Superhero

Chapter 23

Addison went home and went straight to her room to freshen up. After all, Jordan was getting extra lessons from her. Loud music blared from the new tenant's room, and she caught sight of Mrs. Kennedy marching up the stairs to confront him.
Addison chuckled and entered her room just as the music stopped. She changed into a comfortable but casual outfit and went down to the dining hall to see Jake waiting with his things. Jordan was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Jordan?" Addison asked, putting her bag down on the chair next to her as she sat down in front of him.
"Oh, he says he's not attending class today since... the new lecturer's amazing?" Jake shrugged. "But yeah. My lecturer sucks, so... that's why I'm here."
"Jordan..." Addison groaned. She sighed and nodded at Jake. "Let's start."
She taught him for about an hour, surrounded by the snacks and drinks provided by Mrs. Kennedy. After that, he excused himself and went up to his room. Addison gladly packed up too. Felicia suddenly came in, just as she was leaving.
"So, how was extra tuition?" Felicia asked jokingly.
"It was good, but Jordan kinda unenrolled," Addison shrugged. "Without the teacher's permission!"
"So you're still teaching Jake?"
"Kinda. Because he says he has a bad teacher."
"It's true," Felicia nodded. "Jake practically demonstrates how he teaches. He even took a video of his lecture once."
Addison looked at her in surprise. "Really? Wow, he must be so really bad then."
"He is... he's a worse teacher than you."
Addison simply chuckled, not knowing how to respond.
"Tell you what, I'll include a discount in next month's rent," Felicia added, much to her surprise.
As much as Addison wanted to save money, she also wanted some free time.
"Oh, that won't be necessary, Felicia," Addison politely declined.
"Aww, but I insist!" Felicia beamed. "How 'bout a two-hundred-dollar discount?"
Addison thought. She wasn't even teaching him that long, two hundred dollars a month seemed like a good deal.
"Aww as much as I hate to accept, I have to!" Addison said, pretending to be begrudging, but inwardly celebrating. "You really don't have to do this. But as they say, we should never look a gift horse in the mouth."
Mrs. Kennedy chuckled, patting her shoulder slightly. "You talk smart."
Addison grinned and grabbed her bag to go back to her room.
"Addie, one more thing," Addison stopped and turned back to Felicia. 
"What is it, Felicia?"
"Be careful with that Jordan fella," Mrs. Kennedy said, much to her surprise. "He... look, he and Jake went to the same high school together. They were 'best' friends. Well, to me, he was more of a pest friend."
Addison shrugged. "The only reason I'm hanging out with him is because we share a few classes, and he allows me to carpool with him. But I'll keep that in mind, Felicia. Thanks."
She smiled and went up the stairs.
'What was that all about?' Addison thought as she entered the room.
Well, the statement did make sense, considering Jordan said he wanted extra classes with her, then ended up ditching her just like that. But not without leaving behind some extra work for her. Then again, she was getting a two-hundred-dollar discount for no particular reason.
Plus free snacks and drinks.
Addison chuckled and finished some of her work before getting ready for bed.

***

It was Friday, and Addison's classes were kinda light for the day. And so was her bag.
She had Academic Writing again and had a good time with it, especially since Jordan was the source of mockery once again. This time, it was because of how he walked in late, with Mr. Galante welcoming him as if he was the guest of honour. Addison smirked at her phone, watching the video of Jordan entering the lecture hall, rather confused to be welcomed in by Giuseppe. She chuckled and put her phone away to see if her stop had arrived. She quickly pressed the buzzer to stop the bus.
Addison got out and left the bus, briskly going towards the convenience store she worked at. To her surprise, it seemed like Jeff was waiting for her.
"Hi!" Jeff grinned as soon as she came in.
"Uh... hi?" Addison said, slightly confused. "Were you waiting for me?"
"Yep!" Jeff said, lifting his laptop. He stepped out of the counter and put it on the table next to the window. "I need your help."
Addison sighed. "Let me guess, you need help editing your essay?"
Jeff looked at her in surprise. "How did you know?"
"Just wait, let me get myself some food," Addison said, going towards the food warmer to get herself some chicken pies. She  nuked them and returned to Jeff's laptop.
"You know, your essay's actually not that bad," Addison said, correcting the minor typos in the essay. "Just a few typos. It's quite interesting too."
"You really think so?" Jeff asked hopefully.
"Yep," Addison nodded, taking a bite of her cheesy chicken pie, careful to not spill crumbs onto the keyboard. "Also, what are you planning to become?"
"A veterinary pharmacologist," Jeff grinned. "I really like animals, and I like pharmacology. So why not?"
Addison nodded approvingly. "Does that mean you become Doctor Jeffrey Clarkson?"
"Gosh, that sounds nice!" Jeff said in awe. "Imagine, Doctor Jeff Clarkson! Also, stop calling me Jeffrey..."
"Isn't that your full name?" Addison asked, confused.
"Yeah, but I don't really like it when people call me that," Jeff frowned.
Addison shrugged. "I think I get how you feel. I don't really like it if my Mom calls me Addie, or if my friends call me Addison."
"Exactly," Jeff chuckled. "Anyway, how's the essay going?"
"Almost done reading it..." Addison said. "By the way, don't you still have like three weeks left for this?"
"Yeah, that one's just the first part," Jeff smirked. "I still have like three more subsections."
Addison's eyes widened. "Oh wow... good luck with that."
"I'm gonna need it," Jeff sighed.
"No wonder you were so dramatic about it," Addison chuckled. "This thing actually looks kinda hard to do..."
"It is," Jeff agreed. Then he smiled, making a one-sided dimple show. "Thanks for helping me edit this. I owe you one."
Addison shook her head. "No, Jeff. I owe you. Especially because of all those times you've given me free food. Besides, you've covered for me during the times when I came in late."
Jeff chuckled. "Well, then I guess we're even."
Addison smiled and moved on to her second pie, carefully scanning Jeff's assignment for errors.
"My professor recommended this app, is it good?" Jeff asked, leaning over the counter. "It's called Grammary, I think."
"It helps, but it's not a hundred percent foolproof," Addison explained. "You still need to skim through, the app just helps remove petty typos like spelling errors and stuff. Sometimes it gets you in trouble, I don't really recommend it."
Jeff snorted. "How does it get you in trouble?"
"It once 'corrected' hall to hell," Addison pointed out.
"Okay, that's bad," Jeff laughed. "How? Hall and hell? They are two completely different things!"
"I know right," Addison chuckled. "Luckily I saw it."
Her shift soon began, so Jeff retrieved his laptop and left with a last minute snack, waving at her.
Addison sighed and looked through her social media feed while waiting for a customer to walk in. Most of her friends, if not all, were uploading about the sudden absence of the town's infamous Superhero. What made it funnier was the fact he disappeared right after stealing her bun.
It was his last known sighting as far as she knew.