WHAT SHE NEEDED
995 Words
By four o’clock, I was sitting in the vice chancellor’s office wondering if I’d made a mistake.
“You’re certain you can handle this?”
I nodded.
“Yes, sir.”
He pushed a small folder toward me.
“Sofia’s parents are concerned about her grades. They requested a private academic tutor.”
I opened the folder.
Sofia Sinclair.
Of course.
“Her mother specifically asked for someone with a strong academic record.”
I looked at the payment figure.
My throat went dry.
It was more than I made in several days of tutoring.
“I’ll do it.”
“Good.”
He smiled.
“You’ll meet her tomorrow.”
⸻
I met her that afternoon.
Sofia arrived twenty minutes late.
She walked into the library carrying an expensive handbag and looking like she’d rather be anywhere else.
“You’re Aisha.”
“Yes.”
She dropped into the chair opposite me.
“So you’re my tutor.”
“Yes.”
She looked me over.
Then smiled.
“This should be interesting.”
I opened my notebook.
“Which course are you struggling with?”
“All of them.”
I blinked.
She laughed.
“I’m joking.”
For the next hour, she surprised me.
She wasn’t stupid.
She simply wasn’t trying.
And whenever I corrected her, she frowned like I had personally offended her.
By the end, she had solved three questions correctly.
“See?” I said. “You can do this.”
She smiled.
“Maybe you’re not completely useless.”
I smiled back.
“Maybe you’re not completely hopeless.”
For the first time, she laughed.
I thought perhaps we’d be fine.
I was wrong.
⸻
The next day, I forgot.
Not because I didn’t care.
Because my morning lecture ran late, my shift at the tutoring centre started early, and by the time I checked my phone, there were six missed calls.
All from Sofia.
I ran toward the library.
She was waiting outside.
Two girls stood beside her.
“You’re late.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You said you’d be here at four.”
“I know.”
Sofia looked at her friends.
“She forgot.”
One of them laughed.
“I didn’t know tutors could be this unreliable.”
Aisha’s face burned.
“I said I’m sorry.”
Sofia stepped closer.
“You know what your problem is?”
Aisha said nothing.
“You think because the university gave you a scholarship, everyone owes you patience.”
The laughter stopped.
Aisha’s fingers tightened around her bag.
“I don’t think that.”
“Really?”
Sofia looked at her.
“Because my parents are paying you to help me. The least you can do is show up.”
“I said I was sorry.”
Sofia smiled.
“Good.”
Then she turned to her friends.
“Let’s go.”
Aisha stood there.
Humiliated.
Angry.
And painfully aware that she needed that money.
⸻
I saw them from across the courtyard.
I didn’t hear everything.
I heard enough.
Sofia walked away with her friends.
Aisha remained behind.
Her eyes were wet.
Something tightened in my chest.
I started toward her.
“Aisha.”
She looked up.
Then wiped her face quickly.
“I don’t need your help.”
“I wasn’t—”
“I said I don’t need it.”
She walked away.
I stopped.
For once, I let her.
⸻
The next morning, Sofia complained.
The vice chancellor called Aisha into his office.
I happened to be walking past when I heard her voice through the half-open door.
“I didn’t insult her.”
A pause.
Then:
“I understand, sir.”
Another pause.
Her voice became quieter.
“I’ll return the money.”
My steps slowed.
“What money?”
The vice chancellor sighed.
“You haven’t been paid yet, Miss Bello.”
“I know.”
“Then you have nothing to return.”
Silence.
Then Sofia’s voice came from inside.
“She embarrassed me in front of my friends. I can’t continue with her.”
I looked through the glass panel.
Aisha stood with her hands clasped in front of her.
The same girl who had argued with me without blinking was now staring at the floor.
“I can find another tutor,” the vice chancellor said.
“I understand.”
She walked out.
She almost collided with me.
Her eyes met mine.
Neither of us spoke.
She walked away.
I looked through the glass.
Sofia was smiling.
That smile told me everything.
And for reasons I couldn’t explain, I suddenly wanted to know exactly what had happened in that room.
⸻
That evening, I found Aisha outside the library again.
She was packing her books.
I stood beside her.
“You got fired.”
She didn’t look up.
“Congratulations. You can read.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Aisha.”
She finally looked at me.
“I said nothing happened.”
I studied her face.
She looked exhausted.
Not angry.
Not even sad.
Just tired.
Then I remembered something.
Her words from days ago.
You don’t know what I have to give up to stay here.
And suddenly, I understood.
She wasn’t crying because she had lost a tutoring job.
She was crying because she had lost money she needed.
I reached into my pocket.
She immediately shook her head.
“Don’t.”
“I haven’t even offered you anything.”
“You were going to.”
I stopped.
She picked up her bag.
“I don’t need your money, Ethan.”
Then she walked away.
I watched her go.
For the first time, I didn’t see the scholarship girl.
I saw the girl who had been trying desperately not to fall behind.
And an idea began forming in my head.
An idea that would change both our lives.
I just didn’t know yet how much it was going to cost her.
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