A/N: Math prompts, anyone?
Week Twelve: The X Factors! - UDC 6 - Geometry Problem Bonus Homework
56. Prime
"I said I'd do it, and you wanted me to, so here," Karen's voice said as she plunked a packet down in the middle of the table. "Have fun."
Pete stared at it as he took another bite of his sandwich, and then glanced up at her. "So I don't have to go ask him, huh?"
"Nope." Karen looked at him for a long moment and then shifted her attention to Nick, who was watching them passively. "This kid... in November, when he broke his arm? He talked his social worker into letting him come to school basically the next day."
"No, that was Friday night that it happened," Pete interrupted and Karen glared down at him. "Not Sunday."
"And Nick wasn't here for it."
"True."
57. Composite
She shook her head, then looked at Nick again. "So Nev," and here Karen motioned to another girl at a different table. "...Nevaeh noticed that it was not Mrs. Tomkins dropping him off, and then I start really looking, because my mother is a nurse and she taught me what to look for, and he's standing there very stiffly, looking kind of gray, because he was refusing medication. And that was when I met Mr. Jenkins."
"And Nevaeh escorted me to first period where she handed me off to Jenn," Pete added. "All while not letting me carry my own book bag. And Karen here took Mr. Jenkins to talk to Mrs. Juusten."
Nick nodded. "Is that how you ended up with a different locker?"
"Yes." Pete glared momentarily up at Karen. "I wanted a normal day, you know. Instead..."
"I can see where this is going," Nick said slowly. "Instead you got something else entirely."
"Also yes. Eventually, Mrs. Juusten even convinced me to actually take the Ibuprofen, too."
"And you felt much better afterwards," Karen reminded him.
58. Deficient
Pete sighed, and suddenly Nick realized that maybe it hadn't been about the medication. Maybe... "Not the point right now."
"Karen?" She glanced at him and he motioned for her to stop. Karen frowned at him for a long moment before nodding.
"Enjoy the complex problem," Karen said instead, and Pete nodded. He'd not picked the packet up yet and had gone back to finishing his lunch.
Nick watched her go, then leaned closer. "So... do you want to talk about why you had to be convinced into taking an over the counter pain medication, or should we wait until later?"
Pete stared at the packet on the table between them, then shook his head. "Later. It's..."
"A lot?"
Pete nodded. "I wanted something normal, Nick. I got it.."
"...and extras you didn't quite know how to do deal with?" He watched as Pete picked the packet up and paged through it with interest. Nick was starting to get the feeling that it might have been a bit more than being escorted, a locker switch, and being in more pain than he needed to be, but now was not the time.
59. Perfect
The last thing Karen expected as she was unloading her locker following last bell was to be hugged suddenly by someone short. Blinking in surprise, she looked down at Pete, who was smiling. "I take you love the extra homework?"
Pete grinned. "It's perfect. Where's Jenn? She wanted to see it."
"I showed her already," Karen told him with a returned smile. "Also, it's a good thing you're twelve, or Fionn would be jealous."
"Nah," Fionn said from across the hall. "I'd be jealous of Bradshaw if he did that, but Pete? Never."
"Uh..." Pete slowly let go, glanced at Fionn and Jaime. "Sorry?"
Jaime laughed. "What are you sorry for? Being excited over math is a good and healthy thing, and Karen probably needed the hug."
60. Abundant
Walt couldn't help but notice the tenseness as the boys did their homework that night, as if both had things on their minds but neither wanted to discuss whatever it was. Were they fighting, or was this something else entirely? When Nick got up from the table, he reached out and stopped him with a touch. "What's going on?"
Nick blinked, startled. "Nothing. Why?"
"Tense, the both of you."
"We are?" Nick paused, then nodded to Pete, who was watching them both with a neutral expression. "Now or later, Pete?"
"Wanna finish this," Pete said with a shrug. "And it's not bad, Walt. Karen just... said a lot when she was giving me the math packet at lunch."
Walt nodded. "All right."
"And I wasn't going to mention it to the three of you, what happened the week of Thanksgiving, because it doesn't matter now."
That made him stare at Pete for a minute and then he looked at Nick, who was also staring at Pete with an expression that he wasn't quite able to read. "Nick?"
"Water, please." Nick nodded and went to do as asked. Walt reached over and nudged Pete's arm and the boy looked at him in question. "If it still upsets you, of course it matters. We'll talk later, hmmm?"
Pete nodded slowly, then held up his German textbook. "Can we talk about this first?"
Walt smiled. "Sure we can. Which part is giving you fits?"