a/n: you guys reading my new story means the world to me, thank you so much :) dedicated to the lovely eveninglatte for the elegant cover she made me, shown up top!! isn't it beautiful??

c h a p t e r 4 : snails can sleep for three years

We wait in silence while Mrs. Caruso finishes grading the surprise exams we turned in the day before. No, not pop quizzes. She sprung a fucking exam on us without prior mention.

All I can say is her teacher's evaluation at the end of the year is not gonna sparkle with the love of her students.

"Okay," she says, peering at us distastefully over her glasses. "Looks like the curve is at ninety-seven percent, thanks to Miss Alemi."

I hear groans erupt throughout the class and a couple of people mutter curses at me, but I just roll my eyes. This happens all the time, you'd think they'd learn not to think I'd screw up.

"Why couldn't you at least get a B?" Weston Reynolds asks me as Mrs. Caruso starts handing back the papers to each disgruntled, fed-up student, who're blaming their grades on me. I refuse to responsibility for: number one, their lack of studying, and number two, Mrs. Caruso's shit teaching method. It's as if she thinks making every significant assignment a surprise will shock us into doing well. Witch.

I look at him, offended. "I have Arab parents," I say.

"But the curve would've made it an A," he whines.

I stuck my thumb to my right at Frederick Simpson, who glares at me for getting the best grade again. Petty. "You think my ol' pal Freddy will let up just because I feel sorry for you?"

"What was that, Zunareh?" Freddy asks, his smile forced and his glasses askew as he purposely mispronounces my name. Classic Freddy.

"Nothing, Josh," I say sweetly. "Just talking about how I beat your ass without reading the book again."

His glare deepens in a way that I suppose is meant to scare me, but it has the opposite effect and makes me grin. "My name is Frederick."

I laugh in a fake, tittering kind of way. "Okay, Colin." I hear Mrs. Caruso call Theo's name, and I look from under my lashes as he drags his feet to the front of the room. We haven't spoken since I said I wouldn't tutor him, and it's been about four days since then. He hasn't glared at me for talking too loud nor has he even asked for his Rubik's cube back, which is what really frightens me. He's literally been ignoring my very existence, and I'm not sure if I should be scared that he's going to pop up one day and murder me when I least expect it.

Mrs. Caruso gives Theo his exam, and I know he hasn't done well by the way his fists clench. Mrs. Caruso frowns and says something to him, to which he shakes his head and storms back to his seat. She looks at me, and I want the earth to swallow me whole at the vicious expression on her face.

"Zunaira," she calls. I shove my hands in my pockets and sidle up to her desk as slow as a snail, casting my eyes down so I won't see her thin mouth twist at the sight of me. Snails can sleep for three years, so maybe I should run away and dedicate myself to becoming more snail-like, so I can avoid all this negativity. Not to sound cocky, but people usually like me - especially teachers. It may not seem like it given my interactions with Mrs. Caruso, Theo, and now Freddy, but it's true. These three are just somehow immune to my good nature and I don't understand it.

"Yes?" I ask, trying to pretend as if she doesn't make me want to quake in my boots. I smile widely at her, to which she responds with a mean glare.

"Theodore told me something interesting," she says, holding my exam just out of reach. I inch my hand forward, trying to take it so I can go back to my seat, but she holds it away.

"Oh, did he?" I reply, my voice, which is already naturally husky for a girl, cracking slightly from stress.

"Yes," she says in a fake pleasant tone. Oh nice, I'm about to be slaughtered by my AP Lit teacher. "He told me that he hasn't been getting any tutoring from...anyone."

I laugh nervously. "Oh, you know, schedules nowadays," I say, waving my hands around wildly and almost taking out the creepy ceramic doll she keeps on her desk. "Busy, busy, busy."

"Zunaira!" she snaps. "I asked you to do this one thing, and you can't even do the bare minimum!"

"I'm sorry," I say in a hushed voice, because people are starting to quiet down so that they can hear me being told off. "He's just very hard to deal with!"

"Then deal with him," she says, crossing her arms. "I can make this part of your participation grade, you know."

My mouth drops open. "You can't do that!"

"You are always disturbing my class, Zunaira. Participation includes behaviour, and your grade will not remain an A if you choose not to tutor Theodore. I am your teacher, I may punish you as I see fit."

I bite my lip hard, because now is a very inappropriate time for me to say kinky. "So this is a punishment?" I say incredulously. Is this really what my education has come to? We stare each other down for a minute, and then I snatch my exam from her. Before she can scream at me, I huff, "Fine, I'll do it," and scurry back to my seat.

As I pass by, I notice Theo staring at me curiously, but he immediately turns his head when he sees that I've caught him. I frown as I sit down, my clenched hand crumpling the corner of my exam.

"Aw, is ickle baby Zunareh in trouble?" Freddy croons from near me. I don't know why he thinks he can make fun of me when he's the one in camo cargo shorts and a My Little Pony t-shirt.

