Chapter 8: Homeworks
That same afternoon, Diddy was preparing to go to Dixie's house. He was in the living room picking up some books and school supplies to go. Minutes later, Donkey arrived in the room and noticed what Diddy was doing.
"So, Dixie is in school now," Donkey said, smiling. "That's great. You'll have a new company. Will you go to her house now?"
"Yes, right now," Diddy replied in kind. "I'll come back later."
"Okay, little buddy," Donkey added, patting him on the shoulder. "Have a good time."
"See you later, Donkey," Diddy said as he headed for the door.
Diddy left the house and went downstairs to finally leave. Meanwhile, Donkey stared at him until he lost his sight, and later smiled; for some reason, he seemed to notice that Diddy looked quite smiling during those last few days... and much more now that he saw him leave.
Later, Diddy had arrived at Dixie's house and knocked on the door. A few seconds later, Tiny peeked out and greeted him, being accompanied by the other three young kongs.
"Hi, Diddy!" the four of them said at the same time.
"Hi, friends!" Diddy greeted them back cheerfully.
"Will you come and play with us?" Tiny said, taking Diddy's arm along with Kiddy.
"Then, now we have homework," Diddy replied, shrugging and smiling.
"Diddy didn't come to play now," Dixie added with a few small laughs. "We're going to do school work."
"Oh, really?" Tiny said, putting on a pleading face. "What if we play for a while first? Say yes!"
"Tiny, we can't now," Dixie said. "We'll be busy right now. Or we could play later when we finish, okay?"
"But sure," Tiny said, pointing to them with a playful look.
Then, Diddy and Dixie went outside the house to study more quietly, and sat under a tree where there were also rocky or wooden surfaces to place their belongings.
"Now, we can start," Dixie said, taking some pencils.
"Have you seen anything about this topic before?" Diddy asked, showing the homework they had to do.
"I remember something, but I didn't finish seeing it in depth. You know, I wasn't in school last year."
"Okay, it's not that hard after you finish understanding it, you'll see," Diddy said smiling. "Although, it's quite extensive and even becomes frustrating."
"Do you usually take too long to finish a homework like that?" Dixie asked as she began to write.
"At first, yes... While that wasn't the worst part, the really frustrating thing is that almost always those fool kids would break my homework, and then I had to make up an excuse for Wrinkly."
"Wow, how wicked those kids," Dixie said in disgust, before continuing to write. "How can they be so inconsiderate?"
"'Inconsiderate' is too small for them, believe me," Diddy added, rolling his eyes. "But hey, I'll warn you that you must protect your schoolwork at all costs from them."
"Which of those four kids is the most annoying?"
"Well, what do I say, I would say the orangutan and the mandrill, that is, Jemky and Mandrew. Although the truth is, all of them have their way of being evil. Melenky, the red-footed one, is also too annoying."
"The orangutan boy pretended to be nice to me at break," Dixie said, frowning.
"Bah, he's just a braggart, believe me he is. He is the one that usually begins to annoy and is tremendous critical; the same as Mandrew, although the latter, on the other hand, is more mocking and usually goes with the flow; Melenky is also another, although he is somewhat clumsy at times, but he is also an annoying mocker. Rocky could be said to be the least evil, but he's also annoying."
"Woah, is there no one who has controlled those kids?"
"No idea, they just like to do their antics and enjoy the evil of others. They're complete idiots... Did you ever have classmates like that too? That is, not exactly like them, but similar."
"Yes, I did," Dixie replied as she continued to write. "On one occasion, there were two chimpanzee boys who likewise liked to tease me and steal my things from school. And on another occasion, it was four gorilla girls who passed by pulling my hair or hitting me every time I saw them."
"Really?" And what did you do there?... Could you stop them or something?"
"Well, in the first case I told my parents, and they took action with the school and at least found the parents of those children to stop them. In the second case, I did the same, but those girls continued to tease me, until my parents taught me to defend myself well and I was able to face them so that they would at least leave me alone. Although well, if you ask, none of those children were doing inappropriate things like what you told me about the four of them now."
"Wow, at least you could stop them," Diddy said, smiling. "Now I see how you were able to give those four their comeuppance today, it's like no one messes with you," he added jokingly.
"Hey, with those four you might have the courage to face them too," Dixie replied with a little laugh. "I mean, if you give them a lesson, they may stay like clowns thinking that you would not answer them back, at least so that they stop messing with you if you do not want to tell anyone that. In addition... maybe they're just threatening you to scare you."
"Well, I'd like to believe that, but... Uh, I don't know," Diddy said before sighing. "Although anyway, it doesn't sound bad to answer them to lower the intensity of their evils, and someday I know that I will stop seeing them."
"Hey, and by the way, I've finished writing this part," Dixie said, showing him the sheet. "What's next?"
