Chapter 2
Kiba stepped out of his beat up, old Toyota corolla, and wondered when the old girl would finally die on him. He was headed to work, stepping with an air of confidence, and a scowl that let everyone know not to bother him. As he walked inside the bakery, he saw Emilia, his 20 year old co worker, and Jack Montgomery, the owner. Immediately, he groaned. Jack Montgomery was always lecturing him about going to school, and how he was only supposed to work a few hours in the evening or weekends. He wasn't usually around in the mornings.
"Shouldn't you be at school?" The old man asked, with a cold glare.
"Maybe" Kiba muttered, frowning, as he walked closer to the counter. He wasn't afraid of Mr. Montgomery, though he was aware that he could call the police on him, and get him hauled into truancy court.
"Hmm. You really should focus more on your studies, Kiba." Jack said, quietly. He remembered his beloved wife, who had been the one to hire the young man, mentioning that the boy was troubled, but also vulnerable.
Kiba frowned at that. He didn't need someone telling him what to do, he had managed on his own wits for years, and he felt bad enough, anyway. He had promised Tsume not to skip school anymore. He was also a senior. If he hoped to graduate, he'd need to get his shit together.
"Well what if you can't stand to be in school?" Kiba's frown deepened. He was explaining himself now, and he hated it.
"What am I gonna learn about life, there?"
Jack Montgomery exchanged a look with Emilia, his daughter, who gave him a clear look, saying, 'be nice, daddy' , a look he promptly ignored.
"Kid, let me give you some free advice", he began, ignoring the eye rolls coming his way.
" If you're smart, you figure out how to not just survive, but to thrive. This little job of yours? Yeah, it'll make you some money, but not enough. If you go to school, put the hours in, you're gonna find your way in life, go to college, and really make a life for yourself."
"Thanks for the 'advice'" Kiba muttered as he headed toward the exit. Good thing it was free, or he would have asked for a refund. Did Jack live in the real world? Did he really think he was gonna go to College? He was just trying to make enough money to put some food on the table, and maybe, somehow, if he and Tsume worked hard enough, and a miracle happened, maybe Toboe could go to college.
Kiba walked back to his car, considering his options for the day, when his phone chirped, signaling a message. It was from Emilia.
'Hey! Sorry, 4got my Dad was coming. He'll be gone in like 20 min. Do U want me to txt U when he's gone? U can work a few hrs.'
The 17 year old groaned, because, yeah, he was gonna choose to work, but Jack Montgomery's words were still dancing around in his head.
Hige let out a loud groan, which got him a stern look from his math teacher. It wasn't like he didn't try, he did. Math just wasn't his thing. It probably never would be! And yet, here he was, trying not to panic.
'find the area of the parallelogram' The question read, providing a picture of what Hige could only assume was a "parallelogram". Why did he need to know this?
' Okay Hige you can do it' He coaxed himself, he had to pass this test, or he would most likely flunk the class, and he'd have to take summer school, and he wouldn't be allowed to do anything fun. 'You're panicking, stop panicking! You can always go with B or C...Or A, Damn it, there's a D option too" he rolled his eyes at himself, fully aware that he thought too much; and with that thought, his eyes began to wander.
Most of the students looked confident, a few looked like they were struggling, and then there was Blue. Blue, who made his stomach flip with every move she made. She was concentrating, not too hard, but she was. He could tell by the way she chewed on the eraser of her pencil, and yeah, it made him think of the stolen first kiss they'd shared a few weeks ago.
He sighed. She was sitting right next to him and he could tell she was on the last problem.
'Yeah,that's fair, the girl that keeps me from learning. The girl that sends me stupid notes, makes me laugh and never pays attention is going to do amazing, and I'm going to fail.'
"Alright guys, only twenty minutes left in class, is there anyone who's still working on the test?"
Hige snapped up, back to reality at Mr. Matthews announcement. Twenty minutes? He was barely on question 10, out of 40 problems!
' It's okay just calm down. Let's see …'find the area of the parallelogram' the base is 20, the height is 8; 20 times 8 is 160…'
He looked over at the multiple choice questions, where he found his answer, whether right or wrong, was one of the choices.
"Okay 11 questions down…' He stopped. ' 40 minus 11…30?…29. 29 to go… Unbelievable! I can't even do basic math! How embarrassing, I should stop watching so much television! Oh, except when I'm with Blue, we are in the middle of watching Riverdale, and we need to find out about the black hood…'
Blue looked over at Hige, his mind was obviously elsewhere, he had that glazed over look on his face, and he was not answering any questions. He hadn't even turned the page!
She chuckled. He was going to be in so much trouble, but she kind of loved when he'd sneak out of his house to visit her, anyway.
Tsume closed the door behind him as quietly as he could, he wanted to go upstairs and throw himself on his bed, it had been a long day at work, and really just needed a break.
"Hey Tsume!" came the cheery greeting from his youngest brother, and Tsume mentally cursed his luck. So much for sneaking in and having some time to himself.
"Not so loud, kid" He muttered as he plopped down on the couch, took a pillow cushion, and tried to suffocate himself.
"Sorry Tsume, stop!" Toboe yelled, taking the pillow away from his oldest brother. "Guess what!"
"Hm?" Tsume responded, as energetically as he could, which was very. He adored his little brother, he really did, but the boy was irritating.
"Today I talked to this girl that I've wanted to talk to for the longest time"
"That's nice" Tsume interrupted, going into the kitchen to get something to eat. Toboe followed.
"I know! It was so cool! I didn't think I'd ever get the chance to talk to her again, but then...It was like destiny! Shelly and Mrs. Van were there too, but they actually talked to each other, and honestly, I think Shelly just needs some friends, y'know, so-"
"No way!"
"I know, I thought the same thing-"
Tsume's eyebrows raised. "That we need food?"
"What? No, about Shelly!"
"Who?"
Toboe's sparkly eyes, and wide smile turned into a quick frown, and disappointed eyes. Tsume noticed, and tried not to feel too guilty. Toboe was always rambling.
"Haven't you been paying attention to my story" He sounded insulted.
"Sure I have, little brother...you...made some friends."
The 13 year old rolled his eyes, but let it go, as he walked over to the fridge- It contained an empty gallon of milk, some yellow cheese and a small container filled with something green with brown and yellow spots.
"What the hell is that?!" Toboe asked, momentarily forgetting about his wonderful afternoon with the "girl of his dreams", and his plans to befriend both Leara and Shelly.
"Hey, watch your mouth!" Tsume reprimanded, though he was just as curious and disgusted by the "green blob"
"Why don't you try it, Toboe?"
"What? No way. You try it and see if it's edible."
Tsume looked at his youngest brother. "I asked you first"
"I'm not eating that Tsume!" Toboe yelled, he remembered the last time he had tried to see if something was "edible"
"Come on, kid- hey I know, if you try this we can go grocery shopping"
Toboe sighed, Tsume was starting to sound like Hige. "Why can't we go grocery shopping now?"
"...Because, if that thing is edible we don't have to go grocery shopping till tomorrow" Tsume finished lamely, honestly, he was still hoping he could catch a nap at some point.
Toboe sighed. "Well… I guess I can try it, you'll try it to though, right?"
Tsume gave him a weak smile. "...Yeah?"
to be continued…..
