Chapter 4 #2
Laura pats Maddy’s shoulder and gives me a wave. “It’s no problem. We’ve got your back.”
Aunt Maddy leaves the table to walk Laura out, and I tug at the zipper on my bag.
Milo clears his throat. “So, what do you want to work on?”
I shrug. “Beats me.”
“See ya, suckers,” Kai says, moving past our booth while texting on his phone. “How long are you guys gonna be?”
Milo looks at me and then back at his brother. “An hour, maybe?”
“I’ll be cruising around so I’ll be back to drive you home.”
Jealousy writhes inside me. “Where are you going?”
“I dunno,” Kai says, backing away with a happy glint in his eyes. “Parker and I were talking about meeting up. Maybe we’ll go for a spin around Mountain Drive and see who can take the curves the fastest.”
I pout, hugging my bag against my front. “Aw, I wanna go.”
“Well, when I pick up Milo, we can…”
“Nope,” Aunt Maddy cuts him off. “Get going Kai. Jamie, you’re not going anywhere tonight. Hello? Your homework has never been more important.”
I groan. “Whatever.”
Kai pushes open the front door, smirking as he waves goodbye.
I frown, feeling every good vibe falling to the pit of my stomach.
As Maddy walks back to the counter, Milo fidgets against the vinyl seat, asking, “Anything in particular you want to work on?”
“According to all my teachers, I’m failing. They all gave me extra study guides, but I don’t see how they’ll help.”
“That’s why you’re getting my help too,” Milo replies. “Can I look at the study guides?”
I open my bag and pull out a wad of paper and toss it onto the table. “Here you go.”
Milo’s nose crinkles as he looks at the scrunched papers, some balled and some torn. He flattens them out best he can. “Umm, okay.”
“Hey, at least I didn’t throw them out.”
Milo fixes his glasses as he looks up at me. “Yeah, I guess.”
I lean forward. “Hey, do you actually understand that Shakespeare stuff?”
“What Shakespeare stuff?”
“You know, how they talk and all that stuff.”
“Yeah.” He nods. “I mean, sometimes I have to read it again or go backwards once I have more context of the scene, but yeah, I get it. Did you understand the scene we went over today in class?”
“I never understand any of the scenes we talk about.”
“But you get what the story is about, don’t you? King Lear and his daughters. Love, jealousy, and hatred.”
I deadpan him. “I guess I know the names of the characters. Kinda… If I look at the page.”
Milo stares at me blankly. “They’re capitalized before the character speaks.”
I slump against the back of the seat. “You don’t have to be condescending. I know you think I’m dumb and all, but…”
“I don’t think you’re dumb,” he blurts. He chews his lip, his eyes moving from the pages on the table, and then back up to me. “I can help you with this stuff. I promise.”
“Why do you want to help me? Maybe I’d get it if it were one class,” I sweep my hand across the mess of papers, “but I need help with all of my classes. Why would you put this much effort in?”
“Well, I’m not struggling that much in class. Plus, I tutor people anyway.” He shakes his head, looking down at the papers. “It’s not a big deal.”
I avert my eyes and mutter, “It’s not like I’m struggling with every single thing.”
“Is there anything you want help with first? We can work on our King Lear homework.”
I wince. “Nope. Thinking about Thy and Thou gives me a headache, and my head already hurts enough.”
“But you need to hand in the homework. If you don’t turn things around now, your grades won’t improve.”
I rub my temples, frowning. “I can’t do this.”
Milo sits taller, and a perkiness bounces in his tone. “Don’t give up before we get started. Why don’t we start with something easier? Like a warm-up.”
“A warm-up?” My head tilts as I look at him. “I don’t think of any kind of homework like a warm-up.”
“You have those at soccer practice, right?” Milo replies. “You do easier things to warm-up to harder things? I don’t know, stretches or something?”
“Well, you need to do stretches or you seize up.” I look down my nose at him, the beginnings of a smirk curling the corner of my lip. “You did know that, right?”
Milo shrugs, straightening the papers on the table. “I dunno. It doesn’t matter.”
“It does if you want to be good at the sport,” I counter. “Is Milo struggling with phys-ed?”
“Let me guess,” he says, resting his chin in his palm, “phys-ed is the only subject you’re not struggling with.”
“I could do without the health class portion, but yes, I do all right.”
“To be honest, I could do without it.”
“No way. Not uncoordinated Milo,” I joke. “I can’t believe that.”
He flicks at the papers. “Ha ha.”
“If I was a skeptical person, I’d guess you’re tutoring me so I’ll help you with phys-ed.”
Milo looks away, fixing his glasses as his raised eyebrows poke over the top.
I laugh. “Am I right?”
“Would that be possible?” Milo asks cautiously. “Hypothetically speaking.”
“So, you’re not asking for my help?”
“Would you agree if I asked you?”
This is too much fun. How much can I make him squirm? “Ask me what?”
Milo exhales hard, looking up at the ceiling. When his eyes connect with mine, he asks, “Will you help me pass my phys-ed assignment? I need to show three skills in a sport. I have nothing.”
“Three skills?” I ask doubtfully. “In what sport?”
He shrugs. “You could teach me soccer.”
“Soccer? I couldn’t get you to my level.”
“I don’t need to be at your level. I just need to kick a ball and have it go where I want to.”
“You want me to teach you coordination? That’s a tall order. Have you asked Kai?”
Milo snorts. “Umm, no. This is way less humiliating. Kai would never let up about this.”
“So, why ask me? Kai and I are basically the same person.”
“No, you’re not,” he says softly. “Plus, you need my help. There has to be some payoff. I’ll tell your teachers, or whoever else, that you’re improving faster than you really are, and you can keep our soccer practice a secret from Kai.”
“You don’t want me to tell Kai? That’s impossible.”
Milo’s eyes flick to Aunt Maddy at the counter. “I can tell Maddy things that will help get her off your case. You can have more time to skate, or maybe get off the bench quicker and get back into soccer games.”
I sit up. “How will this work?”
Milo taps the papers. “You have to put the work in. No matter what, I’ll keep it positive. I just need your help and get Kai off my back. I don’t want to flunk a class. I just need some pointers.”
Wow. He’s worried about one class. He really takes school seriously. Dang. If I get anyone’s help, it should be from Milo. He cares so much about this stuff.
“Okay. How hard can it be?”
Milo grins. “So, it’s a deal?”
I reach my hand across the table. “Deal.”
Milo shakes my hand. “Okay. We should get some homework done then.”
Ugh. It’s going to be very hard.