She looked from the number 69 on the white front door back to the piece of paper in her hand and once more at the number before looking back down at the scribbled address on the paper once again. Breathing in deeply, tingling with nerves, she straightened down her black skirt and raised her hand to knock on the front door of the house. After waiting for half a minute the door opened, revealing a smartly dressed man.
"Mr Knight?" the young eighteen year old girl inquired, tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked him up and down.
"Yes." the man replied, copying the girl and looking up and down her also.
The girls face brightened with a smile as she held out her hand for him to shake.
"Hello Mr Knight. I'm Elizabeth Blake. I'm here for,"
"Private tuition." Mr Knight finished for her. Elizabeth nodded her head, a slight blush on her cheeks as he finished her sentence.
"Come in." He continued, stepping aside and allowing her entry. She stepped over the threshold into his home from which he ran his private tutorial sessions over the summer. "Follow me."
He closed the door behind them both and then walked down the hallway, going through a door and into a room. The walls had childish maths posters on, which brought a grin to Elizabeth's face as she remembered maths lessons in primary school. There was one large wooden desk at one side of the room, and in front of it were three smaller desks with chairs behind them. The large desk was covered in things, whereas the other three desks were empty. There was a bookcase against one wall with various textbooks on it. Against another wall there were two filing cabinets. There was a fifth desk against the wall which had the door on it, and on the desk there was a decent computer with stacks of disks beside it. Finally, there was a small white-board behind the large desk. Elizabeth looked around the room, which was set out similarly to a normal classroom in a school.
"Sit down." He ordered, as he walked over and sat on the large desk, after clearing a small amount of space.
Elizabeth walked inside, picking the centre desk and sitting down on the chair after pulling her skirt down a few inches. She crossed her legs and placed her over-shoulder bag at the base of her chair. She didn't move or speak, but waited for him to talk.
"Firstly, Elizabeth, let me tell you now that I am a strict tutor. Your parents have paid for my services, and you are going to get their moneys worth. I am strict. I am in charge. I make rules. You obey. Do you understand?"
"Yes." Elizabeth replied, nodding her head, eyes wide with respect.
"You are to address me as either Mr Knight or Sir. I will call you whatever I want. You will not complain. I will set you work and you will complete it. At first, there will be no punishments or retribution for mistakes, but as time goes on, there will be. If you continue to make the same mathematical mistakes, you will be punished. If you disobey one of my rules, you will be punished. If you insult me or call me something other than what I have told you to address me as, you will be punished. Your punishments are my choice and you are made to accept them. I will not accept reluctance nor will I accept complaints. Your parents have hired me. They have placed you in my hands. You are my student. I am your teacher. You will behave. I will teach. Do you understand Miss Blake?"
"Yes Sir." Elizabeth replied, anxiously yet excitedly biting her lip. She wanted to start her lessons.
Mr Knight nodded his head, a smile on his lips.
"Good." He said, as he stood up. "Now, I trust that your mother or father told you to bring your own pencil case."
Elizabeth nodded again, and reached down to her bag to open it and take it out.
"Stop!" He suddenly exclaimed, making Elizabeth jump in her chair and sit back up. "I did not tell you to take it out, I merely asked you if your parents had told you to bring your own pencil case."
"Yes Sir, they did tell me." Elizabeth replied, blushing at her mistake.
"Good." Mr Knight crossed the room over to the bookcase and picked out one book, bringing it back and placing it on her desk. Then he went to his own desk, opened a drawer, and took out a small book. He returned to Elizabeth's desk and placed it in front of her. "Take out your pencil case."
Elizabeth obeyed, bending down and opening her bag, removing her pencil case slowly.
"From now on, don't do anything unless I tell you to do it. If you want to do something, you ask permission. So, if you need to use the bathroom, or you want something to eat or drink, you ask permission. If I tell you to do something, you do it. Don't do anything unless you've been ordered to, or you have asked to do it. Understand?"
"Yes Mr Knight." Elizabeth replied, surprised by how assertive and dominant her new tutor was.
"Good girl." He said again, taking a chair from behind one of the desks and placing it next to hers. He opened the text book and then the other book. "This is your work-book." He said as he pointed at the book he'd given her, which was full of squares. "You will title every page with what you'll be working on, and you will date it as well. As you know, you are having three sessions with me a week for the next month. I want you to date this book properly and keep it organised. You will be answering all your maths problems in this book, as well as making notes whilst I dictate to you. You will practice things that you can't do well mathematically, but also work on those things that you can do well. I have all your future lessons planned to give you the boost that you need to help you retake your Maths GCSE next year. I know you've been doing maths for years and that you probably hate it, but you obviously want to re-do your GCSE to improve yourself, and I am here to help you do that. In order to help you, you have to obey me and do all your work, including the homework that I set you."
"You're setting homework?" Elizabeth interrupted in disbelief. Mr Knight looked slightly taken aback by her outburst, and even a little bit angry.
"Yes, I am Elizabeth. That is what I just said."
"I hate homework." Elizabeth said childlishly, folding her arms and sulking slightly.
"I don't care that you hate homework, you will do it because I have told you to, and you will be punished if you disobey. Now, I'm not completely mean. I will also reward you for good work. And, not all the work will be boring work that involves textbooks. I have maths DVDs for you to watch. I have maths PC games for you to play. I have prizes."
"What kind of prizes?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
"You have to stop interrupting me Elizabeth. You have to learn to put your hand up if you want to say something that isn't a reply to a question I have asked."
"Sorry Sir." Elizabeth replied, realising she'd made a mistake.
"Good." He said, pleased that she had apologised. "And, to actually answer your question, the prizes are not fantastic so do not get your hopes up. They're things like toilet breaks, snacks, drinks, breaks to go outside and similar things. Remember that I said that I was harsh and strict, well, you have to earn your privileges. Later on, nearer the end of our time together, if you have done well then I will give you a proper reward. A good reward. However, you won't know what it is until you receive it, and it depends on how well you behave. I do not tolerate naughty girls, remember that!"
Elizabeth frowned slightly after hearing what the prizes were, but she didn't let her disappointment show for long.
"Now, we're going to start with your first lesson, which will be on fractions. How well can you do fractions?" Mr Knight asked.
The girl paused to think briefly, before replying. "I'm okay." she said.
Mr Knight nodded. He stood up from the chair, placing it back in it's original spot, and then walked over to his own desk. He stood behind it, looking at Elizabeth. She blushed slightly under his piercing gaze, and she averted her own.
"Don't look away from me." Mr Knight ordered. Elizabeth hesitated, but then obeyed. She looked back at him and he smiled. "Good girl."
Then he turned, took out a pen and started to write out some fraction questions on the board. After a few minutes, he had finished writing. He turned back around and faced Elizabeth.
"You are going to answer these questions. But first, how many items of clothes are you wearing?" Mr Knight asked.
"What?!" Elizabeth spluttered in disbelief at the question her tutor had just asked.
"How many items of clothes are you wearing?" He repeated her question.
Elizabeth faltered, not wanting to answer.
"If you do not answer my question like the obedient student that you should be, then I will punish you Miss Blake, and bare my warning that you will not want to be punished by me. I am not like any other orthodox teacher. I have my own rather unique methods of teaching and of punishment. Now, answer my question!" Mr Knight raised his voice on the last sentence, and the young girl jumped with fright and surprise.
"Eight items Sir, if each sock and shoe counts individually." Elizabeth replied immediately.
"Well, they don't. Your pair of shoes count as one item and your pair of socks count as one item. How many items of clothing are you wearing Miss Blake?" He asked.
"Six items of clothing Mr Knight."