FRIDAY'S GIRL ·ϿʘϾ·

Chapter 21

***DRAFT***

As always, Brad's beautiful house exuded a cozy atmosphere. The soft fragrance of the violet wisteria growing in the backyard wafted in through a slightly open window, as if trying to compete with the smell of freshly brewed coffee. Brad and I had been sitting at the table for a couple of hours. We were elbows-deep in various subjects, mostly literature exercises, paying no attention to the sound of the clock, whose hands marked the passage of time with its monotonous tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock...

"Do you want to take another break?" I asked after seeing him yawn for the third time and, unintentionally, ended up yawning myself.

He nodded before taking a sip from his steaming cup. To my surprise, I had to admit I enjoyed his company.

"I slept terribly last night, and now I'm dead," he replied, staring into the black liquid with a lost look.

"Did something happen?" It was strange; he had been quieter than usual. Normally, he always gave me penetrating looks and small provocative jabs.

Brad stretched before responding.

"I don't understand women. You all should come with an instruction manual."

"Excuse me? Men are the ones who need an instruction manual. Jesus!" He smiled when he heard me say that last word.

"Between my girlfriend and Ch..." he suddenly fell silent, as if he had said too much. "I mean, between Maddison and my mom, I'm going crazy."

I watched as his features hardened slightly, revealing a strong internal struggle for a moment. My sixth sense told me his relationship with her wasn't going well.

"What do you mean?" I didn't want to seem nosy, but I was dying to know the answer.

"You know how Maddie is: hyper-jealous, controlling to the extreme, and has a hell of a temper." Brad let his back fall against the chair. "Now she's giving me a hard time about the notes I sent you during literature class. Can you believe it?"

I shrugged, understanding Maddison's attitude a little; although the cheerleading captain wasn't my favorite person, I thought anyone would get jealous in a similar situation.

"And why don't you tell her the truth? I'm just tutoring you."

Brad let out a hearty laugh.

"Are you serious? Don't you know my girlfriend? If she finds out I'm home alone with you, I'd end up hanging by my balls from the school flagpole, and you'd be either bald or with a black eye."

"Wow, it sounds like you have a very... Uhm... I don't know how to define it... Unhealthy relationship?" I pressed my lips to keep from laughing after making my "innocent" comment. "In any case, you're paying me for tutoring, not for therapy. So spare me your drama; I don't want to go bald or get a black eye."

"Great! You're really empathetic. Now I feel so much better!" When he put on a frustrated look, I winked at him playfully.

"You should thank me for not charging you extra," I continued, playfully, putting some pens into my pencil case. I needed to keep my hands busy whenever those intense brownish-green eyes looked at me, as deep as a tropical jungle.

"That's why I say women should come with an instruction manual. We never know what you're going to do next." Brad rested his chin on his hand, not taking his eyes off my blushing face. "It's the same with Maddie. Sometimes I try to talk to her, but she takes things the wrong way. She's all about extremes; she doesn't understand middle ground."

"Tell me about it." I rolled my eyes, looking up at the sky. "I've suffered her outbursts firsthand. She's one of the most unstable people I know."

"It's fantastic to be able to talk about this with a girl without feeling like an alien from another planet." His gaze observed me with genuine gratitude, while his sad smile filled me with compassion.