U know what, I'm gonna keep my picture of my math notebook there. (I came up with this in maths class and I couldn't write it down somewhere else without my teacher being angry with me)

This shows how my ideas first start out and how they turn out after I've written them😂

Summary: Virgil being so frustrated over math that he cries in the library. But a very smart guy called Logan finds him and helps him and whoops Virgil has a tutor now.

(Yes the teachers pronouns is they/them)

ALSO I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT AMERICAN SCHOOLS SO IF THIS IS WRONG THEN WELL ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

--

Virgil stared down into the wooden table, trying to swallow down the lump in his throat. It was at moments like these that he wondered why in the world he had thought it was a good idea to take the advanced math class.

He was awful at math. Yes, he really needed the extra credit, but right now he wished with all of his heart that he would've chosen another class. He had thought that he could do this but after weeks of being behind and never really understanding the material he was quite tired.

Most freetime he had he spent in the library, working on whatever shitty mathematical problem he was currently on. The rest of the class was already on chapter four while Virgil still struggled with chapter two. It wasn't that he didn't work during class, he did his best to catch up and understand what the teacher was trying to explain.

But the class he was in had 40 students and the teacher only had so much time during class to explain things, especially when people needed help all the time. They were quite busy helping other students, and it was hard to get the help he needed.

Virgil's best friend, Roman, who is a theatre major has of course offered to help him but they quickly established that Roman had no idea how to solve the problems either. Instead he provided comfort ice cream and let Virgil rant to him about his troubles, which Virgil was very grateful of.

He took a few deep and calming breaths before looking back at his scribbles in his notebook. He picked his eraser up, removing all the words and numbers from the page. It was better to just start over than trying to see where it went wrong. He had an answer sheet in the back of the textbook but it only showed the answers, not how the problem was solved, so that was pretty useless. He needed to learn how to solve it or he would definitely fail the test he had next week and probably also lower his grade. God, he hated math.

Math just made him feel stupid and like a failure. Virgil sighed loudly and pushed the thought away as he focused on the problem at hand. He wrote all the numbers down, worked the problem and... tears gathered in his eyes from sheer frustration.

The answer he had gotten wasn't even close to what it was supposed to be. He pushed the notebook away, not bothering to erase what he had written. He gave up, it didn't make any sense and he had been stuck on this one problem for soon two hours. He just couldn't solve it. He had tried everything he could.

He angrily wiped away the wet on his cheek from where some tears had rolled down. Why did this always end in him crying in an abandoned corner of the library before going home to eat way too much ice cream? He sniffled and huffed, ignoring the new tears that fell from his eyes.

No one else ever went to this section of the library anyway, so there was no point in hiding it. Okay, maybe the librarian and the janitor had seen him cry several times, but that was okay, they just left him alone. Though a few times the librarian had given him a lollipop to cheer him up and that was quite nice.

This was a nice table in the corner of the library, located between a section of books about flowers and the wall of the library. He had chosen this spot as his little study place just because of the fact that he wouldn't be interrupted or bothered by people. But when he looked up from the table he stared right at a man his age, who was ...wearing a necktie?

"I'm Logan, and I think this is for you." The man, who was apparently called Logan, said and held out a lollipop to Virgil. He took it with a confused expression on his face.

"The librarian said that I was to give it to the crying boy if I was going to the flower book section." Virgil got slightly flustered at those words and nodded.

"Yeah, that's- that's me... She has been unfortunate enough to find me crying over maths several times. I'm Virgil by the way, making a good first impression as always." He chuckled awkwardly, hoping that the man in front of him wasn't judging him too much.

But so didn't seem to be the case because instead of looking weirded out or preparing to leave Logan walked around the table, sat down next to him and picked up Virgil's math textbook, looking at the problem that Virgil had been attempting to solve. He studied it, then pointed at the page.

"Oh you see, what you did wrong was-" He cut himself off and looked back at Virgil who was staring at him, "apologies, that was rude, I just started talking but I should've at least asked if it was okay to join you here first."

"No, please! Explain it to me, I've been trying to solve it for hours but I just can't understand!" Virgil hurriedly said, trying not to sound too desperate but most likely not succeeding very well. Honestly, he was desperate for anyone to help him at this point. Even someone who was pretty much a stranger.

But he was quite sure that Logan was in his maths class. He had seen him raise his hand and answer all the confusing questions the teacher asked. Virgil had never really payed him any attention before, he'd been too busy trying (and failing) to keep up in class.

But now he watched as Logan smiled and began explaining exactly how he was supposed to get to the right answer. Virgil even had the courage to ask him questions when there was something he didn't understand and Logan somehow managed to explain it in a way that he did understand. When Logan had finished his explaining and Virgil had concluded that the answer they had gotten was the right one he felt his eyes fill up with tears once again and he sniffled.

