Surprise Teachings
Summary: The best tutor at Rousseau High School faces off with the self-admitted school slut. Principal Javert won't know what hit him.
AN: I'm cheating a little bit with this one, because I'm combining two prompts. The lovely barriss asked for Enjolras forced to tutor Éponine, and my wonderful reviewer iputonefootinfrontoftheother asked for a high school AU. What else can I do but combine them into one story?
He has the best track record of any tutor in the history of Rousseau high school, and he is pretty darn proud of it. Anyone who is lucky – or unlucky, if you happen to ask R. Grant – enough to have him as his or her tutor is guaranteed to pass their problem classes with flying colors. He does not accept anything other than hard work, and he is allowed to drop a student if he feels that he or she is not paying attention to him. He has helped many a problem child get to graduation and scholarships at universities; has helped many a jock maintain his grades enough to stay on the team.
But he has never had a challenge like he has now in Éponine Thenardiér.
"Hello gorgeous," she plops down in front of him.
"Did you bring your books," he questions her, seeing the lack of a book bag and knowing that this is going to be another short session. "You know I don't accept tardiness or being so ill-prepared. You can either bring your books or you can leave."
This is the third time she has been forced to make an appointment with him, because principal Javert has once again threatened her with expulsion. It is funny that he never goes through with it, but he does not want to know the reasons why the self-proclaimed school slut would spend so much time in the principal's office.
"Look, babe," she once again bestows a ridiculous nickname upon him. "Here's the deal: I show up to these sessions and Javert does not expel me. You can tell me whatever you want to tell me, and I promise I'll pass the next test. I won't fuck up your perfect record."
She is now leaning over the table, partially exposing her breasts – she seems to have a problem with keeping herself covered up, seeing as the largest part of her legs remains uncovered for most of the year – if he were to sneak a glance underneath the table, her miniskirt would undoubtedly be hiked up so far that he would be able to see what kind of underwear she was or was not wearing. Maybe it matches the red bra.
Red is his favorite color, but he does not need to see it like this.
"Do you mind covering up," he tries to ask, even though he already knows the answer.
"Am I bothering you," she leans forward even more, showing even more red lace. "Is our top student having problems with concentrating? Yes, these are my tits and they are magnificent. I'd totally let you touch them if you wanted to move into the stacks."
Judging by the stories going around about her, and some of the stories that she has told him herself, the stacks are a particular favorite of hers, together with the bleachers and any of the teachers' desks – apparently those are the perfect height for sex. He knows more about her sex life than he ever wanted to know – he is staying celibate for a reason, and she is the example of everything that could go wrong if he strayed.
"Can we have a conversation without you trying to have sex with me," he questions.
"I doubt it," she answers, giving up on the leaning forward idea, in favor of moving her shoeless foot up his calf. "Unless we just get it over with. I usually lose interest after."
That is another one of the things he has heard in many a story – one time only.
She is just as interested in relationships as he is – meaning not at all – only she goes about it in a very different way. He refuses to start any kind of liaison, while she has sex indiscriminately, with safety her only rule. That rule is all. Well, she has a need to be in control, judging by the talk in the locker room. It bothers him how much people talk about her private business – and it bothers him how much she talks about it herself.
In the mean time, her foot has managed to sneak its way up the inside of his legs – it is getting ever closer to his crotch, and he has no place to move without showing her that he is actually affected by what she is doing to him. Even though it is mostly embarrassment and just a hint of curiosity, he does not want her to know.
"I'm not interested in your sexual harassment," he tries not to show how uncomfortable she is making him. "Now, if you would get your books. I'm not going to sit around when I could be helping someone who actually wants to improve their grades."
Her foot is still moving, and it has now reached its destination. He is biting his lip to keep from responding to the situation, and he scoots back as far as he can without completely losing his dignity. It means that she knows that her ministrations had an effect on him, but he will gladly let her know that if it means that the harassment is over.
"Losing your cool, wonder boy," she teases, a triumphant grin on her face.
