The Square Root of Attraction {Closed}

[ladyoffiction]

Marlie didn't have a lot of friends. She just wasn't a people person. Her best friend since first grade was her mother. Her second best friend was, you guessed it, her father. She just couldn't seem to grasp the concept of making friends. She had tried. All throughout highschool she joined a number of clubs to make friends, but those never lasted. Finally, she enlisted in tutoring. There was something empowering about having someone else need her to help them. When she moved on to college, she kept up the tutoring game. She had even started a study group, but stopped going considering no one ever studied. But she had a few fellow students that needed help.

Which was why she was now sitting with Matthew, watching him trying to figure out a complicated math equation. Numbers were like a second language to her, and it was primarily what she tutored. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a bun to keep it out of her hair, her blue eyes watching his pencil scribble across the page. Since it was their first session, Marlie had dressed up, just a bit. She wore a button-up blue shirt and a skirt. While the skirt was on the short side to her, it only went an inch or two above her knees.

"Don't forget the four," she said, pointing to a number he had missed.

Marlie

 

[cantun1983]

Matthew hated the idea from the moment his coach mentioned it. The season had just started, and already, he was on academic probation. "This is not a choice, Johnson," his coach had said, sounding an awful lot like his mother. "Show you are making an effort to raise your grades or the academic board will remove you from the team." An effort consisted of going to the counseling center, getting an application for tutoring, and after submitting it, actually following through with attending the sessions.

"Do you prefer males or females?" the clerk had asked.

"Seriously? You have to ask? Female, all the way!" There was no way this guy actually thought he was gay, he thought to himself, was there?

"Female tutor, then," the clerk said, checking a box on the form.

Fine, he thought, humming Hot for Teacher by Van Halen as he left the office. Smart girls could be hot too. The next day, when he told his coach he had found a tutor, his teammates had dared him to try to get into her pants. He had combed his short, light brown hair, slid on a pair of snug blue jeans, put on the cotton shirt that showed his muscles, and headed to the library with his letterman jacket and his notebook, ready to roll.

But now, he wished he had not agreed to a female tutor. There was nothing hot about this girl. Sure, she was pretty, and with a few changes she could be hot. But right now…he looked from his math notes to examine her out of the corner of his eye. Her skirt was sort of nice, but the top...he buttons were not even far enough apart for him to get a side view of her bra. Matthew was quite disappointed. If she would let her hair down, cut her skirt shorter, and leave a few of the buttons undone, he decided, that would make her hotter.

He snapped back to paying attention. She had said something, trying to give him directions for a stupid math problem. “You know I don’t care that much, right...” he struggled to remember her name. “Marlie? I am only here to stay on the team.”

 

[ladyoffiction]

Marlie pursed her lips at his comment. Most people had that same feeling about tutoring. At least he wasn't trying to force her to do his work for him. She hated when people did that. She was here to help people learn, not do the work for them. Some people actually wanted the help and signed up voluntarily, but Matthew obviously was only here because he was forced.

Keeping her voice calm and friendly, Marlie spoke, "Well, you have to maintain a good grade to stay on the team. If you forget the number you found over here--" she pointed to the first part of the equation "--for the second part, you'll get the answer wrong."

Sitting back, she put on a gentle smile. "Why don't we take a break? Sometimes I find it useful to take a step back from a problem and look at it after a few minutes."