Page 50 of Campus Heat

I put a hand to my chest, acting incredibly hurt. “Now you’re just being rude.”

“No, I’m being accurate. It’s not my fault you’re sensitive.”

She winked at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. I liked this side of us. I didn’t feel offended when she gave her opinion, and she didn’t take my comments the wrong way. We had an awesome dynamic, and I think that was what helped me understand the work so easily.

Elizabeth got up, pulled out my office chair and turned it to face her instead of the wall. But I still stood there, waiting for her to give me an order. She must’ve picked up on that because she patted the chair and gave me a sweet smile.

“So we’re starting with cellular respiration?” she asked, picking up my textbook. “Teach me what you know about the subject.”

I blinked at her, totally confused. “Aren’t you supposed to be the tutor?”

“I’m not here to read you a book and hope you understand, if that’s what you mean. The best way to learn is to rehearse what you know, and then I’ll fill in the gaps. It’s the best way for the human mind to retain information.”

I gave her a wicked smile. “That’s pure evil.”

“Actually, it’s very effective.”

I leaned back, feeling a little self-conscious. I never really struggled with biology, but I had issues with being put on the spot. So her approach would be the best thing for me at this stage. I just didn’t know if I was ready for it, mostly because I didn’t want to look like an idiot in front of her.

“Fine,” I mumbled. “Glucose breaks down into ATP.”

She gave me an unreadable look.

“In the mitochondria,” I quickly added. “And…” she said, making me wonder what I had missed.

“And… energy?”

Her eyebrows lifted slightly, and I realized I had just jumbled everything up.

I sighed. “Okay, let’s try that again from the beginning. The process starts with glycolysis. Then we move to the cytoplasm, which is followed by the Krebs cycle. Then the electron transport chain.”

“That sounds better,” she said.

I crossed my arms over my chest, feeling proud. “See, I knew the answer.”

“Mmm hmm,” she said with a knowing look.

I almost lost my confidence, but I figured she was just testing me to see if I’d give up. I wasn’t going to. This was my chance to make it in school and football, and I would not let that slip through my fingers. The problem was that 20 minutes later, I could not, in fact, answer that simple question.

“What’s the net gain of ATP from glycolysis?” she asked, tapping her pen against her notebook.

“Four,” I said enthusiastically.

She tilted her head, trying to conceal her amusement, but it was too late.

“Two,” I corrected, less sure of myself.

“Net.”

It was one simple word, but at that exact moment, it carried so much weight. Far more than my little brain could bear. I stared at her, but instead of giving me the answer, she just stared back.

“Two,” I said again, feeling far less confident than I had the entire night.

“Good,” she said with a smile.

I leaned back and ran a hand through my hair. I used to think I knew a thing or two about biology, but the more we went through the work, the more prominent my problem with the work became.

“This is humiliating,” I muttered.