Chasing Sofia

Chapter 5 - The Unexpected Tutor

“I am eating,” I defend myself. Although the way he asks the question sounds more out of concern than anything.

“Let me rephrase then. Why are you barely eating?”

I shrug and look away from him. “It’s not that I don’t want to. I’ve just lost my appetite and I get nauseous easily. I am trying though.” I’ve never admitted that to anyone before, but after last night I feel like I owe him some answers.

“Have you gone to the doctor?”

“No. I think it’s mental more than anything. I don’t know.”

He looks like he has another question lined up, but he stops when we hear Nico coming back into the living room. He dumps a bunch of notebooks in front of us on the table. “All my notes from freshman year are there. They’re probably not very good, but I think it might help.”

“Nico, this is crazy. Thank you,” I immediately say.

He suddenly wraps his arms around me in a hug. “I love you, sis!” he yells loudly and he’s off on his merry way again.

Adrian laughs, probably at the dumbfounded expression on my face.

“Why is he in a good mood all of a sudden?” I ask him.

He shakes his head. “I’m just as surprised as you are.”

I turn to look at the big stack of notebooks. “I almost feel like this is cheating,” I tell him.

He sorts through the notebooks and pulls one out labeled Calculus on the front. “Not necessarily. His handwriting is barely legible,” he says.

He studies the notebook for a few minutes. “Oh right. Now I remember,” he says. “How about I hold on to it? Then it’ll be like I’m a real tutor.”

“Are you sure?” I ask him.

“Yeah. Let’s just get this over with before I fall asleep.”

“Okay.” I’m certainly not going to complain if he’s willing to help me.

Surprisingly it doesn’t take him long to explain everything after using Nico’s notebook and I’m grateful for both of them. Things seem like they might be taking a turn for the better.

I let out a yawn as we’re wrapping things up. “Thank you for helping me with this.”

“It’s not a problem, Sofia. Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it.”

“Okay,” I tell him. It’s simple advice, but somehow I hadn’t thought about it before.

“Are you tired?”

“Yeah,” I respond truthfully.