Chapter 38: Introduction to Literature

Jane slams her head and arms onto the table in frustration. The table jolts a little harder than expected due to her powers. Why can't she get this dumb sentence right? It didn't help that she had less sleep, meaning her moodiness was more extreme. She hadn't meant to use her powers, it just happened, fortunately, Mia didn't suspect anything.

Geometry had been easy enough; Math seemed to come naturally to El and she was able to find the areas of triangles within twenty minutes of Mia explaining it. However, Grammar was a completely different story. There were so many rules for grammar and how to properly write a sentence that even when she thought she got it right, her tutor found something wrong. It was a vicious cycle that she was getting sick of very quickly.

A little startled by the sudden shift, but not scared, Mia can understand the girl's frustration. Grammar can be hard. The English language was tricky with all the rules, so all her emotions were justified.

"It's okay Jane, not everyone gets it right the first time around. Grammar takes time and practice."

Jane keeps her head down, wishing the lesson was over.

Mia tosses another peanut cluster into her mouth before pulling her hair into a ponytail. Maybe that was enough Grammar for today. She decides to go to the last part of her lesson.

She pulls out the used copy of The Tempest from the library.

"Hey, Jane? How about we move on to the last thing for today? We'll work on this on another day."

Eleven slowly raises her head from the table, trying to mask her tears of frustration. She sits up and swallows her emotions to put on a brave face. She eyes the book in her tutor's hand and nods in agreement.

"Have you ever heard of Shakespeare?"

"Shakes…peare?"

"I'm guessing you haven't, William Shakespeare…" Mia opens her book to a famous picture of the playwright. "Is one of the greatest writers of all time. His plays have lasted for over 400 years."

Eleven's eyes go wide in amazement. "Wow."

"Yeah wow, anyways he wrote many poems and plays."

"Plays?"

"Have you seen a play before?"

"No."

Mia turns a few pages until she finds the setting of a stage. "A play is almost like a show, but people perform imaginary events in front of a group of people. It happens on a raised platform known as a stage, with curtains on each side like this…" She points to the stage.

"Like TV?"

"Exactly, or a movie, most of it is imaginary, but it's done in front of people who pay money to see it. It makes them seem more cultured if they see a live performance."

"Cultured?"

"It makes you look smarter and that you have more depth than other people."

"Why?"

"I have no idea. My mom took me to a few plays when I was younger, and said I would become smarter."

"Does it work?" Eleven asks.

Mia smirks. "you tell me? Can a genius do this?"

She does another trick with the peanut cluster, allowing El to smile once more.

"I don't know," the young teen admits.

"Me neither, so it probably didn't work. Anyways, I loved watching the plays. They are a fun experience. So, Shakespeare wrote 37 plays in his lifetime, and they were all performed on stage because nobody had tv or even lights back then. Everything was performed in candlelight."

"Really?" Jane can remember the few times the power went off because of a storm and how she and Papa would have to live, read and play board games by candlelight and oil lantern. It was not an easy existence.

"Yeah, this was one of the few forms of entertainment for these people. Life was not pleasant back in those days. This is why Shakespeare wrote about all kinds of things, kings, Egyptian queens, fairies, tragic lovers, twins mistaken for each other, women dressing as men, witches, ghosts, and magical beings that can control the weather."

Eleven looks a little bewildered by the list.

"Quite the list huh?"

El nods.

"All done for the sake of entertainment because when you only have a problem and a bunch of characters, something amazing can happen. So, I'm hoping that you and I can work through this play together and have some fun with it."

Jane is curious. Papa did read her books like those Anne of Green Gables and Little House on the Prairie, but they didn't sound as interesting as these plays. Some of those things reminded her of her friends' Dungeons and Dragons campaigns. Mike certainly knew how to tell a fantastical story.

"Now I know this might seem overwhelming at first, but I want you to read the first line of one of my favourite plays here…"

Mia points to the title, which reads The Tempest in fancy lettering.

"Tempest?" Eleven questions.

"It's another word for storm. Now just try to read the first line here,"

The young teen gazes at where Mia's finger is pointing. Her head begins to hurt ever so slightly as she squints at the words in bewilderment. She could read all the words, but none of them made any sense. What was a Boatswain? And a yarely? Bestir?

"I can't read this," Eleven says. "It makes no sense."

"You're right to most people doesn't make sense. That's because it's written in Old English."

"Old… English?"

"Yeah, what we speak has been modified for over thousands of years. It's okay to feel frustrated when it comes to grammar. This is high school-level learning, but I wanted to show you that it's okay if you don't like grammar at first, you won't get it overnight; it takes time and our language has changed so much from Shakespeare's time to ours."

"But why are they sailing a boat in a storm?" El asks. "It's dangerous."

Mia grins. "How about we keep working on the grammar and then at the end of every lesson, I'll read you a little bit of The Tempest, so you can find out what happens. Does that sound fair?"

Eleven nods, making yet another deal,

"The human mind holds many a secret and thee young babe art willing to unlocketh those folk…" Mia winks before beginning to read.

She read the play in different voices, just like her grandparents did. Her Grandpa Zeke was especially great at accents, and he always did the Boatswain from The Tempest with a grizzled Scottish accent.

"Here, master: what o'cheer," Mia tries and fails epically to emulate the Scottish accent.

Eleven giggles.

She then tries British for the Master. Not very successful either.

However, it keeps Jane amused so she continues.

At the end of each page, Mia shows Jane the translation on the adjacent page and had her read it aloud, minus the accents.

They get through about four pages when the sound of a vehicle approaching is heard outside.

Mia checks her watch.

"Oh shoot, I went over time," she says gathering her books and supplies. "I'll see you on Wednesday Jane."

Chief Hopper walks in the door, just as his newly hired tutor is zipping up her backpack.

"I thought we agreed I wasn't paying overtime," he says.

"I know, I'm sorry. Just pay me for the hour, I was just reading The Tempest with Jane."

Hopper gives a sort of blank look. He and Joyce always skipped fifth-period English to go and smoke, so this book or whatever might have been covered at some point.

"Sure, whatever works. Just don't expect to be paid for this."

"I wasn't," Mia says. "Sorry if I overstayed my time. I'll see you on Wednesday Jane."

"Bye Mia," Eleven says, waving.

Hopper follows the teen out onto the porch and shuts to door to talk privately.

"How did she do?"

"She's doing great. Math is easy for her; she has a natural talent for it. It's Grammar and writing that's a problem. We're going to keep working on that, in exchange for her hard work, we're going to read The Tempest together."

Hopper still didn't know what book she was talking about, but simply nods in approval.

"I'll see you on Wednesday," Mia says, before getting into the car and driving off, knowing her aunt and uncle would not be pleased with her returning with the transportation so late. She really needed to save up for her own car.

Jim watches her drive off before heading inside. He notices that El is still at the table, eating from a bag of what looks like nuts.

He goes over and fishes a few from the bag, before watching Eleven toss one in the air and using her telekinesis to ensure that it landed in her mouth. She still hadn't mastered the technique without her powers.

"Guess she's teaching you a little more than the alphabet," he chuckles before starting to make dinner.

"She's cool," Eleven says. "She's bitchin'."

"That's great El, but don't ever say that to her face, she might take it the wrong way."

A/N: Another chapter for all. Pretty simple, but still fun.

Special thanks to norozco772 and GlaringEyes as always.

Answers to Reviews:

norozco772: No spoilers for Billy or his possible fate

GlaringEyes: No spoilers for Billy or his possible fate