From noon till midnight, I studied like a nerd. I memorized all formulas, methods, and everything. Jet did not enter or disturbed me even once. Grandpa and Grandma continued with their routine and I continued with mine. And the next day, I did a really good job on the math paper.
I decided to hang out with my cousin Max Angel. Okay, he isn't an angel in a soul-spirit form, but that person is legit just a technical and more improved form of an angel. I mean it.
He is nothing like I exaggerate myself, instead, he is real. He is long, smart, and ...pretty much everything. Max is 20, 4 years older than me but still never acts odd, never ignores me, or doesn't even shoo's me out, partially because we have the same interests: technology and invention.
Once we both connected and collected wires and portions and everything and ended up inventing a baby bird who would always make tea for you. Max gifted that to Grandma Zoe, but my grandma asked for tea so many times a day that after 3 days the bird exploded spitting out the raw tea on grandma's necklace and chin.
Now, that's funny.
The second time, we started to think about turning Mr.Willy Wonka's secret inventions into real-life inventions and we spent day and night inventing machines that made Chewing gums that would never lose their taste. Max's sister also helped us in that as she was good at baking and cooking stuff. We wanted to invent an invisible spy, a gravity-less costume on which gravity won't act or the Earth won't pull the wearer of the costume towards itself. we also dreamed about planing a reverse for mind uploading. like downloading stuff in our minds so that we could remember it as long as we live. We wanted to invent a multi-head player that could connect to our brains and could play movies, songs, shows, or cereals related to our mood. And with our fortunate luck, we did! We did invent a device that looked like a headband on our heads and we connected that to our laptops. We wore it turn by turn. When Max wore that, the laptop played Star Wars, and when I wore it, it played the actual games of guns. Water guns if you are thinking wrong about it.
By the way, he is the coolest guy to hang out with. He doesn't joke or talk too much around people except for his friends but he reads the mind of computers which I admire.
I walked into his house, a big one with five to six rooms: his dad's room, uncle Jax, one for Max and one guest room, a dining room, and an inventing room. A big living room and a small garden outside. Ground floor and first floor. a townhouse.
I knew Max would be in his invention room whatever you say, so I hiked in.
"Hi, Max!" I cheered.
He was deep into something when I focused on it as a video game. He looked up after 120 seconds.
"Oh, Hi what's up Jasper? Over with the exams, huh?" Grandpa must've told him.
"How do you know?" I still asked.
"Uncle Julius told me. I wanted to meet you. He said you wanted to buy some time because you were having your exams." Great.
"Oh, I see. What were you doing? Can we please play video games together?" I requested, jumping on the couch next to him. And with that Lights went off.
"What's going on?" I asked, ignoring the fact that he was about to answer my request.
"Oh, That. Dad is working on a tube lights' project. He said this would happen until a week. I think our next work has to be in your house or just have to wait for 7 freaking days." He sighed.
"Dude, Tube light?" I laughed.
"Yeah, well, what were you up to? We can't play video games at the moment."
I thought for a second, then I looked back at Max and then an idea flickered in my mind.
"Max, you once said Basket Ball, surfing, Football, and Tennis are your favorite games."
"Yeah and Badminton and Swimming," he added. God Damn it, bro.
"Yeah and twice you won trophies for winning a Basket Ball game," I stated.
"Yeah, not twice but once." huh?
"You did, that's what matters. So would you like to play with me?" when I said that I realized Max misunderstood something, so I told him about the tournament we were about to have this same week with Jeff-High school seniors.
"They are all 17. I am 20 years old. 4 times bigger. How am I supposed to play with you guys? I am not in the same school."
"Age doesn't matter. The team doesn't count age."
"But school does. It's your school's team. I can just be an audience and cheer you up."
"Max, you can just train me," there was still hope somewhere inside me.
"Okay, then let's go and practice."
"Now? Okay."
And with that, we started our training. I learned that Max Angel was the Perfect Man of this decade. What can be something he isn't perfect in? He goes to high school and he ranks the result every year. He is well-toned, athletic and an inventor, a best friend, and maybe a son too. One thing I admire about Max is he never shows his weaknesses. No matter how hard the times, he always stays up with a straight smiling face. He doesn't smile often, but he doesn't even stay like a mood-off guy too.
Max has a sister, 15 years elder than him. She lives in America and she is a doctor. She got admission to Medical College in America and she married an American guy there. (PS. I don't like him). She had 2 kids and she visits her Parents and Max twice or once a year. Max's sister is very polite being a child specialist but I like her. She is always nice and kind.
We played for some time then we left for ice cream. Max always chose different flavors. The last time he chose Cherry, before the last time he chose peach, and before that, he chose a different really weird flavor that rocked.
"What flavor are you going to order today?" I asked him so that I could order the same.
"You will see." I nodded my head. I called a different waitress and he called a different one. He told her something privately and I told mine privately.
In 10 minutes or so, our ice creams arrived.
"Bro, are you planning to eat 2 flavors?" Max asked.
"See." and then I added half a scoop of Cadbury in one empty bowl with another half scoop of blueberry and vanilla. Then I sprinkled the dairy milk chocolate and blueberry toppings on its surface, and then I took half a spoon of Cadbury and the other half of blueberry-vanilla and escorted that spoon in my mouth. It melted with the saliva in my mouth giving a brilliant taste to my tongue.
