As the clock on my study table ticked the completion of thirty minutes, I mentally establish two things; one: Jack is a math genius of some sort, and two: he sucks at teaching!
While I struggle to calculate the value of 'x' on paper this idiot has already done it in his mind—without a single glance at the answers at the back of the book.
This frustrates and fascinates me at the same time. But the completion of the half-hour is particular important to me as of this moment for reason beyond my personal annoyance towards my idiot brother.
Mentally sighing when I notice no new text on my phone, I'm assured that this is my best shot at getting the message through to the others. All I need now is for Jack to think before acting.
"You have another five minutes to give me the right answer," Jack reminds me like clockwork as he has been doing for the past fifteen minutes.
"Almost done," I mumble as I scribble the formula, I see fit and cross-check the previous method with my current one to see where I went wrong.
'A little while longer' I convince myself not wanting to take any chances that might get either of us in trouble.
"Is your tattoo written in Greek?" I ask as my mind and eyes wander away from my worksheet.
As frustration envelopes me and my eyes glue themselves to the intricate work of art on his forearm that is on clear display with his short sleeves tee-shirt.
"You don't get the concept, do you?" He remarks dodging the question while pulling me back to the source of my frustration.
"The concept was put down by an idiot what do you expect?" I scoff in a low murmur.
"I understand it," he replies back shaking his head in disapproval as he studies my half-completed work.
"Exactly," I add which only earns me a glare from him. Sticking my tongue out at him as my comeback, I try to focus as he explains the entire problem again.
"So, basically all I have to do is cross multiply these terms to get the value of 'x'?" I ask in disbelief once realization strikes me.
"Once you simplify the terms, yeah," he clarifies nonchalantly with a shrug and at this exact moment, I feel the sudden urge to find my algebra teacher and smacking him upside his head!
Propping his legs on the edge of my desk he leans back in the chair he's occupying with his hands folded behind his head supporting it his eyes closes in relaxation.
Hastily making the necessary changes to my equation and finally formulating its right sequence, I grab my calculator and compute the rest.
Copying down the value of 'x' I reckon from my calculator; I clear it and punch in a bunch of dots and dashes that make up the Morse code.
I knew well enough that typing out a plain 'SOS' would do me no good and only cause alarm which might backfire on me and my plan. So, I do the next best thing.
"Hey is this right?" I ask propelling my calculator towards his vision rage.
A frown makes a quick appearance on his face but is gone before it can be fully noticed. Still looking at it with a nonchalant expression, he doesn't give me away.
"Yeah, you got it. But you have to explain your work in words at the end of the problem," he replies and I nod catching his hint.
My message through small basically translated to the same as the message I wrote on paper previously and tried slipping to one of them only shorter.
SOS. Watching. Hush.
Now that I got the basic idea across, I have to now come up with a way to explain everything to them properly...but how?
Writing it down on paper will just leave evidence and sound travels, so talking is out of the question. They got into my phone, so that isn't a safe bet either.
Scribbling the concluding statement at the end of my page, I try to come up with a way to tell Jack everything and by the look, he has so skilfully hidden—at least tried to—he's getting impatient too.
Hopping onto the next question on the question bank that holds the promise of granting me the extra credits I need, I put my brain to the test as I multitask.
"The same method," I conclude to myself as I examine the problem and get right to work when I receive the confirming nod from Jack.
"By the way heard about your schizophrenic taste in music," he goads breaking me out of my deep thoughts.
"What, you and Liam are now gossiping about me?" I retort, but soon enough realize the code in his words.
"Nah, was on the court when you were getting your ass handed to you," he remarks with an eye roll which earns his gut an acquaintance with my elbow.
But as usual, he's quick on his feet and quicker in his reflexes. Dodging my hit, he soon repays my failed attempt with a tug on my ponytail.
"Get back to work," he orders.
Rolling my eyes at him I get back to work nonetheless, this time a little more focused knowing that at least I got one part of my message through to them.
"Done," I announce after another ten minutes, and with a single glance at my work, he declares it to be wrong.
"But I did the same thing I did in the previous one!" I exclaim in exhaustion.
"I said it was a similar problem, not the same," he announces without so much as lifting his gaze to face me from his phone.
"Reread the question and see what has been asked and what have you found," he points out when I look at him in pure confusion.
Facepalming myself at the stupid mistake I made, I'm quick to correct and after receiving an approving hum from Jack, I move on to the next question.
This goes on for another twenty minutes after which he declares is enough from the day and head out of my room. With algebra put on a hold, I busy myself on getting on to the next task on my agenda.
By the time I get past the first part of my work, the sun has long set and my tummy roaring his hunger. Replying to a few texts from Lindsey, Alessandro, and a couple of others, I make my way downstairs.
Taking my place at the dinner table, everything appears to be normal. Noah and Liam soon join me with Jack not far behind. Informing me that Jason has been caught up in some work back at the office, Noah suggests we start without him.
Miss Jonas soon enters the room without dinner. Diving into my food, I try not to make any conversation with the rest as my mind wanders off to random things to keep me distracted.
