Alexa Hoffman - Outcome

"If I get an A on this test, I’ll take you to and from school on all the bad days. Rain or snow. How’s that?" I nodded, liking the idea.

"Okay. It’s still not necessary, but alright." A huge smile spread across her face.

"Great! I better get going, but I’ll see you after school, okay?"

"See you." I watched Haley stand and bounce her way back to her friends, who looked at me with obvious questions in their eyes, made more apparent as their heads leaned in to, I’m sure, ask Haley a zillion questions.

"Andi, why on earth should I give this girl her score now? I barely have her test graded." I leaned over Hank’s desk, looking into his eyes, enlarged behind thick glasses.

"Come on, Hank. Just for me. This girl is my protégé, and I want to see how I did." I smiled, and he stared at me for a moment.

"That is the biggest pile of horse shit I’ve ever heard, but it was such a good excuse I’ll do it."

"Oh, man! You’re awesome." I slapped the old science teacher on the back, a huge grin on my face. About then the classroom door opened, and Haley stepped through. She looked from me to Hank, then back at me, hope in her eyes. I nodded, she smiled.

"Okay, Haley. Know this won’t happen with every test, but I’ll go ahead and give you your grade." The teacher said, looking at her over the top of the spectacles.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Rodman. I really appreciate this." Haley heaved the backpack further up onto her shoulder, and walked to stand next to me. I could smell the slight scent of perfume on her sweater. It was too faint for me to be able to tell what it was.

"Miss Corregan," My attention was ripped back to Hank, who was looking at stapled papers in his hand, which I assumed was Haley’s test. "You received a 92." He looked up, pulling his glasses off.

"Yes!" Haley turned to me, sticking her hand up in the air. I slapped it. "Thanks, Andi. You are so awesome." I grinned.

"Thanks. Congratulations." I felt proud for some reason, pleased.

"You heading home now?" Haley asked after thanking the teacher. I nodded. "Come on, I’ll give you a lift."

The drive to my house was nothing compared to the walk, and it seemed that in no time Haley pulled her car into the driveway. She turned to me.

"Thanks again. I’m sure I’ll be in need of your guaranteed services again." I grinned.

"Just give me a call."

* * *

"Charyot!" yelled Sabum Nim Kyung. I stopped immediately, as did my sparing partner, Tracy. We walked to our places on the matt and knelt down to our knees, our eyes downcast out of respect for our teacher. Our Sabum Nim stood before us, arms crossed over his chest as he waited. "Sunbae Nim Andi." My eyes raised to his, and I jumped to my feet, joining him at the front.

"Charyot!" I yelled, the class looking at me. "Remember, championships are coming up in January. You guys must try harder." I looked at the face of each student, most of which I’d known for many years. "Dustin and Kyle, next week you two will be partnered, and I don’t want to see you fall again, Kyle." The twelve year old’s gaze dropped, and he nodded. I turned to my Sabum Nim, and bowed.

"That’s all for today." He clapped his hands, and everyone jumped up and scattered. Tracy walked over to me.

"Nice job today, chief. Your second week as the Sunbae Nim." I grinned, nodding.

"Kind of cool, isn’t it?"

"Well, not really. You could kick just about anyone’s butt in here."

"Yeah, well you’re just jealous. We still on for tonight?" she nodded.

"Yeah. I just need to get showered and changed, and we’re off."

Tracy and I had started in the Kyung dojang at the same time, but she’d left when she was eight when her family moved away. When they came back three years later, she had re-joined. By that time I had moved far ahead of her, starting with Tae Kwon Do at age six. I had earned my third degree black belt over the summer. I was now the senior student, or Sunbae Nim. Tracy was one of my best friends, well, one of my only friends.

"It feels so good to be out of there. Though I have to admit I’m bummed Yoga was cancelled," Tracy said as she steered her Jeep through the streets of our town.

"I know." I said. I ran my hands through my still-damp hair, combing out the strands with my fingers, before they became tangled. "I can’t believe I forgot my brush."

"I told you I had mine. Jeez, what do you think I have?" I glared at her as I continued. "So I hear this movie is supposed to be pretty good."

"I hope so. It’s been so long since I’ve seen anything that was worth watching. The way I see it, if it hurts my brain to watch a movie, it’s just not worth it."

"Well, yeah, but just about everything hurts your brain." Tracy glanced over at me as she turned onto Pacos, the street that would lead to the theater complex.

"This is true."

The place was busy, Tracy having to park near the end of the lot. We made our way through the cars, finally getting to the doors that were open as the line was too much for the lobby to hold. We looked at each other, surprised.

"Oh, boy. Still want to do this, do you?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"We’re staying." Tracy patted my shoulder, knowing how much I hated being in a huge group. "The line will move quickly. I hope."

I looked around, seeing who all had come out for the grand opening of the new Sandra Bullock, Hugh Grant flick. I usually wasn’t a fan of romantic comedies, thinking how stupid they were, and that no one ever acts that way or goes to those extremes for love. Tracy said I was far too cynical for my years, and maybe she was right.

"Hey." I turned to look at Tracy, but saw that she was talking to some guy, so I looked in the other direction, stunned to see Haley smiling at me. She was in line just a little further back, surrounded by her entourage.

"Hi. Fancy seeing you here."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. What are you here to see?"

"Some Sandra Bullock movie."

"Oh, I hear that’s really cute. I got drug here to see the new J. Lo movie."

"Who?"

"J. Lo? Jennifer Lopez?"

"Oh. The whole J. Lo thing is new to me." I grinned sheepishly.

"Wow, you are out of the loop, aren’t you?" She pulled the ends of her jacket a little closer around her body as the wind began to whip around the theater.

