When Tate got home from school, she began thinking of ideas on how to get close to Martha and befriend her.
She thought to herself, "Why would Martha want to be friends with me? I'm neither smart nor attractive, and I don't look like any of the people she hangs out with."
She thought about it for hours. Then she remembered that Martha had asked her about Mr. Matthew's upcoming test and came up with an idea—she would ask Martha to explain some of the math questions she didn't understand. To be honest, she didn't understand anything in math, but Martha didn't need to know that. She didn't want to seem like a loser.
Morning came fast, and Tate headed downstairs to pick up her lunch. To her surprise, she met her dad—she had no idea he was back from his work trip.
"Good morning, Dad," she greeted, hugging him. She missed him. They might not have the perfect relationship, but she loved him a lot. Her mom always teased her that it was because she looked more like her dad than her mom.
"Hey, kiddo. How are you doing?"
"I'm good, Dad."
She saw her mom coming downstairs, and her mom told her, "Pick up your lunch from the table."
Her mom then added, "You should be on your way so you won't be late."
Tate picked up her lunch and wished them both goodbye.
She walked toward the bus stop, waiting for the shuttle, and remembered yesterday's encounter with Allen and Landon. She mentally prayed that she wouldn't end up in the same shuttle as Allen or run into him.
She only had one goal in mind today and that was befriending Martha. She didn't want to get distracted by thinking about anything else.
She was still skeptical about Allen ever liking her. She just didn't see what he saw in her. She had no personality, and he could date girls far better than her at school. Him liking her complicated things.
She just didn't want anything to be awkward and weird between them. And the fact that he sent Landon instead of coming himself just made the situation even weirder.
She wanted to talk to him about it, but she couldn't since he hadn't come to meet her himself.
While she was deep in thought, the shuttle stopped at their school entrance, snapping her back to reality. She stepped off and took a deep breath.
"How hard can it be to befriend a girl?" she muttered under her breath.
Oh boy she was wrong.
Martha was barely ever seated in class. She was always going somewhere, always busy with something. Tate thought maybe she'd get a chance to talk to her during lunch, but when the time came, Martha was with Mr. Matthew and Damien.
Tate couldn't help but wonder what were they talking about? And, more importantly, why was everyone so obsessed with Damien?
He was a rude jerk.
Yes, he was attractive even a blind person could probably sense his handsomeness through his aura. But she just couldn't get the hype.
He was irritating as hell.
She had almost kicked him in the knee during class today. He had stepped on her foot, and when she told him, he just stared blankly, not even bothering to apologize.
He really made her blood boil.
Mr. Matthew, Damien, and Martha left the room together.
Tate thought to herself, "The universe is definitely against me."
She hung around, waiting to see if Martha would return so she could finally get a chance to talk to her. But instead of Martha, Damien was the one who came back.
Tate felt her patience wearing thin. The school day was almost over, and she still hadn't accomplished what she set out to do.
She considered asking Damien where Martha was but hesitated. She knew he'd probably be a jerk about it. But at this point, she didn't really have the patience for his attitude.
This year was supposed to be the year she tried, and she wasn't about to let some jerk stand in her way.
Tate walked toward where Damien was with his friends, still bewildered at how he had so many friends already. "I guess it's pretty privilege," she thought sarcastically to herself.
She approached him and said, "Hi Damien, I want to ask you something."
He looked a bit shocked that she was even talking to him, especially considering the circumstances that had brought them together—being seat partners stuck with each other for the entire term.
Damien replied, "How can I help you, Miss Tate?"
Tate won't lie—his tone irritated her.
She asked, "Do you know where Martha is?"
Damien raised an eyebrow. "Why would you think I'd have any idea where Martha is?"
Tate replied, "I saw you leave with her and Mr. Matthew."
Damien smirked. "So you really do notice things? I thought you were always in your head and didn't care about your surroundings."
Tate thought to herself, What is wrong with this guy?
She shook her head and said, "I don't understand what you're saying. I just want to know if you know where she is."
Damien shrugged."I don't know. Check the 7th-grade classroom. She might be there."
Tate's irritation peaked. She didn't want to stand in Damien's presence any longer. "Screw you, Damien," she thought, already turning away from him.
She headed immediately to the 7th-grade classroom. The last thing she wanted was to spend another second near Damien.
When she reached the 7th-grade classroom, she saw that they were receiving a lesson from their teacher. There was no sign of Mr. Matthew or Martha.
"Great," she thought."Just great."
She muttered under her breath, "Screw you, Damien."
Tate decided to wait until after school hours to catch up with Martha and try to talk to her.
She decided to go to the restroom before entering class. On entering, she saw the one and only person that had been on her mind since morning—Martha—coming out of one of the stalls and washing her hands.
Tate beamed with joy. Maybe the universe wasn't against her after all.
Martha noticed her when she walked toward her. "Hi, Tate," she said, a friendly smile on her face.
Tate replied, "Hey, how are you?"
Martha nodded, still washing her hands, and then Tate hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Um, Martha, I want to ask you something." She quickly added, "It's cool if you're not down for it or if you're uncomfortable."
She saw that she had piqued Martha's interest—her eyes softened, and she stopped drying her hands.
Tate took a deep breath, nervous but determined. "I'm struggling with Mr. Matthew's math classes, and I would love it if you could tutor me."
Martha smiled warmly, her eyes lighting up. "Of course, I would love to." She paused, thinking for a second before adding, "We can meet after school if you like. You can text me where we should meet up."
Tate felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her. She hesitated before replying, "I... I don't have a cell phone."
Martha raised an eyebrow, looking curious, so Tate quickly explained, "My mom won't let me have one. She says I'm too young and that I'd beexposed to too much 'bad' stuff if I had one."
Martha laughed lightly, shaking her head. "No problem at all. We can meet at the general bus stop for the shuttle and go somewhere quiet where we can read."
Tate couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had never imagined someone would be so willing to help her like this. Martha was going out of her way to tutor her—and that meant a lot. It was the first time someone had made an effort to do something for her
"Thanks, Martha. That means a lot to me," Tate said, smiling shyly.
Martha smiled back. "No problem. See you later, Tate."
As Martha left the restroom, Tate stayed for a moment, staring at her reflection in the mirror. She couldn't help but smile, her heart a little lighter. "Who would've thought..." she whispered to herself. "If I told myself last year that I'd be hanging out with 'Martha Flames,' my last-year self wouldn't have believed it."
Her smile stayed on her face as she walked out, feeling a sense of accomplishment, excitement, and maybe, just maybe, hope for the first time in a while