Chapter 4: Ah, algebra, easy

"Please."

"No."

"But why?" I whined, resisting the urge to let my inner childishness out completely. "It's not due until..."

This was a usual thing that happened almost everyday. I would refuse to do my homework, especially if it's maths and Blake would have different ways to convince me somehow - which is still fascinating. Now, we were standing at the bottom of the stairs as I stubbornly stood my ground.

Blake sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He's frustrated but I didn't care. I'd do anything to get out of doing my homework when all I can think about is meeting my father. "Think about it this way," he begun, "If you complete all your homework by today, you get to spend more time with your father tomorrow."

His reasoning made a lot of sense and it should've convinced me but, "That's if he'll ever have time for me," I mumbled under my breath but Blake would've clearly heard it. I lowered myself to sit on the step of the stairs.

Moments later, Blake quietly moves to sit next to me, leaving some space between us, "He said he wanted to see you, right?"

I nodded as my mind replayed the phone call from my father earlier.

"Then, maybe this time it's different," Blake spoke softly, as if I was a kid about to cry with the slightest rise in tone.

"Why would it be? He's going to come in tomorrow and the only time I'll see him is when he walks through the door," I threw my hands in the air for dramatic effect, "After that, he'll be too occupied to even remember I exist."

I kept my eyes on my lap but I knew Blake was looking at me. I didn't look at him though, "Ash, you know it's not his fault, right?"

I scoffed and finally lifted my head to look at him, shaking my head in disbelief, "Who's side are you on?"

"No one."

I opened my mouth to argue but realised it wasn't going to go anywhere. Without another word, I stood up and made my way up the stairs, glad that Blake didn't try to stop me. I need to stop thinking about my father right now and the only thing that could possibly distract me right now was, and I never thought I'd say this, maths.

I dumped the unnecessarily thick maths book on my bed, causing it to bounce back before settling. Groaning to myself and slumped down on the bed and opened the page that I marked with a red sticker. Instantly, the numbers start to have a party of its own as it danced around the pages, almost mocking me. I blinked a few times to try and focus but when I failed, I slammed the book shut with a frustrated grunt.

"You okay?"

My head snapped to my door that I had somehow forgotten to close. Harry was standing, looking uncomfortable and almost apologetic as he attempted a light smile.

I sighed and pushed my hair out of my face as I sat up, "Yeah, it's just..."

"Maths?" he guessed.

I nodded slowly before letting out a chuckle and so did he. For a moment, we stayed in awkward silence before I finally noticed the obvious solution God was trying to give me. "Do you..." I cleared my throat and continued, "Can you help me with this? I don't think I'm going to get anywhere at this rate."

"Yeah," he nodded and laughed slightly, stepping into my room and stopping right by the bed.

"Really? I mean, thank you," I moved further into the bed to leave him some space and opened the book to the page with the red sticker once again.

He sat on the end, with his legs off the bed as he brought the book closer, "Ah, algebra, easy."

I snorted, "Easy for you."

Harry looked at me and raised a brow to which I returned with the same expression as he said, "I will teach you a trick."

I would've said I love rock music and it would've been completely fine. I would've also said I'm going to run a marathon and it would've been totally accepted but never have I ever considered even the slightest bit that maths could be fun. I've always thought maths were all about numbers and they just added some letters because there were only so many numbers they could use; just zero to nine.

But now, after Harry had shown me the hidden tricks and tips in the only thing I've hated and never thought I could ever understand, I might've judged it too quickly. Don't get me wrong, maths will still be a huge question mark for me but maybe for now, when it comes to algebra, I won't be grunting and groaning like I usually would.

"And that's how you do it," Harry finishes, dropping the pencil like how you would drop a microphone in a dramatic manner.

My mouth was literally hanging open, my lips were moving but no words would come out. I stared in awe at Harry's work in pencil on my book, unable to utter a single word.

"Blake?" Just as I heard Harry say his name, I looked up and saw Blake standing by my room door. What's with men and standing outside my room tonight?

"Oh I was just um..." Blake trailed off, scratching the back of his head, "looking for uh," he glanced around him, clearly trying to look for an excuse. He sighed and looked at me, "Ash, can I talk to you for a second?"

Harry turned his head to look at me, questioningly. I pursed my lips and nodded lightly, "Yeah, um," I switched my attention to Hardy, "Thank you for helping me, Harry, I don't know what I would've done..."

"No, please," Harry shook his head as he stood up from the bed, "No thank yous between siblings, yeah?" he held out his fist towards me and I bumped it with mine. He grinned and walked out the room just as Blake walked in, thankfully closing the door this time.

I set the maths book on the table next to my bed as Blake hesitantly sits on the far edge of the bed. I furrowed my brows but didn't question it, "So..."

Watching as Blake took a deep breath, I decided to get more comfortable on the bed. I already knew he was trying to apologise for earlier but I wanted to hear him say it himself without me having to point it out. I'm petty like that.

"About earlier..." he started, not meeting my eyes as I observed every fidget, his fists clenching and unclenching, feet tapping on the ground, eyes wandering everywhere but at me. "I'm sorry. I wasn't taking your father's side," this time he lifted his head to look at me, "I just wanted you to stop worrying about what could happen and simply focus on what is happening." He moved a few inches further into the bed, "Don't think too much about tomorrow. Just...let it happen."

A small smile tugged at my lips as it slowly turned into a grin. I spread my arms opens, "Make up hug!"

Blake stared at me for a moment before he cracked a smile and moving closer to engulf me in a warm and comforting hug. I wrapped my arms around him as I enjoyed the light pat on my back from his hand. I gave him a tight squeeze before mumbling against his shoulder, "You know, I wasn't really upset at all. I just wanted to hear you apologise for fun."

He pulled away from the hug as I resisted the urge to laugh at his shocked expression. Without saying a word, a quickly grabbed a pillow from next to me and before I could react, he was already hitting me with the pillow. I laughed and shielded my head with my arms whilst trying to squirm my way out of the attack. When I knew Blake wasn't going to stop, I faked a cry and covered my mouth, "Ow ow ow...stop stop."

As expected, he instantly stopped and tossed the pillow to the side. His fingers wrapped around my wrist as my hand covered my mouth, "Let me see."

I shook my head, "No, I think I'm bleeding." The worried look on Blake's face made me feel bad for tricking him but it's payback time. "Syke!" I exclaimed and grabbed the pillow that he used and immediately started hitting him, unable to control my laugh anymore.

We played around for the rest of the night until I felt like my eyelids were glued to each other. This fun time may be over but I had something else to look forward to tomorrow. I slept with a smile on my face with just the thought of being able to see my father again.

"Ash."

I felt a poke to my arm.

"Ash."

Another poke on my cheek.

"Ashley."

"What?" I asked with a frustrated grunt. It was the next morning. I had woken up unusually early and made sure the house looked clean and ready for my father to see. I also took the time to dress up nicely. Both Blake and I were standing by the entrance of the house as I waited for my father. I wanted to be the first person to greet as he walked through the doors.

"Your father's not going to be here until..." Blake was cut short with a knock on the door.

I gave him a 'I-told-you-so' look and proceeded to open the door with a huge grin on my face. I saw the smiling face of my father that I had ached to see for a long time, "Dad! And...who are you?"

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S.R. Fizz