Tutor Me

by Hope Stillwater

  “There’s no exterior door at this end of the house.”

  “I would consider a window.”

  “Your car keys are in the living room, aren’t they?”

  No escape then. “OK. Let’s get this over with.”

  He jumped up and pulled on his board shorts while I tried to assemble my outfit. Of course my duffel bag with the change of clothes was in the living room, which meant that all I had to wear was the cheerleading outfit. I pulled the clothes back on, feeling very grubby. I glanced in the mirror behind Callum’s bedroom door and was appalled. My pigtails were a mess, my face was flushed, my lips swollen, my uniform wrinkled. I couldn’t have looked more like a slutty cheerleader if I tried. What a way to meet Callum’s father. But I couldn’t stay in the bedroom any longer, so I steeled myself and Callum took my hand as we walked out to the living room. I was intent on getting out of the house as quickly as possible.

  Callum’s dad was seated on the couch watching the highlights of the baseball game that had been on earlier. He glanced up and I could see the family resemblance. He was in his fifties, same black hair as Callum’s, now streaked with gray. A lean body, still in good shape. Callum had said his dad ran a lot. He had Callum’s eyes, with laugh lines, and he looked kind. Tired, but kind. His tie was loose and he held a beer. It looked like he’d had a long day at work.

  Now, as he looked at me, one eyebrow went up. He stood up and extended his hand. “You must be Jenny.” The wry smile accompanying the words confirmed my worst fears: yep, he knew my name from hearing Callum shout it out moments earlier. I turned scarlet but I shook his hand firmly anyway, looking him in the eye.

  “Nice to meet you Mr. Caldwell.”

  “Call me Bill.”

  “Callum interjected, “Jenny’s my girlfriend, Dad.” His dad nodded, amused. I gave Callum points for trying to make an awkward situation better, but I still needed to get the hell out of there.

  I turned to Callum. “I’ll see you later.”

  Callum jumped up. “I’ll walk you out.”

  As we walked toward the door, Bill called out, “Um Callum, Jenny: are you both free for brunch a week from Sunday? It’s Sarah’s birthday and it would mean a lot if you could join us.” It was a simple enough question, but I knew this was a bigger deal to both of them than a casual Sunday brunch with his dad should have been.

  I looked at Callum, keeping quiet. It was up to him, not me. Callum hesitated a long time, and the tension in the air built. I glanced at Bill and could see strain in his eyes. OK enough of this. I had to break the silence.

  Turning to Bill, I said “Sunday from 2pm on I’m tied up but before then I am free, thank you. If Callum is available I’d love to go.” I was actually dreading the brunch after this embarrassing scene, but if Bill was reaching out to his son I wanted to support that.

  Callum grabbed my hand and gave a squeeze before speaking. “OK sounds good.”

  He turned away, his hand on my lower back, and escorted me out the door. We walked in silence as far as my car.

  I turned to face him. “That may well have been the most embarrassing moment of my life.”

  “I hope you don’t regret coming over tonight.” He looked concerned.

  “No I still had a terrific night.”

  His face lit up. “Me too. I can’t get enough of you. I’m so sorry about my dad virtually walking in on us. He’s cool with it though, really. I can tell. Try to block it out of your mind. I’ve walked in on him, remember?” His face darkened.

  “Are you really OK with this brunch?” I asked.

  “No, but I guess we should do it. I want my dad to get to know you and I can’t avoid Sarah forever.”

  I opened my mouth to say something but thought better of it. Callum noticed and nudged me.

  “What were you about to say?”

  I relented. “Your dad seems like a good man, and he’s reaching out to you. I saw it back there. I know he hurt you and I wasn’t there so maybe all your anger toward him and Sarah is justified, but as an outsider, he seems to love you.”

  “He could have picked any other woman in the world than the one who meant something to me.”

  “Really? She must be special if both of you cared about her. And why can’t you both have her in your lives? The relationships are very different.”

  “Because now I think she faked affection for me to get close to my dad.”

