He hadn't come in the next day. Ema explained to Clara what had happened and Clara in turn had gotten to do a little snooping with her younger sister who had only just started in the school. The following day, Apollo had re-appeared. Clara had spotted him coming in while she was waiting for Ema to arrive.
"He's here." Clara told her. "He's waiting inside I think."
"Apollo!" Ema called. She had taken quite a shine to him.
"Oh, hello Ema. Clara." He looked at the girl beside Clara curiously. She looked a lot like the older, more mature blond beside her but without the colourful hair.
"Apollo, this is my little sister Tara." Clara introduced.
"Hi."
"Hiya!" She chirped.
"She's in the same grade as you. I thought maybe you could use someone to talk to and all…" Clara continued.
"Pleased to meet you." Apollo smiled. He liked Tara, she was bubbly.
"Well, you're in normal lessons today aren't you?" Ema asked.
"That's right."
"Good luck to you." She smiled.
Tara turned out to be very funny and over the course of the day she brightened Apollo's mood in all his classes. He was suddenly happy to be at high school…
"Ah Ema." Mr Gilmore grabbed her arm as she passed in the hall. "I'd like to have a word with you. In my office."
"Of course sir." Ema looked to Clara.
"It's ok, I'll go meet Matt." Clara smiled.
"Can I help you?" Ema asked.
"That boy, Apollo."
"Yes?"
"I'd like you to be his tutor for science."
"M-me?"
"Well, you are the best student I have and you are more than capable." She thought for a while.
"I-I guess I could."
"I'll arrange it with him."
-x-x-
That night, Apollo returned home to the house he shared with the family who had adopted him to tell them about his new tutor. He told them that she would be round later in the evening to help him with his work. His foster mother Mary-sue was pleased and told him that he could use the dining table in the kitchen to do some studies. Mary-sue was once married, her husband had recently left and she had a son called Kai who was almost 18, a daughter called Leia who was 15, a daughter called Alyss who was 12 and of course, her foster son Apollo.
Apollo helped to clear the table and clean all the pots that night before rushing to grab a quick shower and grab his laptop and books for his studies.
*
Outside, Ema nervously pressed the doorbell. She hated visiting new people's houses, although Clara had assured her this was the right address. A woman came to the door.
"Can I help you?" She asked in a pleasant manner.
"Uh…yes. Is this Apollo Justice's house?"
"Yes, who's asking?"
"My name's Ema, Ema Skye. I'm Apollo's science tutor." Ema began nervously.
"Ah yes of course. Please do come in." She opened the door wider and allowed Ema through. "Please, take off your coat and shoes." Ema did just that. Placing her shoes beside the piles of trainers and high heels. She hung her lab-coat on a free hook and followed the woman into the house. "My name is Mary-sue by the way."
"Pleased to meet you." Ema smiled.
"Hold on a second and I will get Apollo for you, until then please go into the living room there and make yourself comfy."
"Thanks." Ema made her way into the small living room area, they had a decent sized television with a variety of channels. There were two leather couches, on one, a girl which seemed familiar to Ema was sprawled out, flicking through music channels. On the other was an older boy, maybe a year or two older than herself and there was a 12 year old sat by the coffee table with a pack of cookies.
"Well hello." The boy chuckled. "Hey there beautiful who might you be?"
"Ema…Ema Skye."
"Pleased to meet ya." He patted the seat beside him. "Take a seat."
"Your flirting won't work." She smiled in a sly way before sitting on the other side of the couch.
"So, what'cha here for?" The girl by the table asked.
"I'm here to see Apollo."
"Why?" The girl on the couch snapped.
"Because I'm his tutor." Ema bit back.
"Oh yeah, hey! I remember you, you were talking to Apollo the other day." Kai declared. "Yeah. He told me you took him to see the nurse when he got beat up. Thanks."
"Apollo! Your tutor's here!" She could hear who she assumed was Apollo's mother calling up the stairs. Apollo could be heard rushing down after.
"Sorry I'm late." He smiled, flustered.
"No problem."
"We can work in the kitchen if you want." Apollo offered. She nodded and followed him.
Again the kitchen was a plain, simple room but it was much bigger than the living room with a very high tech kitchen area. She took a seat at the end of the table and Apollo took the one to the left of her.
"Ok so what would you like to study first? Biology, chemistry or physics?"
"Chemistry. It's my favourite."
"Mine too." Ema giggled. "Ok, so I'm going to go over basic stuff with you tonight."
"Alright." Apollo nodded. She pulled a book from her bag and opened it to the first page.
"I assume you know what this is?"
"Sure, it's a periodic table." Apollo smiled.
"Ok. Now tell me what's in the periodic table."
"Elements."
"What is an element?"
"A pure substance, it's 100% made of the same thing." Ema nodded, impressed.
"Ok, so I'm going to point at some of the elements you should know and I want you to tell me. So, we'll start with this one, what does the H mean?"
"Hydrogen."
"Correct. How about the C?"
"Carbon."
"Hm…how about this one, what is K?"
"Um…Potassium?"
"Well done." She smiled. Mary-sue padded in.
"Sorry to interrupt you two but perhaps you'd like a drink?"
