Surviving the Harrison Boys (Re-write)

twenty-one // mathematical genius (hunter's pov)

Flynn ended up falling asleep on my bed while the two of us watched Riverdale. I paused the fourth episode and decided to not continue on without the twelve-year-old. I used the small blanket at the end of my bed to cover him up before I rolled off my bed and quietly crept out of my room.

Trent was leaning against his door, his eyes glued to his phone as he typed away. I didn't bother saying hi to him. I was mad at him on Flynn's behalf.

"Hey, Hunter." I internally cussed. I turned and faced him with a tight smile.

"Hi," I said.

"What's up?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Uh, nothing much, really. Flynn just fell asleep in my room so I thought I'd let him nap and go find one of your other brothers."

"Sorry about him." Trent scoffed.

"Who, Flynn?" I raised an eyebrow and Trent nodded. I shook my head. "No, no. He isn't the one you should be sorry for."

I flashed him a smile and waved, then spun on my heel and quickly headed down the stairs. I entered the kitchen where Jake and Jack were sitting at the table.

Jake noticed me first. "Hi, Hunter."

Jack looked up and greeted me with a wave and smile. I returned it. "Hey, guys. Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all." Jake patted the seat next to him. I sat down.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked.

"Last minute math homework." Jack rolled his eyes. "Schools starts up next week and we've had all break to do this booklet. We're looking at polynomials again and I swear to God, I'm failing this unit."

"Why the break?"

"Renovations." They chorused.

"Ah. Oh, and Polynomials are easy." I said and pulled Jake's booklet closer to me. "Ooh, 6y(7x + 3x - 9y). This equals...42yx + 18yx - 54y²."

"What?!" They exclaimed. "How?!"

"These are super easy!" I giggled. "Let me walk you through one. Okay, so 7k(5k + 6y)."

"What the hell does that even mean?" Jack ran his hands through his dirty blond hair in frustration. I chuckled.

"It's simple, I promise." I said. "All you're doing here is multiplying while combining the like terms. Because both 7k and 5k have the variable of 'k' in common, you combine those terms. You two following so far?"

The boys nodded slowly. I went on. "Since we're dealing with multiplication here, you have the multiply '7k' with everything inside the brackets."

"Does that mean you have to multiply the variables too?" Jack asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, you do, but only the like terms. So for this question, you'd multiply the terms that have 'k' in them."

"Hold on, so you multiply '7k' with everything in the brackets?" Jake asked. I nodded. "So that means you get like, 35k + 42 something?"

"You're close." I said. "Now, when we multiply two variables, it becomes a square. The first number in the answer would be 35k to the power of two or, 35k²."

"And what about the 6y?" Jack scratched his head.

I smiled. "I'm terrible at explaining this part, but like, okay so, you're multiplying the '7k' and the '6y', right?"

The twins nodded.

"All right, so what number do you get?"

"42," they said.

"Good," I nodded. "Now, we have to add the 'k' in the equation since that's being multiplied, too, but because there are no others 'k''s, you just kind add it in the answer. Does that make sense?"

"Kind of?" Both their eyebrows were scrunched together.

"Sorry, guys." I laughed. "Basically, that would become 42ky."

"Ohh," they nodded slowly.

"I kinda get it." Jack said.

"Yeah, me too." Jake agreed. "Can you walk us through another one?"

"Of course." I told them. I scanned the booklet and found a slightly harder equation. "Okay, so this one is -63 + 81x³y²z² + 18x³ divided by 9x²."

"Holy shit." They placed their hands on their foreheads.

"It may sound confusing, but it'll be easier to solve, I swear. Okay, so first off, when it comes to division and exponents, all you gotta do is subtract them."

"Do you add with multiplication then?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I probably should've mentioned that before." I laughed gingerly before going on. "So regarding the numbers, you'd divide like you normally would."

"So the numbers you'd get would be..." Jack trailed off as he did the work in his head, "...-7, 9, and 2?"

"Mhm," I nodded, "now what about the variables and exponents?"

"You said we subtract the exponents." Jake thought for a moment before speaking. "So would the first few be -7 + 9xy²z²?"

I clapped my hands together. "Look at you!"

"And then the last bit would be +2x, right?" Jack looked up at me for confirmation.

I placed a hand over my heart and pretended to wipe away a tear. "Look at my boys understanding polynomials! Oh, how time flies!"

The twins giggled. I ruffled their hair and sighed. "See? They weren't so bad. Why don't you boys do some more questions and then I'll check them when you're done?"

"Okay," they said, "thanks, Hunter."

"Anytime, boys." I said my goodbyes before getting up and walking out of the kitchen. Both Hanna and Liam were standing on each side of the doorframe. I jumped when I saw them both.

"Jesus Christ," I whispered, "we need to get cow bells or something to hook on to you guys."

Liam laughed. "You're quite the math wiz."

"I wish," I scoffed.

"You really are good with them." Hanna peered into the kitchen and saw her two young boys working. "I haven't seen them connect with someone as quick since we adopted Luca and Xavier."

"The twins are great." I shrugged. "I just talk to them the way I talk to everyone else, and I think they appreciate that."

"What do you mean?"

I shrugged again. "I don't know, it seems like everyone treats them and talks to them like little kids even though they're almost high schoolers. If people talk to them like they're humans, they might be willing to open up a little more. I don't know for sure, it's just a thought."

"A very good one." Liam nodded. "Such a smart cookie."

"A smart cookie who now wants a cookie." I said. "Can I bake some?"

"Of course. I'm sure the twins won't mind helping." Hanna looked at Liam for confirmation. He nodded as well.

"I'm going to find Charlie, too. I haven't seen the little nugget all day. Thanks, guys." I waved goodbye to the couple before setting off to find my little friend.