Page 47 of These Secret Years

He gives me a curious look.

“I mean if you’re ever thinking of buying a house, you should really see how it feels at all three times of day. Morning, afternoon, night.”

“Are you in the market?”

“Not now, but…”

“And you think your mom won’t be able to sell this one, because I’ve got news for you.” He gestures at the kitchen. “Green cabinets are trending.”

I smile. Sort of. “So, what have you been up to?”

“The usual. You?”

“Same,” I say.

He nods. “Meaning?”

I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to what it’s like to talk to him. Aggravating. Anxiety-inducing. Interesting. “Just hanging around the house.”

He pulls his laptop out of his backpack. “What all do you do there?”

“Swim, play video games, watch movies, practice. Basic summer shit.”

“Ah.”

“What does summer look like for you?” I ask.

“You already saw what it looks like for me.” He sits down in a chair, opens his laptop, and logs in. “There’s a ten question quiz after every chapter. I already know what a variable is, so if there’s something else you feel compelled to try and teach me, you can proceed with that baseline.”

I take the seat next to him, needing to pull my chair closer to see his screen. He tilts it toward me. He’s got his browser open on the first quiz. I nod toward it. “Go ahead. Take a stab at number one.”

He stares at me. “It’s a word problem.”

“That’s because word problems prove the practical application of algebra.”

He responds with a blank stare.

I ask, “Do you have any learning challenges I need to know about? Dyslexia? Anything like that?”

“No.”

“Then you can read and process a word problem.”

He snorts. “Says you.”

I lean away from the laptop. “Just try it. I’ll be here the whole time.”

The look on his face is priceless. I’ve managed to aggravate him. “This wasn’t the deal I thought I signed on to.”

“Neither one of us technically agreed to anything other than a time and place to meet.”

“Do I smell bad or something?” he asks.

I shake my head at him with a short laugh. “No.”

“Because you smell really good.”

Falling easily for this, I tell him, “I just took a shower.”