Clever Girl

Chapter 7 : I know your secret.

The last three days have gone by seamlessly. Seven students have already signed up for my tutoring sessions. To elevate my mood even more, Jay hasn't said a single word to me since Monday. We both show up, but don't speak. He doesn't seem to care at all about my progress, nor does he check my work. This is the most calm I've felt in weeks.

The one situation that hasn't changed is my mother's illness.

While she now has some colour in her cheeks, she doesn't seem to be fully recovered. I've tried reading more books, to see if I can possibly find an explanation for her strange state of weakness, for her loss of appetite, but I can't pinpoint anything. And again, I don't want to hone in on one particular diagnosis, but this time of waiting, of agonizing, is slowling killing us all.

Doctor Manning charges a ton for a house call, and I'm almost there, but there's still a little way to go.

The hardest part is keeping a straight face for Matty and my father. Neither of them have noticed my mother's state. I smile when they enter a room, I tell them that mom is only sleeping, or that I'm only saving money for a car. There's no telling how much longer I can keep this charade up without bursting into tears, but I'm trying my hardest. 

"Where's mom?" Matty asks as he runs into the kitchen.

"Taking a nap. I'm making dinner tonight. We're having spaghetti and meatballs."

Matty's eyes light up with joy, "Yes! My favourite!"

"I know. Wanna help me with the meatballs?" I put the bowl of ground beef in front of him. He loves to help with this, and I have to keep him busy so he doesn't grow suspicious of our mother's absence around the house. "I've already put in the rest of the ingredients. All you gotta do is mash it and round it up."

"Awesome!"

I don't enjoy lying to my family, but sometimes a lie can keep everyone happy, and who am I take away someone's happiness? If the circumstances get worse, I'll explain everything to them. But for now it's best to continue lying. I plaster on a smile as Matty begins helping me with preparing dinner. 

"You know what? You can start a legit tutoring business, like outside of the kids in my class," Matty says after a few moments of silence.

"You think so?"

"Totally. You'd make serious cash. All you gotta do is register a business name, then maybe make a website and set yourself up on social media. Actually you don't even need a website these days, just use hashtags and promote your posts. It's super easy. You'll be all set."

"It's that easy?" I say, smiling again.

"Yeah. And you know Ariel? Her marks have gotten so much better since you started tutoring her. She used to be so dumb."

"Matty, it's not nice to call people that," I tell him, fully aware that I'm being a massive hypcorite in the process. There's no need for him to grow up to be as cynical and insulting as me though. 

"Okay sorry, but you know what I mean. When you were handing out flyers at school on Monday, I heard Ariel's parents tell Josh's parents about you. That's why his parents took your flyer. I read that word-of-mouth is also a really good way to get business going."

I finish making the tomato sauce and start mixing it in with the spaghetti, "You're so smart, Matty. Have I ever told you that?"

"Only all the time."

***

There is only one subject at school that Jay and I share together, and that's because he takes all advanced placement classes - while I'm in general. For this particular study, I couldn't bring myself to lower my interest. This makes it so I'm in the AP English Lit class with Jay and a couple of his obnoxious friends. I'm still careful not to draw attention to myself, and hold a B-minus for this class alone.