l.o.v.e. spells trouble (and a horse)

chapter ten

“Boys,” said Diana Hanson sternly. “You may not have noticed, but you have been falling back in your science lately. I’ve been very worried about your grades, so I’ve hired a science tutor.”
“What?!!!” Ike, Taylor and Zac exclaimed.
“We don’t need an extra tutor, we just need to put more time into our science!” Zac cried.
Their efforts to change their mother’s mind failed. Their whining continued.

“Why do we have to have a stupid science tutor?” Taylor whinged, late that night.
“He’ll probably be really mean,” Zac agreed from the next sleeping bag along.
“Guys, PLEASE stop whining and go to sleep!” ordered Jessica.
“We couldn’t sleep anyway,” Tay pointed out. “It’s so noisy with Ike’s snoring.”
Jessica had to agree. The three siblings decided to raid Bel’s kitchen for a midnight snack. Taylor gazed longingly at the toaster.
“I wish... I wish...”
“You wish what, Tay?” asked Zac.
“I can’t remember,” said Tay confusedly. “There was something about that toaster that really upset me a few days ago.” He sighed. “I wish Susan was here.”
“Who’s Susan?” asked Jessie.
“Oh, just the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. I met her in Paris, but we had to leave before I could get her number. She even lives in Melbourne, too.”
“Paris?” Jessie was confused. “We went to Paris ages ago, and I don’t remember you meeting any girl there.”
Taylor and Zac exchanged glances. “Um... Maybe I made a mistake, and it wasn’t Paris after all...”
“I didn’t think so,” Jessie agreed happily, munching on a marshmallow and frozen pea sandwich.
“Phew.” They were saved.

The next morning Ike, Taylor and Zac were up bright and early. Well, it was early, but they weren’t exactly too bright. More like grumpy.
“Why do WE have to have a stupid science tutor?” groaned Zac.
“Yeah,” agreed Tay. “I thought the whole point of home schooling was that our PARENTS taught us. I don’t want a-- Whoa...”
Diana had just walked into the kitchen. That wasn’t what made Tay gasp, however. It was the girl behind her.
“Boys, I’d like to introduce you to your new science tutor. Susan, this is Isaac, Taylor and Zac. I know Susan’s a little young to be a tutor, but she’s just so good at science that we had to hire her!”
“Susan!” Tay exclaimed.
A frown crossed Mrs Hanson’s face. “Do you know this girl, Taylor?”
“Um, no! I was just saying, ‘Susan, what a beautiful name!’” Tay was really desperate.
Susan’s face fell. Taylor obviously didn’t remember her.
“Hi,” said Zac cheerfully. He had long since realised this was the girl Tay had been mooning over ever since they’d rescued him from Paris, and Zac was overjoyed that there was now something else to tease his older brother about. Zac was determined to be friendly. “So... Do you have a nickname?” he asked.
“Well, sometimes people call me ‘Suse’,” she said.
This was too much for Zac’s vulnerable vocal cords. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t pronounce Susan’s nickname.
“Suss--” he spluttered. “Shoes... No, that’s not right. Fuse...” Zac attempted to focus all his concentration on sounding out the difficult syllable under his breath.
Susan gave up. “Just call me Susan,” she told the boys.

She is so gorgeous, thought Ike. A total babe. She seems really familiar, though...
For the life of him, Ike couldn’t remember where he’d seen Susan before. That didn’t stop him falling totally in love with her, though...

Oh my gosh, thought Susan. I can’t believe I’m tutoring HANSON, and Tay is soooo cute-- Keep your head straight-- Science, teach them science. That’s what you’re here for.
So they started their lesson with Mr and Mrs Hanson keeping a watchful eye over the boys and the new tutor. Or at least, as watchful an eye as can be kept when Days of Our Lives is on TV at the same time. Susan handed out some worksheets and Ike, Taylor and Zac began to complete them in silence.
“Finished!” Ike exclaimed, after he’d checked his work a hundred times; he wanted to make a good impression on the new teacher. He casually strolled up to the teacher’s desk and said, “I’ve finished, Miss. What can I do now?”
“Call me Susan, not Miss. Chapter 4, pages 24-27, questions 1-10, full sentence answers,” she told him. There, thought Susan. Almost like a REAL teacher.
Shocked, Isaac walked back to the table, opened his text-book and began to work.

The next day was the final day of auditions for the part of Christobelle, and they still had no suitable actresses. Things were getting desperate. Ada was so stressed out by it that she had all her clothes on backwards. Even the shoes. She yelled out a bunch of instructions so fast no one could understand them. Everyone guessed what she wanted them to do and got to work.

Because they were going to be at the set all day, Mrs Hanson insisted that Susan come along with them. She didn’t want them to miss a minute of their science lessons. Zac had a feeling that since the arrival of Susan they were going to be learning a lot of science and not much else. Diana seemed to be enjoying her break from teaching a little too much. Predictably, Tay wasn’t at all upset when Zac related his worries to his older brother. Tay dreamily thought of the hours of lessons he could pretend to need extra help in. Genetics, Light and Sound, Weather Patterns, Electricity, Chemistry, Microbiology... The list was endless. He was sure there would be heaps of time to get “close” to Susan.

Ada was getting frustrated. Time was running out and they still had no Christobelle. She was the lead female role and therefore rather important to the movie. It just seemed like there was no real talent out there these days.
Ada wearily refocussed her eyes on the girl performing in front of her. The girl, although tall, bottle-blonde and anorexic, just what society demanded, seemed to have to visible talent, and worse, no personality at all. She couldn’t even act. The girl finished off her gymnastics routine with a flourish and a smile. Ada glared at her and tried to make it appear like a grin.
“Not quite what we’re looking for, but very nice gymnastics there. I might call you, DON’T call me. Please.” Ada looked around for some security to escort the girl off the premises. There was no one. Darn it! So hard to find competent help these days. Ada would have to do it herself. She grabbed the girl’s elbow and led her gently to the back exit, the one that opened onto a dark alleyway. She gathered her strength, picked up the girl, and heaved her out the door. That done with, Ada turned on her heel and marched back to the auditioning room. She was almost inside when she realised she should probably go and say hello to the Hansons. She turned and headed straight for their dressing-room.
Diana opened the dressing-room door and Ada steeped inside, muttering some perfunctory greeting. Her attention had been caught by the girl passing out worksheets to the three boys sitting around a small table in the centre of the room. Ada examined the girl more closely. She seemed to have it all; personality, looks, a great speaking voice. Ada knew it immediately, this girl WAS Christobelle.

An hour later, Susan had her own dressing-room, with a gold star on the front door. The new deal was that Susan would spend half the day acting and half the day teaching; she didn’t mind missing out on her own schooling at all. Tay was over the moon. He and Susan were in the two lead roles, and Tay was sure there would be lots of kissing scenes. Tay would make sure there would be.

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