Tutor? (Add)

[Marissa Thompson]

Nervously drumming her fingers on top of the table, Marissa sat boredly in Bellefonte's library, waiting for her tutor to arrive. She was already taking one of the easier math courses out there, but was struggling with a C- in the class. After an argument on the phone with her parents back in Vancouver, they used their parental authority to sign Marissa up for a tutor. Of course, the school was on board for the idea. 

So here she was in the library, math textbook, notebook and pencils all on the table. She had chosen one of the smaller ones, so herself and the tutor could sit and talk one on one. It wasn't that Marissa was terrible at math, but moreso got bored of the class and didn't like it. (who liked math anyway?) Her lack of effort and missing homework assignments were the main reason behind her not so good grade. Maybe the tutor would understand it wasn't the concepts that was the problem, but the actual class itself. 

She had shown up early to prepare herself and the material needing to be covered at this point. Marissa's eyes scanned around the nearly empty library, trying to figure out who looked like a tutor. All the girl knew was that her math teacher had mentioned it was an older girl and former Bellefonte student.

[Adelaide McLisk]

It was a shame that Add didn't charge for these tutoring sessions, given that she would have been easily making a living wage, what with how often she kept finding herself at the Academy. Not that she minded: she loved the Academy. Everything about it was simply pleasant and reassuring. Most of the probabilities here had been sorted out a while ago, and mutants were such defiers of chance that Add would always have something interesting to sort through. Though, in actuality, Add didn't need money. There was the whole fact that Add had recently won the lottery, and could likely do so again if she spent a few more weeks studying the local lottery system. They kept telling her that this was wrong though, hence why she was tutoring students to begin with. And volunteering at an animal shelter. And attending class with something akin to a long term goal in mind.

She arrived early, as she often did, to the session. Add was therefore surprised to see that her student was actually at the library already. most of her students had this annoying tendency to arrive to the sessions late, assuming they showed up at all. Add sort of understood in a rather abstract fashion: most of them were getting tutoring because they hated math or found it difficult, and most people didn't want to engage in activities that they found "boring" and/or "hard." Well, that was where Add came in.

The probability calculator did look like a tutor. Her brown hair had been pulled up into a rather severe bun and she wore a pair of black wire frame glasses carefully balanced on her nose. she carried a small shoulder bag that bulged with what appeared to be books. Without waiting, she approached the student who was sitting alone at a table with a math book. "You are Marissa Thompson," it wasn't a question. "I am Adelaide McLisk, and I'm to be your tutor," Add looked at the math book, studying it for a few seconds. It looked rather simple, but then again, most math looked simple to Add. Part of her gift and all. Add moved to take a seat near Marissa, keeping her eyes on the younger girl.

"What do you hope to get out of the session?" she asked, and then, after a short pause: "Besides higher math scores."

[Marissa Thompson]

Her eyes landed on a young woman who confidently walked through the library. Well, if Marissa was going to be stereotypical, she looked the part of a tutor. Tight bun, glasses... hell, the girl looked like she could be a teacher at Bellefonte. Maybe she was. Marissa left the thought alone for now and watched as her conclusion was correct, the girl sitting across from her at the table.

She opened her mouth to greet the tutor and get formalities out of the way, but Marissa snapped it shut once the girl went off. Frowning, she nodded, a bit confused on how the girl.. Adelaide.. knew it was her. How did she put the name to an unknown face so quickly? Marissa, again, let her questions slide and greeted the girl with a smile. "Yepp, I'm Marissa." Her eyes glanced around the library quickly. "Nice to meet you... uhm... how should I address you? Ms McLisk? Adelaide?" She asked awkwardly, fidgeting with her fingers.

Flipping open her math textbook, Marissa's eyes scanned the table of contents. She met her tutor's with a cautious expression and gentle smile. "Yeah, higher grades would be nice." she chuckled, taking the girl's comment as a joke. "Uhm, I guess mostly work on my study habits. It's my weak area. Math bores me. I'm okay with it. So, I guess in short, I'd like to just be.. a better student?" Marissa phrased it as a question.

"Did you want to look at my textbook?" She asked, sliding it across the table in front of Adelaide. "We're on Unit 3 Lesson 5."

[Adelaide McLisk]

Add kept her eyes locked on Marissa while the other girl introduced herself, well, more of confirmed Add's initial assessment as to the situation. The issue of address did make Add blink a few times. "Whatever you wish to call me will be perfectly acceptable," she said. There was another of those short, awkward pauses, as if she were weighing each word carefully before she said them. Then: "Some of my students use my old nickname, Add."

Which made all kinds of sense to Add, which is why she didn't mind it that much when they actually called her by that nickname. Her life was tied around math, and it did strike her as being a fairly clever rendition of her name. Plus, it always made her just a little happier whenever she heard someone say it, since it had actually been given to her by people who, surprisingly, actually liked her.

