Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Nov 4, 2009 11:43:50 GMT -8
A binder slammed down against the desk. "Mr. Travers, you seem to be having a seriously tough time in school. This is beginning to concern us.."Cody sat back in his chair, facing the three teachers that were in front of him, each of them with a different problem on their hands, and that was Cody's lack of work. In this case.. He wasn't passing. And that was really a bad thing, in this case. Not just one.. Three classes. Who's fault was that?.. Well.. Cody would sure as hell like to blame the teachers that's for sure. He looked off to the side, as one of the teachers became suddenly irate with his tone of voice.
"Listen to me, young man. We really don't have to do this, we could let you be a drop out and die."Cody said nothing, giving at least one eye towards the teacher. He sighed, he really couldn't handle being a drop out. There was something much more important, and that was having to handle schoolwork. Cody wasn't smart.. But.. There was just some things he didn't get.. Math, being his worst subject. He hated numbers, they bothered him right to the core. He shrugged.
"Alright.. What do I have to do?"The teachers all looked at each other, they already had seemed to get a plan together. Smiling back at Cody, he looked to seemed to be cornered once again. He didn't like the feeling of what they were thinking. This seemed to be dangerous.. Perhaps it was best to take the dropping?.. "We've talked about it.. And we think that it's best that you get..
...
... A tutor."He sighed.. Well, at least it wasn't summer school. 3 Hours Later. There he sat, pencil in hand, paper on desk.. Alone in a room.. The tutor program.. Greeeat. He needed help with his math, so they gave him the smartest person in the class with the highest grade for it. Cody didn't attend class much though, so he wondered who it would be.. All he could do was sit there, and wait.. |
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Drea
Soldier
[M:-1068]
Posts: 357
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Post by Drea on Nov 4, 2009 12:06:06 GMT -8
Drea had never signed up for the tutoring program. She hadn't signed up as a student or a tutor. Ever. The idea had never crossed her mind. Well, it had, just once, but when she'd asked her parents, they'd said no, citing the fact that it would take too much time as a reason. She'd grudgingly accepted their reasoning.
But then her teacher had made her an offer she couldn't refuse. It was during one of her usual after school sessions - she helped out various teachers and whatnot, so he'd decided to ask her.
"Hey, Drea, could you do me a favor?"
That had certainly caught her interest. Most teachers knew better than to ask students for favors, even if the students were of the model type.
"What is it?" she'd responded, setting the box she'd been carrying on the desk closest to her.
"We've got a problem student."
At once she became uncertain.
"I'm certainly not going to initiate a fight, if that's what yo--"
"No, no!" her teacher reacted quickly. "Nothing like that!" He chuckled. "It's a student with some failing grades. We're not sure whether it's because he's bad at studying or if he's not applying himself, but when we called him in, he asked what he needed to do. I know you're not an actual tutor, but you're good at just about everything, and you're fairly patient. I was hoping you'd...?"
"Of course," Drea nodded emphatically. "I'll do my best!"
After a moment, she looked at her teacher curiously. "What's his name...?"
"Oh, that? Cody. Cody Travers." He looked at the clock. "I think he'll be here in about two hours, so take your time coming back."
Drea nodded before heading out. She had a couple of errands to run, and, if she were to be tutoring, phone calls to make.
---
Several hours later, she returned to the classroom, pleased to see the student in need waiting for her. At least it showed that he wanted to make some effort.
"Hi," she said uncertainly, announcing herself from the door before entering. He'd probably be surprised by how she was essentially a carbon copy of Emily - if he knew her sister, anyways. "You must be Cody. Cody Travers, right?" She moved to the adjacent desk and set her things down before pulling out some supplies of her own. "My name's Drea."
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Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Nov 4, 2009 12:32:52 GMT -8
There he sat, twiddling his little pencil back and forth, almost like a spaceship.
Pssshhhiwwww...
Pssshhhiwww..
Nah.. Not really, Cody didn't have that much of a bad attention spam. If anything that's something you'd be doing in the sixth grade. No, Cody was doing something far more plausiable. He'd been drawing little bits and peices onto his paper. Weird.. But.. He didn't really have much else to do, it's not like he was going to play Starship Troopers with his pencil.
