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“She’s thirteen,” Nicole answered promptly. “She’ll be fourteen in a couple weeks, though, on Lammas Eve, if I recall correctly.”
Mrs. Dixon beamed. “You do! Correct, Ms. Lawrence, as always.”
Raina scowled at her desk as Mrs. Dixon resumed her lecture. It wasn’t fair. Nicole got Jesse, and now she had to have all the right answers in class too? Of course, if Raina had read the assigned reading, she probably would have known the answer. Instead, she had stared at the first page for hours, the words blurring into illegible doodles. It was hard to read when you couldn’t focus on anything…well, anything except her utter confusion regarding Jesse.
Raina didn’t want to dislike anyone, but she really couldn’t stand Nicole Lawrence. The other girl was bossy, inconsiderate, and rude, and Raina had no idea what Jesse saw in her. Stewing in her own thoughts, Raina didn’t look up from her desk until the bell rang.
“Ms. Cohen.”
Laptop in hand, Raina glanced up at her teacher. “Yes?”
Hopefully Mrs. Dixon wanted to hand back a paper or something. Could she tell Raina had barely opened the book?
“Raina, there has been no change since our discussion earlier this week. Is something wrong, or are you simply having a hard time with this read?”
Raina’s stomach flip-flopped and her eyes prickled with tears. She opened her mouth to respond but couldn’t force words past her throat.
“It’s alright,” Mrs. Dixon said in what Raina thought was meant to be a comforting way. “Everyone struggles. Why, I’ve never been a huge fan of poetry.”
Raina stopped herself from suggesting an extra credit project. She would normally jump at the chance to boost her grade, but in her current state? There was no guarantee she’d be able to complete the extra work. She was barely getting her regular homework done.
“I’ll do better, I promise.”
“I know you will,” Mrs. Dixon replied. “Now, my usual suggestion for students who need a little extra help is a peer tutor.”
Raina hesitated, tapping her fingers against her thigh. She had never needed a peer tutor before; if anything, she had been the one tutoring. “Is this necessary?”
“It’s not,” Mrs. Dixon answered, and Raina appreciated her honesty. “Like I said, you’re not doingbadly. But your work isn’t up to your usual standards, so I’d like to suggest something…unique.”
Raina eyed her teacher warily. “What?”
“We’re going to call it tutoring,” Mrs. Dixon announced. “I’m going to set you up with one of my best students, and I’ll ask that you meet once or twice a week to discussRomeo and Juliet. You don’t need help with the material, but I believe this student will help you find a new perspective. Besides, it’s always interesting to hear someone else’s side of things.”
“Who is it?” The words rushed out. She only knew of one other person who peer tutored, but prayed that it wouldn’t be—
“Nicole Lawrence,” Mrs. Dixon answered. She rose from her desk chair, shuffling a stack of papers. “I’m sure she’ll be agreeable. I’ll speak with her after class tomorrow. Unless you’d like to talk to her yourself?”
“No, no, it’ll be better coming from you. But, um, Nicole and I...we don’t see eye to eye.”
Mrs. Dixon’s smile seemed too cheerful, as if she didn’t know she was basically ruining Raina’s life. “All the better, then. You’ll get to know each other.”
“Yay,” Raina said weakly, and when Mrs. Dixon dismissed her, she stumbled out of the classroom in a daze.
Of all the people available to tutor her, it had to be the one person Raina hated most, the person who was entirely responsible for why Raina was doing badly in the first place.
Sure, she wasn’t failing, not by a long shot. But she wasn’t performing up to her usual standards, thanks to sleepless nights and constant thoughts of Jesse and what had happened pinging her brain. Mrs. Dixon had been the first to recognize it, and now Raina had to spend time with Nicole Lawrence. Really, she had no idea what her teacher was thinking, much less why she wanted to set Raina up with this ‘tutoring’, but Raina would have to trust that Mrs. Dixon knew what she was doing.
Raina popped into the kosher kitchen, grabbing a Tupperware of pasta from the fridge. She’d prepared it earlier in the day, making enough pasta to feed herself, Tehilla, and Yaakov for dinner. Yaakov walked in as she was putting her bowl in the microwave, waving as he made a beeline for the Tupperware.
“Can you add Oreos to the shopping list?” Raina asked, pressing the minute button. Her fingers drummed against the counter as she watched the timer countdown.
“Yeah, of course. Did you want more Ritz crackers too? I saw we ran out.”
“Ask Tehilla. I think she might have finished them.”
Raina tore her gaze away from the timer to see Yaakov nod, scribbling something down on the pad attached to the fridge. Every Wednesday he would go shopping in town, buying the food they needed for the week. With the stipend they got from Trinity and a little extra from their parents, it was enough for the trio to live on.
The microwavedingedand Raina pulled her food out, setting the hot bowl on a plate so she didn’t burn her hands. With a wave to Yaakov, she grabbed cutlery from the counter and left the kitchen, hurrying to the main dining hall.
