didn’t.
“Oh,” I said. “Hi, Principal Davis. Where’s Mrs. Hunter?”
“On a break, on a break,” he said jovially. “What can I do you for, smarty pants?”
Smarty pants? Seriously?
“I was wondering if you had anyone on the list,” I said. “Leonard Chang just told me that Danny Gray quit because he got an A in Geometry.”
“An A? Because of you? Wonderful! Of course, we’ll get another student for you right away!” Principal Davis punched a few keys on Mrs. Hunter’s computer. “How about Camden King?” he asked.
Ew. That guy.
“Is there anyone else?” I asked quickly. Principal Davis’s hand was poised on the mouse, looking like it was ready to click a doom sealing button.
“There is,” he said, “but you’re the only free tutor who’s qualified to teach Algebra II.”
“I just mean that Camden King is kind of—”
“Difficult? True. You’d be his sixth tutor in a month.”
My eyes widened. “His sixth in a—”
“But if anyone can turn that boy around, it’s you!” Principal Davis clicked the mouse, punched a few more keys on Mrs. Hunter’s computer, and then grabbed a few sheets out of the printer. He stapled the papers to Camden’s information folder and shoved it across the counter at me. “Remember, our cumulative G.P.A. is the third highest in the state. Our funding has almost doubled, thanks to students like you helping out students who are . . . not so much like you. So go forth and conquer, for the good of the school!”
He came out from behind the window, patted my shoulder energetically, and swept out the door past the returning Mrs. Hunter with a hearty “Tutor hard, everyone! Keep up the good work!”
Sarah and I rolled our eyes at each other as I sat back down on the couch next to her and stared at Camden’s information folder with distaste. Technically I’d never spoken to him, but I’d seen him around school a lot, and I could believe the stories. His family is loaded, he’s been popular since birth, and the license plate on his Escalade says PIMP CK. You know those guys who are really, really hot, but at the same time you’re pretty sure they’ve got crabs? Colin Farrell comes to mind. And so does Camden King.
“Christ,” I muttered, flipping through the folder and seeing various transcript pages with grades ranging from C– to F. “Are they serious?”
“Maybe they’re confident you can handle him,” Sarah said hopefully. She peered over my shoulder into the folder.
“That’s not the point. The point is that I hate him . . . even though I’ve never met him.” I looked up. “Is that wrong? Is that shallow?”
“No shallower than the shallow end of his giant backyard swimming pool full of whores,” Cat called through the cracked open door of her study room.
“Thanks, I feel better,” I said.
“No problem. It’s what I do.” She ducked her head back into the study room.
“Well,” Sarah ventured, again trying to find the upside. “At least he’s cute. I mean, he’s tall . . . and he’s got the body of a water polo player, and he doesn’t even play water polo.” She blushed a little as she said this, then deliberately let her long brown hair fall over her face.
“Irrelevant,” I said glumly. “Being an ass trumps being a piece of ass.” I went back to looking through his information folder. “Wow, he’s even dumber than I thought. No wonder all the other tutors quit on him.”
“Come on, Maya.” Sarah wasn’t giving up. “We don’t know who his other tutors were. Maybe he’ll be really nice to you. Maybe it’ll be . . . fun.”
“Suuure,” I said.
“You know,” Camden said as he walked up to the study room where I was waiting for him, “you should be wearing a tighter shirt.”
He plunked down in the chair next to me, elbowed the door closed, and looked me over from head to toe.
“Uh . . . what?” I stared at him, hoping that either:a) I’d heard him wrong or b) I’d heard him right, but