"Did I do something wrong? You seem to be crying again." Logan said, sounding slightly alarmed. Virgil laughed, quite amazed by how well Logan had managed to clarify and demonstrate it for him so quickly.

"No, don't worry. These are tears of relief and joy. Thank you so much, i have, as I said, struggled with that problem for hours." He said, smiling brighter than he had in days. Suddenly it felt like a huge weight, probably stress from believing he would fail his next test, had been lifted from his shoulders.

"Well I am glad to be of help. In fact, I could tutor you if you'd like. I'm free most days and don't have anything better to do anyways so I don't mind." Logan said, reaching up to fix his glasses. Virgil couldn't help but to laugh. This seemed unbelievable.

"Wow, my ugly crying in a public library doesn't scare you away? Well, I would really appreciate that. As long as it's not any trouble, I could probably manage on my own." Virgil lies. He could most definitely not manage on his own, that he had proven to himself many times.

"I was the one who suggested it, wasn't I?" Logan said with a small smile and a glance. "Despite, you seem nice and my friend Patton keeps telling me to socialize more. But I will have to leave soon, my friend is waiting for me outside."

"Then I will gladly accept." Virgil tore away a bit of the page in his notebook and wrote down his phone number on it before giving it to Logan. "Here, so we can keep in contact."

Logan took it without looking away from Virgil and they shared a slightly awkward five second long eye contact. It was only interrupted when some stranger called Logan's name, making both of them look towards the source of the sound.

"Hi Logan, and you must be the crying boy." A shorter boy with a cardigan tied over his shoulders said, looking from Logan to Virgil. He hid his face in his hands with a small sigh. He really need to tell Marie, the librarian, to stop introducing him as the crying boy to everyone.

"Ah, hello Patton. I'm sorry I took so long. I was talking to Virgil here." He gestured towards Virgil who peeked out at them through his fingers and said a muffled hi.

"Why have you been crying, do you want a hug?" Patton asks with a concerned look.

"Patton, what have I told you? Don't hug people before they know who you are, it makes them uncomfortable." Logan said and Patton lowered his outstretched arms.

"Oh yeah, I forgot, sorry." He said with another cheerful smile and sat down opposite of them. "So what book was it you were looking for now again?"

"Oh right." Logan said, standing up and immediately walking over to the bookshelf to locate the book that he came here for in the first place, leaving Virgil to talk to his friend. Now, Patton did seem like the most friendly person ever, but Virgil was slightly exhausted from the minimal socializing he had already done and he knew that he had to get going soon anyways.

He had promised Roman that they would get pizza tonight and begin the marathon of his favorite Disney movies (which is all of them, so it's gonna take a while). But he smiled and shook Patton's hand when he greeted him, he didn't want to seem rude.

"So, you're a friend of Logan's?" He asks even though it's a stupid question. He'd rather say something stupid than share an awkward silence. But Patton nods his head enthusiastically and starts talking about Logan and pretty much everything. Turns out Patton is one of these people that are really easy to talk to.

After a few minutes of listening to Patton talk about what he is doing in his art class Logan joins them again, holding a huge book about flowers. Virgil had no idea what he would need that for. Maybe he was just going to read it for fun, from what Patton has told him he is the kind of person who would do that.

"I really need to go now." Virgil said, looking at the time on his phone. "My friend Roman is going to be mad if I'm late to our movie marathon."

"Yeah, we should get going too." Patton said and stood up while Virgil began to pack all of his notebooks and pencils into his backpack. They walked out of the library together and stopped outside of it before separating.

"I guess I'll see you around." Patton said excitedly.

"Yeah. Um, text me when you have the time to help me with my studying." Virgil said, looking at Logan who smiled and nodded.

"Will do."

Then Virgil said good bye and started to walk down the street while Patton and Logan went the other way. He couldn't help but to smile as he walked home in the sunshine with his headphones around his neck. This afternoon had turned out to not be as bad as he thought it'd be. And he was eager to meet Logan again. Maybe it was just because of his ability to explain math to Virgil, but he found the thought of seeing Logan quite calming.

--

Written: 22nd & 26th February 2018
Published: 27th June 2018
Words: 2111

Apologies for not knowing anything about the college in USA, I'm Swedish heh

Also, I wrote this ages ago, but just finished part two😂 (6th June 2018)

I cannot BELIEVE I still have mobile data enough to post. I am proud over myself for not wasting it all. Usually I run out over a weekend lmao

By the way, I do not think I have introduced myself yet.

My name is Tyra