"Well, I do my best." I grinned, so did she.

"Who are you here with?"

"My pal Tracy."

"Huh?" Tracy looked at me, then back at Haley, then back at me with huge eyes.

"Oh. Hello." Haley smiled at my friend. Shyly Tracy waved at her.

"Haley, they’re making two lines. Come on." One of Haley’s friends grabbed her by the sleeve, tugging her away. "Girl, what are you doing?" I heard hissed at her. I didn’t listen for Haley’s response.

"You talk to her?" I turned to see Tracy looking at me expectantly. "Better yet, she talks to you?"

"Gee, thanks. Yes."

"Wow. Call me shocked." The line moved up a bit, and we were finally inside the building. I looked around, trying to not make it obvious, seeing where Haley had gone. She stood with a group of about four or five, all huddled together talking and laughing. She ran her hands through her ponytail, fixing it a bit. I had never seen her with her hair down. It hadn’t occurred to me until just now.

The entire time I’d gone to school, I had been in awe of Haley Corregan. Not only was she popular and beautiful, but she was known for being sweet and kind to everyone. I was finding that to be true. My opinion of her crowd could certainly be higher, but she had gained my respect for the most part. She seemed separate from them, somehow, like even they were out of her league. It was so unfair for one girl to be so talented, a star soccer player, intelligent and unbelievably beautiful. Why was it that just certain people were blessed by the gods with every single attribute? With everything going their way? And why on earth would someone like her hang around with those circus clowns?

"Hello, earth to Andi." Shaken out of my reverie, I looked around to see we were at the front of the line. I reached into my pocket for my money, handing the girl the right amount, and taking my ticket. "Where did you go?" Tracy asked as we headed to the concession stand.

"Oh, nowhere. Just kind of lost in my own thoughts for a second there."

"Yeah, I’ll say. What do you want?"

We ordered our junk food, feeling justified after the workout we’d had in class, and headed into the huge theater, packed with anxious movie-goers. We found two seats as close to the middle as we could. I felt the movie experience wasn’t nearly as good unless I sat as close to the middle as I could. Hey, we all have our things.

The movie ended, we stood to leave.

"Oh, I loved it," Tracy gushed, wiping the tears away from her eyes.

"You are such a sap." I grinned, easing my way into the main aisle as people herded out.

"Yeah, so? Oh, it was just so sweet!" she exclaimed, wiping her nose with the sleeve of her sweatshirt.

"You’re a nut. Wait for me, will you? I need to go to the bathroom."

"Okay." She sniffled as she headed toward the lobby. I hurried to the ladies room, the large coke I’d had going through me like a funnel. The bathroom, too, was packed as several movies got out at the same time, so I leaned against the tiled wall, waiting for my turn.

"Well, I just can’t get away from you today, can I?" I turned to see Haley lean against the wall next to me. I grinned.

"Sorry about that." She looked confused.

"Why?" Because your friends are assholes?

"Oh, nothing. Just kidding."

"Oh. So did you enjoy your show?" She heaved the strap of the bag she carried, further up her shoulder.

"Not as much as Tracy did." I grinned. "She’s blowing her nose as we speak." Haley chuckled, then indicated that I should move up in line. I slid across the wall.

"Oh, one of those kinds of movies, huh?" She smiled. I nodded.

"Apparently. I liked it, but didn’t really feel the need to cry. What about yours?"

"Well, let’s put it this way, I wish I had gone into yours. I can watch Sandra Bullock any day. But J. Lo? Well, I’m not such a fan. But Ralph Finnes is pretty cute. Pretty green eyes. You don’t see those very often." She narrowed her eyes, and leaned toward me. I stared at her like she was nuts. "You have green eyes." She stood up again, arms cross over her chest. "Huh. I never noticed that. They’re pretty." I, for the first time in my life, blushed, looking away. I hated to be affected by what other people said.

"Um, thanks. Oh, it’s my turn. See you later." I smiled, and hurried to the deserted bathroom stall.

I tapped the eraser of my No. 2 on my notebook as I examined my doodle. Art certainly wasn’t in my future, well, if it was I’d put the old adage "starving artist" to all new heights.

Deciding my lopsided housed needed a shrub near the front door, I turned the pencil in my fingers and began to sketch.

THUD!

Nearly squealing in surprise, my head shot up to see a very exasperated Haley looking down at me. I looked to see her one hundred pound backpack sitting on the table where it had been tossed.

"So, were you trying to break the table in half? I’m sure if you do that again, you’ll succeed."

"I’m sorry. I think I scared you." She grinned at me. I looked down at my picture at the long line that was apparently an elongated shrub. I nodded.

"And you’d be right. What’s up?" With a heavy sigh, Haley flopped down in the chair next to me.

"I need help. Are you free? It’s Thursday, your tutoring day, right?" I nodded.

"Yeah, some guy named Kevin Rogers was supposed to show up, and," I glanced at my watch, "he’s really late. So, lucky you." I smiled. "What the problem?"

"Physics lab. I don’t understand this, Andi. I’ve never seen myself as stupid at all. So why am I suddenly now? I swear, something happened over the summer, and suddenly I’m just … stupid." I smiled.

"Let me see." Haley tugged her bag to her, and unzipped it, grabbing the lab book.

"I understand it, well I thought I did, but none of my labs come out right. I don’t get it, Andi."

"Hey, it’s okay." I could see the distress on her face and hear it in her voice. "We’ll work on this, okay?" She nodded, but I still don’t think she fully believed me. "Magnetism, huh?" She nodded again. "It’s not a real easy concept to grasp, so don’t worry."