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It's the first week of school and April is just starting to settle in. Her classes are going okay, but it's the first week, and that's to be expected.
Except... her teacher asked her to stay after class for a moment, and now she's nervous. Had she done something wrong? Was something wrong with her records? Oh, god, this wasn't a Ms. Jenkins situation again, was it??
April's leg bounced rapidly under her desk during the last few minutes of class. When the bell rang, everyone else filed out of the room, leaving April alone with the teacher.
"Ms. O'Neil," she said in an upbeat tone, and April sighed in relief. Proper term, she'd been called at roll by the right name, all was well.
"That's me! What's going on?" she asked, slinging her bag over her shoulder.
"You've had a very strong academic career so far, April, and you've repeatedly shown great people skills, a willingness to work with others, and you're a natural leader when necessary," she explained. Now April knew something was going on. "All of that is to say that we'd like to ask you to tutor another student. She's in the same grade as you, but she has a record of struggling in her classes, and we believe you could be a huge help to her."
April nodded in understanding, but the teacher had more to say and kept talking before she could comment.
"It may not be easy. She's been reported to be a little... difficult to work with. While I'm sure you'll rise to the challenge, it's alright if it doesn't work out. And don't take it personally, it's nothing you've done wrong. She's been known to drive people away and not work well with others."
April frowned internally, but kept her face cheerful. That was some pretty rude stuff to say to someone who hasn't even met this girl. Did they want her to make bad assumptions about her?
"I think I can handle it! What do you need from me?"
They had their first meeting set for the first Friday of school in the library, right after school. April's dad had promised to come pick her up at 4, and they could take home the other girl if she needed a ride.
April arrived to the library after the rush of kids going to their buses or cars had died down and it was possible to walk the halls again. She'd gotten turned around a little, this being only her first week, but she was getting used to the layout.
She looked around the library, expecting... something. Someone to jump out at her and say "this is the girl". But there was only one person in the library, so April decided to try her luck.
She approached the person sitting in one of the large armchairs, good for reading or catching up on some online schoolwork. They wore an oversized black hoodie that hid most of their frame, with the hood up obscuring their face, and baggy pants that further said they didn't want to be seen.
April's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, but she smiled brightly as she said the name given to her by her teacher.
The person seemed to cringe, and April's eyes widened, but she seemed otherwise unaffected. Oh. She can work with that.
"Yeah, that's me," they said, as April sat down in the armchair beside them. "I guess you're the smartass they sent to try and fix me, huh?"
April rolled her eyes at the comment, but took it in stride. "I was told you could use some peer support. I wasn't aware this was a shop class," she joked lightly, and that earned her a little huff of a laugh.
"Is that what they told you? 'Peer support'?" they said mockingly, and April laughed back.
"No. They asked me to tutor you, but there's not a whole lot of a difference. You need some one-on-one support and there's nothing wrong with that."
They scoffed, looking away from April. "Says someone who's never needed it."
"How do you know that?" April said back immediately, the words quick but tone and face neutral. She only wants them to think, not to think she's mad at them.
Their head snapped up, looking over at April, eyes searching her face. She's not sure what they find, but she thinks they don't know either.
"What do you mean?" they asked.
"I mean you don't know anything about me. Just like I don't know anything about you, Jones," she said, smiling just a little. Using their first name wasn't a good idea, but their last name could work for now.
Jones huffed, rolling their eyes. "You're smart. That's why they asked you to do this. And smart people don't need help."
"You've made three assumptions here. One, that I'm smart- you're not wrong, I do view myself as smart. Two, that I don't need help- that's wrong, I need help all the time. But I wonder if you've associated needing help with not being smart so much that you don't ask for it when you need it."
Jones paused, still looking away, before they spoke up. "What's the third?"
"Hm?" April hummed questioningly.
"You said I made three assumptions. What's the third?"
April smiled. "You assumed you aren't smart."
Jones rolled their eyes, shaking their head. "Isn't that the whole point of this? I struggle in school, so the teachers give me a tutor?"
"That doesn't mean you're not smart. It means you struggle in school. There are so many reasons why people struggle, and you could go through dozens before you got to a lack of intelligence," April said, and she can feel Jones' scoff coming before she hears it. "The teacher mentioned you'd had some tutors before, and things didn't work out well. I don't know what their approach was, but I plan to try to figure out what's making it so hard for you to do well. But for that to happen, I need you to talk to me."
Jones is quiet for a moment. April doesn't rush them, just sits and waits.
"Yeah, right," Jones said. April internally sighed, but she knew she had to give this time.
"I don't expect you to believe it right away. You just met me, after all, you really shouldn't trust me. But at least give me a chance," April said, then stuck out her hand. "I'm April O'Neil. I'd like to be your friend, first and foremost."
Jones looked at her hand, then looked at her, once again studying her face.
"I want to help, Jones. But you have to want that too, for this to work. If you don't want help, nothing's going to work. I can't make the decision for you. Neither can your teachers. If you don't want to do this, no one can make you."
Jones kept looking, staring at her like they were trying to figure her out. April just let them, not judging, not squirming, just... waiting.
She imagined she had to be the first tutor to try and treat them as a friend first, not an assignment, and that'd wear on a person. They expected her to be like others. She'd have to gain Jones' trust and she'd have to work for it. Not that April minded. She liked a challenge.
"...Yeah, right," they repeated, huffing and looking down. "I give it a week."
April raised an eyebrow. "How about a friendly wager, then?"
Jones lifted their head, an unimpressed look on their face.
"Give me two weeks, and if I haven't quit and you don't absolutely hate being around me, you've gotta let me help you. If you really hate me that much after two weeks, I'll leave you alone. But I'm not quitting. I want to prove that to you."
Jones gave April a confused, almost startled look. April just waited again; she had a feeling this would require a lot of patience. She didn't mind. She had a feeling that they needed someone to take the time to help them.
After a beat, Jones shrugged, and she held out her hand once again for them to shake. They did, but it felt unenthusiastic and half-hearted. Still, April didn't let that discourage her.
This was going to go well.
After that Friday, they met every day after school. There wasn't much to cover in the way of schoolwork for the first week of their bet, so April tried to draw Jones out of their shell with icebreakers and silly stories or games and snacks.
They'd tried their best to annoy her, to push her away, to make her stop coming, but April didn't back down. She showed up, day after day, and she could see Jones' face change little by little.
At the end of the two weeks, Jones had gone from sullen and barely speaking to actively enjoying their afternoons together (at least, April hoped they did, but she wasn't a mind reader).
Classes had started to give out real work, though, stuff Jones could potentially be really struggling with without help.
April knew things had gone well, she knew it had, but she was still nervous. This was it. This was the day that Jones made their choice.
She walked into the library, smiling and waving at Jones as she plopped into the chair next to them, the same two chairs as the first day they met.
"So, Jones. Two weeks," she started, looking over at them. "How are you feeling about this?"
Jones looked at her, shifting awkwardly in their seat. "I'm feeling like I shouldn't have been so quick to judge. You've uh... you're not so bad."
April smiled softly in return. "You're not so bad yourself," she said, then raised an eyebrow. "You okay with me helping you, then? You want to do this?"
They took a breath, looking down and then back up quickly. "Yeah. I want to do this."
"Then let's do this. We'll make this your best school year yet. What classwork have you gotten so far?"
As Jones got the papers out of their bag, April internally cheered to herself. She'd gotten through to them, she'd made a friend- and if the feeling she was starting to get was mutual, maybe there would be more. She wasn't going to force anything, though, just... see where things took them.
But regardless of where things ended up, April knew this was going to be good.