The door would open suddenly, and Cody would look up. To be honest.. He was expecting a random guy to show up and be like; let's get some burgers. Ja?
Ah well.. It was a small girl, which.. Seemed pretty happy about all of this despite that she'd been somehow roped into this tutoring business. However.. She did look familiar, almost like the girl that he'd talked to earlier in the week about Winters.
Actually..
She almost looked exactly the same, just.. Different in a way. She had a different air about her.
She'd given a simple "Hi." As she entered.
"You must be Cody. Cody Travers, right?"
"Yeah, that's right."
Huh.. Word gets around fast. Cody just watched on as she sat right down with her words. She obviously seemed eager for the tutoring session.. However it made him feel really.. Dumb.
"My name's Drea."
Cody acknowledged her being here, as he then sat up in the desk. His doodles were all visible, as he sat there, across from her.
"So you're my tutor, huh?.."
He laughed for a moment, just because he was curious.
"So, Drea.. He'd try the name on for size. It fit pretty well.
.. What roped you into being stuck here with me? Usually people just don't bother. What makes you different?"
He'd ask.. It was a brave question.. But he was really just curious. And it was true, a lot of people didn't bother with a rough around the edges guy with a pair of handcuffs in his pocket.
".. Also, I hope you enjoy Math.. Because you're going to be here for a while.." His speech was sort of.. Melancholy.. He didn't like math one bit..
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Drea
Soldier
[M:-1068]
Posts: 357
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Post by Drea on Nov 4, 2009 14:41:56 GMT -8
"So you're my tutor, huh?" he paused before laughing. Drea only smiled and nodded at him, figuring he had more to say. She was quickly proved correct.
"So, Drea... What roped you into being stuck here with me? Usually people just don't bother. What makes you different?"
She blinked. Did it matter? She hadn't been roped into anything, and she liked studying... What exactly was he asking...?
"Also, I hope you enjoy math... Because you're going to be here for a while..."
Drea shrugged at him, voicing her own responses to him, letting them free of the constraints of her mind.
"I'm here because I want to be here. I like studying, and I figured that you were more interested in making a bit of effort than dropping out, so you'd be worth my effort. After all, fifty-fifty gets a one hundred, right?"
She paused for a moment.
"And as for what makes me different.... Well, nothing. Not that I can think of, anyways. I don't know what kind of people you've met, and so any differences I lift off about myself from others could easily be a moot point from your own perspective... So, I'll leave that to you to figure out."
She paused for a moment, a grin appearing on her face. "And I like math. No worries there, sir. Is there any other subject you're going to need help with? The teacher said you were failing several, but he didn't say which ones."
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Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Nov 5, 2009 11:07:45 GMT -8
So.. The tutor seemed to have a bit of a sense of humor, huh? Well that was good.. Of course, Cody's ideal, unlike hers, wasn't to study, but to attempt to get ahead somehow in life.. To reclaim that once feeling of what he was.. What he used to be.. But those days were long gone.
"I'm here because I want to be here. I like studying, and I figured that you were more interested in making a bit of effort than dropping out, so you'd be worth my effort. After all, fifty-fifty gets a one hundred, right?"
He'd sit there, listening to her talking about her studies.
"And as for what makes me different.... Well, nothing. Not that I can think of, anyways. I don't know what kind of people you've met, and so any differences I lift off about myself from others could easily be a moot point from your own perspective... So, I'll leave that to you to figure out."
"And I like math. No worries there, sir. Is there any other subject you're going to need help with? The teacher said you were failing several, but he didn't say which ones."
He chuckled lightly, almost laughing. The girl wasn't afraid to speak such high words. She obviously did love to study.. Obviously this made Cody feel a little less smart.. But.. She was there to help him, that's all that really mattered. Cody took the pencil in his hand and twirled it inbetween his fingers.
"Okay.. Number one.. None of that 'sir', stuff. Okay? Just Cody will do. I am not better than you, especially with the speech that you just gave."
He'd lean forwards into the desk.