She focused back on the moment, on the reasons behind this whole session to begin with. Said reasons were hardly surprising to Add: Marissa's feeling fell right in line with most people's opinions on math. Then again, most people didn't see math in quite the same way that Add did, as being the very thing that made up people and everything in the world around them. At least the idea of being a better student was quite a good one, one that made Add nod in agreement.

Add leaned over and looked at the offered textbook, studying it. The math was simple, at least for her, though she could see why it would possibly give someone bored with math issues. "And what in particular about the unit are you finding troubling?" she asked, flicking her eyes up to the student. It was hard not to get locked into the probabilities and math there, but at least there wasn't anything too out of the ordinary, at least, not yet.

[Marissa Thompson]

Add. Marissa chuckled to herself. "That's a good one. Add, cause you're good at math." she stated the obvious, shaking her head with the final sounds of laughter. Well, she hoped her tutor... Add... was good at math. Her parents threatened to cut down her monthly allowance if her grades, specifically math, didn't improve by the next report card. Kind of stressful if you asked Marissa.

"Anyway, I'll call you Add then." Marissa nodded. When she didn't say anything about her reasons, she figured that the tutor had heard it all before. Wasn't students fault that math wasn't fun. No creativity to it. "Or maybe the left side of my brain is broken." She joked, chuckling at her little joke.

Shrugging, Marissa stifled a yawn. Even focusing on the subject of math was a bore to her. And she didn't know what exactly she was struggling with. "Honestly, I'm not too sure." she admitted. "Everything I guess? Like, when I'm suppose to factor... half the time I forget what that stuff is. I can solve for x, when it's already broken down and in simpler terms." She rambled, feelings her cheeks flush red. She was embarrassed about her lack of expertise in math.

[Adelaide McLisk]

Add blinked. "I always thought it was because my name is Adelaide, and Add is short," she said. It was about as good of a joke as she could manage, and she even tried an awkward smile. She didn't expect it to go over well though; it never did, really. Humor really wasn't something that Add understood all that well.

she also wasn't sure what Marissa referred to with the left side of the brain comment. Didn't that have to do with logic? But it clearly couldn't be broken, because Marissa could use her right hand. Add even opened her mouth to begin to explain precisely this to Marissa, but as soon as she did, she realized that it had to be a joke of some kind. So instead Add tried that awkward smile again, adding a little nod for further emphasis.

Everything with math? Add sighed; they so often said that. "I am betting that you know more than you think you know," she said, pulling the textbook to her so that she could read through it quickly. She scanned it, then nodded, moving it back. "Begin by working on this," she said, pointing to a problem, "and I shall help." Add was ready and would do so the moment Marissa started.

[Marissa Thompson]

"Eh, let's say both." Marissa chuckled, liking her tutor's sense of humour. It was... dry, almost sarcastic, but she could appreciate any sense of humour. "Whoever gave you that nickname is clever." She said with a nod, before turning back to her textbook and listening to Add.

"I guess you're right. I just don't know what it is about math that trips me up. You'd think otherwise. Math is... is technically sound right? There's nothing about it that changes. Numbers always add up in the same way. 22 x 10 will always be 220." Marissa rambled, making weird gestures with her hands. Then again, her tutor probably already knew that.

Her eyes narrowed in concentration, biting her lip. She paused over the piece of paper, looking at the equation. Factor x2 - x - 12. She hesitated again, sighing. "Uhmmm... so... maybe something to do with a 6 and a 2?" No, that wasn't right. "I uh, I don't know." It probably would have helped if she had paid any attention in the factoring unit.

[Adelaide McLisk]

Add smiled slightly at the mention of the clever nickname. It had, after all, been given to her by one of her few friends, and who didn't enjoy hearing a friend get praised in that manner? That and Add definitely appreciated the use of the adjective clever in pretty well any manner of use. She liked to think of herself as clever, at least in a nice, general sense.

Add nodded as Marissa at least tried to work through the math. Everything the girl said sounded more or less accurate to the mathematician; in fact, a lot of it was why Add preferred math overall. Though she did realize that not everyone could use it or see it in the same way that she could. Still, it sounded like Marissa was on the right track. Add waited patiently, hoping that her student could work her way through the problem on her own. There was eye narrowing, then concentrating, and all the while Add waited patiently.

"You're thinking too linearly--" began Add, leaning over. However, at that the time, the library doors swung open. Add turned, slightly surprised. Not so much that someone else would enter the library; in Add's opinion it was one of the best places at the school, but because they sort of burst in. They were a gaggle of teenage boys, all seemingly together and chatting, probably here because they thought they needed to do research. They were, however, being quite loud. And, as soon as they saw Add and Marissa, quite flirtatious.

