I don't mind it, I don't mind if you're overrated

Or if you're staring at the edge of the world.

Keep in mind that I'm a sore eye with blurry vision.

But I can see it has to be your love that I've been dreaming of.

And if we climb this high, I swear we'll never die.

My song is cut short by someone shoving into me. A blonde boy with long hair and loud colored clothes nearly crushes me with his giant overstuffed backpack.

"Sorry Eyebrows!" says the kid and I scowl. Francis, that pompous idiot. Annoyed, I stuff my earbuds back into my ears. You know what sucks? Forty-five minute bus rides to a school that's not even two miles away. Headphones blaring, I gaze out the window watching blurred houses and greenery pass by. I go to an all boy's high school but my neighborhood is so big that the bus ride is the length of an entire class period. I don't really talk to anyone, and if I'm lucky, nobody talks to me. I just sit in the uncomfortable plastic covered seat and listen to my ipod. I like it that way.

The first half of my school day also sucks. English, Biology, Home Economics, History, all of those classes are fairly easy but also boring. Lunch is just a period to do my homework. The only class I actually enjoy is math. I take calculus and I love it. Numbers just make sense to me and numbers are always the same wherever you go.

The loudspeaker clicks on: "Will Arthur Kirkland please come down to Guidance"

What do they want now? I empty my backpack of my morning books and binders and grab my afternoon stuff. Then I head down to the Guidance Office.

"Hello Arthur!" says the overly enthusiastic Guidance Counselor. "Please sit down."

I obey and sit in the plastic chair in front of her desk.

"I was reviewing your file and it seems that you do not meet the minimum requirement of community service hours. You need them to graduate next year." she says.

"Oh." I say "How many hours do I have?"

"That's the thing, you don't have any hours at all." she looks over the papers in a folder. "You need thirty to graduate, and you have none." "However," she continues, "You can join one of the school clubs and get enough hours by next year."

I nod. I really wanted to graduate next year. I would move back to England, maybe go to a university there. I liked my plan and didn't want it disrupted or pushed back.

"Your math grade is outstanding. May I suggest you join peer tutoring?"

I nod again. Peer tutoring was a good idea. I could use my free period to help others in my class who were not so good at math since I was so good at it. It isn't like I even did anything during free period. I agreed to the club and she wrote my name on a list.

she smiled "We will be so glad to have you. I think that you will be paired with Alfred Jones, you know him right? He needs the help in algebra."

Of course I knew Alfred. Who didn't? He was the captain of the football team. Our school's pride and joy when it came to sports. I also knew that he was loud and that he had such an obnoxious laugh that could be heard miles away. I groaned inwardly. Out of all the kids in our school I had to be paired with him? I had nothing against him, in fact we were friends in elementary school. However, I assumed that I would be taking away his free period. He would probably be annoyed and take it out on me.

"So you will be joining us tomorrow?" she said, smiling in a way that convinced me that she thought I would refuse the offer.

"Yeah, I'll be there"