Knowledge is Power

I wonder who that guy was. Was he her boyfriend? No, no. She wouldn’t. Maybe he was just a friend? Yeah, let’s go with that.

“Mr. Jackson, please pay attention!”

I hear kids laugh, so I just look straight at the board.

I wonder what she has been doing all day? I mean, she is basically perfect. Well, in my eyes. I’ve had a crush on her for the whole school year now. She is pretty, and most of all she helped me when no one else wanted too. She was even nice after I mentioned her dad.

The bell rings. Finally! The day is over, and now I can finally rest. Wait. I have tutoring. Snap! At least it’s with Kendra, and not some random person the teacher picks out. I head out the school’s front doors, and walk home. I live half a mile from the school, so my parents make me walk to and from.

Kendra’s car slows as it passes. She pulls over. I jog up to the window.

“Would you like a ride?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I answer hopping into the backseat.

I live on the street parallel to her. She jogs down it all the time.

“You live on the next street over right?” she asks.

“Yeah.”

“I guess I could just come over now. I don’t need to get anything from the house,” she says.

“Yeah. Okay,” I mumble. Thank Gods Mom is at work. Dad is probably on an iris message with Chiron or someone from camp. Oh, crap! If she sees that, she’ll freak out.

We get to my house. I hop out, and walk quickly into the house.

“Dad! Kendra is here!” I shout.

“Gotta go,” I hear before he walks out of the kitchen.

Kendra walks in, and takes in the surroundings. My house isn't that nice compared to hers. It has whites walls with pictures of our friends and family. The couch is old. So is the coffee table. It's not that appealing to the eye. Our kitchen is small, dining room smaller.

“Hi Kendra!” my dad exclaims.

“Hello,” she says holding her hand out for a shake. “I apologize for my rudeness yesterday. It was not acceptable.”

“No. No. You're fine. It's alright,” he says shaking her hand.

Wow. She's been tutoring me for the whole school year and is just now meeting my dad. (Last night doesn’t count.) We’ve been doing it at the school forever, but all the teachers are super busy these days. They won’t let us stay after school anymore.

My dad looks at me weird then heads off to the kitchen. He brings back some cut apples and water.

“We can study right here,” I say, and sit down on the couch. She sits down with her back straight, and crosses her legs.

We study for hours, about till four o’clock. Then she walks home. I see her jog by later, not a bead of sweat anywhere. She is very

She’s wearing a black nike shirt, pink nike running shorts with blue nike pro under, black nike shoes, black nike elite socks, and even her arm band holding her iPhone 6 is Nike. Wow. She is really into Nike. Wait. No. I think she said her travel softball team is sponsored by Nike. Yeah. I think so.

She jogs past listening to music. I wonder what she does on her free time? Except when she is running or working out. Or at softball practice. Does she even have free time? Hmm??

Oh crap! I forgot! I have to do my chores before mom freaks!

I start on the trash, then clean my room which takes forever, then I swiffer the floor. I start on the dishes which aren’t that bad. I finish those up real quick. Now I am done. All I have to do is put this one last dish away. I hear a car door shut. Mom’s home! I shove the dish in the cabinet then run to the couch. I jump over it like in the movies, and grab my homework. As the door opens, I start scribbling a bunch of stuff down.

“Hey mom,” I say trying to be casual.

“Hello, honey.”

She heads into the kitchen with her bag and purse.

“I see you did your chores on time,” she says.

“Yup,” I grunt.

Dad walks in, “Nope. He just did them, then ran over to the couch and grabbed his books.”

“Really dad? You just had to rat me out!” I yell shoving away my books.

“Connor! I do not like being lied too,” mom raises her voice.

I ignore my parents while they start to lecture me. I run up the steps and into my room, my dad yelling at me. I climb out the window, onto the roof. I feel calm here. Plus I can see Kendra’s backyard. She has a screened in pool in the back. She goes swimming all the time. Well, she does when it is hot or cool. I didn’t see her at all last summer, well mostly because we just moved here from New Rome. Dad said we are going to go to camp, and see everyone but mom says we don’t have time.

Hey, it’s Kendra. I wave, but she doesn’t see me. That could be because I’m on the roof. Anyways, she jogs by her house. I assume she is done because I don’t see her anymore.

Later on, I see her go out onto the back porch. She’s probably going to go meditate. She does that everyday. Mom does it too, she says it helps with stress and it relaxes the body. She makes dad do it too, but he usually ends up sleeping and drooling. I should try it out maybe. I criss-cross my legs then put my hands on my knees flipped upward with my fingers touching like the monks in Avatar do. Nope, can’t do it. This is boring. I’d rather watch a long history documentary than do this. How can they do this? It’s just so-so boring.

I climb back into my room, and try to read a Thor comic book.

My dad knocks on my door, “Eh, I’m coming in.”

He walks in, “Hey champ.”

I ignore him, and keep trying to read the comic book.

He sits down next to me, “You know your mom is right.”

“Yeah, whatever.”

I leave and go to the bathroom hoping when I come back he’ll be gone.

Notes

Sorry for short chapter.
-A.D.R.