  “You know, you should give your childhood self more credit: you wouldn’t have gotten so attached if she was such a phony. Kids can see through bullshitters.” I’d seen that working with the kids at the Y, who sized up the instructors better than the grown-ups could.

  He rubbed his hair distractedly. “OK maybe you’re right.”

  I pressed my point home. “People can’t choose who they fall in love with. Heck, look at us. I can’t help thinking your dad deserves happiness too.”

  I watched Callum warily, wondering if I’d overstepped my bounds in this brand new relationship.

  He didn’t respond but seemed pensive rather than mad. As I moved to open the car door he kissed the top of my head. “Sleep well baby.”

  Chapter 26

  “Oh no oh no oh no.” It was 10 am on Saturday and I was looking at a photo of Charlotte on Snapchat, sent from an account I didn’t know. She was sprawled unconscious, wearing nothing but panties, the word ‘slut’ written across her forehead, her breasts circled in black ink. Hands seemed to be holding her hair back as if affectionately, which was ironic, really, as there was nothing remotely affectionate about this picture. I barely made it to the toilet before vomiting.

  I was ten minutes late to this snap, apparently, as the online chatter from my school about it was already heavy. I couldn’t bear to read any of it. I called Callum.

  He hadn’t seen the picture yet. He went predictably ballistic. “Whoever the fuck did this is going to have the shit beaten out of them, and I’d be happy to throw the first punch.”

  While we were talking I got another call. Lacey.

  “Don’t answer it,” said Callum.

  “I have to- I’m sure it’s about Charlotte.”

  He sighed. “OK. Check in when you can.” I liked that he didn’t demand I call him right back, even though I knew he wanted me to.

  I clicked over to her. “Lacey.” I wasn’t much for opening lines right then.

  “Have you seen the snap?” She sounded upset.

  “Yes. Have you spoken to Charlotte?”

  “I called her but it went to voicemail. But that’s not why I’m calling. Did you look closely at the picture?”

  “I closed the image as soon as I processed what it was. It’s gone now.”

  “Well I took a screenshot of it, which I’m texting you right now. Steel yourself and look again. Check out the hands holding her hair.”

  There was a pause while I did as I was told. We hadn’t spoken in almost a week and here I was resuming my old habits with her.

  “OK. Male hands. What should I be seeing?”

  “Zoom in on them. Start with the one on the right.”

  I looked and then gasped. “Oh my God. The freckle on the index finger.”

  “Yeh, now look at the one on the left.”

  I dreaded what I knew I would see: neatly trimmed nails.

  “Why did they do this?”

  “Because they’re assholes and I should have realized it sooner.”

  “But why Charlotte? What do Kai and Bryce have against her?”

  There was a pause. “Well, she has been sticking up for you this whole week. And they can’t get to you.”

  “Oh shit.” The realization set in. “I caused this to happen.”

  Lacey’s reply was sharp. “No fucking way. Bryce may be angry at you but that is no excuse for this, not one little bit. What cowards. This is not your fault, so don’t ever go there again.”

  I was quiet for a moment, adjusting to this new reality, that my ex, who had seemed like a minor jerk, was so
mething of a full blown asshole.

  “Can we kill these bastards?” I asked, not realizing until after I said it that I was implying Lacey and I would work together, even though we were no longer friends.

  “Oh they are going to pay alright. First let’s drive to Charlotte’s house. I’ll pick you up in 10 minutes and we can make a plan. Are you at home?”

  “Yes.”

  “Be ready.”

  I had just enough time to brush my teeth and get dressed before I heard Lacey honk. I texted Callum to say I was going to Charlotte’s and would check in later. Climbing into Lacey’s car, the awkwardness returned.

  Lacey didn’t pull away from the curb right away. “So, I owe you an apology.”

  “No you don’t, you were right about what you said the other night. True friends trust each other and I didn’t trust you. I’m sorry.”

  “Jenny, I coerced you into a relationship with a guy who, it turns out, is a mean son of a bitch. Not to mention the fact that the other sadistic SOB in this story is my boyfriend. Jesus I must be the worst judge of character ever.” Her wry smile appeared and I realized I’d missed it, missed her.

