By: Elizabeth Fung
Middlefield C.I.

This story is dedicated to anyone who has helped and stood up for a friend in need…


Candice Plansée is your typical high school student. Just like any teenage girl, she wants to meet the “perfect boy.” Daydreaming, helping her friends, and getting her nose into others’ business are all in Candice’s to-do-list. However, there is one problem Candice didn’t expect to squeeze into her schedule. Candice is failing math and she has to get tutored by Oliver, but Oliver is nothing at all like Candice’s “dream boy.” Will Oliver be able to help Candice with her failing grades or will they find a way to help each other?



* “Absolutely Stunning! Truly captures a teen’s struggle to keep up her grades and have a social life at the same time!”
- The Math Test Times

* “Math Brought Us Together allows readers to journey back to when they were teenagers and revisit their teenage experiences!”
- The Short Story Journal

* “Recommended for all teenagers to read! Math Brought Us Together is interesting, funny, and has a heartfelt storyline that brings a friendship together!”
-The Teenage Booklist



As Candice walked through the doors of Amberside High School, people around her were smiling and giggling. There were people chatting with their friends about a show they had seen the night before while others were waiting silently in the corner for their friends to arrive. Candice scurried around the school trying to find her first class before the bell rang. As she passed by a music room, she heard a wonderful song being played on the piano. The song made her feel as though she was ascending into heaven. She slightly opened the door to the music room, hoping no one would notice, and peeked through the crack to see who was playing the piano. The music room seemed cozy; it was small with pictures of all the instruments in the world you could think of on the wall. The blinds were open, letting the room fill with soft, golden sunlight. Candice couldn’t see a piano or anyone in the room through the small crack so she opened the door all the way. She could see the piano now and a boy about her age was the pianist. He had light skin, dark hazel eyes, and black hair that sparkled in the sunlight. He was startled but pleased to be in her presence. He told her to come in and he offered to play a song for her. Candice quickly accepted and asked him what his name was. The boy was about to answer when a loud ringing sound rang. Was it the bell to start school? No. The ringing sound stopped. Now a loud screeching sound rang in her ears and it kept going and going and going…



“GET UP! COME ON! GET UP!” continued Candice’s best friend Jayne. Candice suddenly realized she was still in biology class, yet she was reluctant to get up, wanting to go back to her daydream. She was disappointed that her daydream had ended but tried to be optimistic and thought, “It could happen. It really could. Right?”

“Come on Candice, stop daydreaming. School’s over! Get up! Don’t you have to meet your new tutor in the cafeteria?” asked Jayne. Candice finally snapped out of her daze and packed her stuff. Candice’s math teacher, Mr. Chappen, was deeply concerned about Candice’s math grades and had gotten her a tutor to help her prepare for her final exam. Candice had never actually met her tutor, but from Mr. Chappen’s point of view, he was the next Albert Einstein.

Candice was dreading to meet the infamous boy she heard all about from Mr. Chappen. Although, just as she was going to enter the crowded cafeteria, she thought optimistically, “Maybe this won’t be so bad. Maybe he will be like the angelic boy in my daydream. Perhaps I will even have fun.”

When she was in the cafeteria, she scanned around for him but the boy was nowhere to be found. The scent of freshly cooked pizza with a tinge of burnt cookies filled the air. The noisy cafeteria was filled with students eager to gobble up their snacks. She couldn’t even call out his name because she didn’t know what it was. Then suddenly she noticed a slender boy, not at all like the boy in her daydream, sitting at a table alone. He had his nose buried in a math textbook so she couldn’t make out his whole face. As she walked cautiously closer to him she noticed a small crinkled piece of paper, hanging with sticky tape, on the beige chair next to him labeled: “Candice Plansée.” Candice sighed and coughed hoping to get the boy’s attention but it was useless. She tried hitting the table and even saying “Hello.” No answer. Finally, she grabbed the gray spiral bound textbook from his hands and put it on the table.

“Hey… I was reading that…” said the bewildered boy. He had messy dark brown hair and as many freckles as leopards have spots. He also had small brown eyes hidden behind black thick-framed glasses.

“Sorry but I was wondering, are you my math tutor?” asked Candice.

“If your name is Candice Plansée, then yes I am,” he said politely while grabbing back his book.

“What is your name?” asked Candice.

“My name is Oliver Chang,” he smiled.

