The next day, Matthew threw out all his old schoolwork and gathered all of his calculus notes in order to seem at least a little bit organized for Mr. Braginsky. When it was finally time to leave, he made sure he looked presentable.

"I'm heading off Al, I'll be back in a bit" Matthew called out.

"If you're not back by 7 I'll call the police" Alfred shouted back, eliciting an eye roll from Matthew.

When Matthew arrived on campus he quickly found a place to park and sat there for a little while, knowing he had arrived a bit too early. He was planning on staying there for a while but he soon saw his friend Francis walking across the quad outside. Francis was in 12th grade when Matthew was in 10th, and they had played tennis together. He hadn't seen him in ages.

Grabbing his bag, Matthew jogged outside until he caught up to Francis, who was startled to see him. "Mon Matthew, how are you?" he asked, placing a hand on the Canadian's shoulder.

"I'm great, how are you?" Matthew asked, beaming. Francis looked the exact same, with a little bit more scruff. His hair was tied back with a pastel blue ribbon, and his outfit matched. He looked rather fancy for a tuesday afternoon.

"Fantastique! What brings you to campus?" Francis asked.

"I'm getting tutored by our teacher's assistant because I failed my calc exam. He goes here" Matthew responded.

"How dreadful. Well you're looking great, maybe we could catch up some time over coffee. I'm off to my final exam" Francis exclaimed, shooting Matthew a wink. Matthew blushed and awkwardly fiddled with the zipper of his backpack.

"See you... around" Matthew muttered, watching on as Francis strolled onwards. Francis always found some way to make an innocent conversation turn flirtatious in a matter of seconds.

When Matthew had finally recovered from the awkwardness Francis made him feel, he walked across the quad to the coffee shop, where he ordered a hot mocha with an extra espresso shot. It was the end of May, and nearing summer, but he really didn't care. He liked to feel cozy.

When he turned to find a seat for himself, he noticed Mr. Braginsky across the shop. Walking over to the bar he was sitting at, he set down his mocha. "Mr. Braginsky?"

The man looked up. "Matthew- how are you?" he asked, giving a friendly smile as Matthew sat down beside him.

"I'm great, how are you?" Matthew replied.

"I'm well" he began, "I've been in here a while and it's really loud. I was wondering if you'd be okay with us studying in my dorm room?"

"Oh- yeah that's fine as long as you're not breaking the rules of your internship or anything" Matthew responded, slightly caught off guard.

"Well technically my internship ended yesterday" he stated. Matthew looked at him like he had ten heads.

"So why are you helping me?" Matthew questioned.

"None of those teachers were planning on it, and you'll probably have to go to summer school if you don't get a tutor" Ivan explained as he stood up from his seat.

"Mr. Braginsky-"

"Call me Ivan. I feel really weird when you call me Mr. Braginsky. I'm only a three years older than you guys."

"Ivan- I don't want to waste your time" Matthew exclaimed.

"You're not. I have a calculus exam coming up and a review of the basics will be good for me" Ivan explained, giving Matthew a friendly smile as he began to head out the door. Matthew, followed, his bookbag in hand.

"That's- really nice of you. Thank you" Matthew replied, suddenly staring up at Ivan with a look of gratitude as they walked across the quad.

When they finally reached his dorm, Ivan opened the door to reveal a nicely decorated room with a single bed, a desk, wardbrobe, and a set of beanbags. The walls were covered with pictures of home and Russian hockey team posters, which made Matthew cringe a little.

"I don't think I can focus in here with all these atrocious posters" Matthew joked.

"You're just mad we beat you in the Olympics" Ivan said, smirking.

"Your country didn't even go to the Olympics... bunch of cheaters" Matthew shot back. Ivan chuckled as he sat down on his bed. Matthew joined him and quickly took out his books, ready to study.

"Okay so I wanted to start with graphing antiderivatives" Matthew stated, flipping through his notes as Ivan watched on. In order to get a better look, Ivan scooted a little closer to him, and Matthew suddenly felt his face flush as the scent of sandalwood overwhelmed him.

When Ivan had helped him in class it had never been so intimate, and now that Alfred had planted the seed inside his head, he couldn't help but think Ivan was going to hit on him. So far, he had been a total gentleman, which was great.

As the two began antiderivative practice problems, Matthew calmed down. It was just calculus, nothing more.

-

A few hours later of studying and sitting thigh to thigh with his teacher's assistant, Matthew felt prepared. He had already studied for the exam a week prior, and now he felt like he had a pretty good grasp on the material. The undergrad was a surprisingly good tutor.

As he got up to leave, Ivan stood up with a smile. "Matthew- If you have any questions or need more tutoring you can just text me" Ivan exclaimed.

"Okay- thank you so much! Seriously I dont know how to repay you" Matthew replied. Ivan rolled his eyes.

"It's no problem. You passing your exam is all the payment I need" Ivan shot back. Matthew smiled and slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Thank you again- see you later!" Matthew said before heading out of his room. As he walked down the hallway of the dormitory he smiled, knowing he was going to ace the exam. He was also relieved that Alfred's suspicions about Ivan were wrong.

Upon walking across campus and getting into his car, Matthew realized that he had never written down Ivan's number. He let out a frustrated groan as he looked down at all his books. What if he had a last minute question before the exam? Ivan was going to think he was such a dork for emailing so many times.

It was then that he opened his binder, looking to see if he had written the number down anywhere in the few hours they had been together. He flipped through the various sections of the binder until stumbling upon a small, heart-shaped lollipop. Surprised, Matthew picked it up and noticed a note attached. Drawing it closer to his face, he realized the note contained Ivan's phone number, followed by his name.

Matthew fiddled with the lollipop for a moment before furrowing his brow. Was this Ivan hitting on him? Or was it customary in Russia to give acquaintances heart-shaped candies with their phone numbers attached?

Pushing the thought out of his head, Matthew decided on the latter. It must've just been one of his quirks. Hearts were friendly after all. Also, Ivan said he could text him if he needed help, so it wasn't weird that his number was attached. Relaxing, Matthew put the contact information in his phone and unwrapped the lollipop, popping it in his mouth as he turned on the ignition.

He was ready to ace this exam.