Judgmental Morons

11. In-depth discussions on Fundraising Frequencies

"Stay off my bed, and don't touch anything on the desk," Alex instructed as he walked into his room. He didn't even hold the door open for me (what a surprise) so I almost broke my nose when the door almost closed on it.

"My nose almost broke," I informed him.

"Keyword there being 'almost'," he replied, "I caught the door at the last minute, I knew it wouldn't hit you."

His evil grin didn't convince me.

As he went to retrieve his books from his desk (which was very organized), I walked over to the bed and flopped on to it.

"I told you to stay off my bed," he told me without turning to look.

"Yeah, well, I asked God to throw you off a cliff. Didn't happen either."

I surveyed the posters clinging to the headboard of the bed. Thankfully, they were posters of bands, not health awareness. Most of them, like Fall Out Boy, ATL, Blink, and Maroon 5, I knew. One unknown picture caught my attention though.

"Royal Blood," I read out from the poster. "Who are they?"

"You don't know them?" Alex asked incredulously. "Hold on," he said as he dumped his books and notebooks on the bed, "I'll play one of their songs for you."

He went over to his stereo at the corner of the room and fiddled with a few knobs, and a brutal opening riff blasted through the room.

By the next five seconds I was in love.

"What is this song and where has this been my entire life?" I asked excitedly once the song ended.

"It's called Ten Tonne Skeleton. Isn't it amazing?"

"Hell to the yeah!"

We spent the next half hour discussing various bands and arguing over favorite songs and members. Physics notes lay strewn across the bed sheet, between the two of us, forgotten. That is, until Mrs. Richards walked in carrying a platter of cookies and asked how it was going.

"Uh great! Just great. Meg's teaching me about fundraising frequencies."

I went along with the act, nodding my head vigorously. I lifted a cookie off the plate she set down between us, trying not to make it evident that I was dying to taste the things.

"This is really good, Mrs. Richards," I said after taking a bite.

Technically, it was heaven, but I think that would be a bit too much.

"Thank you honey. And call me Rose."

Alex groaned and buried his face in his hands. "No no no you're not supposed to be getting on first-name terms!"

"I don't remember complaining when you got all chummy with Uncle Tom," I replied, waggling half a cookie at him.

"Oh, did I tell you? I told him I was looking for a job, and he offered me a position at his diner."

I blinked at this new piece of information and made a mental note to yell my ass off at Uncle Tom when I got home.

"Okay, you guys have fun. And study," Rose added before ruffling Alex's quiffed hair. He let out a loud groan before mumbling, "Okay Mom, fundraising frequencies are very amusing."

After she left, Alex attempted to renew our previous topic, but I silenced him with a glare and pulled out my textbook. "We have a lot more work to do than I originally thought," I informed him.

"What? Why?"

"Because they're called fundamental frequencies, dipshit, not fundraising frequencies."

*

*

*

I leant back against the wall as I watched Alex attempt to solve the problem I'd given him. His tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he concentrated. I was fighting the urge to laugh, because if I did he'd start an argument and then we'd get nowhere.

My thoughts kept straying back to what he'd told me on the staircase. He might have just been joking; after all, we've both had quite the experiences regarding judging people. However, his smile had suggested otherwise. Maybe there was something wrong with his family.

Then I remembered how Rose had ruffled his hair. The cuteness of it brought a smile to my face, but I also felt that familiar longing which always presented itself whenever I saw any of my friends' mothers. Their relationships always made me wish my mother was here for me.

No, I tell myself firmly, I will not think about that now.

"Is the answer 330?" Alex's anxious voice brought me back to the present. I skimmed over his working and nodded. "Yup, you got it right."

"Heck yeah," he fist pumped the air, "AP Physics, suck my butt!"

"I don't even know what to say to that," I said, shaking my head out of exasperation.

A/n

double update yo.

Too tired to write out a full author's note so Good Night and lurv chu.