The Line Drive

ten

Mackenzie

The library basement is shockingly cold, and I'm sitting there shivering as I complete my assignment and wait for Dane. Helping him the day before was more fun than I had been expecting. I liked teaching, but I hadn't thought he would be so receptive to it. Dane seemed really engaged and like he wanted to learn. 

Something heavy hits my shoulders and I look up in surprise. Dane is standing there, a small smile on his face. I look at my shoulders, and see a sweatshirt draped across me. "What's this?" I ask him.

"A sweatshirt."

"I can see that!" I give him an exasperated look.

"A sweatshirt for you to wear." Dane tells me. "You look cold." 

"I'm fine." I begin to remove the sweatshirt, and a fresh wave of goosebumps pop up on my arms.

"I can't have my savior freezing to death before she helps me finish my assignment." I can't help my blush, and I also can't refuse the sweatshirt, because I really am cold and uncomfortable. I pull on Dane's large sweatshirt and am immediately swallowed by the scent of his woodsy deodorant. It smells amazing and even though I know it would be inappropriate, I want to steal it. 

"Thank you." 

"You're welcome." Dane says simply, sitting down next to me and pulling his laptop out of his bag. "I've never seen someone who can focus like you."

"What do you mean?"

"Just that you seem really engaged in whatever you're doing whenever I see you."

"Oh." I feel a little embarrassed but I'm not sure why. 

"It's a good thing!" Dane reassures me. "Don't worry." I nod slowly. "Also, I forgot to pay you yesterday and we never talked about your rate." 

I honestly forgot that he'd said he would pay me. "Um, well--" I've never actually been paid to tutor one on one before and I make fairly shit money when I run TA sessions in the library to answer student math questions. 

"Is $50 an hour good?" Dane asks. I stare at him, thinking he must be out of his mind.

"I was thinking more like $25 an hour?"

"You're shit at negotiating." I can't help my laugh. "Mack, I'm serious. I want to pay you what you're worth." Hearing him say my nickname catches me off guard. Dane is wearing a small smile though, so I'm sure he's not too serious. 

"$25 an hour is good for me." I say more confidently. I don't feel like I'm a good enough tutor to deserve $50 an hour, especially when I'm working on my own homework as I help him. "Plus you bought me dinner." 

"And I plan to bring you more food in the future if you continue to help me." I'm suspicious at how nice he's being. 

"So we're good then?" 

"Sure." Dane looks like he feels guilty but hands me his phone. I'm confused as I take it, but then realize his Venmo search is up. I enter my username and add myself as a friend and then hand it back to him. 

"Now that we've learned I'm trash at negotiation, do you want to wrap up that assignment?"

"Yes, ma'am. I do." 

As Dane and I walk through the last piece of his assignment, I can't help but be impressed by how he listens to me when I'm explaining concepts. His questions are good and he's clearly trying to piece everything together. 

When we finish, it's only 12:30, and I expect him to just get up and leave, but instead he pulls a container out of his backpack and starts eating. When he catches me looking at him he raises an eyebrow. "What?"