Extra Credit - S01 E10

8 months ago

Extra Credit - S01 E10

Read Story: SEASON 1 EPISODE 10

Lincoln

"Fu—fudge," I said, cautiously observing Sadie with a side-glance. She held my hand as we stood by the bus stop––watching as other university students scampered on by. I pressed the phone tighter to my ear and let out a sigh.

"Sorry man," Drew drawled through the receiver. "If I would have known, I wouldn't have picked up this shift."

"Don't worry about it. I'll figure out something."

"You always do. Kick some ass tonight, alright?" Andrew said before the line got cut.

Well, it's official. I'm fucked.

One of the biggest matches of the season and I had no one to watch Sadie. Not having Andrew around to babysit was going to be an issue. From the moment he mentioned his extra shift work to me, I knew it would. I just didn't think it would screw me over this early on.

"Come on, little miss. We don't want to be late," I said,

swooping Sadie's tiny frame into my arms. She giggled from the movement. Her braid flying around her head.

The walk to the main campus library was much faster without having to slow my pace for her. She laughed while perched on my hip, holding out the arm that wasn't around my neck and pretending that Beary was flying through the air.

The hallway leading up to the library was busier than normal. Students swarmed in and out of the open library doors as they prepared for midterms. Once we were through the main doors I beelined for the study rooms. As to be expected, Cali was already sitting at the round table. I observed her for a moment from the window. Her head was bent over an open textbook, her chocolate brown hair cascading down in waves—some strands coming loose from the piece she had tucked behind her ear. Whatever she was reading had her utmost attention. She nibbled on her bottom lip, lost in concentration.

Hopefully whatever she was focusing on would take away from the fact that I was five minutes late. If I was being honest—considering my track record—that was nothing to complain about.

The door to the study room creaked in welcome. Cali's eyes drifted from the open pages and landed on me before they zoned in on Sadie.

"Hey," Cali said from the other side of the compact room. Her smile widened as she addressed Sadie. "I'm glad you could join us again."

As expected, Sadie didn't respond. I could feel her pull her teddy bear closer as she regarded my tutor. While she wasn't fond of strangers, I could tell she wasn't completely uncomfortable around Cali. I hoped so anyway. From the looks of things, she would be joining me more often. At least for the next little while. Until my mom rotated off of night shifts.

"I brought a couple of things for you today." Cali bent below the table to dig through her bag. Out from under the table materialized a jumbo pack of crayons and a colouring book.

I placed Sadie down in her chair. As I took off my backpack, Cali slid the art supplies over. "Do you like to colour?"

Sadie nodded, her blue eyes focused on the fairytale characters that decorated the front page of the colouring book.

Cali simply smiled before she opened the book, flipping through until she found the page she was looking for. "I thought you might like this page. It has a family of bears that look just like your teddy."

Realization dawned on Sadie's face, a slight smile tugging on her lips.

Cali lowered back down into her seat, appearing pleased with how happy Sadie was with her new colouring book.

"Thank you," I said, settling in my chair. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know. I wanted to." She gave me a kind smile before rummaging through some of the papers she had neatly stacked beside her. "You on the other hand don't get so lucky."