Chapter 3: Two extra curricular pupils

Stephen

Between mouthfuls I glanced at her. By Helen's standards, yes she was fairly slim but I she definitely wasn't skinny and certainly she had more flesh on her bones than most of the other girls on the course. In a way she was attractive enough but her overly red hair and excessive blackening of her eyelashes put me off. "Don't judge people by their appearance," I told myself, "That's what they do with you." I guessed she was about 5ft 3" tall and had smallish breasts although they were well hidden at the time by an oversized orange sweater. No doubt it kept out the cold but that and the red hair also drew attention to her. Occasionally our eyes met when she surreptitiously glanced at me but she quickly averted her gaze. I gazed at her frequently and wondered if I would ever get a girlfriend; one that would treat me like a person, one that would love me. I couldn't for the life of me think that Jenny would be that person but it was so rare that I sat close to a girl that my imagination went haywire.

My phone went off just as Helen put the kettle on to make a pot of tea and while I answered it, she asked Jenny, "Would you mind clearing the table while I wash the plates please?" Rightly I guessed she wanted to talk with Jenny without my hearing. In the background I heard them talking quietly or rather I heard Helen talking while I gave the caller instructions for restoring his computer after it had crashed. Later I learned Helen had reassured Jenny about her safety with me. I took Jenny through to my office computer room.

"Have a seat," I indicated an office chair and then dragged another in front of it and sat down. I noticed her look around and then her eyes stayed on my body. I decided if she wanted help, then she was going to have to give something in return and not treat me like a second-class citizen. Understandably she was nervous but if I was to tutor her, she would have to treat me as a tutor. "Jenny before we start, I want you to look into my eyes, look at my face instead of my chest or somewhere to one side. If you really want to see my chest, I'll show it to you but it's much the same as my face. You've had nearly four months now to accept my scars for what they are — surface disfigurements - so there should be no need for you to try not to see them. Look at my face now. I'm the one who has had problems with them, not you. There's nothing for you to be frightened of." She blushed deeply but slowly she lifted her head and our eyes met and for a short while she looked at me. "Okay, now tell me why you want me to help you."

"Because I need to pass this course and the instructor is shit. Why else would I demean myself to ask someone like you?" For a moment her eyes defiantly met mine and then her head lowered and she whispered, "Sorry Steve." She actually used my name. "Can we rub out that last sentence please? It is me that needs help. I'm so sorry for what I said. It came out without thinking.

"Okay, let's start again. Why do you want me to help you?"

She hesitated and then repeated her first statement. "I still think the tutor is shit. It's okay for people like you who more or less know it to start with and only need a bit a revision, but for those of us who haven't the background knowledge, he expects us to pick it up from books, the hand-out sheets and discs, and the Internet. I suppose some of it is my fault because I didn't make time to do that and once you miss out on the early lessons, it is even more difficult to understand the later ones. So yeah, some of it is my fault but I still blame him to some extent."

"That sounds a pretty honest assessment. It's not all plain sailing for me either, but yes, I can see that having a good background knowledge is a big plus. Let's look ahead. By now you should have realised there is a lot of work involved in getting your doctorate. Another five terms of work plus making up for the work you've not done so far. It will be a lot of work for you and a lot for me too if I undertake to help you. We'll need to be together for a considerable amount of time and if we can't have a reasonable working relationship, then it's a waste of time starting. People will know you are spending time with me and you have to be prepared for the comments, particularly from your friend Clarissa. You know the comments that Su Lee gets when she speaks with me."

"I wanted Clarrie to come too but she absolutely refused to consider it. Yes, I can see being with you will create a social problem for me which is why I need to know the likely scenario for my getting my grades up again."

"David, our tutor knows what he's talking about, but yes I agree, he doesn't put it over in the most digestible way. He works hard getting his presentations ready and after each lecture we get a hand-out sheet giving the main points so we can go over them in our own time and do the work he's set but he doesn't personally spend time going through them and he hardly pauses in his presentations for questions. I would guess that with your social life, you have little time to do the extra work involved to get the assignments done properly." She nodded. "To give up much of your social activities you will need a better incentive for continuing the course than just wanting to be called Dr. Jennifer Watkins. Is there one?"