"Why do they always do that?" Add wondered aloud, keeping her voice soft, she looked at Marissa, as if hoping that the other girl could somehow explain the behavior of the leering males that lumbered closer.

[Marissa Thompson]

Marissa saw the hint of a smile on Add's face, which in return made her smile. Smiles were always good. People didn't just do it for no reason. Plus, it made her tutor seem more human and not as robotic, like in their introduction a few minutes ago. Every couple of seconds, she would look up at Add's face to make sure she was doing the math correctly. Marissa thought she was following the formula... but there were so many to remember that had different purposes and sometimes they all muddled together in her head.

"I'd be even worse at math if we didn't have calculators." Marissa joked, laughing at her own expense. Without that handy little tool, she'd be completely screwed.

Marissa looked up to listen insightfully when a bunch of teenaged boys entered the library. Immediately, she rolled her eyes. Somehow, she knew they were going to be trouble. All teenage boys were. Especially in front of girls.

She narrowed her eyes when they got closer, shouting sexist, 'flirtatious' comments in their direction. It bothered Marissa that all boys seemed to assume that flirting was necessary at all times. There was a difference between being naturally charming and making comments... like these boys. 

Chuckling at Add's comment, Marissa shrugged, eyeing the boys with a contempt expression. "Must be testosterone or something." She said, tearing her eyes away to look at her tutor. "Teenage boys are a mystery."

[Adelaide McLisk]

"I have been called a calculator before," commented Add, more as an off-hand comment. She had, in fact, been called a calculator several times before, mostly in a derogatory fashion. She didn't quite understand how being a calculator was a bad thing, but it seemed that other people thought in that fashion.

They had boys to focus their attentions on, though perhaps not quite in the manner the boys hoped. Marissa's rolled eyes told Add plenty about the girl's reactions, and the calculator already knew her own all too well. The comments were getting a little bad, but nothing that Add couldn't ignore. She'd actually heard worse, especially after she'd turned twenty-one and actually started getting semi-regular exposure to people with alcohol.

"They are indeed," agreed Add, "as I believe that testosterone does not affect the body to that extent," she looked back at the math, then nodded. "We should attempt to ignore them and instead focus our attentions upon the studies. Where did we leave off?" Add attempted to relocate their point in the book, likely somewhere involving factoring; she seemed to vaguely recall factoring. She frowned as she tried to remember.

of course, the guys somehow took Add's strategy of ignoring as encouragement. They actually started getting louder as a result. She thought she could here them getting more lewd as time passed as well. However, Add was proving remarkably focused, eventually finding where they'd left off and tapping it, obviously figuring that this would suffice to draw Marissa's attention back.

[Marissa Thompson]

"Then I sure am glad I got you as a tutor." Marissa joked after Add mentioned the calculator comment. "Think I can bring you into all of my tests and exams to help me out?" Again, the brunette was kidding around. Obviously she wouldn't be able to bring her in.

Nodding, Marissa tried her best to change her focus back onto her homework, but found it increasingly difficult with the boys in the library still. She looked across the table, seeing Add's own reaction to the immature teenagers. "I wish we could just toss them out of a window or something." she said with a snort, shaking her head. She'd managed to work through a couple more lines of the equation.

Until she realized they were wrong. Marissa frowned, erasing half of the question. Her growing frustration became apparent as her erasing became more aggressive, and Marissa eventually tore a hole in her sheet of homework. She mumbled a few swear words. She was trying to ignore it, really.

She dug out a new piece of paper with a sigh, Marissa copied down the equation underneath Add's tapping, writing down what she already knew. Except, the boys increased flirting finally pushed her past her breaking point.

Whipping around, Marissa scowled. "Can you shut the fuck up or get out? I'm trying to work here."

[Adelaide McLisk]

"I would think that your teachers would likely object to that," said Add, again not quite understanding the joke. Her face actually crinkled slightly in confusion. She might have lingered upon that, asking for clarification or trying to see what it was that she was misunderstanding, but they had math to get to and idiots to ignore. For a while, it almost seemed like Marissa would manage the former while ignoring the latter.

Add nodded at Marissa's suggestion: "It is a shame that we are not granted such powers. Unless you possess an ability that would allow you to do so?" this last was said with an arched brow. Again: Add was clearly not joking, her tone and expression completely serious and flat throughout. She would most definitely fling the annoyances out the window. The comment on them drew her attention back to them. This renewed focus met with their words, offering up more probabilities for Add. She nearly stared at a couple, her brain beginning the steady process of breaking down a human into a string of equations and probabilities.