  “Then practically the whole school is then.”

  We drove in silence for a moment.

  “Did you read the chatter surrounding the photo? Anyone suspect them?” I couldn’t stomach reading the comments on the snap but I figured Lacey would have read them.

  “No, they all think it was some Dixon boys who crashed the party later.”

  “Were you there last night?”

  “I was at the party for a split second early on and then Kai and I got in a fight and I left. This must have happened much later.”

  We reached Charlotte’s house and rang the doorbell. Her mother answered, looking distressed and tired. She didn’t invite us in, but instead said, “It was nice of you to come, but Charlotte doesn’t want to see anyone right now.”

  Lacey put on her sweetest smile and let the words pour out. “Please Mrs. Davis, could you just tell her we’re here. If she doesn’t want to see us we will go away but we really would like to tell her in person that we love her and that we’re sorry this has happened.”

  Charlotte’s mother relented. “I’ll check with her. But if she refuses to see you, you’ll have to leave.”

  A few minutes later we were ushered into Charlotte’s room, where she lay curled up on the bed, with only her head peeking out from the covers. Her forehead looked red and sore, presumably from scrubbing the writing off. Her eyes were swollen and pink from crying but right then they had a lifeless look to them. Lacey and I both knelt by the side of her bed and looked at her.

  I was the first to speak. “We want you to know we love you and we’re here for you.”

  “The only reason I let you two in is I was so shocked you came here together. Have you patched things up?” Typical Charlotte to push past herself and think about us in the midst of her pain.

  Lacey and I looked at each other. Lacey shrugged. “Working on it.”

  Charlotte didn’t smile but there was something there in her eyes, a slight slackening of her grief as she focused on us. Lacey and I, with our petty fighting, weren’t worthy of such a sweet friend.

  Lacey was the first to get back to the matter at hand. “Do you remember anything?”

  Charlotte shook her head a fraction. “Nothing. My drink must have been spiked. I had had like two drinks. I blacked out and woke up in my car parked in my driveway.”

  “Do you think you were, um…”

  She shook her head again and Lacey and I both relaxed slightly. “I have my period right now and the tampon was still in.” Charlotte’s lip trembled. “I just can’t understand why someone would do this to me. It is so cruel. I don’t even know those Dixon boys, if that’s who did it.”

  Lacey and I had tears streaming down our faces at this point. It was time to tell her.

  Lacey said quietly, “It wasn’t the Dixon boys.”

  We spent the next hour plotting revenge, with Charlotte listening quietly while Lacey and I worked out the details. We still had the photos of Kai and Bryce’s hands that they’d sent us from the bus and we first asked Charlotte if she wanted us to forward those to Charlotte’s parents, so they could press charges.

  Charlotte was adamantly opposed to that. “My dad can’t find out about this. I would never live it down. I had to swear my mom to secrecy. And I don’t want to go on trial and deal with those guys. I can’t face interacting with them again.”

  Lacey’s eyes flashed. “But you’ve done nothing wrong, Charlotte. Why do female victims end up feeling guilty?”

  “I don’t feel guilty, believe me, I just insist on keeping this quiet.” She was firm and there was clearly no changing her mind on this. I suspected there was another reason for her insistence on not pressing charges. Charlotte’s parents were divorced and her dad long since remarried. She had told me once that her parents had a very acrimonious relationship. I imagined that if he heard about this incident her dad would use it against her mom somehow, showing she was an unfit parent. Charlotte was very protective of her mother.

  So we accepted her decision, on condition that we launch Plan B: going a little eye-for-an-eye on those shitheads. That Charlotte was down with.

  The plan was simple: Lacey’s parents were out of town, so she would throw a last-minute party at her house that evening. At the party she would slip Kai and Bryce some roofies, and then once everyone had left, she’d call me and I’d come over to help pose them for embarrassing photos. Which we would drop during lunch on Monday. Lacey’s brother would help load the guys into their SUV and drive them home.

  Charlotte’s eyes filled with tears. “I want to come and help, but I know I’m not ready to face them, even if they’re passed out.”

