Chapter Text
~♥️~
Everytime you cross my mind, you get right under my skin,
Am I crazy out my mind, the situation I’m in?
And it gets harder just to breathe, feel like the walls are closing in,
But all I need, is some closure~
~♥️~
“What do you mean I failed?! I took an entire week break from doing anything outside of studying! You had to have missed something, right?” The short-statured girl practically shouted, drawing the attention of the handful of students that hadn’t made it out of class yet. Her fingers scratched at her scalp, sifting through strands of bright purple dyed hair, before coming to rest on her hips, sliding softly into the wrinkles of her hoodie.
“Ms. Doorman, while I am well aware of your…Louder tendencies when confronted with a challenge, I must remind you that you are still in the classroom, and should use a quieter tone while indoors.” The teacher said, marking another test paper with checks and crosses, going down the list of questions as his fingers on his free hand tapped against the hardwood desk. The girl in front of him backed away shyly as she crossed her arms, conflicted at causing a scene - she could not fail this class, lest her dad pull some shit to try and get her back at home, but at the same time, she didn’t want to be the center of attention. Her teacher coughed, grabbing her attention, before speaking promptly.
“Listen. You have two choices in front of you, Ms. Doorman. Either you can take this failed test and flunk my class, or you can spend a few weeks with a student tutor and retake it. I’ll be picking the tutor, of course, to keep you from choosing someone to goof around with. Once you retake the test, whichever has a better grade, I’ll put it into the system. That way if you somehow get a worse one, you’ll have this one as backup even if it’s still a failing grade.” He said, using said free hand to pick through a stack of already graded tests, stopping on one and taking note of the name before letting the papers fall again and leaning back into his chair, waiting on his students’ answer.
She took a moment to think, but it wasn’t long until she realized she didn’t really have a choice. She had to pass this class and keep the scholarship she was offered, so that she could avoid moving back in with her dad. After she nodded, she watched as the teacher pointed her towards a row of seats on the side of the classroom. They were typically used as extra chairs when there were more students than seats, but she made her way over anyways and took her place among the empty space like a trophy being brandished on a shelf. It was slightly humiliating, having to sit and wait for her supposed ‘savior’ to come around to save her from her misery.
Minutes passed by that felt like hours, and she found herself mindlessly scrolling social media to pass the time. Media turned into games, games turned into videos, videos turned into incessant google searches down a rabbit hole about ducks. Before she could realize it was there, a rough but feminine voice cleared their throat above her while tapping a foot. When she looked up, the girls’ breath caught in her throat for a moment.
In front of her was a very professional-looking woman, probably a year or two older than her, but definitely at least half a foot taller than her; maybe five-foot seven? She had her arms crossed over her chest, golden eyes staring down at her, framed by a well-kept ponytail, the bright white color of her hair a stark difference from her honey-toned skin. She wore an almost form-fitting beige sweatshirt, a black blazer layered over it. A mini pencil skirt draped over her legs, the mid-line of her thighs and below coddled with a pair of mostly opaque leggings, and despite not leaving much to the imagination, only fueled the air of confidence about her, something that both intimidated and irritated the sitting girl.
“Uzi Doorman, sophomore year, I presume? Jayden Elliot, senior. As far as I’m concerned, we are not friends. I do not want to be your friend. I am here to tutor you and get you to pass the test you failed so catastrophically, and that’s it. Don’t get attached to me, because I’m not going to get attached to you. Understand?” Jayden started, the tapping of her foot slowing and quickening as she spoke, depending on the level of energy she put into her words. Uzi was immediately emotionally clotheslined, because her tutor was admittedly a very attractive woman, two years her senior (which only made it better in her opinion, but you didn’t hear that from her), but she was also…a total bitch about it.
“...Okayyyy? I don’t see why you’re being so hostile about it….” Uzi said, albeit whispering most of the sentence, standing up from the chair and brushing off the front of her jeans. As soon as she stood up she realized just how much taller Jayden was, considering her five-foot one stature. It made her feel self conscious, and she couldn’t help but shrink in on herself as she put her phone back into her pocket. Jayden shot her a look, but she ignored it for the time being in order to prevent herself from saying something she probably shouldn’t.