"Here's the deal," he feels like dealing with this once and for all. "If I wanted to have sex with you, I would tell you. Yes, I have biological responses to you, but I doubt that has anything to do with you individually. It could have been anyone. Now stop!"
It surprises her, and he can tell. Her foot hits the ground with an audible stomp and she flinches at the sound of his chair moving back to its original position. He has scared her somehow, and while he did mean to make her stop, he never meant to bring back any below the surface trauma – he has been taking psychology classes online for years, and he can see the signs of abuse all over her. He takes care to make no sudden movements around her as he offers her his book – he is almost like a Boy Scout, always prepared.
"We can share my book," he offers, taking care to use a soft tone of voice.
"Stop coddling me," she orders, yanking the book closer to her. "I don't even have problems with any of these subjects. The teachers just don't appreciate opinions that differ from theirs, and they don't care if those opinions happen to be right."
That is an opinion he shares, but he has learned to work this to his advantage, while she is still spending her time bucking the system. He can teach her some of his best tricks, making her a better student, and he will reap the benefits of it because principal Javert will have no choice but to write him that recommendation letter. She will be another feather in his cap as a tutor, and she might even teach him something.
"The key is to tell them what they want to hear," he offers his sage advice.
"Thanks for nothing," she rolls her eyes at him. "I figured that out a long time ago, and I Apollo, fell for all of my tricks. You wanted me to continue to hit on you, because if I had respected your wishes you would never have noticed me. I'd love to fuck you, maybe even multiple times. Plus, I actually kind of like you as a person. Sure, you're an arrogant shit with a stick up his ass, but I can work with that."
She has managed to fool everyone, and even him. He always prides himself on being able to see through people, and while she cannot have faked some of her instinctive responses, she has fooled him in her conversations with her many times. He likes her moxie, and he is impressed with her intellect – shit, her plan actually worked on him.
"You're a conniving wench," he replies, still so damn impressed.
"And you like it," she tries the leaning forward move again, and this time his eyes cannot seem to move away from the hints of red lace on her chest. "Red's your favorite color."
He has no idea how she managed to get that information, but she is right.
How did this (criminal) mastermind escape him for so long? They are both just trying to work their way to the top in the competitive climate at Rousseau high school, and so far they both seem to be very good at it. He has no doubt that the secret meetings that she has with Javert have something to do with her plans – she just might be the only one who could possibly rival his grades. Intelligence in women is a real turn-on.
"How long have you been trying to get me to notice you," he questions.
"For a few months now," she tries to sound casual. "Honestly, I was starting to doubt your infamous intellect, because you kept ignoring me and missing my hints. If I had to come in to uncle Jav's office one more time for his advice, I would have killed myself."
She is the principal's niece – he is impressed with her subterfuge. Shit, this celibacy pact is turning out to be pretty inconvenient. He is sure that Marius will laugh his ass off if he loses this stupid bet – staying celibate throughout his entire senior year was a brilliant idea to make some money, or it was before he met Éponine properly.
"Just tell me Marius didn't put you up to this," he is this close to giving in.
"I stopped talking to him when his girlfriend called me a whore," her voice turns cool and hard. "If you are referring to your little bet: you can always bet him that you will be able to get the school skank to date you exclusively. You'd win your money back in a heartbeat, and that bitch Cosette would drop dead in shock."
Her ability to come up with plans is another aphrodisiac, and he is definitely going to try to get Marius to go in on this one double or nothing – that is at least half of his college fund taken care of, at least for freshman year. He is this close to getting a scholarship, but some extra money to take out his coconspirator would not hurt.
"Excellent plan," he beckons her closer with a crook of his finger.
Of course, since she can see right through him, rather than jumping into his lap like he wanted her to, she grabs his arm and takes him right to the darkest rows of stacks in the entire library. Shit, he is going to break his celibacy streak right then and there!
"We'll talk about our first date later," she promises, yanking off his tie.
He wholeheartedly agrees and approves.
AN: This is meant to highlight some of the more devious parts of our favorite couple, together with some high school fun. I hope it made some people smile to see Éponine outwitting him.
Also: I'm sick of ship bashing, so I posted another fic to piss off the haters…