You didn’t even realize you had the worst grades in the whole school until the principal introduced you to your new tutor, Jessie. Apparently, if you didn’t improve your grades by the end of the year, you were going to be held back a grade. So now, you must meet with this boyish-looking girl every day after school for private tutoring. “Are you even paying attention!?” Jessie slams her pen down on the desk. She abruptly stands, sending the desk chair tumbling back behind her. It crashes against the floor as she strides around the desk to face you. “You fucking idiot… What’s it gonna take to get this through your thick skull?” Two strong hands grab you by the collar, lifting you so your face is mere inches from hers. While this close, you can see the faint freckles that dust Jessie’s cheeks. There are tiny golden flecks in her honey-brown eyes. Jessie slams you against the desk, sending papers flying across the empty classroom. She keeps you pinned there, her cheeks red with anger. “Well… Answer me, dimwit! What’s it gonna take!?”

"Don't you fucking dare talk to me like that!" Jessie snarls, her breath hot and moist on your face as she leans even closer. Her hand lashes out, slapping sharply across your cheek before you can react. The force of the blow sends your head spinning, but it's nothing compared to the burning sensation in your skin where she struck you. Tears well up in your eyes from the pain and humiliation.

"You want to know what I think?" Jessie hisses. Her voice lowers, taking on a dangerous edge as her golden gaze flickers over your features. "I think you're nothing but useless garbage. A waste of space." She spits out each word like a curse, punctuating them with sharp jabs to your shoulder and arm.

"But since you obviously don't give a damn about yourself," she continues through clenched teeth, "I guess I'll just have to make you care." With one last shove, Jessie releases you from her grip and takes a step back, her expression distant and cold. "Get back up," she orders quietly. "We've got work to do."

Jessie's eyes widen in shock as you spit at her face, the saliva hitting her cheek and rolling down onto her shirt. For a moment, she freezes, unable to believe what just happened. Then, like a caged animal finally given permission to strike back, she lunges forward and grabs you by your hair.

"You little bitch!" she snarls, pulling your head back roughly as she moves closer to your face. Tears streak down her cheeks as anger takes over. "Do you know how much I've been through just to be where I am? Do you have any idea how hard I've worked for everything?"

Her other hand flies up, slapping sharply across your other cheek before she lets go of your hair and pushes you away with a shove that sends you sprawling across the floor. "You ungrateful little brat," she hisses through clenched teeth. "Do you think I want to be here? Do you think this is what I wanted my life to amount to?"

She paces back and forth, taking deep breaths as she regains control of her emotions. Finally, she turns to face you again. There's a cold, hard glint in her eyes now that you've never seen before. "Get up," she says quietly, almost conversationally. "We're not done yet."

She can't let you get away with that. The moment you make a move toward the door, Jessie is on top of you, pinning your arms behind your back and pressing her forearm against your throat in a tight chokehold. "You little shit!" she hisses into your ear. "You don't get to run from this!" Her free hand grips the back of your neck, forcing your face up toward hers so that you can't struggle or breathe easily.

"Let me go!" You manage to choke out between ragged gasps for air. But Jessie only tightens her hold, her eyes burning with fury. "I said we're not done yet," she growls through clenched teeth. "You want to act like a child? Fine. I'll treat you like one."

She releases your throat abruptly and shoves you roughly away from her, forcing you to stumble backward until your butt hits the ground. Then she crouches down in front of you, hands on her hips as she fixes you with a disapproving glare. "Now," she says coldly, "why don't we try this again?"

You make it halfway across the room before Jessie is on you again, grabbing your collar and yanking you back toward her. Her hands grip painfully tight as she presses your face into the cold, hard floor beneath the window. "Ow! You're hurting me!"

She rolls over you roughly, pinning both of your arms to the ground with her body weight and shoving your head up toward the ceiling so that all you can see is the dusty tile above. Her other hand lashes out, snapping the ruler she'd been using to correct papers against your bare butt cheek. The sharp sting of pain cuts through your anger like a knife, and tears begin to stream down your face once more.

"You think this is funny?" She hisses in your ear as she lands another blow with the ruler. "This is for every time you've ignored me or insulted me or made me feel stupid!" Another crack echoes through the room, followed by another painful sting on your already sore backside.

"And believe me," she growls as you start to squirm and cry out in pain beneath her, "if this doesn't work, there will be worse."

The pain radiates through your teeth as they clamp down on her flesh, but it's a small price to pay for freedom. You leap up, shoving Jessie hard enough that she stumbles backward and falls onto the desk with a loud thud. Blood trickles from her wound where you bit down, drawing a dark red line across her pale skin.

For a moment, shock registers on her face before it's replaced by an enraged snarl. "You bitch!" she spits out, scrambling to her feet and advancing toward you with fists clenched at her sides. Her breathing is ragged, her chest rising and falling rapidly with each gulp of air. "I'm going to kill you," she growls, lashing out with a powerful right hook aimed directly for your jaw.

The adrenaline surges through your body as you narrowly dodge the punch, your heart racing and your breath coming fast and shallow. Jessie advances on you once more, her eyes locked on target as she swings wildly with both fists, striking out again and again in a furious rage. You manage to block several blows with your arms and shoulders, but one of them catches you squarely on the side of the head, sending you spinning into the desk beside you.

Gasping for breath, you roll away from her just in time to avoid another flurry of punches. Your head spins as pain explodes behind your eyes and down your neck. You're not sure how much more of this you can take before she really does kill you.

Between gasps for air, you manage to shout, "Why are you doing this?!" But Jessie doesn't seem to hear you over the sound of her own ragged breathing and your muffled sobs. She just keeps coming, relentless in her pursuit of punishment and dominance.