t blame Mia for that either.” She paused. “What about Shawn?”

Acid crawled up my throat. “I’m not asking him for help, Nikki. It’s bad enough that I’ve been bugging him to fix my damn computer since last week.”

I clicked on my email and the server files. Bong, bong. Error messages. A scream of frustration strangled in my throat.

“What is it?” Nikki asked.

“Error messages again. I thought this was fixed. I can’t get anything done for this fundraiser if my computer doesn’t work.”

“Is there anyone else who can help you?”

Through gritted teeth, I answered, “No. Only Shawn.”

Nikki’s voice was playful as she purred, “Well, you better say good morning then.”

I groaned and face-palmed. “He still hates me, Nikki.”

“He never hated you. He just couldn’t handle working with you.” Her tone sounded so reasonable I wanted to laugh.

“And that doesn’t sound like hate to you?” I sighed. “I’ve got to handle this.”