“Yeah, I’m Uzi. Nice to meet you.” She continued, holding out a hand towards her senior in an attempt to somewhat salvage the awkwardness of the interaction. When Jayden simply stared at her, she coughed and put her hands back into the front of her hoodie, pivoting on the heels of her feet awkwardly as her upper classwoman silently studied her. Was she criticizing her already? Or was she just judging her?
“..Give me your phone. If I’m going to tutor you, I’m going to need to be able to reach you and find out when we’re both available. We can start tomorrow since it’s Saturday, and start a schedule from there.” Jayden continued, uncrossing her arms and shoving an open palm practically into Uzi’s face. Fumbling over herself, Uzi responded by reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone again, almost dropping it in her frantic attempt, handing it over with barely restrained nervousness. Jayden took it silently, turning it back to Uzi so she could unlock it (which she had forgotten to do, stupid, stupid!), before she silently tapped away at the screen, presumably putting in her phone number as a contact, before handing it back to Uzi. With a silent nod, Jayden said nothing else and turned back on her heel, walking away from her and out of the classroom before she could say anything else.
Looking back down at her phone, Uzi took note of the new ‘Jayden Elliot’ contact in her phone that had a single message sent to it, from her phone, containing a simple period in order to give Jayden her phone number as well. With the interaction finally over, she finally let out a sigh of relief for a moment as she slowly followed the steps the senior had taken out of the classroom. Scrolling through her contact list, Uzi settled on a name she rolled her eyes at before dialing, pulling the phone up to her ear as she walked through the crowded halls, her backpack slung loosely over her shoulder, rattling when she stepped as her keychains clicked against one another.
“Alright nerd, you never call me first. What’s wrong and who do I need to hit with a pipe?” The voice over the phone said, and Uzi found herself stifling a small giggle as she walked, turning the corner of the hallway towards the campus dormitory.
“No pipe this time, Liz. Just wanted to tell you that I flunked my mechanical engineering exam, and before you get uppity with me, the teacher agreed to let me retake it in a few weeks. I just have to deal with a tutor until then, and she’s kind of.. stuck-up.” Uzi responded, pocketing her free hand to prevent herself from scratching at her skin in a mix of boredom and anxiety. Lizzy sighed loudly over the phone, and Uzi could practically hear the eyeroll response she was so used to by now from her roommate.
“When do you not have to deal with someone stuck-up? We live with Doll, remember?” Lizzy remarked, and Uzi heard a quiet retort and whack as their Russian roommate reprimanded the girl with a thrown pillow.
“While you make a fantastic point, she’s.. Different, I think. Less stuck-up in the way of being consistent and trying to keep things together, but more of a perfectionist kind of way? Not sure. She’s a senior I think, named Jayden… She’s also kind of pretty, so I guess I’m not really losing on every front.” Uzi said, watching the faces of people walking by blend into one another as she walked towards the dorms.
“Wait, Jayden? Like, Jayden Elliot? Oh you are so unbelievably fucked, girl. She’s popular in the sense that everyone knows not to fuck with her. She’s like a model student, all As, and the only friends she has are the two people she’s related to on campus. If she’s your tutor, you are in for an absolute treat, because if you think class is bad, she’s worse. And you think she’s pretty? I have such bad news for you.” Lizzy spoke up, laughing in between sentences at Uzi’s bullshit-induced misery. Uzi found herself suddenly much more anxious about being tutored by someone with, apparently, a reputation for being hellishly dedicated to perfect grades.
“Well that’s just perfect, ain’t it? My delinquent ass getting tutored by someone who’s either gonna leave me hanging if I fuck up, or mentally kick my ass into the next semester. And yes she’s pretty, have you seen her?? She’s gorgeous, and I don’t think you’re allowed to call me out on it because you and Doll are like, constantly fawning over one another. Don’t try to hide it either, drunk me can fully attest to how gay you two are. Actually, hold on, I’m about to be home.” Uzi said, cutting any response from Lizzy off as she hung up the phone and slid it back into her pocket, opening the door to the dorms and slipping in quietly.
