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━ ━ ━ ━ ━TOUCHDOWN chapter eleven ꩜ tutor
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IT WAS A SHINY DAY, AS USUAL. The clouds weren't strong enough to hide the sun, and its rays were hitting Royal Woods with violence. Too hot to handle, summer slowly forcing spring to back down so it could finally take over although it still needed some months.
Lynn wished summer would come faster, 'cause she could not stand school anymore. Day after day, it was getting harder and annoying, and Lynn's brain could no longer process whatever was coming out of Ms. Tyte mouth. Her mind was elsewhere, overwhelmed by literally everything else, so she could just no longer accumulate more knowledge unless she had three months off school.
And she was failing history class.
So, she found herself in need of a tutor. Someone who could give up some of their time to help her pass the one exam that would define wether Lynn would graduate middle school or would get killed by her mother when she got home. She only had one chance, and she could not waste it.
And the hero to her story was Jules Chung, who was now, coincidentally sitting on her porch with a melting strawberry ice-cream and denim shorts, complaining about how hot it was outside (yet it was still better than inside).
"I cannot believe I agreed on this," Jules cried while Lynn put two history books and her notebook on top of the retractable table her mother lent her for this very specific occasion. "I feel like I'm going to die at any moment."
"I told you we could just do it at your house," Lynn reminded her, and Jules groaned.
"But it's too depressing," the blonde sighed. "Plus my parents have their day off, and I don't hate you enough to put you through that misery."
Another funfact about Jules' parents for Lynn's book: apparently sharing the same air as them could cause lethal distress.
"Speaking of depression, would you help me study the Great one?" Lynn asked so nonchalantly it made Jules day. The girl took another lick of her ice-cream and fixed her position to grab their history book and look for the info it was given in there, just as a reminder.
Mr. Adler was considerate enough to let Lynn and a couple of other kids retake their last exam, and Loud would do anything to pass with the best grade in the entire class.
It was an exaggeration, of course. But as long as she got anything above a B-, she was satisfied.
"I hated having to learn about this," Jules confessed.
"Thanks, Jules. Loove your words of encouragement," Lynn looked at her, with a fake smile. "Would you mind being thoughtful the next time?"
"Sorry," the blonde one said, eating her ice-cream as she read the contents. "So, let's start with the stock market crash of 1929."
"I'm listening."
Jules proceeded to explain a bit of what was going on around that time. Something about the value of the market doubled, and then the crash on 'Black Thursday'.
"Wait, but what's the difference?" Lynn asked.
"About what?"
"You said 'Black Thursday' and 'Black Tuesday', which one was it?"
"No. 'Black Thursday' was October 24, and 'Black Tuesday' was October 29. The crash begins on the 24th, and the 29th is the panic because of stock traded at ever-falling prices," Jules explained, pointing it out in the book. Lynn re-read it, and nodded, then wrote something on her notebook while Jules continued. "So, by mid-November, the stock market lost a shit ton of the value it had back on September, and that's how everything went downhill."
"Okay, we're finally speaking the same language," Lynn expressed, because Jules explaining it so vaguely like that was finally helping her to understand what the hell was going on with the market.
The front foor opened suddenly, and Mr. Loud walked out, looking around until he found his daughter and friend sitting quietly. "Lynn, thank God, I was looking for you everywhere."
"What happened?" Lynn asked.
"I need you to take care of your siblings while I take Mom to the dentist," he replied, and Rita Loud walked out the house, holding her cheek.
"Woah, what's going on?" Lynn stood up at the sight of her mother struggling, but her father answered her doubts instantly.
"She ate a caramel apple and it looks like it broke a molar and she won't stop bleeding. Leni and Luan are babysitting today, and Luna went out, so I need you to look after the house while we're gone," Lynn Sr. explained, and Rita waved at Jules happily before complaining again about her state.
Lynn nodded, because she couldn't refuse. They'd be gone for a couple of hours, but she could still study... she hid her anger, because she knew how things could go South in less than an hour when leaving the Loud kids unsupervised.
"Fine, take care."
So they left, and Lynn told Jules to pick the books up and bring them to the living room, because they'd had to be inside all day now. Jules helped, and then entered the house, fixing the books on the living room table and then plopping on the sofa, looking at Lynn.
"First, we gotta make milk for Lily," Lynn said, running to the kitchen. Jules looked at her, dumbfounded, thinking they'd actually continue studying (obviously, she was in the wrong), and stood up to follow her. "She's on her bed, would you mind helping her downstairs?"
"No, I will. But... how will we study?"
Lynn sighed. "I don't know. Could you, like, tell me more about it while I prep it?"
"Yeah," Jules nodded, then walked to the door. "I'll be right back."
She ran upstairs, and everything seemed oddly calm. Clyde and Lincoln were in his room, Lucy was writing poetry, Lola was having tea with her stuffed animals while Lana played outside with Charles, and Lisa was busy reading and studying some new discovery.