"Number Two.. I'm promising you, you can leave whenever you wish.. I'm a slow.. Well.. Not very smart learner. You don't have to do this if you don't want to.. You can leave at any time, and I won't hold it against you."
The doodles on the paper on his desk showed that Cody had quite the.. Imagination.. Still, he would move in just a bit to get a better look at her with his honest eyes.
".. And Number Three.. Let's just do math for now.. I just want to get that out of the way right now.. No wonder, the teacher picked you."
He then looked off to the side, he felt somewhat shamed, despite this help.. But he was grateful for it.
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Drea
Soldier
[M:-1068]
Posts: 357
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Post by Drea on Nov 5, 2009 18:54:05 GMT -8
"Okay.. Number one.. None of that 'sir', stuff. Okay? Just Cody will do. I am not better than you, especially with the speech that you just gave."
At that, Drea raised a single eyebrow. Speech? She certainly hadn't intended on giving one... Thinking over her words, she blushed a bit as she realized she had, in a way, detailed a small speech. She blinked as he leaned over the desk towards her and continued speaking.
"Number Two.. I'm promising you, you can leave whenever you wish.. I'm a slow.. Well.. Not very smart learner. You don't have to do this if you don't want to.. You can leave at any time, and I won't hold it against you."
She only nodded at that. She didn't bother saying that learning speed was of no consequence to her. If she left and he was still puzzled, they'd have scheduled another tutoring session. Or else. Well, it was pretty simple. Or else her perfectionist mind would make her tackle him the next time she saw him to learn the details of whether he'd learned the theory behind whatever lesson she'd failed in teaching him or not.
Besides, the images on her paper were interesting. Perhaps she could even use them to teach him. Or use them to learn something about him, anyways. From what she could see, she could tell that the range of his mind was far broader than what the teachers - and he - seemed to believe. She looked up - and found she was looking him in the eyes. He had honest eyes - they didn't hold any deceit in them - and she liked that. Not many students could boast honest eyes.
".. And Number Three.. Let's just do math for now.. I just want to get that out of the way right now.. No wonder, the teacher picked you."
He looked to the side, refusing to meet her eyes for the moment.
Drea nodded, wondering if he'd see the movement peripherally. "Okay, then, Cody. Feel free to call me Rea. And," She opened the binder she'd set on her desk earlier before speaking again, "What are you having problems with in math?"
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Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Nov 6, 2009 8:46:53 GMT -8
Cody would figure that she would just up and leave, taking the chance to just leave him behind, but he was surprised that she was just going to sit there and help. After he'd gotten a good look at her, well.. She stayed, so that explained far more than he could see. He noticed that she just opened a binder, before getting a look back at her.
"Okay, then, Cody. Feel free to call me Rea."
"What are you having problems with in math?"
Cody sat back.. Truth be told well.. It was far more than just math.
Or just one little teensy math problem either. Heck, it was many things, Multiplication, Division, Fractions were the toughie..
But..
Algebra was the worst.
"Well, how about we just start off with some Algebra.. Truth be told.. I'm not good in any kind of aspect in math, so please, bare with me."
He smiled sheepishly.
"You know, that whole A times B stuff.. That's one of my worst problems. Could never really get that.."
Maybe that wouldn't be such a problem if he'd actually ATTENDED class on schedule, boy, if this girl only knew how scrappy his attendance was. She'd laugh at him for sure.
"I'm not sure.. The entire math class I have trouble with. I just kinda.. Stopped going once things got tough.." He laughed.. Quietly. He felt kind of bad that he'd neglected his studies this far. Sighing afterwards, oh boy.. He could only imagine what this girl thought of him right now.
After all, from what Cody knew, girls went after guys who were smart, and well in for themselves.. Cody wasn't really much of that.
He needed more than just a tutor, he needed a miracle.
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Drea
Soldier
[M:-1068]
Posts: 357
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Post by Drea on Nov 6, 2009 12:24:31 GMT -8
"Well, how about we just start off with some Algebra.. Truth be told.. I'm not good in any kind of aspect in math, so please, bare with me." Cody began his explanation. "You know, that whole A times B stuff.. That's one of my worst problems. Could never really get that..."
