The Bad boy's Secret Tutor

The Library is Not Secret Anymore

Monday came too fast.

Mia woke up at 6AM. Not because of an alarm. Because her stomach was in knots.

Today was the first "official" tutoring session. School-approved. Teacher-supervised.

No more passing notes. No more "secret."

She got to school early. The hallway was empty. She sat at their library table and waited.

4 minutes later, Jake walked in.

He had his backpack, two notebooks, and that same small bag of dog treats from Saturday.

"You’re early," he said, sitting down.

"You’re early too," Mia replied.

They both smiled. Awkward.

For a second it was just them again. Like Saturday. Like nothing else existed.

Then the library door opened.

"Mia? Jake?"

Mrs. Cole. The librarian. With a clipboard.

"The principal asked me to check in," she said. "Said this is part of the peer tutoring program now."

Jake nodded. "Yes ma’am."

Mrs. Cole looked at their books. Math. English. A stack of practice tests.

"Good," she said. "I’ll be at the front. 45 minutes. Don’t make me regret this."

She walked away.

Mia exhaled. "I thought we were in trouble."

"We are," Jake said. "If we don’t get you a B on Friday."

---

The first 20 minutes were quiet.

Jake explained fractions. Mia took notes. He corrected her when she messed up. She didn’t get mad.

It felt normal.

Until Tasha walked in.

"Mia? Is this the tutoring?" Tasha whispered loudly.

Two other girls followed her. Lena. Priya.

Mia froze. "What are you doing here?"

"We heard," Lena said. "That Jake is tutoring you. For real. In the library."

"So we came to see," Priya added.

Jake didn’t look up from the textbook. "This is a closed session."

"Since when?" Tasha asked.

"Since now," Jake said, finally looking up. His voice was flat. "You can study at another table."

The girls exchanged looks. Then they sat. Two tables away. Staring.

Mia’s face burned. "Sorry. They’re just—"

"Nosy?" Jake finished. He pushed a practice problem to her. "Focus. Question 3."

Mia tried. But she could feel the eyes on her.

After 10 more minutes, Mrs. Cole cleared her throat. "Ladies. Either study or leave."

Tasha rolled her eyes and they left. But not before Tasha whispered, "We’ll see."

---

When the library emptied, Mia dropped her pen.

"They’re going to talk," she said.

"They always talk," Jake said. "Let them."

"But—"

"Mia." Jake stopped writing. "Do you care what they think?"

Mia thought about it. About last year. About disappearing. About people asking where she went.

"I used to," she said. "I don’t want to now."

Jake nodded. "Then don’t."

He went back to the problems. Like it was nothing.

Like she was nothing to be ashamed of.

---

45 minutes ended. Mrs. Cole walked them out.

"You did good," she told Mia. "Your quiz scores are already up."

Mia blinked. "Really?"

"Really. Keep coming. Tuesdays and Thursdays too."

Outside, the sun was bright. Kids were running to buses.

Jake walked Mia to her mom’s car.

"Same time Thursday?" he asked.

"Yeah," Mia said. "Same time."

Before she got in, her phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

_Mrs. Cole said you did well today. Proud of you. - J_

Mia stared at it. Then she typed back.

_Thanks, tutor._

She looked up. Jake was across the parking lot, by his car. He lifted his phone. Then he lifted his hand.

A small wave.

Mia waved back.

---

That night, Mia sat at her desk.

She opened her notebook. Not for homework.

She wrote:

_Day 1 of not disappearing._

She underlined it twice.

Downstairs, her mom knocked. "Dinner."

"Coming," Mia said.

As she walked down, she passed the living room. Scout’s photo was on the mantle now. From Saturday.

Her mom was cooking. Music was playing.

It was loud. It was messy. It was home.

And for the first time, Mia didn’t want to run from it.