To answer your question, Jezrianna: yes, I purposely said 'monkey' instead of 'Mankey'. Hope you enjoy another short chapter.
**********************************************
Rufus tiredly pulled on Ron's pant pocket for the tenth time, begging him to leave the library .
"Naco!"
"Sorry but I told you, Rufus. I gotta study this week. I promise I'll buy you a grande-sized meal on the weekend."
"Awww…"
"He's right, Rufus," Kim chipped in. "Ron's gotta study."
"Remind me why you're here, again?"
"I'm just here to make sure that you actually go through with this…"
"Yeah right. You just wanna see Josh, don't you?"
"…YES!" Kim said excitedly.
"What's the big deal?? You see him everyday!"
"Yeah but I don't SEE him. We don't hang out!"
"Kim…I ACTUALLY have to study for once…"
"……Yeah, you're right…" Kim gave a small pout but knew Ron was right. "I'll go once Josh comes. Maybe I'll take Rufus to Bueno Nacho."
"Mmm!! Yay!! Kim!!" Rufus hugged Kim with tightly.
"Sure. Whatever," Ron agreed. "As long as you're not flirting with Justin Timberfake here…" he mumbled.
"What was that?"
"I said 'I hope you guys have a good time,'" he lied.
"Oh. Okay…" Kim looked at him questionably.
Just then, the library door swung open and Josh entered the room. He smiled at Kim and Ron and waved.
"Hey guys. Ready to hit the books, Ron?" he asked casually.
'I wish I could hit YOU with a book…' Ron thought.
"Ready as I'll ever be, Mr. Tutorman! Let's get started, Monkey. I mean Mankey," he said with a smirk. Kim elbowed him.
"Hey Josh!"
"'Sup Kim."
"Me and Rufus were just gonna go to Bueno Nacho for a while so we'll leave you two alone now…"
"Rufus? Who's that?"
"Hi!" Rufus chimed.
Josh looked slightly surprised at the sight of a talking naked mole rat but collected his thoughts and petted Rufus.
"Hey there, Little Guy. Are you as cool as your parents, here?"
"Parents?" Ron and Kim asked.
"Well…caretakers, I guess. I dunno what you call it. But you both take care of him right?"
"Well…" Kim blushed, "he's more of Ron's responsibility, actually. I just kinda help him out sometimes…like when he's busy."
"Oh. I see," Josh nodded. "Anyway, we'll see you guys later. Maybe next time we can all go to Bueno Nacho together."
"That'd be great!" Kim accepted. "How 'bout it Ron? Maybe tomorrow after you guys are done tutoring."
"Yeah, yeah…" Ron rolled his eyes.
"Okay, cool! Bye!" Kim waved.
"Later!" Rufus added and jumped into Kim's pocket.
As Kim and Rufus left, Ron couldn't help but notice Josh's eyes, which were still locked on Kim, and the table he was drooling on. Upon further inspection, he could see that Josh wasn't looking at Kim's shoes, either.
"Hey! That's my best friend's booty you're staring at!" he yelled out loud.
Josh blushed when he saw Kim look back and smile at Ron's comment. Unfortunately for Ron, it probably helped the Josh/Kim relationship more than it hurt it.
"Sorry, dude. It's just hard to-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save it. Can we just get to learning?"
"Yeah. Okay." Josh cleared his throat. "Let's start with the basics. Just to see if you've at least got a 'grasp' of what algebra is all about. Can you solve this simple equation?"
Josh wrote down: '4x = 8' on a piece of paper. Ron didn't have a clue how to solve it. He squinted at the paper to see if he was missing something…nothing.
"What's the little 'x' for?" Ron asked.
"You're supposed to solve for 'x.'"
"Oh…what?"
"Okay. Let's try SIMPLE math. What's 8 divided by 4?"
"'4'?" Ron guessed.
"Ron…HOW did you get through elementary school?"
"I dunno. I kinda always had Kim help me. I just have trouble remembering her jibberish after the first day."
"Okay…" Josh sighed. "What's 1 plus 1?"
"Us."
"What?"
"Get it? One plus one equals…us…?"
"…Yeah Ron…"
'This is gonna take a while…'
*************************************************
One hour later…
"For the last time, Ron! 'Pi' is NOT the same thing as 'pie'!!"
"But I love pie."
"It doesn't matter! There's not such thing as blueberry, strawberry, and apple in math! Okay??"
"Jeez. What got you so upset?"
Josh started to twitch to refrain from tackling Ron.
"Ron…*sigh* you're a cool guy and all. In fact, I hope we can be friends after this-"
"What does this have to do with math??" Ron demanded impatiently.
"Hold on, for a second. I'm saying that there are two different lifestyles that you have to live. One is the 'laid back, fun' type of life. You're already doing a pretty good job at that…but the other is 'school life.' Okay? You have to learn how to be serious once in a while. I like hanging out with you-"
"We've never hung out," Ron said dryly.
"Fine, whatever. But I still have to be hard on you when we're in 'school mode.' Okay? Can you at least TRY to grasp what I'm saying?"
"I guess so…*sigh* but math is so hard!"
"I know it is Ron. That's why I'm here to TUTOR you. Okay?"
Ron shook his head.
"Good. We'll try this again tomorrow. Same time after school?"
Ron nodded again.
"Cool. I hope we can finally make some of this stuff make sense to you."
Josh picked up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before walking toward the exit.
"Wait."
Josh turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Josh…you're a pretty cool guy, too. I never really knew how helpful you could really be."
Those words seemed to mean a lot to Josh. He grinned and shrugged.
"That's what I'm here for, buddy. Later Ron."
Ron waited for Josh to leave before he muttered something under his breath.