Finishing with my food, I'm quick to scurry back to the refuge of my room where I get back to working on my plan. Combing through YouTube, I painstakingly pick out what I need and shuffle them into groups before moving on to eliminate the ones I don't need.
Once I'm done with this, I have nothing but wait left. I can't execute my plan until tomorrow and I have about three hours more before my mind would let me sleep.
With Bebe Rexha's Girl In The Mirror blasting through my earphones, I pull out my sketchbook. Flipping through the pages, I land on the last sketch I drew.
Tracing the fine led lines of the crest I frown in reminiscence; I find it rather strange that by just a single glace at half of the patter I was able to complete it.
It feels familiar, the curves at the edge of the sword-like joint feel like a flash out of my memory, but I can't seem to place them.
This troubles and puzzles me beyond compare, which my mind itches with want for the answer. I know at heart that I recognize the crest, which by itself it very strange considering the fact that I learned about the rest of my 'family' not so long ago.
A knock sounds through my room awaiting my permission to grant the person entrance. Yelling a "come in," I stuff my book under my pillow and away from plain sight.
Jason waltzes through the room door, flopping down on the bed next to my feet, and remains lying flat there muted.
"You needed something, Jason?" I ask.
"A scalp massage would be great Irmãzinha," he replies innocently looking at me with a hopeful gaze. Rolling my eyes at him I chuckle at this and jump off the bed.
"On the floor," I say playfully as I point towards the foot of the bed and motion from him to seat on the floor.
Giving me a weird look at this his gaze alternates between the floor and me, with creased brows.
"You're too tall Jason. Sit on the floor so I can reach your head," I explain facepalming myself.
"Oh," he sounds out before indolently flopping on the grey carpet-clad floor.
"Yeah, oh," I mimic low and sarcastically taking a seat behind him on the bed.
Threading my hands through his messy hair, I can't help my fingers from pulling at the knots which earn me a couple of 'ouch' sounds from him followed by a whisper of a curse.
Staring with the base of his hairline, I gently massage his scalp frowning at the amount of tension I sense through his skin.
"So, what's the real reason you're here?" I enquire.
"Oh, so now I need a real reason to ask my baby sister for a head massage?" He counters sounding it out like he's offended by what I asked.
"Jason Estevo Santos don't try lying to me," I warn channeling my inner Xavier...or at least trying to.
"Gosh, not my middle name," he groans in annoyance while I giggle at his misery.
"I actually like the name Estevo," I remark causing him to snap his head to face me in disbelief.
"You do?" He questions, his tone mirroring his expression.
"Yeah," I confirm with a smile and nod.
"It makes Lisa sound a smidge bit less dorky," I add.
Rolling his eyes at me, he turns his head back to face the front while I continue to work on his head.
"Lisa isn't dorky. It suits you," he remarks softly the sudden change in his tone catches me off guard.
"If you ever need a job, you can always apply for one as my scalp masseuse," he recommends humorously which earns my darling brother a knock on his head with my knuckles.
"Hey, I was just praising your skills," he adds in his defense while I roll my eyes at him although he can't see it.
"Whatever," I mumble under my breath.
"You didn't answer my question yet," I point out after some time.
"Hmm?" He hums prompting me to explain further.
"Jason?" I pronounce assertively.
"I miss our childhood. Back when you were a baby and mum used to have you sleep on one side of the bed while the rest of us played around the room while fussing around you. I just missed those days...I guess. I missed mum head massages," he confesses in sheer vulnerability.
"I'm sorry I took her away from all of you," I mumble out loud without realizing.
This instantly grabs his attention. Turning in his spot to face me with frowned brow, I try to wipe off the sad expression on my face and replace it with my signature blank look.
"It wasn't your fault Irmazinha. It was no one fault in a way." Mumbling the last part in barely a whisper, I'm left in another whirlwind of confusion at his statement.
"None of that matters now...I guess," I conclude in dismissal and he nods in mutual agreement.
"How about some ice-cream in return for this wonderful massage?" He asks and before he can wait for my response, I dash towards my closet to change.
"I'll take that as a yes!" He calls out with a chuckle from my room.
"Yes!" I confirm throwing on some clothes as fast as I can.
"Meet me in the garage when you're done," he instructs accompanied by the sound of my room door closing.
'Why am I so excited about ice-cream?' I wonder to myself as I pull on my jacket.
'Oh yeah, almost forgot, I'm a GIRL! That's why!' Giggle at my inner thoughts and stupidity, I scurry out of my room and fly down the stairs and head straight to the garage.
Jumping and buckling into the awaiting car, we are soon zooming down the busy streets of the city as we make our way to our favorite late-night ice-cream parlor.
But I'm soon to learn that ice-cream for me wasn't just a comfort after a nightmare, sometimes it could also be the comforting calmness before the uprooting storm.
Author's Note:
Hey, thanks for reading and for all your support!
Now I have a very important question for all of you;
Do any of you have a tomcat?
If yes, is it normal for them to just disappear out of nowhere for days on end. My neighbors say it's normal for them to do so, but I can't find my tomcat anywhere and I'm worried.
I just hope he's fine. His other brother and sister are both here it's just him that has gone MIA.
Don't forget to;
Comment &vote
~Kia