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Ingrid Armstrong stormed into the classroom right as Isaac Johnson, the principal of Lakeside High School, begins his welcoming speech. "Welcome to summer school. Each and every one of the fifteen students here will have an individual tutor, your fellow peers, who will help you in the areas you struggled in this year. This course will take a month to complete. Any questions?" the middle-aged man explains, smiling kindly.

No hands are raised. "Well then, let's get to the tutors assigned, shall we? Zachary Arnold will tutor Alexander Brooks. Bethany Carmichael will tutor Cassandra Drake." The list continues, Ingrid tuning the man out until "Flynn Newfield will tutor Ingrid Armstrong."

"Of course." she mutters under her breath, popping her earbuds in as the sound of All Time Low begins to soothe her anger. Flynn Newfield was the it boy of Lakeside High. It didn't surprise Ingrid at all that he would volunteer a month of his summer dedicating himself to tutor the dummies. What didn't Flynn do? He was the star runningback for the Lions, the student council president, a prominent member of the drama club, and he wrote for the school newspaper. Besides being incredibly involved with the school, his family was wealthy, which also didn't surprise Ingrid. He just seemed perfect - it was no wonder all the girls flocked to him.

Ingrid, on the other hand, was a moody, sarcastic, and just an unpleasant person to be around. For starters, her father walked out on her, her older brother Hunter, and her mother when she was a small child, leaving them to live in poverty. Her mother worked three minimum-wage jobs and was never home, leaving Hunter and Ingrid to fend for themselves. Hunter had graduated two years ago, enrolling in community college because it was cheapest. That left Ingrid to her own devices ever since; Hunter had moved in with his longtime girlfriend, Grace Thomas, not that long ago, and marriage was on the way for the two - Hunter had proposed six months ago, and Grace had enthusiastically accepted. Now, Ingrid had a wedding to go to, and she wasn't exactly thrilled about that either, especially since the wedding was quickly approaching in a month.

As for Ingrid's social life, she had maybe three friends at most. People generally ignored her, and she was okay with that. People let her down, so why waste her time on them? Besides, no one ever talked to her anyway, especially after elementary school. These days, she just wanted to do her own thing and have people mind their own business when it came down to her. A love life was also out of her thoughts, because who would want to lower their expectations that much for her? She wasn't that bad to look at (at least, she thought so), but the one guy she had a crush on was A., taken, and B., unaware of her existence. Romantic relationships were definitely something she could do without; hell, she could do without any relationships at all! Ingrid Armstrong did not like people, and she was pretty certain people didn't like her.

The principal drones on, a disinterested Ingrid staring out of the window. She loses herself in the music before someone taps on her shoulder. She turns her head to face whoever wanted her, rolling her eyes when she sees Flynn standing there, a textbook in hand. She ignores him as he pulls another desk over to her; he was saying something while he did so, but she wasn't paying attention. Then suddenly, her earbud closer to Flynn is yanked out of her ear, a scowl forming on Ingrid's lips. "You need to pay attention if you want to pass to senior year." Flynn instructs, albeit with a kinder tone. "Listening to music and ignoring me isn't going to help."

"Leave me alone, you're clearly just a well-dressed assassin hired to kill me with math." Ingrid grumbles, clearly annoyed with the boy.

"Well, aren't you all sunshine and roses." Flynn laughs, amused by her sense of humor. "Come on, Ingrid, you need to learn this so you can pass. I don't want to be here just as much as you do."

"Can't you just do the work for me and put my name on it?"

"That's plagiarism."

"So?"

"I'm not letting you plagiarize my work, Ingrid."

"Why not?"

"Because we could be in serious trouble if that happens."

Ingrid angrily turns off her music, grimacing at Flynn. "Fine, but I won't enjoy this."

"That's the spirit."

This was not turning out to be a good day. She had to go to summer school, which she dreaded, and now she had to deal with Flynn Newfield, of all people? This month would be a living nightmare.

Each day of summer school would last approximately four hours. Four hours too long, in Ingrid's opinion, but if she didn't attend, she'd be stuck repeating her junior year again. She was just counting the minutes until Principal Johnson would announce that the day was over. Flynn was trying to get her to understand the concept of logarithms, but Ingrid couldn't really care less at this point. Finally, the words she longed to hear were here. "The four hours for today are over. Everyone is dismissed." the rather exasperated principal sighs, the required time over for the day.

Ingrid stands up and heads to the door, only to have Flynn herd her back to the desk. "You can't just leave this here. The janitor will throw it away."

"Let him throw it away."

"Do you want to spend more time with me?"

She hesitates, but picks up her work and puts it in her bag she had brought with her. "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"What do you mean, 'I guess?' You have to come to summer school."

"What if I ditch a day?"

"You'll have to spend another day with me."

"Fine, I won't skip summer school. Are you happy now?"

"Very. If you don't skip summer school, we might be able to get a head start and finish early."

"Wait, you can do that?"

"I've done the program for two years now. The students I tutor get motivated halfway in and start to pick up the slack."

"Can we stay after and finish today?"