"Unbelievable," I mumbled.
"Wow, I want a bite too. Waitress, I want orange-flavored ice cream. Please." Max requested.
"Dude, you are cheating. You do have a mixed fruit flavor." I said.
"What's wrong in mixing orange with mixed fruit?"
"But, I won this time."
"Definitely, until now. See me."
Then the waitress brought orange-flavored ice cream and then Max asked her to decorate it with sprinkles and chocolate and sugar crunch. It tasted delicious. It did.
That night I was really tired so I went to bed early.
We had our basket Ball match postponed that day. It was eleven in the morning when I woke up and had breakfast. Grandpa and Grandma were at some relatives' house and I was watching television when someone rang the doorbell. The maid answered the doorbell. I could hear someone talking to her in a raspy and quick voice. Then after a second, Daniel appeared.
"Jasper, come on. Hurry up, we need to go!" he yelled.
"What happened? Where do we have to go?" I gulped down the last sip of orange juice. It was sour.
"That guy from Jeff-High school, what was his name? That one with the blonde spiky hair?"
"Jeffery?"
"Yeah, he and Mike got into a fight last night and they fought tooth and nail and broke the arms and legs of each other. Mike is in the hospital, we have to go!"
"Who started the fight?"
"Why does it matter? I am asking you to come quickly and you look no worried," he commented.
"Fine," I grabbed my jacket and tied my shoelaces. We leaped down on the street on our bicycles when I asked the same question and he said, Mike. I knew that.
"Why?" I asked.
"None of them shares."
"Any witnesses?"
"No."
"Where were they?"
"In the school's back yard behind the garbage room."
"What possibly did they fight about? Who should take the garbage t the truck in the morning?"
"Maybe. We can't believe them."
"What about the match?"
"It's Sunday today. We will see about it. Maybe postponed it."
I did not ask any more questions. When we went to the hospital, Lucas, Jack, Mike's girlfriend, and Emma were there. I did not understand the meaning of so many people there.
"Do your parents know about it, Mike?"
"No, they are in Russia. Said that they will come next week."
"How did you come here?" Jack asked.
"See guys, I was talking to Nora on the phone. I wanted to get her notebooks back from the cupboard. I am the class monitor so I had a duplicate key of the cupboard, so I thought I would take Nora's notebooks."
"Can't you guys wait for morning? Why night?" Jack interrupted.
"No. we can't. We had Sunday between Saturday night and Monday." Mike replied roughly.
"So, I climbed the walls and I went in. When I was walking through school corridors I heard some whispers from the sports room. Where we change clothes and bring sports stuff etc. there was a dull bulb on too. I thought it could be a sweeper or someone belonging to the staff, but, when I reached there, to my surprise it was Jeffery, Anderson, and that other friend of his. Those three punks were spraying allergic sprays on our uniforms. They punctured our balls and they ruined our baskets. No one would have noticed that because it was a weekend's night!" His voice trailed. He was hospitalized because his hand was in no condition to leave and he got a good 5 to 6 big punches on his face and stomach. His ankle was fractured too. Seemed they beat him a lot.
"They have cameras, Mike. You should have reported it to anyone near. Or called us. You were alone. They were these big dudes, and three in total. If it wasn't for Nora's voice they heard on the phone, they would have killed you. They are classic bullies." I said for the first time. Mike stared at me and then looked away. I looked at Lucas asking if I said something wrong, but he shrugged.
"So, what are we going to do now? I think we should report this to the principal and let the staff know about it. And about you and your Parents, we will tell them you got in a fight and got yourself injured. Don't tell a lie." Daniel announced.
"My Parents? If I tell them the truth, they would start keeping an eye on me every time. I am not a kid and neither do I like someone's eye over me. Don't tell them anything, neither to school." Mike said quickly. He was scared.
"Listen, Mike. We have to tell them to school, we have to inform them otherwise they would never know who attacked it. And I guess you also landed good punches and kicks on Jeffery's rosy chubby face. If we don't take the school in our favor, Jeff-High school bullies can take this as a huge benefit. We don't want them to do this again. Your condition would prove this. Plus, when we would tell it to school, they would try to contact your Parents, there is no need to tell a lie. It's for your safety. Staying quiet could increase the danger." I added, a deep silence in the room, then the nurse came in.
"You are all his friends?" she asked.
"Yes," said Nora.
"Anyone from his family?"
"No.," said Nora.
"His family doesn't know he is in the hospital?" the nurse asked.
"No.," said Nora.
"We informed them. They are out of the country so we will be staying with him." I told her. She nodded her head and asked us to leave the room as the doctor needed to check him again. Half of us went home and half of us stayed there. Nora, Daniel, Emma, and Jack stayed and I and Lucas drove back on our bicycles. 4:2.
In the evening, Lucas, Jay (Mike's cousin) and, I came to the hospital. We sent Nora back because she was still there. Grandma insisted on making soup for Mike.
Mike stayed in the hospital for 2 more days and then he got discharged. He came to school and we told the sports teacher and our mentor everything. They said they would report it to the Jeff-high school, but there wasn't a shred of specific evidence to prove that Mike was right. We believed him because we knew he was right and there were possibilities of this incident to happen. Gregory Academy would need evidence.