I had a long wait before she replied. "If I just go back to using computers like I did for a couple of years before enrolling on the course, that's more or less what I'll do for the rest of my career. I might get to supervise others but that's about as far as I can get. Most of my time will be feeding boring data into the machine, waiting for it to produce an output and then forwarding that on. I truly believe that I have the brains to do better than that. If I pass and am able to get a job looking after the systems in a largish firm, then I will be the one in charge of a department and people will come to me when things go wrong. Each day will bring a variety of problems so the work will be varied. Even the bosses will know of me and call on me when things go wrong. I'll be a top dog and better paid for being it." I thought that a bit idealised but it was a better answer.

"All our lectures are in the mornings because David works in the computer repair shop in the afternoons. To make up the work you will need to spend at least every afternoon going through every lesson of this term as well as the work set for the coming ones. As there is a lot of catching up to do, then you must expect to work many evenings and weekends too doing the assignments and studying. You've already told me that missing the earlier lessons, made the later ones even less intelligible so we would have to start right at the beginning to make sure you understand the basic principles. That is a big commitment, a very big commitment. You would also need to go through some of the stuff during the Christmas period. Would you be willing to do that? Are you going home for Christmas? And take into consideration the fact that if you really want my help, you'll be getting the instruction here in this office rather than in the Uni library. I need to continue with my business too."

"I guess I would have to, ' she said slowly, "Your computers are far more up-to-date than those at Uni and I borrow Clarrie's when I work at home and use her Internet connection. My old PC died a week before the course started and I've not been able to afford a new one. But can I think about it overnight please?"

"Okay. Now what's in it for me? I'm going to give up a lot of time too. I do run a business and that phone call I took at dinner time was on my premium rate line and earned me about £20." Her face fell and I quickly went on, "Sorry, I know you won't be able to pay for my services out of your grant."

Her eyes opened wide and her expression was one of disgust. She rose from her chair and yelled, "You want me to sleep with you! You dirty bastard!"

"No! Sit down Jenny and hear me out." Her eyes still flashed fire at me but she slid back into her seat. "If you want to have sex with me, then I will be very pleased and delighted but I will not force you or blackmail you into it. What I will require will be far less easy for you to give." I paused to make sure she understood that I wasn't requiring her to be my personal whore. "The first is a commitment to doing the work conscientiously and allowing yourself enough time to undertake it. Perhaps the second requirement will be even harder for you especially in front of your friends. You are to start treating me with respect; treating me like a normal person, which apart from the scarring, I am." Jenny started to answer but I stopped her. "It's too big a decision to make on the spur of the moment Jenny. You asked to think about it overnight but there's four more days left before the Christmas break. If you decide to take up my offer of help, on the conditions I've stated, let me know before then."

Gradually she seemed to calm down and began to digest my words finally she answered, "Thank you Stephen. It will be as you say, a big undertaking, In the main it is a question of whether I want to party for a couple of years and end up with nothing or spend more time on the work and get something worthwhile at the end of it. I know what the answer ought to be but whether I can keep to it is another matter. What if I can persuade Clarissa to join in the scheme?"

"Unlikely. Her daddy will keep her and I guess he's already paid for her education. In any case she hates the sight of me even more than you do and she's spoilt and spiteful with it." I saw her face colour at that remark.

For the next two days, both girls kept their distance but Jenny held my gaze when I looked across at her although she gave no indication of having come to a decision. It came as a surprise therefore, when that evening just as we finished dinner, I heard a car in the drive. The CCTV showed it to be an expensive Jaguar and I wondered who I knew had a car like that. A well-dressed man greeted me when I opened the door. "Good evening, I'm Howard Blythe," he introduced himself and we shook hands, "Can we discus the extra tuition my daughter, Clarissa and her friend wish to get with you? The girls are in the car and I'd like to bring them in at some point when I've got the basic details from you." I noticed that he didn't flinch from looking me in the face and I didn't really believe him when he said Clarissa wished to get tuition from me. We ushered the girls into the kitchen and I took Howard into my office. Clarissa looked very downcast and almost on the verge of tears and I rightly guessed that she had been bullied into coming.