"Yes please." Ema smiled.
"Would you like one Apollo?"
"Yes please, a cola if we've got some."
"We have diet."
"Can I have a diet cola too?" Ema asked. "Alright Apollo. Now, can you tell me what this one is, it's Na."
"I uh…" He tried to think of an element beginning with those letters.
"It's ok." Ema smiled. "This is sodium."
"Ah ok." Apollo nodded.
"How about this one? This is easy, what's O?"
"Oxygen!" Apollo declared happily.
"Thanks." Ema smiled at the lady who placed a can of pop and a glass in front of her.
"Thanks." Apollo chimed.
"Well done Apollo." Ema smiled.
She stayed for an hour before Clara collected her to take her home. In that hour she had covered some ground with Apollo. He was definitely clever and she agreed to come over after school on the following Friday.
-x-x-
School was a little easier for Apollo that second week. Tara was shaping up to be a good friend and Apollo was more relaxed, thanks to Ema, he understood everything in Mr Gilmore's science class now.
"Apollo. I can see you are doing well." Mr Gilmore commented near the end of the lesson.
"Thank you Mr Gilmore." Apollo smiled weakly. Tara nodded.
"Mr Gilmore's right. You're good."
"T-thanks."
"I trust your tutor is doing good?"
"Yes sir. Ema's a great tutor. She's coming over tonight to teach me too."
Ema was over at the house within half an hour of school ending. Mary-sue apologised, as Apollo was in the shower but told Ema she could wait in the living room with the others. That was when she noticed Leia's hatred for her.
"I don't see why Apollo needs a tutor." She bit.
"Because he needs one to catch up."
"But why you?" She snarled.
"What?"
"Hmph."
She was happier when she had moved to the kitchen with Apollo to study.
"Okay, so we're going to have a quick recap of last week first." She pointed to a few elements and he named them for her. "Ok, let's do some more work on the table."
"Ok!" Apollo smiled, in his old school he had hated science but Ema made it easy to understand and fun.
"Ok, so the columns of the table are called groups and the rows are called periods." He giggled. "Real mature." She chuckled rolling her eyes.
"S-sorry." Apollo blushed.
"Don't worry, some of the guys in my classes – who are sixteen or seventeen still giggle at that." She smiled softly. "Anyway, you'll be reminded of these every year for the next few years." She looked at the books. "Do you like biology?"
"Yeah, the animal side of things." Apollo shrugged.
"Ok. So lets cover some of that shall we?"
Mary-sue, who had gone into the kitchen to start preparing dinner glanced at the clock, Ema had been there for over an hour already. Her son was busily taking notes from what Ema was saying and he responded whenever she asked a question. A sound broke the pair's working.
"Oh I'm sorry, I've just got to take this." Ema smiled. "Can I step outside for a little while?"
"You seem to be doing well." Mary-sue commented as Apollo got up to help her.
"Thanks." He looked at what she was making – it was pasta night and tonight it looked like some spicy pasta – Apollo's favourite.
"Sorry about that." Ema sighed. "My sister called to say her boyfriend's hungry so she's starting dinner."
"Oh…so I guess you'll…" Apollo seemed to trail off on purpose.
"Oh no. I can stay a little longer. If that's ok of course. I'll get some food on the way home." Ema smiled to Mary-sue.
"You could stay here if you like." She suggested. "I always make more than enough."
"Oh…well then thank you. I'd like that." Ema nodded. "Apollo is something wrong?" He was holding his throat.
"My voice keeps going weird…" His voice changed pitch again.
"Maybe your voice is just breaking." Ema suggested. "It's nothing to worry about."
It turned out that Mary-sue was one hell of a cook.
-x-x-
It was the first day of December. By now, Apollo had settled and Tara had become his best friend. At lunch, he often sat with Clara and Ema as well as Clara's boyfriend Matt and of course, Clara's little sister Tara.
Ema had started to notice something new about Apollo. Gradually, he was coming out of his shell and she liked that. She also noticed his voice had deepened a considerable amount and he had grown a few inches. The main thing she noticed, however, was he was a little more muscular than before – during his gym lessons he would often go into the nearby fitness suite and do jogging on the treadmill along with some weightlifting.
"So, Ema." Clara chirped, cramming as much of the sandwich as she could into her mouth. "Can you come out tonight? Or is your sister making you stay home?"
"Well…tonight's Friday, I'm going to tutor Apollo." Ema replied.
"You can go out if you want." Apollo offered. Tara punched him in the arm and asked him to open her drink. "It's just one night."
"Oh no, it's fine if Ema's teaching." Clara winked at her boyfriend. "Do you think mom will let you stay over Matt?"
"Doubt it." Tara giggled.
"Can it Tara." Clara replied, hitting her with a potato chip.
"Guys!" Ema yelped. "Please." She giggled.
"No way! Mom can't let Matt stay!" Tara squealed.
"Why?"
"Because I don't want him to!"
"Be careful Tara, I'll tell mom you fancy someone." She winked. "Jared!"
"S-shut up!" Tara blushed. "I don't fancy him!"
That evening as Clara and Matt left, arms linked with Tara trailing behind them they whispered to each other.
"Ema seems to look forward to Fridays."