Chapter 4
Leona woke up to her whole body aching, wishing for more time in bed. I would give anything to just go back to sleep and skip all of today. Practice yesterday did her more harm than good, and even though she felt victorious having fought and won against big Cass, her body did not feel like it was winning. She slowly rose out of bed with a groan, her body in so much pain she was unable to care if Vi yelled at her.
As she was struggling to get up, she heard Vi stir and suddenly felt nervous, the pain leaving her body momentarily only to be filled with anxiety. I don’t think I can handle the mental anguish of Vi this morning. As she was slowly making her way to her closet, she heard Vi get out of bed with a grunt.
“How ya feeling today, champ? Ya look like a punching bag that I got a hold of on a bad day,” Vi chuckled. “Have you been icing it? Your eye is pretty gnarly, seriously. Don’t go overdoing it on your first season, there’s many more to come for our sweet TU point guard.”
Vi headed to the bathroom, still giggling. Leona could hear her rustling around in the cabinets, aggressive slams of the doors echoing in the room. Vi suddenly appeared, a huge grin on her face and a bottle in each hand.
“Here ya go, Leo. Just take one every few hours and it’ll help ya feel better. We got some pain relievers and multivitamins. This is my go-to routine after matches, I know how it feels to get beat up. Don’t hurt yourself this week, kid.” Vi shoved the bottles into Leona’s chest, grabbed her jacket, and headed out the door.
Was Vi just nice to me? And did she just go to class in her pajamas? Leona wasn’t sure how to feel, but she was thankful her roommate got bruised and bloody on the regular. She took one of each pill and changed into her clothes for the day. She decided on a pair of black sweatpants, tight enough to hint at the definition in her legs, but loose enough to not be restricting, and a pale yellow t-shirt, the sleeves cuffed. She contemplated the best way to wear her hair so attention was drawn away from her eye, eventually putting it in a plain ponytail with a scrunchy that matched her shirt. Quickly, she laced her shoes and headed to class. A wild start to the day, but I’m sure it couldn’t get much weirder than it already has. Maybe Vi got lucky last night, and that’s why she’s so chipper. Or, she’s possessed.
—
Diana was practically falling asleep during physics class, the professor droning on and on about friction. In an attempt to stay awake, Diana pulled out her notebook and pretended to take notes. She eventually started doodling, sketching stars in the night sky, and the phases of the moon. Getting lost in the movements on her pencil, she looked up to see that class had ended, and she was alone in the classroom. Guess I got carried away. Nothing new, honestly. As Diana was picking up, she had noticed she had drawn the sun, too, in juxtaposition with the moon. She raised an eyebrow, curious as to why she hadn’t noticed herself do it.
She glanced at the clock, and noticed it was almost time for her first tutoring session. She hurriedly packed her bookbag, scrambling to collect all the pencils she got out to draw. Thankfully, Diana was a fast walker, and could make it to the tutoring center in about 4 minutes. That would only give her about 5 minutes to settle in before her session, but she was sure she would manage. She gently opened the classroom door and scurried out, quickening her pace as soon as she hit the concrete pavement outside. It was a nice, warm day, with a slight breeze. It was a shame she was unable to grab a coffee and read under a shady tree. Why did I decide to become a tutor again? Was I truly that bored?
She finally arrived at the tutoring center, opening the door to the sound of Maddie yelling her name.
“Dianaaa! You finally made it! I thought you were ditching your very first session and we’d have to take over! And between you and I, we both know math is not my strong suit. Anyways, how was your day? Did you have fun in class?” Maddie spoke a hundred miles a minute, a big smile on her face the whole time.
“Oh, my day was fine. The usual boring physics clas- wait, math? I’m tutoring math today?” Diana sputtered out, a flush coming to her cheeks. She had completely forgotten today was the day.
“Yes!! Today is math day with our wonderful Leona, remember? Actually, she’s been waiting at your desk for about 10 minutes now, you should probably go back there. Our athletes are busy, Diana, don’t be wasting her time like that! Tsk, tsk, be sure to not do anything embarrassing!” Maddie said as she shoved a packet of mathematics problems into Diana’s arms, her smile turning mischievous.
“Ah, ye-yeah, I’ll try my best,” Diana muttered, shuffling back to her desk.
