Tess threw her backpack into the back of her mom's car as she climbed into the front passenger seat. "Hey, mom."

"Hey, sweetie." Clarette waited for Tess to buckle herself in before putting the car into gear. "You were a little late coming out."

"Yeah." Tess wasn't sure whether she wanted to tell her mom about her conversation with Ms. Keene. She was still feeling a strange mixture of stomach-churning anxiety and super-weird relief.

But moms were moms, and sooner or later, Clarette would find out about Tess's situation, either through her report cards or the mysterious presence of a tutor in Tess's life. Tess decided to be straightforward and deal with her own thoughts on the matter later. "Ms. Keene wanted to talk to me."

"Your English teacher? What for?"

"My work kind of...um, is bad. So she wanted to talk to me about that."

Clarette glanced over at Tess, raising her eyebrows. "It's only the second week of school, honey. What can she possibly have to be concerned about after, what, six days?"

"I think she just wants to help me because it's going to be a lot of work this semester taking two of her classes and she can tell that English isn't my thing so I'm going to need help," Tess said, all in one breath. "That's pretty much what she said."

"Oh. Well, it's nice of her to talk to you about that. Did she say anything in particular?"

"She wants me to get a tutor."

Clarette was quiet for a moment, as if digesting this information. When she spoke at last, she said something Tess didn't expect. "How do you feel about that?"

"What?"

Casting another glance at Tess and then returning her eyes to the road, Clarette said, "How do you feel about Ms. Keene's suggestion?"

Frowning, Tess shook her head, unsure how her mom expected her to respond. "I don't know...kind of terrible, I guess? It sucks when your teacher flat-out tells you that you need a tutor. But I'm also sort of glad that she talked to me instead of just failing me."

"We can look into tutoring programs," her mom replied. She was using a tone of exaggerated calm, and Tess realized why: her mom was afraid that doing poorly in English might be a trigger for Tess's anxiety. In that same calm, everything-is-going-to-be-okay tone, Clarette continued, "I'm sure there are several in a city this size, and I can check online to see if there are reviews and recommendations from parents."

"Well, actually, Eagle Point has a tutoring program," Tess said. She tried to sound cheerful for her mom's benefit. "Ms. Keene has someone in mind, I guess. Some really smart English student who's in college now. Since I don't have a study period, we'd probably have to meet after school, but it would be fine because he would be out of class too."

"Ah. I see. It sounds like she thought quite a bit about this, doesn't it?"

Tess smiled. Her mom was right; Ms. Keene must really care. "Yeah. You're right."

"I'm glad to see you smile, honey. I know this will add one more thing to your day, but I'm proud of you for thinking this through and being open to the idea."

"I just have to take it one day at a time," said Tess, remembering what Jacqui had told her in the school bathroom after helping her back from the brink of her panic attack. "I'll just see what happens."

As they pulled into the driveway of their home, Tess's mom glanced her way with a curious smile. "Yeah. Let's just see what happens."

"Is Dad home?"

"No; he said he wouldn't wrap up his last appointment until around 5. Do you have homework tonight?"

Tess sighed, opening her car door. "I have homework every night, Mom. It's high school." She clambered out of the car and opened the back door so she could get her bag.

"Right. Well, you should have time to get started on it before your father gets home. I'm going to ask him to grill steaks tonight. Sound good?"

"Sounds good." The garage door began to come down; Tess raised her voice above the noise. "Hey, Mom?"

"Yes?" Clarette came around the hood of the car and met Tess on her way to the door into the house. She raised a hand to smooth Tess's hair.

"I might go out with Isaac again for a dinner thing, would that be okay?"

As her mom opened the door to the house, the cool air met them, refreshing after the balmy day and the sweltering heat of the garage. "Sure, honey. When are you thinking?"

"We haven't decided yet, but maybe this weekend."

"You can let your father know tonight. I'm not sure he moved away from that window while you were out with Isaac on Saturday, so I'm looking forward to his reaction." She laughed. "But I'm really glad you're seeing this Isaac boy again. You've got a lot on your plate, but it's important to remember to have fun. I don't want you to get burnt out. You want some lemonade before you go up to your room?"

Clarette made amazing lemonade, and Tess was happy to accept; she followed her mom into the kitchen. Then, with a tumbler of tangy-sweet goodness in hand and her backpack over her shoulder, she headed up to her room to start on her homework.

As she pulled her things out of her backpack, Tess saw the paper Ms. Keene had handed back, with that red-ink note at the top. She reflected on their conversation and decided that, at the end of the day, she felt okay about the situation.

Sure, her chat with Ms. Keene had not been fun, and she was anxious about the whole idea of having a tutor, but if Tess could do anything to make it easier to survive her senior year, she had no choice but to accept.

What she did have a choice about was how to feel about it. She could drag her feet, feeling crappy, reluctant, and frustrated, or she could try to be positive. Ms. Keene, who was extremely intelligent, had freely admitted to having a tutor when she was in college.

Tess was good at many things. English simply wasn't one of them.

Of course, deciding to feel positive about something didn't mean it was easy. Tess had grown to understand how much work it could be to manage emotions, and she knew she'd have to keep reminding herself not to let the negative stuff overwhelm her.

She decided to get started right away by reading the feedback Ms. Keene had left on her proposal. Tutor or no, she could take a stab at revising the proposal herself. Consciously putting a smile on her face to encourage a positive attitude, Tess bent her head over the paper and began to read.