My shoulders relaxed because if I was the first person I’d be more likely to end up with the position. “Yeah. Professor Blake recommended I apply. I’m a second-year but I’ve taken stats classes since high school. I finished my first year here with a 4.0.”
“Well, you sound more than qualified,” she said. “But I still have to put you to the test.”
I nodded, more than willing to jump through hoops if it meant getting a job on campus.
She moved to retrieve a thin workbook from under the table. “Do you have an hour or two for a test and then a shadowing session?”
“Definitely. I don’t have any classes for the rest of the day so I’m completely free.” I had wanted to catch the guys for a ride home, but the bus would have to do.
“Wonderful. Follow me.” She beckoned me behind the counter. “What did you say your name was?”
“I’m Naomi. Naomi Lewis.” I offered her my hand.
“It’s nice to meet you, Naomi. I’m Lettie Majors.”
She set me up at a desk across from a pensive-looking Michael. I gave him a friendly smile before settling into the cushioned desk chair. Lettie gave me a workbook with ten problems. It’d probably take me forty minutes to get through them. Lettie insisted I take my time. There was no rush and the average applicant usually got through the problems in an hour and a half.
As soon as she left me, I pulled out my pencil and got to work. It was quiet sans the occasional clearing of Michael’s throat or turning of his book page. I could feel his eyes on me, but I remained focused on getting everything correct. I couldn’t miss one, not if I wanted to make the impression I needed.
Thankfully, there weren't too many word problems to overwhelm me. My nerves didn’t get the letters jumbled up in the way they usually did. In the end, it only took me thirty minutes to complete the test. I reread the problems and checked my work twice, just to be sure I wasn’t missing anything. But I wasn’t. It felt like a cakewalk.
Michael raised an eyebrow when he saw me stand. “Lettie wasn’t just being nice. Youcantake your time.”
“I know.” I nodded and continued to where I heard Lettie’s voice.
I waited while she helped a student schedule a session. When she turned to me, she said, “Oh, did you need extra scrap paper? There should be some near the filing cabinets.”
“Nope, you gave me more than enough. I’m done.”
“You’re…done?” She looked like Michael had, and I silently wondered if maybe I should’ve feigned working on the problems a little longer. But she’d said there would be a shadowing part of the interview too and that’d take time. What was the point of pretending I had more work to do when I was done?
I handed her the workbook, and Lettie tried to fix her expression back to something neutral. She pulled out another book to check my work. Like me, she checked everything twice. She even got out her own pen and did a problem herself. Once she was done, the grin on her face made her blue contacts shine brighter.
“Well, Naomi, this looks perfect. And in record time, too. Very impressive.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. The tension in my fingers dissipated. I could feel the air in my lungs once more. The problems were easy, and I knew I got them right, but a little part of me thought maybe I was being too cocky.
“Now, we shadow. Well, I shadow, and you tutor.” She scanned the large space. The sparsely placed tables were mostly empty because of how early it was in the semester. There were a few people here and there, curled over books and scribbling on paper.
“I have just the student.” Lettie motioned for me to follow her. “He came in a few minutes ago. Riley, our other specialized math tutor, is scheduled to work later. So, I had asked him to wait. Now, he won’t have to.”
I’m not sure why I didn’t recognize him before we weaved through the tables. It wasn’t like Finn blended in. He did the exact opposite with his large frame and dark hair. When our eyes met, my heart sped up. His eyes were apprehensive, like he was praying we weren’t coming in his direction. When Lettie stopped in front of him, I saw his lips part with a sigh. She smiled, probably thinking it was a sigh of relief. From what I knew of him, I’m sure relief was nowhere close to what he was feeling.
“Hello, Finn? Was it?” Lettie pulled out a chair for me.
“Yes,” Finn said. Hey, at least, I wasn’t the only one who received one-word replies from him. It was nice to know I wasn’t special.
“This is Naomi.” Lettie rested her hand on my shoulder. “She’s interviewing for a position as a peer tutor today. If you’re still in need of some help and are comfortable with me supervising, we can get to work.”
When he didn’t answer immediately, Lettie continued, “I can assure you, you’re in skilled hands. Interview or not, I’m positive Naomi’s going to be one of our best and brightest. She just knocked my socks off on her evaluation exam and I’m not easily impressed.”
My cheeks warmed. I could barely meet Finn’s gaze. He wasn’t easy to impress, either. And probably still wouldn’t be, even if I did a handstand and started reciting the Declaration of Independence backward.
“What do you say? That work for you?” Lettie asked, sounding a bit more hesitant than before. Finn was as still as a stone wall. A marbled column. An oak tree in the middle of the woods. Steady, solid, and silent.
He looked at me. I couldn’t avoid eye contact without things getting more awkward. I stared back, and it was like we resumed the stare-off that began at home. As time stretched into something almost mind-numbing, he said, “Sure, that works.”
Chapter Twelve
