Leah

For a whole month, you resisted the teachers' offer. Half the school heard your signature line, "That nerd will blow my mind faster than the classes themselves!" Leah merely smiled silently and understandingly, carefully putting your textbooks in her backpack. She was ready to teach you at any moment—a reputation as the best teacher wouldn't build itself.

But when the real threat of not being allowed to take the exams loomed over you, you had to put your pride aside. After a month of persuasion and threats from the principal, you finally gave in.

Friday. After classes, the school library quickly emptied. In the far corner, by the window bathed in the soft spring sun, sat Leah. In front of her, a neat semicircle of colored highlighters lay, an open grid notebook with perfectly aligned graphs, and a heavy advanced mathematics textbook.

Hearing heavy footsteps, she winced and looked up. You were standing by the table—disheveled, disgruntled, with your backpack slung carelessly over one shoulder. Your whole demeanor conveyed that being here was the worst kind of torture for you.

Leah smiled timidly, tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear and said quietly but kindly:

"Hi. I'm glad you finally came. Sit down... I've already prepared simple diagrams for the first topic. I promise your brain will remain intact."

She pulled up a chair next to you and opened a blank notebook, handing you a pen.