The spirit of Devfronds

21. Back To Calvin

"Braedon, at least tell me why are you so angry?" Calvin pleaded. Braedon had been fuming all morning and refused to talk to him. 

"How long has this been going on?" His voice was deathly calm and still.

"What?" 

"Steve." 

Oh. 

Steve.

"Braedon it's nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" Braedon shrieked. His voice raised. "Nothing? Calvin, he's calling you names."

"So do you." Calvin's voice was raised too now.

"But..." he said, and then spoke in a more softer voice, "Does my name calling bother you? I didn't mean to bully you."

Calvin sighed, "No Braedon. That's what I am trying to tell. Steve doesn't bother me." 

"Calvin, I may not be able to read people's bodies. But I know Steve's bullying bothers you."

"Thanks for caring, Braedon."

"Oh, this not the end of it. I'm gonna have a talk with Steve." 

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo

Calvin was in the library. After he had awkwardly made his exist, he had come to the library. He was currently lying in an upside down plank pose, with his feet hanging on the backrest of the chair and his hands on the floor reading his textbook. 

This was the reason that when the door opened, he fell on his head and ended up lying face first in the carpet. Good thing they have carpets. 

The panicked voice of Alex came to him, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay, I guess. I didn't break my nose like last time." He said, ignoring Alex's questioning look. He didn't need to know about that time, "Did you need me for something? I swear it isn't dinnertime yet." He tended to lose his sense of time while reading, but it hadn't been too long yet, right?

"Uh, no? Lady McKay said I was supposed to come wait on you?" 

Wait on him? Oh.

Calvin wasn't oblivious. He had read enough historical fiction to know what he meant when he said 'wait on you'. And honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if people like Alberta had someone hired just to get them a glass of water, and stuff like that.

But he refused to believe his mom would instruct someone to do that for Calvin. 

"Mom said that?" 

"Well, she had given instructions for things for my mom and dad to do, and nothing for me to do, so I figured..."

Calvin made an 'oh' motion and said, "I'm pretty sure that's not what she meant."

Alex shifted unsurely on his feet, "So what do I do?"

"Uhh..." Calvin said, "Why don't you come in?" This was really awkward. Alex shuffled in. Calvin sat down on a chair, straight up this time, not upside down. Alex hesitated before sitting on the chair opposite his. 

Another awkward silence. 

"So, do you like to read?" Calvin asked, trying to defuse the tension.

He shook his head, "No... Uh... The words all get around jumbled for me." Calvin's mind went to the conversation they had in school after the tests, and how he said he had flunked the written test. Dyslexia could be a reason.