She turned the corner and approached auburn and yellow, like a tree surrounded by dandelions. Diana swallowed the lump in her throat, mentally preparing herself for the next hour. Do not freak out, Diana. It’s just teaching math, to a very popular athlete…who is also very pretty.. She let out a big sigh, and walked around her desk. She laid the packet on the desk and sat down, dropping her bookbag at her feet. As she was digging around in her bookbag, she looked up to see light brown eyes staring at her. The eye contact made Diana freeze up, forgetting what she was searching her bag for. After what felt like an eternity, Diana realized they hadn’t spoken a word.
“Hello-o..I’m Diana, it’s nice to m-meet you!” Diana frantically stuck her hand out for a handshake. The girl grabbed her hand back, gripping so firmly she thought her hand might break.
“Hi Diana! I’m Leona! It’s nice to meet you, too! I’m looking forward to our sessions!” the girl said as she beamed with joy. Diana almost hadn’t noticed the gnarly bruise that covered her left eye. She gave her a curious look, but continued to dig around her bag for some pencils and colored pens.
“Alright, before we get started, let’s make some goals for our sessions so we can better track your progress. Here’s a sheet for you to take a few minutes to fill out! I brought pens and pencils, if you need any. Let me know if you have any questions about the form, I’m happy to help!” Diana slid two sheets towards Leona, who gave them a serious glance.
“A pencil would be great, I honestly don’t know where mine went. Underprepared on my first day - good thing you were a step ahead of me,” Leona said, grabbing a pencil from Diana’s side of the desk. She continued to fill out her sheet, a serious look clouding her face, intense focus in her eyes.
Ah, she’s taking it seriously, that’s a nice change of pace. I couldn’t be bothered to take any of my classes seriously, but I suppose it’s a little different since I feel no need to obtain help for my studies. Diana started to think about what book she would read tonight. Astronomy again? Maybe she could pick up a Sci-Fi book to change it up a little. Fiction could be fun sometimes. Her thoughts were interrupted by Leona waving her hand in front of her face, a pout forming on her lips.
“Are you with me? I’m done with my form!” Leona stated, as Diana’s face darkened in red hues.
“S-sorry, I was lost in thought. My physics professor had quite an… interesting lecture today I can’t get my mind off of. But, now that you’re done with your sheets, we can start to work on some problems!” Diana tried her best to sound studious, but was unsure whether Leona bought into it or not.
It was totally obvious I was just lost in daydreams, right? Terrible first impression! I need to get it together bef- Diana’s thoughts were cut off by a puzzled look on Leona’s face.
“I think you were doing it again…” Leona frowned, then let out a small chuckle that caused a smirk to pull at the edges of her lips.
Diana brought her hand to her face and massaged her temple, letting out a stiff sigh. She took Leona’s goal sheets from in front of her and replaced them with a short math quiz.
“Please try to solve these problems, if you can't, that's alright. The purpose is to figure out where you stand on the subject so I don’t review things you’re already familiar with,” Diana explained. Leona’s face was suddenly shrouded in pink, her lips pressed into a thin line.
“I will try my best, but I have a feeling you have your work cut out for you. Math is my worst subject,” Leona admitted with defeat. She then picked up a pencil and slowly solved whatever problems she could. Diana observed as she made faces at each problem - sometimes her face lit up, eyes beaming and a small smile appeared for a moment, others, her eyebrows furrowed, eyes focused intently on the piece of paper like it would somehow whisper the answer to her.
After about 25 minutes, Leona had finished the problems, sliding the paper to Diana with an exasperated sigh. Leona had a disgruntled look on her face - obviously frustrated with the problems set in front of her. Diana grabbed the paper, checking over the solutions and making red correction marks where she could.
“Alright, you scored well on all the algebra questions, but geometry and calculus are your weak subjects. We’ll start our tutoring sessions with reinforcing your knowledge of algebra, then move on to geometry for a couple weeks. After you’re proficient in that, we’ll move on to calculus. What’s the highest level of math required for your degree? That will help us determine how quickly we move through our sessions.” Diana gave a light smile in hopes to encourage Leona, who was still obviously distraught about numbers mixing with the alphabet.
“Uhh..I’m just a business major.. sports, yanno? I think I have to take up calculus 1, and also a business statistics class. I’ll probably need help with statistics when I get there, too.” Leona averted her gaze as she spoke, her tone light and wispy, as if trying not to let the walls hear her.
