Growing Pains

Chapter 18 - Childhood, 2016

Tommy tapped his pencil against Evie temple.

"Focus," he said, bringing her attention back to the maths problem that he was helping her with.

She groaned, tearing her eyes away from the window. She had been looking out into the courtyard where there was an outdoor basketball court. More often than not, she would spot Abel and his teammates practicing there. That afternoon was no different. She could make out Abel dribbling the ball casually while laughing at his teammate, a bright smile stretched across his face. His mouth was moving, probably lighthearted trash talk, which urged his friend to swipe his arm towards the ball to steal it away. Too late, Abel had already crossed the ball over behind his back, laughing harder at his friend's expression. 

Instead of watching them from her usual spot on the concrete stairs, which looked onto the court, Evie was stuck inside. Gaoled, as she would say dramatically, inside the school library.

"Ugh. I hate Maths. This sucks. Who cares about the quadratic formula?" She complained. When Tommy opened his mouth to answer properly, she stuck out her tongue, "Not me, that's for sure."

Tommy rolled his eyes but couldn't keep his stern expression.

"If you finish this paper, I'll buy you a latte from Joneses Cafe."

Evie looked up in surprise. A grin stretched across her face. "You've got a deal."

As Evie worked diligently, Tommy worked on his law school applications. He had already submitted a few to his backup schools but was stuck on the essay question for his top school, Barker University. He also researched scholarships, knowing how expensive law subjects were at university.

Even though their Dad had shut down the idea, saying he would cover the entire cost, Tommy didn't feel comfortable not trying his best to get a scholarship. He had spent years now at the Song estate. But even though he did love Evie like they were siblings since birth, and felt a part of a new family, he couldn't brush off his discomfort around money. And at the Song estate, there was lots of it.

Beside him, Evie groaned, plopping her head down into her workbook. "The deal's still on," she mumbled, before he could say anything. "I'm just taking a break."

Tommy grinned. "Sure."

Evie felt someone tug her braid. "Bel, save me from this horror," she whined, without looking up. Abel had just walked into the library, still sweating from practice, ball tucked between his arm and hip.

"How'd you know it was me?" He asked with a laugh, before pulling out a chair opposite her and dropping his things on the ground.

"Who else could it be?" She said, finally raising her head to look at him. Abel began pulling out textbooks from his bag. 

"While you were out there enjoying your freedom, he's been torturing me with maths," she gestured towards Tommy. Tommy scoffed, raising his arms up in surrender.

"Hey! I'm just trying to help," he said. "Fine then, Bel can take over all my tutoring responsibilities."

"No way. She'll just get mad at me. Besides, you're more qualified."

Evie scrunched up a piece of paper and threw it at him.

"Don't know how you two are going to survive without me next year," Tommy said jokingly, although he did think about the future often. Only a grade older, he still felt responsible for Evie in some ways. Overprotective, perhaps. But if he was honest with himself, Evie was the one who took care of him most of the time. From the very first day, she had taken him in. Helping her with a simple maths problem couldn't compare to what she had done for him.

"Stop worrying," Bel kicked Tommy's foot under the desk. "Don't you know? I'm a scholarship student," Abel wiggled his eyebrows, "I'm way smarter than Evie. Definitely smart enough to tutor her."

Evie rolled her eyes. "Pretty sure you're on a sports scholarship, buddy," she said, although secretly she wasn't actually sure if she was the better student. They were hyper-competitive as kids, always comparing marks. And Abel seemed to beat her as many times as she beat him. 

"Brat," Abel responded, affectionately.

"Jock." Evie made the motion of shooting an invisible basketball into the air.

Tommy shook his head, but couldn't keep the smile off his face.

"Alright, stop procrastinating. The both of you, do your work."