Chapter Text
Kate was nervous. How couldn’t she be? She’d never done anything like this before. Nor had she ever really wanted to. But she’d made a decision, and she was gonna stick to it. She’d always been studious. Something her parents had taught her to be since she was a little girl. As such, she’d always had top grades in her classes, even in the ones she had no real interests in. This didn’t go unnoticed, and after a few weeks of class one of her teachers had approached her, asking her if she would consider doing some tutoring. Normally she never would have considered it, but her friend Dana had just been teasing her about how much of a ‘’hermit’’ she was. So in a bit of an impulsive decision, she agreed to the proposition. Now however, standing in front of the stranger’s door, that sudden confidence she had exhibited was nowhere to be found. Fiddling with her pendant, she was desperately trying to figure out how to introduce herself. She should have thought this through a little more, right? Now she’s gonna look all stupid and she’s gonna make a bad impression and…
“Hello?”
Oh. Someone opened the door. They must have seen her through the window. Dumb. Now she must look all…
“Are you… ok?”
Dammit Kate, get a hold of yourself!
“Huh, Yeah, Hello. I’m looking for Chloe Price?”
“That’d be yours truly.”
The girl gave an exaggerated bow, which made Kate laugh and helped release some of the tension she was feeling. Kate remembered seeing her a few times, from afar. Now, having a chance to get a closer look, she found herself quite enthralled. Not by the girl’s flashy blue hair, nor her prominent and if she were to say quite beautiful tattoo sleeve. It was the girl’s face. Kate had never seen such striking features, such an intense look in someone's eyes. She immediately wanted to whip out her paper pad and start drawing. Before she could lose herself deeper in those thoughts, The subject of her attention spoke, bringing her back to reality.
“So what brings you to casa del Price??”
“Oh! Huh, I’m supposed to tutor you?”
The girl’s face went from wearing a playful expression to one of disappointment, stepping aside and motioning for Kate to enter. A loud groan escaped her lips.
“Get in, might as well get this shit over with.”
A little bit taken aback by the girl’s fowl language, Kate walked in nonetheless.
The house looked cozy, very lived in. It sort of reminded Kate of her own home. She liked her dorm room well enough, but something about a place like this put her mind at ease. Taking off her jacket and boots, she joined Chloe in the dining room. She’d brought her backpack, and prepared a few things she knew worked for her as far as studying went. Sitting at the table, in front of her host, she was about to ask some questions when she was interrupted.
“Look, I appreciate the thought and all, but I'm warning you right now, I'm a lost cause. Every teacher thinks so. So you don’t have to worry about this too much. Just, y’know, look at my stuff, say there’s nothing to be done, and you can leave. Then you can go back to have fun with your friends or whatever it is you had planned.”
Kate was quite taken aback by the statement. She definitely had not expected such a reaction. Such a fierce looking person, giving up before they even began? That wasn’t right.
“Lost cause? What do you mean?”
“Guess you don't know me. Just… Take a look for yourself.”
She did. She understood where Chloe's words were coming from. These grades… They were terrible. One would think purposefully so. But when Kate looked at Chloe, behind the nonchalant attitude the punk was trying to project, all she could see was a girl who was genuinely struggling. She almost seemed on the verge of tears. Something inside Kate told her she needed to help. Every bit of nervousness she had coming here was now gone. With all the confidence that she could muster, she spoke up.
“We’re gonna fix this.”
“What?”
“I won’t sugarcoat it, this is gonna be really hard. But that’s... why I’m here, isn’t it? We’re gonna get you out of this.”
Chloe, quite visibly surprised, nodded, pulling some books and other school supplies from her school bag.
“I… ok. Let’s do it.”