The Tutoring Deal / Fake Dating Arrangement

The tutoring arrangement and fake dating scheme between Hannah and Garrett function as symbols of the emotional scaffolding people construct when they are not yet ready to acknowledge their true feelings. Both characters enter the deal with ostensibly practical motivations — Garrett needs to pass his ethics midterm, and Hannah wants to make her crush Justin jealous. However, these self-interested justifications are really just permission structures that allow two emotionally guarded people to spend time together without the vulnerability of admitting they want to be together.

As Hannah's and Garrett's genuine connection deepens through late nights, shared confessions, and moments of unexpected tenderness, the original terms of the arrangement become increasingly irrelevant, exposing the deal for what it always was, a safe fiction that two wounded people needed in order to let their guards down. Ultimately, the tutoring deal and fake dating...