"Well, this is where the resolution of this exercise will begin," Diddy replied before pointing to a notebook of his. "As I said, first you must place these numbers like this…"
Diddy went on to explain the homework to Dixie, in addition to other previous topics he was supposed to show her. He felt great about being able to help her and, likewise, Dixie didn't have so much trouble catching what he was saying; after all... she felt at ease to hear his explanation.
Meanwhile, inside the house, there were Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky leaning out the window. Apparently, the three were spying on Diddy and Dixie stealthily.
"Hey, do you believe that?" Chunky asked Tiny, smiling with a look of surprise.
"Just look at them," Tiny said, looking out from the window with a broad smile. "Don't they look cute together?"
"Chunky still doesn't believe it," Chunky added, crossing his arms, but then looked up. "Or it could be…"
"Come on, I know my sister," Tiny replied with a playful look. "I mean, look at her, I don't remember seeing her before... so happy talking to someone."
The three of them were spying on Diddy and Dixie for a while. And to tell the truth, both were seen with certain good energies speaking... It was as if in addition to being in a conversation about school topics, they also enjoyed each other's company.
Later, Diddy and Dixie had finished the day's homework, so they gathered their things and went back into Dixie's house... where Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky had been quick to pretend they were on other business.
"We're finished, at last," Dixie said, putting her things on the table.
"Well, friends," Diddy added, smiling at them. "Do you think if we play something now?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Tiny, Kiddy and Chunky at the same time.
"Let's play hide and seek!" Tiny added, jumping with excitement. "Let's go!"
After a long day, Diddy and his four friends started playing for a while outside the house. They stayed so long that it was almost dark. Diddy had not played like this with all of them for several days, so he stayed until the hours were when he had to return home.
"See you later, friends," Diddy said after collecting his things. "See you."
"See you soon, Diddy," replied the others, except Dixie, who walked him to the door.
"Diddy... Thank you for your help," Dixie said, smiling outside the house.
"No problem, Dixie. You can ask me for help whenever you want," Diddy replied, smiling back. When suddenly... he had a strange feeling after looking at Dixie into his eyes. "Uh... See you soon, I'll see you tomorrow," he finished, before leaving.
"See you tomorrow… Diddy," Dixie replied, still smiling at him.
Then, Diddy left the place, and Dixie entered the house... But then, she stared at him from the window as he walked away... and then she blushed a little; she began to think about how pleasant it felt to be in his company. They were both good friends, although... she thought maybe there was something special about him.
Dixie, after her deep thoughts, turned around and had a little scare after seeing her sister and cousins who were looking at her strangely, and even suspiciously.
"Hey, little sister," Tiny said a playful smile. "There is one thing we wanted to ask you."
"Huh, about what?" Dixie asked in confusion.
Suddenly, Tiny and Chunky looked up at each other, while smiling in a mischievous way.
"Who tells her?" Chunky asked, looking away.
Then, Tiny turned to her sister, earning a look of surprise from her. As she approached her, she whispered something in her ear... which made Dixie open her eyes to the maximum instantly.
"What?!" Dixie exclaimed, showing herself somewhat paralyzed, and then frowning her gaze. "No! Where did they get this absurd idea?"
"Oh, come on, Dixie, I know so," Tiny hinted at giving her a little push. "You were nervous before he came."
"And you looked too happy while you were with him," Chunky continued in the same way.
"And besides, what were you watching from the window, huh?" Tiny continued, looking up and crossing her arms.
"Uhh, well," Dixie replied in confusion. "I was just looking... the trees and-"
"Oh, yeah, the trees," Chunky interrupted in a mocking tone and crossing his arms. "If we saw clearly how you followed him with your eyes."
"What are you talking about?!" Dixie said, looking at them strangely. "I wasn't looking at Diddy... Uh, I mean, I was just looking at the trees."
"Yes, yes, yes, of course, you continue saying: the trees," Chunky added in the same tone.
"And by the way," Tiny said with a mocking tone, "now that you go to school, you will see him every day and you will become more friends. You must be very happy about that, right?"
"W-what? What are you saying?!" Dixie replied, beginning to blush. "And why?"
"Wow, wow, look at how our dear little cousin and sister gets," Chunky said, pointing to Dixie's cheeks.
"No, it's not true!" Dixie replied. "We are only friends, just as he is your friend too; he is a friend to all of us."
"Well, he's our friend, but it seems like he's something with you... more special," Tiny said, emphasizing and looking up.
"Yes, even he looks happy next to you," Chunky added.
"Diddy and Dixie couple!" Kiddy exclaimed suddenly.
"No! No, no, no and no! That will never happen!" said Dixie as she blushed her way up the stairs to her room. "Those are just assumptions of yours!"
"It seems that someone here is... in love," Tiny said playfully, and began to laugh with Chunky and Kiddy.
For her part, Dixie only quickened her pace to go upstairs and lock herself in her room, trying to ignore the comments of her cousins and sister.