Lessons in Love Read Online Free PDF Page B

angrily.
     
    “No.”
     
    “Then can we just get this over with? I need to get home.”
     
    “Big plans?” Mr. Simmons asked.
     
    “Oh, huge, I get to look after my brother all evening while my mom works her second job.” Alex sighed wearily and then straightened in her chair, realizing that she had said too much. She’d never before confided in someone about her home life, and it shocked her that she’d made such a revelation to Mr. Simmons, of all people.
     
    He seemed to notice her unease and didn’t press her on the topic any further.
     
    “Well, I threatened calculus, and I always make good on my threats,” he told her, tossing her a calculus textbook, which had been perched on his desk.
     
    Alex grabbed it and surveyed the cover. She knew the book. She’d done the problems it contained before, not that she was about to tell him that.
     
    “Have you done much calculus?” he asked her.
     
    “Some,” Alex answered vaguely.
     
    “Could you give me a practical example of its use?” Mr. Simmons asked.
     
    “Race car driving,” Alex responded without missing a beat. “Calculus is used to determined fuel used over distance and speed as the variables are constantly changing, which makes other mathematical formulas unreliable.”
     
    “Yes. Very good.” Mr. Simmons smiled.
     
    Alex opened the book and began to browse through the problems inside. She realized after a few minutes that she was smiling to herself and felt an unusual sensation. She felt comfortable. It was the first time she had felt comfortable since joining Woodsdale High four years ago. It was the first time she had felt like herself.
     
    Mr. Simmons watched her go through the textbook, delicately turning the pages, and found himself intrigued by her. On the outside, she was the obnoxious cheerleader who cared about no one but herself. But beneath that there was more going on, and he was determined to unlock the secrets within Alex Heron.
     
    “Why don’t you leave early?” Mr. Simmons suggested when they were forty-five minutes into the detention.
     
    “Really?” Alex asked, surprised. She was supposed to be there for an hour and a half.
     
    “Yeah, I think you’ve learned your lesson.”
     
    “We’ll see,” Alex responded cheekily.
     
    “Have a nice evening with your brother,” Mr. Simmons added casually as Alex was almost out of the door.
     
    She froze and turned back to him. Her heart caught in her chest. She’d said too much, she knew that, and now he could potentially ruin everything.
     
    “I lied,” she told him flippantly. “I was hoping you’d take pity on me and let me finish early.” She smirked at him.
     
    “My mom is actually in Paris right now, in France. She’s a buyer for Prada.”
     
    “That’s an impressive job,” Mr. Simmons mused. “Do you miss your mom when she’s away?”
     
    The question made Alex’s façade falter. She’d not been asked whether she missed anyone for a long time, and the suggestion made her feel light-headed. She gasped slightly but managed to regain her composure.
     
    “I’ll see you in math tomorrow,” she told him politely, unable to answer his question because she didn’t even allow herself to know the true answer to it.
     
    “What does your dad do?” Mr. Simmons asked as Alex was about to leave.
     
    Her body turned to stone upon hearing it, and she felt her hands begin to shake.
     
    She turned slowly to face him, her eyes misting up with tears.
     
    “Never speak to me about my father,” she told him, and then she fled from the classroom, her frantic footsteps echoing down the empty halls.
     
    ****
     
    Alex ran out of the school, out past the parking lot, and continued to run hard for five blocks until her breathlessness kicked in, causing her to abruptly stop, clamping a hand to her chest as her lungs heaved.
     
    Bending forward, she placed her head between her knees, panting. As she waited for her breathing to stabilize, she