They both had readily agreed to meet up in the library after school the next day. When Candice got there, she saw Oliver sitting at a table alone waiting peacefully. The library had rows of shelves filled with all kinds of books from flying kites to creating homemade jam. She cheerfully greeted him and politely thanked him for helping her. Oliver tried reviewing fractions, decimals, and even her timetables with Candice. She understood most of it until they got to BEDMAS.

“See you have to do the part of the equation inside of the brackets before you add that,” explained Oliver.

“Why?” asked Candice scratching her head.

“Because… B comes before A? I don’t mean in the alphabet…” stuttered Oliver. Candice stared blankly at Oliver hoping their tutoring session would end. “How about we call it a day?” Oliver could sense the confusion coming from both Candice and him. Candice willingly agreed and as they got up, something fell out of Oliver’s jacket pocket. It was a piece of paper crumpled into a ball the size of a fist. Candice bent down to pick up the paper. She held the ball of paper in her hand and looked at Oliver.

“What is this?” asked Candice curiously.

“Oh that… it’s nothing. Don’t open that...” explained Oliver, but it was too late. Candice gently smoothed out the paper on the library table and paused.

“Wow…” said Candice in awe. She admired the piece of paper more. It was a sketch of a landscape; a beautiful waterfall surrounded with magical and lush vegetation. “Why did you crumple this up? It is absolutely stunning!” cried Candice in a somewhat confused voice.

“It is ugly,” said Oliver trying to be modest.

“Are you crazy? You can be a successful artist! Your sketch looks like Michelangelo drew it!” smiled Candice.

“No I can’t. Even if I could draw, there’s no point. My parents would never let me be an artist. They expect me to be a doctor or a lawyer… just like them and their parents,” frowned Oliver. “Forget it. It doesn’t matter anymore!” Oliver stormed out of the library forgetting to take his sketch back from Candice.

The next day Oliver apologized to Candice for storming out on her without saying goodbye. He offered to tutor her some more before school the next day. Candice was slightly hesitant but agreed after Oliver told her it would help her understand the math concepts better if she spent extra time to study. He offered to give her a ride the following morning.

The next morning, Oliver’s mom picked Candice up at her house. Oliver was in a slick, red convertible with a shiny black hood for a roof. In the car, his mom greeted Candice and murmured things about how tutoring other students would look great on Oliver’s resumé when he applies to medical school. Oliver growled, aggravated by his mother. As Mrs. Chang continued talking about medicine and law papers, Oliver quietly explained to Candice that he had no siblings and that his parents did not understand him at all. He was an aspiring artist but all of his family members had high paying jobs that you needed to go through tons of schooling to get; never musicians or artists. He couldn’t explain to his parents that art takes feelings and techniques to produce. Oliver did not want to spend his life as a doctor or lawyer. He wanted to sketch. Candice asked him why he never told his parents about his passion for art. He told her that they wouldn’t understand.

Once at school, they headed back to the library. He sat on a soft gray chair and opened up his math textbook.

“Now where were we?” asked Oliver.

Oliver attempted to help Candice with her math again. She was making good progress because she finally understood BEDMAS a lot more, thanks to Oliver. They were just about to tackle algebra when “Grrr…” went Oliver’s stomach. His face turned bright red, hoping Candice didn’t hear his stomach. Candice did hear, and chuckled.

“Do you want something to eat?” smiled Candice struggling not to laugh.

“Um… I’ll be right back. I’m going to go get something from the cafeteria,” laughed Oliver. Both of them burst out laughing. “Watch my backpack please.”

While Oliver was on his trip to the cafeteria, Candice tried to understand algebra on her own. She was hoping Oliver would be impressed about how well she was improving. Suddenly Candice heard a ringing sound.

“Please don’t tell me this is another dream,” thought Candice. It wasn’t a dream, the ringing continued and the other students in the library glared at Candice. She could feel their eyes attempting to attack her with their vision like she had just disturbed their slumber after staying up for two days straight. Candice scratched her head and tried to find the source of the sound. It was coming from Oliver’s jacket pocket. Candice dug her hand into the pocket and pulled out a cell phone. It was silver with streaks of metallic blue on the cover. She bit her nails not knowing what to do. The ruthless glares of the people around her gave her the answer. Candice slowly opened the phone and whispered, “Hello?”

“Hello? Is this Oliver?” asked a familiar voice. “It’s your mother.”

“No. It’s Candice. Oliver just stepped out to get something to eat. Do you want me to leave a message for him?” asked Candice holding a pen in her hand, getting ready to write.

