Re: Less Than Three

[solarOrigins]

"Holy fucking shit" John breathed, grabbing his homework and copying down a problem to rework

[cacklingMarionette]

Dirk couldn't help but chuckle at Johns reaction, finding it amusing and almost adorable. "Eager now, are we?" He asked, leaning back to rest against the futon.

[solarOrigins]

"If it means I'm not gonna fail this class then hell yes I'm eager!" John replied with a grin. He started reworking all his homework and double checking his work. "That bitch can choke on my fucking dick when she has to give me an a on this"

[cacklingMarionette]

This time Dirk did laugh, a light smile on his face. It felt good to know he was actually doing his job right. He just sat back and watched as John did his work so diligently. He could look it all over once John was done. "Is she a hard-ass on you?"

[solarOrigins]

"The biggest fucking bitch. And she calls on me to answer questions all the time when she knows I don't understand the problems" John stated. "Fucking hate her"

[cacklingMarionette]

He hummed in light understanding, tilting his head back before removing his shades to rub at his eyes. "'S why I left public schools. Couldn't deal with the everyday bullshit from teachers who give nothing more than humiliation and gratification just for some goddamn paycheck. No, that's why I took up online classes." That's also why you seem to have gained an air of antisocialness.

[solarOrigins]

"Dad won't let me do homeschooling. He thinks I spend too much time on the computer as it is, and says that interacting with all the 'people' at school is good for me." John replied in a somewhat disgusted tone. "I tried to sell him on it last year but he told me people teased me because they just wanted to be my friend, that he went through the same thing, blah blah blah." He slid the sheet of the new homework problems over to Dirk to check.

"My whole thing is, I wouldn't care if it was just the other students being jackasses, I put up with Dave pretty well I think. My issue is the teachers that decide to be jackasses. I get one every fucking year and I'm always the one singled out, and when I try and prove it to him, he just schedules a conference and they make me out to be this little liar who just doesn't understand the material."

[cacklingMarionette]

Dirk was actually so caught up in what John was saying, he didn't even bother breaking his gaze until John had stopped talking. He had to admit, he felt sorry for the guy. "Quite the contrary with me, amusingly enough." He murmured as he finally started looking over John's work. "Brodrick found it simpler for me to distance myself from other students. I, well...didn't do very well when it came to being social. Group projects were hell and back for me."

He finally gave him a nod of approval, finding no errors in the problems John had solved. "As for the teacher issue, well, that's just the general basis of 'not giving a single fuck'. Most likely, she's taking out some personal problems on you, which is not right at all." Then he paused for a moment as he thought back to what John said. "Dave isn't being a legitimate jackass to you, is he?"

[solarOrigins]

"That was just a generalized statement" John replied "Dave's usually a jackass so I just used him as an example, but nah, he's been no worse than usual." He shrugged "Nicer than usual if you want to consider how he got you to tutor me in this bullshit. I think he honestly feels bad about the teacher."

[cacklingMarionette]

Dirk nodded in approval at this, even giving a light amused huff. "'S not like he had to convince me. Kinda just gave me the sob story about the teachers, and how you were bawlin' your baby blues out because you were gonna fail the course." He said with a light chuckle. "But as you know, that's Dave's side of the story."

[solarOrigins]

"For the record, I wasn't crying. My eyes were just watering because I had punched a locker in frustration." John replied "And he promised he wouldn't tell anyone, so now I have to rig a prank in his room for being a douchenozzle."

John pulled out the other papers in his backpack. "Okay, should we start where I first stopped understanding, or just work our way back from now?"

[cacklingMarionette]

"Mmmmmmhm." He said with a light smirk. "Don't worry, I can tell when he's bullshitting. And feel free- I didn't see a thing."

Dirk leaned forward a little, elbows on his knees again. "Probably where you stopped understanding. Work our way up to the current point. I'll be your teacher- make up for all the shitty lessons she taught."

[solarOrigins]

John sorted through his papers until he found the test he was looking for and he passed it to Dirk. "That one. Maybe if I'm lucky I can find a textbook I can buy online"

[cacklingMarionette]

" You don't have a textbook?" He asked, sounding surprised at he took the paper, looking at it. "Well no wonder she's fucking you over with her lessons. That's no way to learn, as cliche as that sounds."

[solarOrigins]

"No, I said before, we have a classroom set" John replied. "and we get all our homework off the online workbook. What I'm saying is I bet I can find a copy of the text book we have in class, and get it for cheap, because its still a few years old. School's probably going to have to replace them soon"

[cacklingMarionette]

"Ridiculous." Dirk mumbled under his breath, shaking his head disapprovingly. Not that it was John's fault, no. Just the standard stingy neglect of the public school system. It was no wonder he left with Bro's consent. "Most likely. Either online or maybe even in one of those used book stores. You can generally get them there for a better price, if you're lucky enough to come across what you're looking for.

[solarOrigins]

"My Cousin Jane told me about this great half price textbook website she learned about when she started college, so I planned on starting there" John replied "And I'm almost positive I can get my dad to pay for it if he thinks it'll help bring my grade up"

[cacklingMarionette]

"At least you have a plan." He said, setting the paper down in front of John. "Alright, is there any part of this that you do understand? Or is it all too complex?"

[solarOrigins]

"Let's just go with the accurate assumption that I don't understand the questions that were marked wrong" John smiled. "Sound good?"

[cacklingMarionette]

"Mmmmmmmhm." He said, looking over the questions marked wrong. Of course, she wouldn't explain why he got them wrong. Just those objective red X's. "Alright, let's start with this one. You divided when you were supposed to multiply first."

[solarOrigins]

"Why don't you show me how those equations are done then explain them, like you did the last set" John suggested, moving closer to Dirk so he would be able to see what he was writing.

[cacklingMarionette]

He glanced over to John when he felt him move closer, but kept his head still to avoid suspicion. "Alright." He said quietly, writing out the problem from scratch. Then he multiplied the two variables, before dividing them. "See, now that makes these fractions larger, making them better to combine." In which he did, combining them into a larger fraction, and finally dividing one last time to make a whole number.

[solarOrigins]

"So then x equals nine, right?" John asked, solving the equation in his head before Dirk finished writing the number.

[cacklingMarionette]

"Exactly." He said with a light nod. This time, he looked over at John, actually looking at him. He took in his features, imprinting what he looked like in his mind. It's been a while since he's been this close to anyone other than his brothers. "Would you like me to do another? Or do you want to take a crack at it?"

[solarOrigins]

"Let me try one and if I can get it right then I'll do a few more till I have it memorized" John replied, pulling the test towards him to work the problems.

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