The stairs creaked under her weight as she made her way up a few floors, turning down a hall and stopping in front of a door with a sign on it labeled as, and she quoted this directly, ‘The Les Zone’. Reaching into her bag for a moment, Uzi pulled out her house key and unlocked the door, stepping in quietly as she closed and locked it behind her. She was immediately set upon by her blonde roommate, pink eyes glaring at her with a mischievous look. Their other roommate sat in the living room behind her, silently scrolling her phone as Lizzy looked Uzi up and down for a moment before she spoke.
“..Yeah, you’re so done. Jayden is gonna beat you senseless with knowledge and you’re gonna come out looking like an anime boy with no eyes. Also, you hung up before I could tell you, but her sister is here, come say hi, and no you don’t get a choice~” She said, immediately grabbing Uzi by the wrist and dragging her into the dorm. A small ‘eep’ escaped Uzi’s throat as she was wrangled along, but she quickly quieted herself as they turned the corner into the living room.
On the small chair across from the couch sat a golden blonde beauty, a bobcut framing the same, piercing golden eyes that Uzi encountered with Jayden not too long ago. She wore a short leather jacket over a red turtleneck, ripped black jeans covering her crossed legs. Uzi awkwardly waved at her, smiling softly when she actually waved back; at least someone in that family wasn’t insociable.
“‘Sup, nerd. Name’s Veronica, nice to meet you. Overheard you talking about how ‘pretty’ my sister was over the phone, you know. Already got the hots for her even though she’s such a prude, dear?” The girl said, resting her head on her hands as she silently teased the purple-haired girl, who immediately flushed red at the suggestion. Lizzy laughed as she roughly but affectionately slapped Uzi on the back, taking a step towards the couch and dropping onto it with a thud.
“Uzi is pretty bad at falling for people she probably shouldn’t. You should’ve seen the look on my face when she got too drunk at a party last year and asked both me and Doll, unironically, if she could suck our tits. Not the brightest tool in the shed, but the most forward one, huh?” Lizzy said, shooting a look at Uzi as she whipped her head around to glare holes through her. Veronica on the other side of the room burst into a fit of laughter, which while Uzi enjoyed her laugh, the bit about it being at her expense kind of soured the experience. Doll simply stayed silent, softly looking over at Lizzy with pink dusting her cheeks before looking back to her phone, choosing to stay silent.
“I was absolutely fucking plastered drunk and had no idea what I was talking about! And besides, you both agreed and I woke up in the wrong bra, so who really won?” Uzi shot back, garnering another bark of laughter from Veronica as she sat down on the other side of Doll, who shook her head in annoyance at the exchange. Veronica on the other hand stood up, brushing herself off before pocketing her hands and brushing her hair from her face.
“Alright, it’s gonna start getting dark soon so I’m gonna head home. I’ll let Jayden know she has a little admirer once I get back, okay?~” She said before winking, sending another wave of anxiety through Uzi’s body as her face turned another, deeper shade of red. Before Uzi could say anything in response, Veronica had already waved goodbye and made her way out of the door, leaving the trio of roommates alone on their couch. Doll immediately stood up and made her way to her and Lizzy’s shared bedroom, not bothering to say anything for the time being as usual.
Lizzy on the other hand made a show of her departure, bowing towards Uzi like a smug ballerina that had just finished her act before she also turned on her heel, following behind Doll and leaving Uzi by herself in the living room. The amethyst-colored hair on her head fell over her face in droves as she buried herself into her hands, mumbling softly to herself as she thought back to how the past few hours had went.
“Just what have I gotten myself into?” She whispered, dragging her hands down her face as she stood up, taking her phone out one last time to type a small text to Jayden.
‘if ur sister says anything, she’s a full on liar do not trust her. i shuld be good 4 2morrow, maybe a lil tired bc roommates are probably get a little rowdy w/eo. looking 4ward to it’
With the text sent, she left to her room as well, walls draped in black to keep the room dark, neon purple LED lights lining the corners of the room to make sure she could still see. With a decent impact she threw herself into bed, sliding her phone onto the nightstand and throwing her blanket over herself to get comfortable. After a few minutes her eyes fluttered shut, leaving the dormitory filled with silence. In the quiet, the buzz of her phone was much louder, reading off a return text from Jayden.
‘Remind me to teach you what it means to be grammatically correct. It seems like you need it. Rest well.’
~♥️~