“I told him not to skip breakfast. It better not affect his learning. He has so many goals for the future and I don’t want something simple like eating breakfast to ruin it for him.” Mrs. Chang started rambling on again about how Oliver wanted to be a doctor. Candice was baffled about how Mrs. Chang knew what Oliver wanted when Mrs. Chang never even asked him. Candice wanted to stand up to her because she thought Mrs. Chang deserved to know the truth and that Oliver deserved to follow his dreams. Candice knew that it was not her place to tell Oliver’s parents about his dreams but she knew that Oliver deserved to have a chance to follow them.

“STOP!” screamed Candice, covering her ears. This time, a sea of people angrily glared at her. Candice’s face turned as bright as Rudolph’s nose. Candice apologized to the people in the library, grabbed her and Oliver’s stuff, and exited into the hallway. “I’m sorry but I can’t take it any more and neither can your son. I mean have you even ever asked if he wanted to be a doctor? Well if you did, you would know that he wants to be an artist and he has a lot of talent.” Candice reached for Oliver’s sketch, she had kept it in her pocket, and pulled it out. “Look, your son drew a sketch and it’s gorgeous. All he wants to do is draw and become an artist. Not a doctor,” explained Candice.

“Candice?” whispered Oliver. He had been standing behind her and he had heard everything Candice had said. Candice handed him his cell phone. There was silence now. It was so silent that you could hear a pin drop.

“Oh honey… why… why didn’t you ever tell me? I’m so sorry…” Mrs. Chang apologized.

“You and Dad both had your hearts set on me becoming a doctor and all…. I didn’t want to disappoint you,” said Oliver.

“Oliver, you could never disappoint us. We will always be proud of you,” Mrs. Chang explained. She now had tears in her eyes. Oliver mouthed, “Thank you,” to Candice as his mom continued to talk. Candice replied with a mouthed, “Your welcome,” and a thumbs-up.

She looked into Oliver’s eyes and smiled. She knew everything would be all right. Candice understood most of the math she had trouble with before she met Oliver and Oliver had just revealed his true passion of art to his mother. Candice’s heart felt warm and she felt like she could fly up into the clouds at any moment.

Weeks passed and Oliver continued to tutor Candice to get her ready for her math exam. Oliver told his dad about his plans to become an artist and showed his parents his sketches. They were very impressed. His dad was mad at first, but then he accepted that it was Oliver’s dream and life, not his. Oliver’s parents even let him apply for an art school in another city.

It was now the day of Candice’s math exam and she felt prepared for it. She went into her math classroom with confidence. The exam consisted of everything Oliver had taught and reviewed with her. After Candice had handed her exam to Mr. Chappen, he asked to talk to her once again the next day. He wanted to go through her test together, to either talk to her about her progress or failure.

The next day, Candice went to Mr. Chappen’s office in the math department. Mr. Chappen had looked over Candice’s exam the night before.

“Sit down,” said Mr. Chappen pointing to a chair. “I’d like to talk to you about the exam you wrote yesterday. I have looked over your exam and…” Candice leaned forward awaiting the news. “I am very proud of you,” he smiled. “You have improved your mark tremendously.”

“So I passed?” asked Candice.
“Passed?” he laughed. “Candice, you aced your exam! Oliver must be one great tutor!”

“Yes he is! Thank you so much Mr. Chappen!” Candice had a huge smile on her face.

“Don’t thank me, you earned it,” grinned Mr. Chappen. Candice left his office with the sense of accomplishment. As Candice walked down the hallway, she saw Oliver.

“Oliver! Oliver! Oliver!” cried Candice in joy. “I passed! I aced the test! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” beamed Candice, now hugging Oliver.

“That’s awesome!” grinned Oliver. “Guess what, I have great news too! Remember that art school I applied to? Well I got accepted! I’m going to start going there next semester.”

Candice’s jaws dropped. “Did this mean the end of our friendship?” she thought.

Oliver seemed to know what Candice was thinking and pulled her closer to him. “Don’t worry. We will keep in touch. Plus, I’ll always be here for you if you need math help,” joked Oliver. He was trying to break the tension and Candice chuckled a bit as tears welled up in her eyes.

“We will be best friends forever right?” Candice had a stream of tears pouring down her cheeks now.

“Yes we will. I promise,” said Oliver holding Candice in his arms. He wished he never had to let her go.

© Copyright 2008