"I don't think we'll be able to finish a whole algebra course in a day."

"We can try."

"I like that attitude. Keep it up for tomorrow."

"I'm not going to show up tomorrow on purpose."

"Then I'm going to find you and bring you here."

"You wouldn't."

"I would. Learning's important, Ingrid, whether you like it or not."

"Learning is not important."

"Yeah, it kind of is."

"Tell me one good reason why I should learn."

"If you don't learn, how will you ever succeed in life?"

"Jokes on you, I was prepared to be a failure."

"That's not a good plan for life."

"It was a joke, Flynn. You're so smart, but you couldn't recognize a simple joke? Am I going to have to tutor you?"

"Maybe I can teach you a few things and you can teach me a few things."

"Nah, I'm too lazy."

"You worry me."

"I worry everyone."

"Come on, let me walk you to the parking lot."

"I walked here."

"You don't have a ride?"

"Well, my brother's off planning his wedding, and my mom's at job two out of three right now."

"Do you need a ride?"

"You're practically a stranger."

"Tell me a few things about yourself, then."

"You first."

"Okay, I guess I can manage that. I have two older siblings and five younger siblings, I play runningback for the football team, and I'm a huge bookworm."

"Nerd."

"That was uncalled for."

"I'm not sorry."

"You haven't told me about yourself yet."

"Fine. I have an older brother, I love true crime shows, and I love food."

"Now, was that hard?"

"I don't know how to talk to people. I've never had to tell anyone about myself before."

"Well, you're talking to me, so I'd say you're doing a good job."

"Whatever. See you tomorrow, Flynn."

And with that, Ingrid took off, headed home after a long morning.

Ingrid's house wasn't a nice one, by far. After her father abandoned her, they were evicted from their nicer house. Now, they lived in a tiny two bedroom house without a central air conditioner, which was unfortunate in both the summer and the winter, because the heater didn't work. Still, Ingrid and her mother made it work, and even though they were either too hot or too cold, it was life - what more could they do?

Ingrid walks home, unlocking the door and entering the shack of a house she lived in, grabbing a bag of chips before plopping down onto the old, tattered couch that was collecting dust in the corner of the living room, turning on the boxed, older television to a trashy talk show. "Now this is quality entertainment." she comments, making herself comfortable.

A knock on the door startles her - who would be at the house at this time of day? Her mother was working, her brother was with Grace, most likely, so who could that be? 

"Oh no." she mumbles, her eyes widening. If this was the landlord, Ingrid didn't have the money for rent. They were already a month late, so if this was him, she'd be in serious trouble. Composing herself, she approaches the door, taking a deep breath before she opens the door. To her relief, it was none other than Flynn.

"Hey. I brought you lunch, since you said you liked food." he greets, holding up a bag of food from the local diner.

"How did you get my address? Are you stalking me?"

"No, no, nothing like that. My sister, Rosemary, is friends with your brother. As soon as I told her your name, she got excited. Apparently they're really good friends. She's been here a couple of times before, I guess, and that's how I got your address."

Ingrid snatches the bag out of his hand, eyeing him up and down. "You're not here for any other reason, are you?"

"What other reason would I have for being here?"

"I don't know. You're popular, I guess you want something in return."

"I'm not that kind of guy, Ingrid. Now, Daniel, on the other hand..."

Ingrid's eyes widen when Daniel's name is mentioned - Daniel Jefferson was the guy Ingrid had been crushing on. "Daniel's that kind of guy?"

"When he's single, yes. Unfortunately, he's off the market. He's dating Lexie."

"I didn't know that." Lie. 

"Don't you pay attention at school? He asked her to prom at lunch a couple of months ago."

"I don't pay attention at lunch." Lie. 

"It was really romantic. He got one of the band kids to play Careless Whisper on their saxophone." 

"I hate that song." Lie.

"What a shame. Do you mind if I come in? It's unbelievably hot out here."

"We only have a couple of stand fans instead of an air conditioner, but be my guest."

"Thanks." 

Flynn enters, glancing around at the rundown house. It was a mess. "You can sit on the couch. Do you want a glass of water? It's going to be tap; if you don't want it, just let me know."

"Sure."

Ingrid disappears into the kitchen, plating her burger and fries and pouring two glasses of water before returning, handing him one. She sits down on the couch after going back for her food.

"You're actually being nice to me? I'm shocked."

"Well, it would be impolite not to. You're a guest in my house."

"Does little miss Ingrid have a nice bone in her body?"

"Maybe."

"Aw, she's blushing!"

"Shut up or I'll kick you out."

"Alright, I'll stop teasing you. What are we watching?"

"Some murder mystery show." Ingrid replies, mouth full of food.

"I'm not a big fan of that kind of stuff. I get antsy."

"Poor you."

"You're so randomly mean to me."

"Not randomly, just mean in general."

"Fair enough."

For the rest of the afternoon, Ingrid and Flynn watch television, teasing each other and generally enjoying each other's company, which, for once in her life, Ingrid was glad for. Maybe this summer wouldn't be so bad after all.