Drea made a mental note to herself to bring more basic materials. Since they were in high school, she hadn't considered that he might be at an elementary level. Still, she wasn't too concerned. Chances were, he'd been unable to ask the questions he'd needed to ask when he needed to ask them and had been left behind in the quickly moving classes. Teachers were, after all, merciless.
In a way, it was a good thing. It meant that he would be more amenable to learning - and certainly less difficult to teach. She hoped she'd be able to help him.
"I'm not sure.. The entire math class I have trouble with. I just kinda.. Stopped going once things got tough..."
Her suspicions had been correct. Drea nodded decisively, ignoring his sigh.
"That's fine. We can start off with basic mathematics. You can add and subtract, right?" She assumed he could do so because his problems, as he'd stated, began in multiplication and long division. "Multiplication is just a lot of fast adding and subtracting. We'll take it step by step until it makes sense to you, okay?"
She opened the rings of her binder and pulled a couple of sheets of paper from it before pressing the rings shut again. She quickly and neatly wrote out a set of multiplication problems for him. Easy ones and hard ones to gauge his skill with multiplication.
There was a decent amount of space between each problem, and she passed the page and a writing utensil to him.
"Work out what you can, and we'll go from there." she told him, sitting back to observe. "And no calculators."
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Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Nov 19, 2009 8:05:14 GMT -8
Well, this was certainly different. Indeed.. He expected her to at least leave by now. But.. Well, I suppose people have a weird way of doing things.. Something like this, well.. Hadn't really crossed Cody's mind. He looked up at her, as she began to write down some questions on a peice of paper for him. Closely watching her as she took down those numbers, even though they were numbers.. Her handwriting was neat.
"That's fine. We can start off with basic mathematics. You can add and subtract, right?"
He nodded.
"Multiplication is just a lot of fast adding and subtracting. We'll take it step by step until it makes sense to you, okay?"
He took his eyes off her for a moment, to look down at the paper that was in front of him. There were some questions there, but indeed the handwriting was very neat. He then would look back up at her, while taking the pencil in his hand.
"Work out what you can, and we'll go from there, and no calculators."
He laughed, it's not like he'd brought one with him anyway. Calculators just did that math for you, they didn't teach you anything about how you obtained the result.
"Alright."
With that, he took his pencil in hand, and began to think..
...
Some time later, about three minutes, Cody finally put his pencil down, after some furious scratching at that paper, and hard thinking as well. A sheepish smile was on his face, he wasn't proud of it.. But he tried his best.
It was pretty much the basic stuff that he knew.. That's all he could really do.
How sad.. But.. Then again, like he said, math was not his strong point whatsoever.
He bowed his head in dissapointment.
"I'm sorry.. Like I said, not very good at this."
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Drea
Soldier
[M:-1068]
Posts: 357
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Post by Drea on Nov 19, 2009 20:06:59 GMT -8
She watched quietly as he worked. He seemed earnest, and really, that was all she could ask for. Several minutes later - three, by the clock on the wall - he set his pencil down.
His expression was that of sheepishness. Embarrassment, really.
"I'm sorry.. Like I said, not very good at this." he said.
Drea shook her head, a warm smile in place on her face. "Don't worry about it. I would look silly if I got angry because you didn't know things. I'm here to teach you, after all. Only imagine how foolish I'd look to everyone else."
She took his paper and looked over it. She immediately noted that he'd left four blank. That was fine with her. It only meant they'd intimidated him. Her job was to make sure it stopped doing that, and she'd darned well do it.
One of the problems, it looked as though he'd earnestly tried on. She mentally winced when she realized she'd have to tell him he did it wrong. That was okay, though. She'd show him how to work it out so he could do it the next time.
She tallied up what he'd gotten right and mentally scored his paper. Forty percent. That was certainly failing... She didn't think they'd be able to get him up to an A immediately - it would be difficult, but certainly possible with practice - so they'd start off easily.
She circled the problems he'd gotten right - one, two, six, and eight. They were the simpler problems that she'd listed. It told her that he at least knew the theory behind what he was supposed to be doing. That was good.
