Paulo found himself hightailing it through Roseville just after quarter past one in the afternoon, he cursed himself repeatedly; he had forgotten where Sue lived. He couldn't remember the last time he went there, or if he had ever—!

Hold on; he never forgot, he never knew in the first place!

Oh god, was that how things were?

He hadn't particularly noticed before, they had been friends … kind of friends for a while, he guessed? Or were they just colleagues? You know, he was never sure. Was there ever a time the gang were all at her house? Individually they might have, not all the rehearsals for Sue's play took place at the school. What about Mike? Surely a study group at some time? Daisy? Maybe the same reason? David? Unlikely…

He was smitten at the realisation, he had never actually been to her house. He was never invited.

He was already in deep trouble that afternoon enough as it was. It only right after lunch when he remembered about his study session with Sue and spent an additional fifteen minutes deliberating if he even really wanted to go. When he worked up the courage (only by remembering he wanted to succeed this year) he then realised he didn't even know where she lived! He didn't even know her number! What a way to start the weekend! He had to take a trip to the cinema just to find Amaya to find out where Sue lived, and even then, without a map—

He turned left and entered the property Amaya described faster than he'd ever run before. He had an idea; as his foot came to rest on the door mat, he curled his only free hand and bought it up to the door. He expected to bounce off it; both knocking, and stopping himself from his sprint. Instead, the door swung open, and a person moved into his way from behind it. The figure he assumed was Sue tried to yell something at him but he didn't take notice, stopping himself suddenly became much more important, but he couldn't.

He felt himself regain consciousness a few seconds later realising he was inside, and on something else that was softer beneath him. It pushed him off in the same instant.

'You idiot! You're late and you're clumsy!' Sue yelled at him as she got up.

At least he was good with directions, he tried to muse with himself. The day couldn't get any worse, he was sure.

They sat opposite each other at the living room table, their books by their side and a laptop computer shared between them, though - mostly on (and used exclusively by) Sue's side. A little more than half an hour had passed and already Paulo was certain that he had been killed in the earlier incident and he was currently in hell. He struggled to concentrate. His eye didn't make it any easier, he pushed the cooling pack into it a little deeper; another to the growing list of causalities, ignoring his pride, of course. Sue would apologize profusely about the damage, it had been coincidental her fist was raised as high as it was when he bowled through the door. She had been waiting for him for a while. Paulo thought better to let it slide. After all, he almost had given her a concussion for the second time in two days. It was the least he could do, right?

Sue had taken no time in laying down the law, Paulo swore that she had almost been preparing it just for this occasion. It was delivered it like a speech, and utterly predictable; first having declared early that nobody goes into her room without her permission, and he dared not drift further than the lounge room or the bathroom. It was concise to say the least, had they been closer friends at a younger age it probably wouldn't have mattered. He had been in Daisy's room after all on some occasions. Then again, he supposed she at least considered him a close friend to allow that. Sue didn't, he figured.

He couldn't lie, he had begun to imagine what kind of nerdy shit Sue had strewn about her room. But for some reason that fact from before had made a part of him feel just a little sad.

He glanced upwards from his workbook to Sue. She had the same idea, but hers pierced back, judging. It felt threatening, his eyes returned to the book.

An hour would pass, but there hadn't been much progress. Things started getting worse when Sue had said something smarmy about Paulo's level of knowledge when Paulo's worst habit met hers.

'You're not very good at teaching.' He told her.

Sue stared back at him astonished, 'Excuse me?!'

'We've been on this same chapter for ages, this is not making any more sense. I'm pretty sure Daisy could explain this better.' He quipped.

'Daisy … is probably used to someone who doesn't try!' She got up from her seat. 'You're infuriating. Teach yourself for a bit, I'm going to the bathroom.'

Fuck, Paulo thought aloud. Why was he even here? Why wasn't he at Daisy's? What did he hope to gain from the Lion's Den? He couldn't remember, he blocked it out inside, pushed it into the deep recesses of his mind. He ignored it, he looked forward to his worksheet.

The part of his gut he never listened to wondered, but was astonished Sue didn't call it quits and he didn't find himself on the curb. Yes, it was true; she was having difficulty teaching him, she was getting ahead of herself in the work in a way that suited her. He was behind…far behind. Daisy would have noticed him struggling immediately, but Sue wasn't too inclined to feel it asked for leniency. To make the whole situation worse, Paulo's own pride wouldn't let him admit any of this, particularly to her.

He felt a wave of guilt for the earlier confrontation, this would happen often; he'd run his mouth, and then only think of the other person's feelings after it was done. It had been getting worse as of recent, he'd only realise how good he was at digging a hole to throw himself in. It pained him on the inside. He was sure he wasn't like this, really. Sue was really doing her best, and she was taking time out of her own schedule to help him, but an element that was making this better for both was missing. He struggled to determine what that missing that exactly was.

He stared at the workbook trying to ignore the creeping guilt. It perplexed him, he gave up immediately and threw his head back to look at the ceiling from the seat. He began to have doubts, was she teaching him wrong, or was he really this far gone? God, was the Guidance Councillor right about him? Was it just better for him to go back to Jasmine and repeat the grade?

He felt angry and embarrassed at the idea. That was not going to happen!

He dropped his pen and instead reached out towards the laptop and slid it towards himself. He had a thought, if he could look up how to do this equation quickly in a better way than the way Sue had explained it, he might not even need to go all the way back to the start. He hoped it wasn't locked. Thankfully, it wasn't. But he was shocked, as the screen lit up the answer was already in front of him. He read it over, he couldn't believe it, it was exactly as how Sue tried to describe it to him moments ago.

He sat back, he still didn't get it. He tried something else. Something a little more deliberate. Ah! That looked better. Oh, that was the solution the whole time? He did the workings, and wrote them and the answer down in his book.

He felt better, was that all there was to it? That was easy come to think of it! Why did he need Sue in the first place?

The flashing graphic near the top of the screen was starting to get on his nerves. Did it ever stop flashing? He clicked on it. He froze. He clicked on it again and watched as the window hid off screen. He thought for a moment. Was that something I needed to see?

His conscience was drowned out by his curiosity. He poured over the chat.