Enduring [EDITING SLOWLY].

Chapter 4

Chapter 4 - Teaching Alex English literature.

I went home after school. Freshened up & left to Alex's home. I drove & drove but couldn't find his house. I really hope this wasn't some kind of prank. The address went towards the outskirts of the city, where all the really rich, like celebrity rich, people lived. At last, I found his house. It was named 'Silver Orchids'. It was huge. I drove up to the gate when I heard a voice asked me "How may I help you? Who are you?" from a microphone. I answered "I was supposed to meet Mr. Alex at 5:00 here. I hope I'm not late. I'm his classmate in school." The voice replied "Oh, yes! Mr Alex has been expecting you. Please come in". And the gates opened. I drove in & parked on the side. I got down from the car & stared at the house. Correction, mansion. Or palace. I dropped my jaw at the beauty of the place. It was like a Disney castle except less Disney-ey. I felt like I was in some other dimension. I went up to the door & knocked & stood carefully. I didn't want to break the floor or something. The door opened to a man in a waiter's costume with a napkin on his free hand. Like those you see in movies. I really hoped I was at the right place. "Please come in. Mr Alex has been expecting to see you." I stepped inside & felt my jaw drop. Chandeliers on the ceiling. A really expensive couch. A mini bar. A really long dining table. Pictures on the wall. A grand piano. I wondered who'd be playing the piano. There was a staircase leading upstairs. The man pointed & said "Go up & turn right. You'll find Mr Alex there". I murmured a thank you & went upstairs & turned right. I saw a really clean place. Clean for a guy's room. Not what I expected it to be. I thought there'd be clothes lying everywhere. No mattress unmade & all. Guess he'd hired people to do it for him. I went into the room. I could see a computer, like the ones in the movies which they use to find where the superhero is & all. There was a chair in front of it. I went & sat there. There was a door in the side. I guess that would be the bathroom. There was a huge walk in wardrobe on the other side & he had a library. He reads...??? I went to check the library. Shakespeare's entire collection in French. Lord of the rings in English, a few magazines, music arranged according to alphabetical order & loads of other stuff. It was huge!! "Didn't expect you here this early, Ems!" I heard a voice near my ear & was startled. I turned back to a smiling Alex. "Isn't it 5:00 already? You told me to be here @ 5:00. I came. I'm right on time." I said. We were standing so close to each other, I could feel his breath on me. And then I punched him & started walking to the couch in his room. "Hey! I didn't know you'd take my words so seriously! Can't blame a guy for guessing! I thought you'd take loads of time getting ready to impress me!" He laughed & walked towards me & sat on the opposite side. I'd ignored his comment. "So what shall we start with?? English, Chemistry, History or Bio?" I asked him. Please say English. Please say English, I was thinking. "We can start with History. I find it really tough & boring!! Let's finish it off. Hey! Didn't we have to write a report on that Roman Era thing??" He asked.

"You remember your homework. I'm impressed! Here I thought you sat in class ogling at random girls & not paying attention to what the teacher says!!" I said sarcastically.

"Hey! That's mean! I do NOT ogle at girls in class. I pay attention to every word the teacher says." He said sarcastically. I burst out laughing. He never paid attention to what the teacher said. Ever. I know because I look at him sometimes. He's looking at the wall or at some random girl or doing something on his phone. "Ya.. right! You ogle at girls all the time Smith! I've never seen you concentrate in class. Ever!" Oops. I shouldn't have said that. I shouldn't have said that. He raised his eyebrow at me & asked "So you do look at me in class? Admit it, you think I'm hot. You like me, don't you?" He said teasingly. Yes I do, I thought. "You're NOT at all hot smith! And what made you think that I'd like you???" I said laughing. "Ok. So, back to history. Have you written the report or should we do that now?" I asked him. "I've written half. You can check it out. I'm sure you'll find it very interesting!" He said & opened the file on the computer. I started reading it & was quite impressed. It wasn't bad. Not bad at all, actually. It was good. It must have shown on my face because he asked me "Hey! It can't be that bad...or is it?? I'm going to fail history, amn't I?? God! Help me!" I smiled & said "It's not bad. It's actually quite good. And if you fail history, get me a treat. I'll be the second happiest person!" I said teasingly. "Second happiest person??? How second?" He asked. I was expecting that & said "First will be the teacher, of course!" & burst out laughing. "Not funny Keene. Not funny at all!" He said in a half-serious tone which made me laugh harder & after a while he started laughing too. Then we stopped & just looked at each other & smiled. That's when there was a knock on the door. Alex opened the door to Sam, I guess because that's what Alex called him.