"These," she said to him, "Are the problems that you got right." She smiled at him, hoping to ease any discomfort he might feel. "Since you tried to work on six of the problems and got four right, that's around a sixty-six or sixty-seven percent. Congratulations. You passed a quick quiz."
She wrote out the problems he'd missed and moved her chair so she was sitting beside him instead of across from him. It would be easier for her to show him the paper that way.
She pointed first at number seven. "It looks to me like you just made a simple mistake," she said kindly. "I used to do it all the time. I ended up memorizing the multiplication charts up to twelve times twelve when I was in first grade, but I didn't know how to do the stuff until I actually learned it in class. I kept it a secret, though, and kept the others guessing. Since I didn't learn until then, though, I always got numbers mixed up..." she chuckled.
"Let me show you a trick that I learned a while back." Drea wrote out problem number nine.
"Ninety-nine is close to a hundred, right? For numbers that are close to multiples of ten or something that's easier to multiply by, I usually round and multiply. In this case, ninety-nine becomes a hundred. One hundred times six is a bunch easier than ninety-nine times six, right? It's an easy six hundred. But, after that, I subtract six from the number because there are really ninety-nine sixes, and not a hundred." She looked over at him. "Does that make sense?"
She left her work as it was and handed the pencil to him to finish off the problem.
"Why don't you try numbers nine and seven again?"
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Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Nov 25, 2009 6:21:45 GMT -8
As he handed back the paper, he wondered what she would think about his skills now, of course, there wasn't anything special about it, a few scratches here and there, and attempted answers there and here. Of course, he knew they were wrong, but there was nothing wrong with guessing, right?
Ah well..
He felt really dumb, really stupid, and degraded of course, as she looked over the paper, even with a smile, he could feel that oh-so-little confidence shrinking as she looked back at him.
"Don't worry about it. I would look silly if I got angry because you didn't know things. I'm here to teach you, after all. Only imagine how foolish I'd look to everyone else."
How foolish..?
She didn't have to worry about such things, as Cody laughed to himself. She was smart, she wouldn't look any kind of foolish at all, and that's where she was wrong about these things. When it comes to trouble students like Cody, everyone blames them for their slow learning curve, despite all that's done for them.
Perhaps since she was saying that, she wasn't as wise as he thought.
Maybe, she was on the exact same learning level as him.. Non-School related of course.
He looked down at the paper before him, as she had some of the questions circled..
"These are the ones you got right."
"Since you tried to work on six of the problems and got four right, that's around a sixty-six or sixty-seven percent. Congratulations. You passed a quick quiz."
.. Whoopie.
Cody knew that she was just trying to be soft on him. But in the long run, in a real quiz, they both knew that the test would be a complete failure. He sighed in dissapointment. Like he said earlier, he was not good at this at all.
He looked down at the paper, which she was now pointing to a question. Number seven, to be exact.
He'd realized that he'd miscalculated.. On his fingers of course. Yes, that's right, the big man still uses his fingers.
"It looks to me like you just made a simple mistake."
Well, he'd made several but.. Yeah, let's just go with one.
"I used to do it all the time. I ended up memorizing the multiplication charts up to twelve times twelve when I was in first grade, but I didn't know how to do the stuff until I actually learned it in class. I kept it a secret, though, and kept the others guessing. Since I didn't learn until then, though, I always got numbers mixed up..."
The multiplication tables in Grade One, huh?.. Sheesh, was there nothing this girl could do?.. Again, his confidence shrunk more, compared to her, he was most likely, equal to the IQ of a turtle. Sliding back into his chair, as he looked at the defeated paper.
"Let me show you a trick that I learned a while back."
"Ninety-nine is close to a hundred, right? For numbers that are close to multiples of ten or something that's easier to multiply by, I usually round and multiply. In this case, ninety-nine becomes a hundred. One hundred times six is a bunch easier than ninety-nine times six, right? It's an easy six hundred. But, after that, I subtract six from the number because there are really ninety-nine sixes, and not a hundred."
It was a little hard for Cody to wrap his head around all at once, but he somewhat understood it. So basically, just turn the advanced into a basic question. And then just take away what you don't need..
Seemed simple enough..
"Does that make sense?"
Although, the look on his face, you could tell he was still mentally scratching his brain.