  Lacey and I rushed to tell her that made perfect sense and that there was no need for her to be there.

  “Can you trust Dylan to help us and keep his mouth shut, Lacey?” I had to ask. He seemed the weak link here.

  She nodded with confidence. “He may be a fuck-up but one thing we both know how to do is keep secrets. And I have plenty I can blackmail him with if it comes to that.”

  By the time we left her house Charlotte was sitting up and sipping some iced tea. Lacey dropped me off at home and went off to track down alcohol and roofies (Dylan knew a guy who knew a guy). Now I needed to talk to Callum.

  I stopped by Callum’s work to tell him what was going on. It was my first time inside his gym and I felt a little shy. I walked in through the doors and was immediately hit by a blast of cold air. I guess they had to keep it chilled down for the boxers. There were various rings and heavy punching bags and free weights.

  Callum was behind the front desk. He looked up when the door opened and the smile that spread across his face was breathtaking.

  “Hi Beautiful.”

  I was just wearing what I’d pulled on after Lacey called that morning- yoga pants and an old t-shirt, no makeup, my hair in a ponytail, but he made me feel like a million bucks.

  “Hi.” I knew I was beaming like a goofball at him but I couldn’t play it cool.

  I could see he had a binder out and was doing homework. “Sorry to disturb you at work.”

  “Disturbing me? You just made my day.” Awww.

  I glanced around at the gym. I’d expected to see all men in there but there were quite a few women practicing kickboxing.

  “So I came by to fill you in on what’s going on with Charlotte’s thing.”

  I told him about Bryce and Kai and I thought he was going to punch a hole through the desk. I came around to calm him down, putting my arms lightly on his shoulders. I then told him the plan Lacey and I had concocted. He was adamantly opposed to it, wanting to go to the police, and barring that, just get a few baseball bats and a couple guys and head over and beat the crap out of Kai and Bryce right then and there.

  My hands slid down his arms, as if to stop him from jumping up. “Don’t y
ou see, this is not your battle to fight. We need to do this ourselves.” I glanced around the gym. “Look at these chicks. It’s about girl power.” I knew Callum meant well but his solution would just keep women as victims who need to be avenged by males.

  “So you and Lacey are BFFs again?” He looked skeptical.

  “We are on the same page about this, and to me, that makes up for a hell of a lot.”

  He finally relented, on condition that I call him immediately if things went awry.

  We arranged for Callum to come over for dinner and then he’d hang out with me till Lacey called. My dad was home so I made all three of us chicken enchiladas, with Callum helping.

  I had told my dad earlier that Callum and I were now officially together, information which he took in stride. “That appeared inevitable. He certainly has a lot more going for him than that meathead you brought home a few weeks back.” I snickered at his description of Bryce, no longer feeling guilty about my dad’s judgments.

  “Even with the lip ring?”

  “Didn’t notice it. Anyway, besides the musical talent, he seems to treat you well and that’s what matters.”

  “Wow Ian you noticed! I’m going to start calling you Dad soon if you’re not careful.”

  He looked quite pleased. “I could get used to that. And on a related topic, Freya says you haven’t returned her last call.”

  She’d left me a voice mail a few days before. I shook my head. “I haven’t gotten around to it. It’s a bit rich coming from her, don’t you think?”

  “Jenny, she’s far from perfect but she’s your mother, and that’s not going to change. Even if she doesn’t give as much of herself as she should, don’t reject what she does offer.”

  While I bristled at my father’s interference, a part of me marveled that he was talking about this at all. So I called her.

  After Callum arrived the three of us slipped into an easy conversation about music and the evening would have been a pleasant one if I hadn’t had our revenge plot hanging over me. I facetimed briefly with Tina, and Callum leaned in front of the camera to say hi. After my dad went to bed Callum and I watched a movie on the couch. He knew I was nervous so he let me choose a chick flick. It was comfortable cuddling up with him, but I was keyed up thinking about the plan and couldn’t concentrate on the movie at all. Around midnight Lacey texted me.