33 Days To Live (Under Revision)

25

I wasn't sure who was more surprised when Oscar and I saw each other, but I was most certainly the most nervous.

"Hey Ben, what are you doing here?" He asked as he lifted Wally off his shoulders and placed him down.

"Ben is helping me with homework," Lucy said quickly before I even opened my mouth and with a small gulp I nodded.

"Yeah she needed some help with math and stuff." I explained. I wasn't sure if Oscar being her step-dad was a good thing, or a really bad thing. I most definitely didn't want to try to carry out my mission under the eye of someone from the school who was interested in personal life, that was for sure.

"Oh, well, I'm happy Lucy has someone to do homework with," He said, seeming a little unsure of the whole thing as he looked at her then back at me.

Call me a drama queen but I don't think Lucy knew about Oscar's partaking in stopping the fight with Jamie and trying to counsel me about my problems. I'm pretty sure she could tell though as well as I that he was skeptical about me being near her. I would've taken a big scary step-dad over him. After a moment of awkward silence Lucy then forced a tight smile.

''Well, we should be getting started," Lucy said and I offered Oscar a reassuring smile before following her upstairs quickly, relieved to get away from that situation.

"So Oscar is your dad then?" I asked once we were out of ear shot. I would've said step-dad but she didn't tell me that herself yet and I think it'd make her suspicious if I said it without being told.

"Step-dad." She correct, a bitter edge to her tone.

"You say that with distaste," I said as lightly as I could. She just sighed.

"So homework then?" She asked and I decided to drop the subject, even though I was curious about what happened to her real dad.

"Homework," I said as she led me into an office like room with an end table, two desks, and papers everywhere.

Soon we had set up the snacks and our countless sheets of homework across the table and I began to teach her how to graph functions while I munched on barbecue chips. An hour later we had only accomplished half the math homework and because of that she threw down her pencil in frustration.

"This is pointless Ben, I don't get it. You just worry about your homework, I'm not getting this." She sighed heavily and I shook my head.

"You'll get it Lucy, we just need to find a method of solving that works for you." I then put my pencil down as well. "Lets take a break, to much math can make your brain hurt," I said and Lucy shrugged.

"My brain always hurts." She mumbled and I tried to conceal the pang I felt in my chest.

"What makes your brain feel good? And if you say drugs I'm going to have to buy them from you so I can dump them in a river,'' I said and Lucy laughed.

"You have the weirdest sense of humor.'' She then snatched the bag of barbecue chips from me.

"Art. I like art, a lot." She admitted, making me smile as I tried to grab the bag of chips back.

"Drawing, painting, or sculpting?" I asked, almost getting the bag but she pulled it just out of my reach.

"All of it. I'm not all that good at it but I do love to do it."

I shrugged.

"Just because your not good at it shouldn't matter, your love for it should be whats matter," I then reached over quickly and won back the chips. "Anyways, I bet your a wonderful artist," I said as she gasped and reached for the chips.