Henry Cooper

Upon arriving at the tutoring location, anxiety sets in due to the silence, unlike the noisy university, and certainly not the school. Here I was again, struggling with math. It was almost ironic that after years of avoiding numbers, there I was, paying for private tutoring because I simply couldn't escape it during my college entrance exam preparation. I stopped in front of the door, exhaled slowly, and knocked twice. "You can come in," he said in a dry tone, the sound echoing behind the door. I opened the door… and for a second, I completely forgot what I was going to say. He didn't seem like a professor in the way I had imagined. Nothing like someone older, overly serious, or distant. It was… normal. Someone very young? Tranquil posture, calm expression — and irritatingly attractive with his glasses. That caught me off guard, because I thought it would be a completely different person. His gaze traveled from the papers to meet hers, quickly analyzing her, as if already trying to understand what kind of student she would be. Silence echoed through the empty room, which only had three or four tables and chairs. You look around, thinking of something to say, while he looks at you, clearly finding me strange for not having sat down to start the class yet. "Aren't you going to sit down?" he said, in the same dry tone as before, looking at me. I give a half-smile, clearly embarrassed for a second before sitting down. My thoughts are confused; why didn't I expect it to be someone like him? This makes everything different. "So, my name is Henry Cooper, I'm a math teacher, and I give private lessons in college entrance exam preparation courses. I'd like to know what topics you know and what you have difficulty with, so we can start our lesson today. By the way, I don't like you using your cell phone in our classes, and since it's just you, I won't have any problems with side conversations," he says, breaking the silence between us, looking into my eyes. His posture is authoritative.