"Ikhras," I say without looking at him, my voice flat. Shut up.

In my peripheral vision, I see him sneer maliciously. Geek with a vengeance, it seems. "You know, normal Americans don't understand you, stupid Arabic terrorist." Someone gasps from behind me, but I just roll my eyes. Typical. If you can't beat 'em, be racist, innit?

The bell rings just then, and I squelch down my anger enough to smile at him as I stand up. "Ah, then what does it say about you that this stupid Arab terrorist beat your ass in everything since the seventh grade?"

There was one instance in the sixth grade where I unknowingly went to school with a slight fever and passed out in the middle of taking a quiz. I wasn't able to finish it, and Freddy got the highest grade. He still holds that over my head to protect his fragile masculinity.

I somewhat violently ruffle Freddy's too-long hair on my way out and coo, "See you tomorrow, Bradley."

"So Miss Sunshine has a bitter streak, huh?" Theo mutters as he walks past me, and I whip around to answer but he's already gone.

I sigh and run a hand through my hair. How hard is it going to be to tutor him now? I bet we're right back at the beginning, with him refusing to even breathe the same air as me. But I was right to say no to tutoring him those few days ago, right? He hasn't been nice to me for years, why should I do a favour for him?

My shoulders slump. Of course I should. He needs help, so I should help him.

I dig in my backpack and pull out the Rubik's a cube that I still have. Honestly, I've gone a bit crazy trying to solve it, but for all the YouTube tutorials in the world, I just can't do it.

"Why the long face?" Lorelai asks, swinging her arm around my neck and shoving my face towards the dirty linoleum floor.

I grunt and twist out of her grip. "Like I predicted, Caruso won't let me off. I have to tutor Theo," I inform her as she leads me to her locker. I sneeze into my arm three consecutive times and get the sudden, vicious urge to rip off my nose. Am I just allergic to living? Why the hell do I have to sneeze all the damn time?

"It won't be too bad," she tries to assure me, awkwardly patting my shoulder. She's not used to being gentle with me.

I scoff. "He hates me," I say. "It'll be very bad."

"How long do you have to tutor him for?"

"Don't know. Until he murders me, maybe."

Lorelai snorts. "He couldn't even kill the spider that was on his desk during Psych today."

I get the weird urge to coo when I hear that, but I snap out of it when I realise Theo isn't cute. Cool down, Zunaira. "If you say so," I sigh, leaning against the locker beside Lorelai as she puts her stuff away.

"What you need," she says, voice muffled by the notebook she holds in her mouth, "is to do an exchange thing. He needs something, what do you need in return?"

I take the notebook out of her mouth before she can choke. That's what she said. "I don't know," I say. I scrunch up my forehead and think. "I need money."

"Then say he's gotta pay you for each session!"

We head over to the cafeteria as I think about it. "I can do that," I say, smiling. "Good idea, habibti!"

"Anything for you," she teases, going in for a headlock.

"Get off!" I struggle to escape her hold, but she's got this monstrous strength that even Hercules couldn't rival. Well, maybe Hercules could, but not mere mortals such as myself. My phone rings, so I stop squirming and just accept the uncomfortable position as I answer. "Hello?"

"Hi, is this Zoonara?" someone asks in a clipped tone.

I ignore the butchered pronunciation of my name. "Yes, who's speaking?"

"This is Rahul Shah, you interviewed with me on Sunday for a position as cashier. I'm calling to inform you that you have the job, so I need to confirm when you can come in to set your schedule and training?"

My eyes widen and I beam at Lorelai, who looks confused. Mr. Shah owns a South Asian-American blend diner ten minutes from my house, and their food is incredible. "Can I come in after school...today?"

"That should be fine. Thank you."

"No, thank you!" I say cheerfully. "Thank you very much, sir!"

"Er, you're welcome," he says hesitantly. "Goodbye."

"Bye!" I trill and hang up. Lorelai lets me out of the headlock, and I massage my sore neck.

"Stop smiling at me like that," she says, slowly backing away. "You look deranged."

"I got a job!" I exclaim. "Dude, I got a job!" I rock back and forth on my toes and start muttering Arabic under my breath. Okay, maybe she's right about deranged. But derangedly happy as well.

She raises her eyebrows, cutting me off in the middle of my mumblings. "Didn't you say your parents didn't want you to get one?"

I nod. "Yes, but we'll cut those daisies when it's time."

"What? What does that mean? Why do you say things that that?"

"Nevermind," I interrupt before she can keep scolding me for making up stupid sayings. "Doesn't matter. The point is, I have a job now, which means I can earn money, which means my parents' lives will be a little easier."

She crosses her arms. "Who's going to look after your siblings?"

Almost as immediately as I soared, I crash. I blink and run a hand over my face, completely forgetting about the makeup I applied in the morning. "Khara," I hiss. She's right. If Mumma is at the bank and Baba is driving his taxi while applying for better jobs and I'm at the diner...what about the little ones?

