Hazel's Hitchhiker

19: Remember Your Tutoring

Hazel

We were back on the road no later than half past six in the morning. We were still on track to getting to Austin on time. And even with the lack of sleep, I had overnight, my body was feeling completely awake to make the trip. No time was being wasted as my car went as fast as a rabbit. The only thing that could potentially slow us down was hunger and of course the need for gas. Eventually, we would have to stop at a Circle K for gas and food. It was hard to ignore the growling pain in my stomach and there was no doubt that Joey was likely feeling the same.

"I'm hungry," I stated. "I'll try and stop at the next Circle K as soon as I see it."

"Actually, I bought granola bars last night while you were asleep." Opening the glove compartment, Joey pulled out the box of granola bars and handed me a bag that contained two bars. "I figured you'd be in a rush to get to Austin. Although, we'll have to stop for gas eventually."

This boy was literally a mind reader. Sure, the last thing my stomach wanted was crunchy granola bars, but it was something. What I was really craving was a cereal bar. Something like Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Honey Nut Cheerios. Those were always filling.

Joey wasted no time eating his granola bar. Before my fingers could even unwrap the bag, his open mouth was making all kinds of noises. It was like he was in a race to finish his food as quickly as possible. But there was no race. There was plenty of time to finish. My head quickly began to hurt having to hear those disgusting noises. Part of me wanted to not even eat what he had given me. There had to be some way to get Joey to chew properly with his mouth closed. Somehow, it was up to me to teach him. But how the hell could I teach Joey something like that? Ten seconds later, a lightbulb went off. I was the boy's damn tutor.

It was another afternoon in the library with a few people. Joey had failed another easy five-question chemistry quiz. Looking at the quiz, he managed to get only one question right. This dude was truly an idiot. An idiot that needed some special help. That special help was obviously me. 

"You know Joey," I began speaking. "I don't understand how you could fail an easy quiz. This was honestly the easiest quiz I've taken this year so far." I let out a large sigh in frustration. "Do you still seriously not understand atoms?"

The poor guy had somewhat of a worried look on his face. Was he about to cry? He just sat there unable to answer.

"Alright, can you at least tell me something you know about atoms? Anything at all? It doesn't matter what. Just tell me something."

"Well," that manly voice started. "The Atomic Bomb was made from atoms. And it was used to nuke Japan in World War Two. North Korea also has a crapload of nukes and wants to wipe the U.S. out of existence.

"All that is true." How the hell was I supposed to help this poor teenage child? What made our principal think that out of all people, I was capable of being a teacher? Quite honestly, kudos to all the teachers out there for what they were doing. How could anyone want to be a teacher? With all this thinking, a lightbulb went off and my feet zoomed their way to the nearest vending machine. When I got back, along with me came a bag of Skittles, a bag of M&M's, and a bag of Hot Tamales. As quickly as possible, all three bags were opened. All three candies were put into their own groups in the middle of the table.

"Alright Joey, you see these three groups of candies?" His head nodded quietly. "Okay, when it comes to atoms, it's really not that complicated. All it requires is a little breaking down. If you remember one thing, it's that anything complicated can be broken down. Can you tell me what hydrogen is?"

He took a deep breath of air before answering. "Hydrogen is an element."

"And where do elements come from?"

"Atoms?" There was so much uncertainty in that voice, but in the end, he was correct.

Immediately, I explained the three groups of candies. The Skittles represented protons, the M&M's represented electrons, while the Hot Tamales represented neutrons. Once that was explained, Joey was instructed to sort out the protons, electrons, and neutrons that made up hydrogen. Slowly but surely, that arm reached out with his eyes looking at what appeared to be his notes. All I could hope was that he could somehow grasp this. After about a minute, one skittle/proton was taken and placed next to him. Another slow minute later, one M&M/electron was taken.

"Alright," Joey began. "Hydrogen has one proton and one electron."

Crap, it looked like that small brain was starting to understand. My heart began racing. Something inside of me felt different. All my eyes wanted to do was cry. Hope wasn't lost. I was a damn good tutor.

"You know Hazel, speaking of neutrons, how about that Jimmy Neutron?"   

That was probably the most random thing ever, but it was pretty funny. In the blink of the moment, there was a lot of nostalgia for Jimmy Neutron. Joey was smart enough to pull out his phone and we were able to listen and sing along to the theme song of Jimmy Neutron.

Anything complicated can be broken down. Anything including the way food is eaten. This was going to be another teachable moment for Joey.

"You know Joey, you should really try to chew with your mouth closed. If you want something more than a hook-up with a girl at Austin, now is the time to practice."

Uncomfortable laughter came out of his mouth. "I don't know. To be honest, I don't know how to do that."

"Well remember, anything complicated can be broken down. And in case you didn't know, there a couple of easy steps to not chewing like a dog."

Looks like Hazel is back to her old tutoring ways. Thanks for reading! Remember to comment and vote!

Do you understand Atoms and elements?

Will Hazel be able to help Joey chew properly?

Does it sound like Hazel was a good tutor?