Acceptance | ✓

Chapter 19

[ANDREW]

ACE:

Are you free to Skype? Vivian wants to talk to you.

WED, 6:30 PM

I smiled at the text, taking a sip of juice from the cup I was holding. Ace and I had been talking a lot. We've spoken through Skype a few times and on some occasions, he's with his three-year-old niece and six-year-old nephew.

They were sweet kids. Vivian, his niece, seemed to like animals a lot and kept asking to see Roxanne or Hector when she heard them in the background. Charles, Ace's nephew, enjoyed drawing and was always prepared to show me some neatly colored drawing of a superhero or object whenever I saw me talking with Ace.

I bit my lip, taking in his request. I wasn't sure I could do that now, my ankle was hurting, and I needed to rest.

ME:

Not now.

Typing...

I need some rest, my ankle's busted.

WED, 6:35 PM

ACE:

That's okay, we'll talk later.

WED, 6:36 PM

I locked my phone before washing the now empty cup. I then headed to my room's bathroom to get some heat spray for my ankle.

Entering the room I found Ethan sprawled on the bed reading a novel. I walked to the bathroom, searching through the cabinet for the spray can.

I groaned when I pressed the cap and nothing came out but air.

"What's wrong?" Ethan asked as I came out of the bathroom.

"Nothing, just out of heat spray," I said, making Ethan roll his eyes at me as he started to laugh. I tossed the empty spray can at him. He dodged it skillfully, rolling to the other side as he continued to chuckle. I sighed in defeat before exiting the room.

I headed for Devein's room, realizing I'd probably put a can in the bathroom's cabinet months ago.

I knocked on her door before walking in to find her at her study table attempting to do what seemed like homework. I smiled looking from her to Roxanne who was attempting to tear apart a teddy bear I'd gotten for Devein a few days ago.

"Drop it," I ordered, making Roxanne let go of the bear before whining. I ignored her fledge, giving Devein's room a look over instead. The room was at that stage where it was oddly clean, but I knew better. I could come here an hour later and meet the place upside down.

"How's your homework?" I asked, opening the bathroom door.

"Fine," she said before biting her lip, "where's the stress on education?" she asked before mouthing the word slowly beneath her breath.

"You're doing stress?" I asked, leaving the doorknob of the bathroom to approach her.

"Yeah..." she trailed, looking down at her assignment. "I thought this was easy as hell when we were taught in school but I got a mark that shall not be named in the class exercise."

I chuckled at her frustration before taking a look at her notes. Stress was easy but their teacher probably didn't show them the trick.

"Let me teach you a trick," I offered, taking her pen from her, "anything that ends with the above has its stress on the second to the last syllable."