"Helpful…*pft* yeah right. Little jerk…"
**********************************************
Rufus tiredly pulled on Ron's pant pocket for the tenth time, begging him to leave the library .
"Naco!"
"Sorry but I told you, Rufus. I gotta study this week. I promise I'll buy you a grande-sized meal on the weekend."
"Awww…"
"He's right, Rufus," Kim chipped in. "Ron's gotta study."
"Remind me why you're here, again?"
"I'm just here to make sure that you actually go through with this…"
"Yeah right. You just wanna see Josh, don't you?"
"…YES!" Kim said excitedly.
"What's the big deal?? You see him everyday!"
"Yeah but I don't SEE him. We don't hang out!"
"Kim…I ACTUALLY have to study for once…"
"……Yeah, you're right…" Kim gave a small pout but knew Ron was right. "I'll go once Josh comes. Maybe I'll take Rufus to Bueno Nacho."
"Mmm!! Yay!! Kim!!" Rufus hugged Kim with tightly.
"Sure. Whatever," Ron agreed. "As long as you're not flirting with Justin Timberfake here…" he mumbled.
"What was that?"
"I said 'I hope you guys have a good time,'" he lied.
"Oh. Okay…" Kim looked at him questionably.
Just then, the library door swung open and Josh entered the room. He smiled at Kim and Ron and waved.
"Hey guys. Ready to hit the books, Ron?" he asked casually.
'I wish I could hit YOU with a book…' Ron thought.
"Ready as I'll ever be, Mr. Tutorman! Let's get started, Monkey. I mean Mankey," he said with a smirk. Kim elbowed him.
"Hey Josh!"
"'Sup Kim."
"Me and Rufus were just gonna go to Bueno Nacho for a while so we'll leave you two alone now…"
"Rufus? Who's that?"
"Hi!" Rufus chimed.
Josh looked slightly surprised at the sight of a talking naked mole rat but collected his thoughts and petted Rufus.
"Hey there, Little Guy. Are you as cool as your parents, here?"
"Parents?" Ron and Kim asked.
"Well…caretakers, I guess. I dunno what you call it. But you both take care of him right?"
"Well…" Kim blushed, "he's more of Ron's responsibility, actually. I just kinda help him out sometimes…like when he's busy."
"Oh. I see," Josh nodded. "Anyway, we'll see you guys later. Maybe next time we can all go to Bueno Nacho together."
"That'd be great!" Kim accepted. "How 'bout it Ron? Maybe tomorrow after you guys are done tutoring."
"Yeah, yeah…" Ron rolled his eyes.
"Okay, cool! Bye!" Kim waved.
"Later!" Rufus added and jumped into Kim's pocket.
As Kim and Rufus left, Ron couldn't help but notice Josh's eyes, which were still locked on Kim, and the table he was drooling on. Upon further inspection, he could see that Josh wasn't looking at Kim's shoes, either.
"Hey! That's my best friend's booty you're staring at!" he yelled out loud.
Josh blushed when he saw Kim look back and smile at Ron's comment. Unfortunately for Ron, it probably helped the Josh/Kim relationship more than it hurt it.
"Sorry, dude. It's just hard to-"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Save it. Can we just get to learning?"
"Yeah. Okay." Josh cleared his throat. "Let's start with the basics. Just to see if you've at least got a 'grasp' of what algebra is all about. Can you solve this simple equation?"
Josh wrote down: '4x = 8' on a piece of paper. Ron didn't have a clue how to solve it. He squinted at the paper to see if he was missing something…nothing.
"What's the little 'x' for?" Ron asked.
"You're supposed to solve for 'x.'"
"Oh…what?"
"Okay. Let's try SIMPLE math. What's 8 divided by 4?"
"'4'?" Ron guessed.
"Ron…HOW did you get through elementary school?"
"I dunno. I kinda always had Kim help me. I just have trouble remembering her jibberish after the first day."
"Okay…" Josh sighed. "What's 1 plus 1?"
"Us."
"What?"
"Get it? One plus one equals…us…?"
"…Yeah Ron…"
'This is gonna take a while…'
*************************************************
One hour later…
"For the last time, Ron! 'Pi' is NOT the same thing as 'pie'!!"
"But I love pie."
"It doesn't matter! There's not such thing as blueberry, strawberry, and apple in math! Okay??"
"Jeez. What got you so upset?"
Josh started to twitch to refrain from tackling Ron.
"Ron…*sigh* you're a cool guy and all. In fact, I hope we can be friends after this-"
"What does this have to do with math??" Ron demanded impatiently.
"Hold on, for a second. I'm saying that there are two different lifestyles that you have to live. One is the 'laid back, fun' type of life. You're already doing a pretty good job at that…but the other is 'school life.' Okay? You have to learn how to be serious once in a while. I like hanging out with you-"
"We've never hung out," Ron said dryly.
"Fine, whatever. But I still have to be hard on you when we're in 'school mode.' Okay? Can you at least TRY to grasp what I'm saying?"
"I guess so…*sigh* but math is so hard!"
"I know it is Ron. That's why I'm here to TUTOR you. Okay?"
Ron shook his head.
"Good. We'll try this again tomorrow. Same time after school?"
Ron nodded again.
"Cool. I hope we can finally make some of this stuff make sense to you."
Josh picked up his backpack and threw it over his shoulder before walking toward the exit.
"Wait."
Josh turned around.
"Yeah?"
"Josh…you're a pretty cool guy, too. I never really knew how helpful you could really be."
Those words seemed to mean a lot to Josh. He grinned and shrugged.
"That's what I'm here for, buddy. Later Ron."
Ron waited for Josh to leave before he muttered something under his breath.
"Helpful…*pft* yeah right. Little jerk…"