The tear got Add's attention. she looked back at Marissa, then reached over, placing a hand on the sheet. "Calm down," she said in perhaps the calmest tone of voice possible, "all problems have answers, it is simply a matter of studying the formula and applying what you know," she nodded, moving her hand to tap so Marissa could copy. The boys had continued, but Add had mentally reduced them to so much white noise: it was easier for her now that she knew enough about them.

The boys did end jumping back as Marissa snapped at them. A few raised their hands, and their leader looked at his posse as though he was impressed and pleasantly surprised. "Damn, she got some bite."

"She has a point," said Add, turning to look at them. They were still laughing, and Add certainly didn't like this. "This is a library; we are attempting to study, and you are interrupting this. I strongly suggest that you find another section of the library, or risk our reporting you."

Which was exactly the wrong thing to say, as they all started howling with laughter, looking at one another and grinning. Add blinked, not certain what among what she'd said would be construed as "funny."

[Marissa Thompson]

Marissa decided to ignore the joke for now, as Add seemed to be a bit confused by her joke. Oh well, sometimes her humour could be misinterpreted. It happened.

"Unfortunately not. If I had super strength I totally would." Marissa chuckled, grinning at Add. She wasn't afraid of her threats having consequences, they were empty threats. Marissa saw her serious expression, deciding to share her power. Wasn't a bad one "My ability is clairvoyance. Don't know how to explain it. Basically, like, I could see what you see. Right now I could see the library and me from your point of view." She rambled.

Marissa looked up, smiling and giving Add a grateful smile. She appreciated her tutor's calm demeanor as she was freaking out. All problems have answers... that itself was surprisingly reassuring. It was applicable to math and real life. She smiled at the unintentional advice, least it seemed unintentional to Marissa. She began copying down the equations again before throwing her tempter tantrum.

"Like, fuck." Marissa groaned, rolling her eyes at their reaction. She didn't expect them to react that way. She looked at Add, desperate for backup...

Which didn't seem to work either.

"Fuck." Marissa muttered, shaking her head. Was no place sacred anymore? She looked around, hoping that a cranky librarian would pop out of nowhere and escort the annoying teenagers away. "Seriously guys. I don't care how rowdy you act or whatever, just take it elsewhere. Please."

[Adelaide McLisk]

Add was tempted to point out that the ability Marissa described was more of a shared seeing or perhaps empathetic vision than clairvoyance in the strictest sense, but that felt overly pedantic and Add didn't think that doing so would be beneficial for either the conversation or the budding relationship she had with her student. It did sound like a fairly useful ability if used corrected, for instance by trained soldiers or spies or the like, but Add didn't think that it would be wise to mention that. For such information didn't make the ability any more useful now.

Marissa didn't seem to quite have Add's ability to mostly ignore the other students. The other girl seemed to be completely and utterly distracted by the guffawing of the imbeciles. Not that Add really blamed her overmuch, but still. The laughter was rather unnecessary. Marissa even went to asking them nicely, not that doing so was yielding results any better than Add's comments. The guys even smirked at them all the more.

Add sighed, realizing that they'd have to take a little more drastic of an action. She studied the guys for several long seconds; they'd already moved closer to Marissa, leering at the prettier, feistier girl who was obviously closer to their age. While they spoke, Add did math in her head. Then, she grabbed one of the textbooks on the table, spent another second taking aim, and then flung the book.

It hit a crotch.
The guy who had his crotch, which was having crotch reactions most likely, bent down and groaned.
His bending knocked into another guy.
Who flailed and hit a third.

All the while Add sat there stoic, as if she hadn't just caused this kerfuffle herself. She looked to Marissa, raising her brows as if to suggest that this was precisely what they deserved.

[Marissa Thompson]

"I'm really sorry..." Marissa began to apologize with a frown. She wasn't sure what she was exactly sorry for... maybe throwing the temper tantrum and losing her cool, motivating the boys to amp up their harassment. Or maybe she was sorry for suggesting that they go to the library in the first. It was always busy and full of distractions, such as this group. As the brunette rambled, she watched Add study the boys but brushed it off. Probably just sending them bad vibes or something along those lines.

She exhaled, counting to ten slowly... 1...2....3456789...10. Marissa opened her mouth to calmly tell them to screw off or she'd punch them all in the face, but before she could even begin to utter her threat, Marissa saw Add fling a textbook at one of the guys.

It took a moment for her to register what had even happened. She blinked, and suddenly, there were three guys all groaning while one held his crotch in near tears. Awed, Marissa slowly turned to face Add with an incredulous expression on her. What... what just happened? Did she really just do that?

Slowly, Marissa began to grin at her tutor. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. "That... how did you do that so perfectly?" she asked, wanting to slow clap for the girl. Hell, she deserved it.