Free I Don't Want to Lose You by Loreen James-Fisher

him.  “Fortunately for you, I'm good at this.  Do you mind if I take a look?”
                  He handed me his work.  It didn't take me long to find what he did wrong.  I showed him and helped him finish it correctly.  Then I gave him different numbers to work with to try to do it again to make sure he knew how to do it.  It took him a couple of tries, but he got it.
                  “This is making more sense to me now.  You're a good teacher,” he said.  “Thanks for helping me with this.  I was so worried about the test we're taking tomorrow and it messing up my grade, but I think I'll do okay.”
                  “You'll do fine. If you think you need more help in Econ, let me know.  You out of all people should know where I am and how to find me.”
                  He smiled at me with his eyes and I looked at them intensely.  “There's my Theo,” I said.
                  He got my hand and kissed it.  “And here’s my State Treasurer.”
                  I giggled, both from what he said and because I got what I had been missing.
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
     
                 
                  I was getting tired of high school and all that was involved in being there.  I was even tired of my friends and hearing about the things that they wanted to do once they graduated and went off to college.  I was tired of being nominated for awards or scholarships and having to go to ceremonies to get a “thanks for your time, but you're not the winning recipient” certificate.  I already had a scholarship to cover me for my first year at California State University of Long Beach.  I was done with talking about it or hearing about it.  I was ready to be about it.
                  At one of these ceremonies my family came to support me.  Theo was really eager to meet them.  I introduced them before the ceremony started.  It's funny how one moment could mean something completely different to the people involved.  Theo saw it as an opportunity to make a good first impression on his future in-laws, giving both of my parents a firm handshake.  To my family, though, it was simply meeting a classmate of their daughter.  For the longest time I dwelt upon what that moment was to me.  I was conflicted and didn't honestly know. 
                  My parents knew Nathaniel and his family and considered them to be friends.  My parents did not know, however, the many issues that Nathaniel and I had and how many times we weren't together while everyone thought we were.  He was always saying or doing something stupid or selfish that would make me have enough of his immaturity and say that I needed a break from him.  He would say the right words of admission of his errors and I would accept the apology and him back into my life once again.  It became a ridiculous repetition of soap opera drama that was becoming annoying.  Not realizing it then, I just didn't want to be alone, but dealing with Nathaniel made that feeling exist within me almost everyday.  Everyday that didn't have Theo in it, that is. He made me feel appreciated and worthy.  The last pomp and circumstance awards ceremony I was willing to attend senior year showed that to me.
                  I told my family that they didn't need to come to this one because I knew that I wasn't going to win.  I was up against some very intelligent young women, but the scholarship award was going to go to Brittany Taylor.  She deserved it and there was no way the city was going to hand it over to me.  Not with the answers that I gave them during the interview.  That particular day I was exhausted, my pumps were squeezing my feet and I just wanted to go home and watch the Designing Women marathon on