“Okay! Perfect! We’ll spend this semester on geometry. If you excel at it, we’ll start working on calculus problems to prep you for next semester! A little head start is excellent for your confidence going into a new class, especially when it’s calculus. Do you have any questions for me before we end the session?” Diana met Leona’s gaze and she noticed her gaze softened, feeling as if it were just the two of them alone in the building. Diana felt a blush creep up her neck and quickly broke eye contact with a cough, her hand in front of her face to help hide the discomfort.
“N-no questions so far. Thank you!”
Diana quickly stood up, prompting Leona to do the same. She directed her towards the front desk, and Maddie, so they could finish her paperwork and set up recurring tutoring appointments each week. As they approached the desk, Diana could feel Maddie’s smug grin before she even glanced at her.
“Alright, we’ll start off with one session a week and we’ll up it to two if we need to make progress faster. I know you’re probably busy with sports so I don’t want to overwhelm you to sta-” Diana was cut off suddenly.
“Can we do twice a week, p-please?” Leona stammered while providing quick glances in between Maddie and Diana. “I-I’m just not sure I’ll make progress as quickly as I need to. If we could start the two sessions after this week, that would be great. Our game against Noxus is this weekend. After that, I’ll be able to focus more on… math..” Leona said with a groan. Diana could tell she didn’t really want to be here twice a week.
“We can certainly do two sessions a week, starting next week. How’s Mondays and Thursdays work for you? I know your games are usually Saturdays.” Diana said coolly. Oh man, it’s probably weird I already know their game schedule, huh? She’s going to think I’m crazy. Diana started to panic, alarms going off in her head. She needed this interaction to end and end NOW.
“Those days would work perfectly, thank you, Diana.” Leona offered her a smile as bright as day, a sweet warmth behind her eyes. Diana could feel her mouth agape - hearing Leona speak her name felt like a punch in the stomach. Or like a flight of butterflies trying to escape. She wasn’t sure why but Leona’s voice possessed Diana, a surge of sudden conviction embracing her.
“We’ll see you Monday, then. Good luck on your game, try not to bruise your other eye.” Diana said with a wink, noticing how Leona reacted - a slight giggle while bringing her hand up to play with a strand of hair in front of rosy cheeks.
Maybe math isn’t so bad after all.
—
Leona raced out of the tutoring center, her breath heavy. She wasn’t quite sure what just happened, but her heart was pounding out of her chest. Did she wink at me?? She was sure she did. Leona’s thoughts started racing - replaying every minute of the tutoring session like an awkward home film.
Everything was normal when she arrived - that weird girl at the front desk brought her to her tutor’s area where she waited for a bit. As soon as her tutor walked in, Leona felt her breath hitch, the sight of silver hair and lavender eyes making her instantly nervous. What a strange, yet happy surprise. Maybe I’ll be able to finally focus on my studies. If I can even manage speaking coherently, that is. Leona tried her best to play it cool during the session. Diana seemed really spaced out the entire time though. After being in the same space as Diana for a bit, Leona could feel herself get more comfortable, her nerves settling despite the very intense eye contact and awkward silences.
As soon as she started working on her practice problems, Leona thought she could feel the cold stare she was sure Diana was giving her, but when she stole glances at Diana, she was nose deep in a book patiently waiting for Leona to finish her problems. She didn’t rush her nor interrupt her, which Leona was thankful for. Upon completing her worksheet, she looked up to see Diana analyzing her work, soft lines outlining her facial features, a pretty lavender gaze settling upon the sheet with such grace. How can someone look so enchanting while reviewing some silly math problems?
Once Diana was done with her grading, she started discussing Leona’s improvement plan for this semester and the next, her optimism beaming through Leona’s negative cloud. As Diana asked if she had any questions, their eyes met in a beautiful standstill. Leona could feel the earth stop spinning - time froze while pale purple intertwined with gold. The stillness between them wasn’t uncomfortable - it was peaceful.
Diana was the first to break the silence, bringing them both back to the real world. Leona couldn’t remember much else from the session. The last memory in her mind was of her asking if they could do two sessions a week instead of just one. Perhaps I was overzealous there. I’m not sure what I was thinking - actually, I wasn’t THINKING at all. Leona sighed, the emotions of the last hour washing over her like a waterfall. She decided to take the long walk back to her room, the sun lowering herself for the day with night on the way.