“Oh, thank fuck.” He let out a breath and crossed something off his clipboard. “Check on Grayson Connors’ emotional well-being and try to sound like a parent instead of a coach. Glad we’re all done with that.”

“Is that all you wanted with me, Coach?”

“Not so fast.” He shook his head. “I received an email from the registrar this morning. Something about you missing some core credits you need to graduate, I think. Or maybe it was about you having a low GPA.”

“That’s impossible,” I said. “I have all A’s.”

“Really? With what I’ve heard about your reputation, when do you find the time to study?”

I gave him a blank stare.

“I mean, I’m very impressed to hear that. Good for you, son.” He cleared his throat. “You’re excused from practice this afternoon so you can talk to your advisor. Go get that sorted ASAP, will you? And if you need any more emotional support from me about any lingering feelings you have from the summer—” He paused. Then he shrugged and returned to the locker room, not even bothering to finish that sentence.

Thankful that he’d dropped it, I grabbed my bag and left the practice facility, taking a shuttle back to campus. I’d known all along that my avoidance of Literature classes would eventually catch up to me, but I thought it could’ve waited until the spring semester instead of this one.

I walked into the Cathedral of Learning and took the elevator up to the Honors College, knocking on my advisor’s door.

“Come in,” a soft voice said. “The door’s open.”

“Hey.” I stepped inside and crossed my arms. The woman behind the desk was not my advisor. She was his secretary and ever since my freshman year, she’d made it more than clear that she hated me because she thought I was ‘taking up someone else’s deserving spot’ in the Honors College.

“Where’s Mr. Henderson?” I asked.

“Well, hello to you, too, Mr. Connors.” She pursed her lips. “Good to see you in person for a change.”

“Where’s Mr. Henderson?” I repeated. I could feel contempt rolling off her in waves and I didn’t have time for her bullshit today.

“He went down to the English Department to meet with someone.” She motioned for me to take a seat. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

“I’ll wait for him to get back.”

“Oh, come on,” she said, motioning for me to take a seat. “I can totally help you. I’ll be nice.”

“Fine.” I remained standing. “I’m missing some Literature credits, but first I want to make sure that I’m on track to graduate on time.”

“You waited all the way until your senior year to check on that?”

“I’ve been busy winning championships.”

She ignored my comment and tapped away at her keyboard. “Well, let’s have a look. This can’t be right, can it?” She squinted at the screen. “Your grades are so not what I was expecting.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, I’m just—Wow.” She was staring at the screen in disbelief. “There’s nothing but A’s here. Not a single C or D, and you've made Dean's list repeatedly. What exactly is your worry?”

“I purposely put off all the Literature requirements until now, and the system finally caught it. I need to find a way to do some type of alternative.”

“Ah.” She started typing again. “Well, that’s a big problem. There are no alternatives allowed for Literature—especially for someone who wants to earn a minor in English Writing. You’ll need to take three advanced lit courses per term to catch up, and the easiest ones are on the freshman and sophomore level so they wouldn’t count towards your graduation anyway.”

“Is there any good news?”

“I could pair you with a peer tutor, if you like.”

I groaned at the thought. We had plenty of peer tutors at our mandatory team study halls and except for a few, most of them were more interested in hooking up with me and my teammates than helping us with our studies. If it weren't for the fact that I’d made my mom a promise about keeping all A’s in college, I wouldn’t have even bothered trying to fix this.

“Are you sure there aren’t any alternative courses?” I asked. “Maybe I could talk to the dean?”

“Now, Grayson, I think he’s pulled his fair share of favors for you, don’t you think? I know there’s no way you got these grades in honors classes and played football. I heard about the mess he got you out of this summer. Come on now.”

“Excuse me?”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” Her cheeks turned bright red. “That didn’t come out the right way. I can schedule a meeting with the dean, if you like. What day works best for you?”

“That’s okay.” I gritted my teeth. “I’ll get a tutor on my own.”

I heard her calling after me as I turned away, but I didn’t look back. I slammed the door on my way out of the office and headed down to the fifth floor to find my real advisor.

Tags: Whitney G. One Week Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net