Lorelai huffs out a breath and grabs my arm. "We'll figure it out later, let's just go eat."

"Wait," I say, my eyes lighting up as I think of something. "You go ahead, I'll be there in a bit."

She stares at me suspiciously for a minute but then shrugs, pats my arm, and saunters off to go buy lunch. I crack my knuckles and fluff out my hair and then set off in the direction I think Theo must have taken. I know he won't be in the cafeteria because he and his friends think that it must be where the Devil gathers his disciples, and I'm not too sure I disagree. The cafeteria is horrendous and ugly and always smells like something is rotting. Public schools, am I right?

I wander around the halls, trying to think of where he could be. I hover in front of the boy's bathroom for a minute, but then I spot one of his friends crossing the hallway that leads to the back of the school. I immediately perk up and run over to him. "Joel!" I screech, panting embarrassingly as I reach him.

Joel stops and looks at me with shocked blue eyes. When he realises that it's me, he smiles flirtatiously. "What's up, babe?"

I keep my scoff to myself because I am in need of his help. "Do you know where Theo is?"

"What, am I not enough?"

I tap my foot impatiently. "Joel, we've talked about this. I'm not filling your weird foreigner fetish."

He looks slightly outraged and that makes me grin. "Fetish?" he repeats. "Shit, babe, I just think you're pretty. Is that a crime?"

"Okay, well keep the pick-up lines to yourself, huh?"

"Whatever, ruin my fun," he mutters good-naturedly. "By the way, Theo's probably outside sulking. Text me when you find him, I'm looking for him, too."

I pause and look at him. "Sneaky," I say. "I don't have your number, nor do I want it."

"Come on-"

"Bye, Joel!"

He shakes his head and smiles as I brush past him to go outside. Joel is nice enough, I guess. Weirdly flirty, but he doesn't act on any of it. He's the complete opposite of Theo, who's all gloomy and grumpy, which is why it's no wonder I get along with him and not Theo.

I kick up some gravel and peer around the empty courtyard. Fuck, why does this school have to be so big? I tilt back my head to gaze at the sky and sigh. What am I doing? Is this even a good idea?

I walk around the campus, keeping my eyes peeled for a head of black curls. After a minute, my eyes catch sight of something on the slanted roof of one of the science buildings. I frown, adjusting my glasses more securely on the bridge of my nose. No way.

"You know, I'm not sure if you realise..." I say, squinting over at the boy precariously balanced near a pipe, "but you're sitting on a roof."

Theo doesn't even spare me a glance. "Intelligent observation. I see why you're number one in our class." He crouches down and tugs at the tiles, successfully pulling one of them off.

I ignore his bitterness. "What are you doing?" I ask, amused.

He grunts. "None of your business," he says. He lets the tile go, and I watch as it sails off the roof and crashes into smithereens on the ground beside me.

I kick at the shards, fighting a smile. What an idiot. "Theo," I call.

"What, you're still here?" He bows his head so he can see me, and I see that at least he doesn't look like he's about to pull a chainsaw on me.

I breathe in and out to calm myself down. Okay, now's my chance. I grab his Rubik's cube from my pocket and hold it up. His bland expression doesn't change, but his brown eye twitches slightly. "Will you help me solve this?" I blurt.

Theo is too surprised to glare. "Er...what?"

"Listen, habibi," I say firmly, "I will tutor you, but in return you have to babysit my siblings."

"What?" He sounds like he didn't listen to me, too focused on the uncharacteristic seriousness of my tone.

"I need you to babysit my siblings," I repeat slowly, more gently, "in return for me tutoring you."

He pulls another tile off the roof, and I can't help but wonder that if this counts as destruction to school property, then I'll be charged as an accessory to a crime. "Why can't you just send them to the library or some daycare or something?" he asks. He's trying not to sound interested in my offer, but I can tell he's desperate for help. Fortunately for him, so am I.

My eyes sweep over him. "That won't work," I say, shaking my head. "They're little kids, I need someone looking after them."

"Hire a babysitter," he says brusquely.

My fists clench around his stupid toy. "I can't," I snap. "Will you please get off there so I can look at you properly?"

He sighs as if I'm a virus in his bloodstream and slides down to the edge of the roof. He stares at the ground for a minute before shrugging and leaping off like some freaking elegant gazelle. I gape at him when he lands with the grace of a cat before straightening up and brushing off his jeans. "There," he says. "What do you want?"

Now that he's near me, I feel myself getting nervous. Jeez, he's really good-looking. And those eyes. Oh man. "I.." I take a deep breath. He stares at me curiously. This whole looking at me with no ill intent is really screwing with my head, because I'm so used to being scowled at by him. "Please," I say softly. I don't know what else to do. "You'll be doing me a giant favour." I wait for his answer and try to hide my shaking hands behind my back.

He finally nods. "Okay."