"Uh.. Sure.."
He gave a soft reply, letting her do most of the talking so far. He was already downgraded enough, what's a little more?
She then pushed another paper towards him again.
"Why don't you try numbers nine and seven again?"
".. Alright."
With that, he slowly picked up the pencil, and looked down at the two questions that were laid out for him.
"Hmm.."
Looking down at Number seven, once again he thought to himself. And, sheepishly, let his eyes bounce from his fingers, letting that work like his own mental calculator..
8.. 16.. 24.. 32..
Of course. He was off by one. Scribbling it down, as soon as he could.
Now.. It seemed that Number Nine was already on the paper for him. Looking down at her example. So.. If there were one hundred sixes, that would be six hundred. So if we took six away from six hundred.. That would be..
Once again, his eyes bounced on his fingers.
...
Scribbling his answer down quickly, he then set the pencil down once more.
There.. He at least, hoped they were right. Of course.. He said nothing. He figured, if he said anything more, he'd look stupid.
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Drea
Soldier
[M:-1068]
Posts: 357
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Post by Drea on Nov 26, 2009 19:33:59 GMT -8
"Uh.. Sure.."
Drea could tell he was struggling with it, but the fact that he was struggling, to her, meant that he was also trying. And that, to her, made him worth the effort. She smiled at him.
".. Alright." he said quietly as he got to work. She watched as he worked it out. She could tell that he was working with his fingers now since she was observing him - and his eyes often moved across them as he worked. It was... a childish trait, but was probably a good practice for someone that was essentially a beginner in mathematics.
He answered the problems she'd set out for him - a quick glance told her they were correct.
"Bingo!" she said cheerily. "Two out of two - I believe that's a hundred."
That left four problems - three, four, five, and ten.
He was a better student than she'd thought. She pulled out another easy one - number ten. It was just a step further into her advanced to easy mathematics lesson.
She wrote it out onto a fresh piece of paper.
"Try this one," she said, sliding the paper over to him.
"This time, just change the fifty-nine to a sixty," she said, "And see where that takes you."
She sat back a bit, her eyes twinkling as she watched him. Ah, the joys of an attentive student.
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Cody Travers
Soldier
"You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain."
Posts: 412
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Post by Cody Travers on Jan 12, 2010 6:19:58 GMT -8
Well, of course, he was attentive. There was this innocent, completely cute girl in front of him, that was teaching him all this math that could hardly contain in his head. But for now, he would go along with it, and her, as she would praise him on his job well done of the last couple questions. It made him feel a little sheepish, but hey. That was okay too, I guess.
He watched as she slid the paper over to him, excitedly, I suppose, as he looked up at her, not with eager eyes, but with a smile at least. It was there, for a few seconds, but then it left again as he looked down at the paper.
A rare sight indeed.
"This time, just change the fifty-nine to a sixty, and see where that takes you."
Once again, he would pick up that pencil, and scratched out the fifty-nine from the paper, replacing it with a sixty. And with that, he began to work slowly, once again, doing it with his fingers. Sure, it seemed a bit childish, but hey, he was guilty of doing much bigger things than just 'counting his fingers'. If only she knew..
Slowly he would work, as he tried to come up with an answer.
He then looked at the seventy-eight, plastered there..
And decided to change it to an eighty. With that, he would then multiply 6 by 8.. Which is 48. As he so counted upon his fingers..
Adding on a few digits to that would mean in the thousands.
From there he would do his subtraction.. That would be Twenty-- No, Thirty-two. No wait..
This was confusing.. Sixty 78's? Let alone 60 Eighties? This.. This was a bit much. Cody froze in his seat.. He didn't know, as he continued to chew away at his pencil, he had no idea.
So therefore..
The question would remain blank, as he stared intently down at it. He growled at the paper, as if it seemed to mock him, the numbers laughing at him, as he chewed upon his pencil. He was beginning to get frustrated.
Yeah, some model student.
Maybe he just wasn't fit for school.
But he wouldn't ask for this girl's help. No.. That would make him seem weak, something that he didn't like to show. As he continued to look at that page, wishing it would solve itself.
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