|| Thursday, midday ||

     Callum’s second tutoring session with Elliot was planned for Thursday, right after school. If it had been up to Callum, the second session would’ve been on Monday, and on Thursday they’d have their 5th; since he wanted to see and talk to Elliot every single day.

But Callum had other obligations, like archery with his friends. They were practicing for a tournament that would come up in a few weeks. He also had to help out his parents, hang out with friends and search for colleges he would want to go to once he’d actually reach the age of 18.

Elliot too had other things to do than hang out with Callum. Callum had learned Elliot was working as a cleaner in other people’s houses to make some money and help out at home. Elliot too had a few friends who lived in the same neighbourhood. With them, he went to the park once a week to play soccer, or anything else they came up with.

Callum couldn’t wait for school to be over so that he could sit with Elliot, talk, and teach him things.

But as soon as he walked onto schoolgrounds, he regretted showing his face after a few days on which he had no time to pick up his sister.

The second people noticed him, they started whispering behind hands, looking in his direction. Callum felt uncomfortable since he didn’t know if they thought the same things like Gio, or some of his other friends. Were they discussing negative things about him? Were they admiring him for tutoring Elliot like Freddy and his dad expected would happen?

He found out as soon as Freddy and he came to a stop in the same spot as usual, and two mothers came walking in their direction.

“Callum Marlowe?” One of them said, while offering him a hand. “Poppy Vanderbilt,” she said, introducing herself with an unpleased look on her face. As if she didn’t want to shake Callum’s hand, but felt obligated to do so.

It was cringeworthy how she nodded her head as a sign of respect, while her facial features told him a different story.

“Nice to meet you, ‘mam,” Callum politely replied, shaking her hand.

“Jessica Sherrington,” the other mother introduced herself, with a warm, genuine smile. “We’ve caught word of you tutoring that Ainsley kid.”

“Are you really tutoring a kid like him?” Poppy asked while she looked as if she was smelling something disgusting. She had an air around her that told Callum she felt better than anyone else and talking to Callum was almost offensive to her.

So, why where they here, talking to him?

“My daughter Constance is struggling with the secondary dyad combinations, and I really need her to catch up,” Poppy got to business. “It’s a disgrace to our family to have her struggle with such a simple part of primary education.”

“I’m sorry to hear so,” Callum answered, sharing a weird look with Freddy.

“I was wondering—”

“We were wondering,” Jessica corrected Poppy with a roll of the eyes.

“Right, we were wondering if you’d be willing to tutor our children too. Constance is a lovely girl who just needs a push in the right direction.”

“And Lewis needs a little help getting a hold of the strong emotions,” Jessica added, still with a warm smile on her face.

“Oh,” Callum’s brows shot up in surprise. He had expected anything but a request to tutor others too. “I’m kind of really busy with Elliot. He needs all the attention he can get…”

“Isn’t that a reason you could focus on Constance and Lewis first? I’m sure you’ll be able to help them catch up with their required level in no-time,” Poppy said, clearly struggling to suck up to Callum to get him to help her daughter. “You’re so talented and you finished your education almost 1 year early. Constance deserves the best of the best.”

“I’m sure there’s other people who are able to help her out, ‘mam,” Callum said, switching his weight from one foot to the other. He glanced towards the doors of the school building, right in time to find Elliot walk outside.

“Not a lot of people are willing to tutor less fortunate children,” Jessica said, frowning now.

“How old are your children anyway?” Freddy asked, nudging Callum before gesturing towards Elliot.

Elliot was staring at them from a distance, while Raleigh was by his side, searching the crowd of parents and siblings to find their mother.

“Constance will be 14 next month,” Poppy told them while she straightened her back.

“And Lewis will be 15 soon.”

“Why haven’t you sent him to boarding school?” Freddy asked curiously. “The Sherrington’s have a history, with money and huge, castle-like houses.”

“They only just started falling behind on their education,” Poppy explained with a sigh. “If Callum could tutor Constance, I’m sure we don’t need to send her to boarding school for an entire year. That’s just a waste of money if she’ll be able to catch up in one or two months.”

“I really don’t want to tutor them. They still have plenty of time to catch up and I’m focusing on Elliot because I will be able to learn a lot from tutoring him. Which will prepare me for secondary education to become a boarding school teacher.” Callum explained, still politely smiling. “I’ve got to go now,”

He quickly said his goodbye’s, told Freddy that Ayla was waiting, and then joined Elliot, Raleigh and their mother.

Callum wasn’t all too pleased with himself for turning down people who needed a bit of help, but he couldn’t afford spending more time on tutoring others. They weren’t like Elliot. They weren’t children or teenagers he felt enchanted by. They weren’t handsome or smart like Elliot.

They were teenagers who’d bore the hell out of him, while Elliot could never make him feel bored. Callum could entertain himself for hours just by looking at Elliot writing down information.

“You know a lot of people, don’t you?” Raleigh curiously asked, looking over her shoulders towards the women that had just talked to Callum. “Who’re they? The lady with the raven-black hair seems familiar.

Callum shot one look at them with an apologetic look, before he shrugged it off. “Oh, they’re just mother’s who asked if I could tutor their children too.”

“Are you gonna?” Elliot asked, right before taking a seat in the backseat of their old beat-up Volkswagen Beetle.

“No, I’m not,” Callum answered. “I want to focus on you, and tutoring others will take up too much of my time.”

And he wasn’t willing to give up on that time.

Callum expected another question, or at least some sort of answer, but got nothing. Elliot had just nodded to tell him he understood and crawled back into his own little bubble for the time being.