"Math?"

"No."

"Social studies?"

"Don't need it."

"Science—?"

"SHALL NEVER SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY."

My head snaps to the pair, Lucas and Justin, as they 'do their homework'. Honestly, they could be quieter.

So much quieter.

And faster.

I'm done with 50% of my homework while they are still deciding which subject to start with.

Ｈｏｍｅｗｏｒｋ

S𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 (𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞).

Ｈｏｍｅｗｏｒｋ

𝐀𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

𝐒𝐢𝐤𝐞, 𝐢𝐭 𝐈𝐒 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡

I reach over, grab Justin's science homework, and toss it to them. "Start with science," I decide for them. "Better to get the 'worst done first'."

Justin retracts like I had landed a cockroach on his lap.

Honestly though, knowing him, he probably wouldn't react like that...he'd just ask, 'Is it edible?' and then proceed to eat it even if we tell him it's not....which isn't necessarily true since they actually are (and good for you at that), just incredibly, exceedingly, utterly disgusting—

"Paris is right," Lucas begins. "It's better to start with your least favorite to get it out of the way."

"But it's science..." Justin groans, throwing himself back on the couch and sprawling himself lazily.

"...an important subject," Lucas finishes.

"How!?" Justin exclaims, sitting up suddenly to face his best friend.

Lucas gives the boy an odd look. "And how in the world should I know?"

I—

"Then why did you say it was an important subject?" Justin asks giving his friend an 'I'm questioning your sanity' expression.

"I don't know!"

"Oh, because everything the school gives us needs to be important," I say sarcastically.

"Agreed," Justin replies. "That's why I have a real concern about where these people's brains are!"

"Hopefully theirs aren't where yours is," I murmur quietly with my face turned away from the boys.

"You know what? I'm taking a well-deserved break," Justin says, rising to his feet with a determined look.

"Oh, yes." I nod. "Much well-deserved."

Lucas shoots me a look, but I ignore it as I stand and walk over to Justin. Putting an arm around his shoulder (not exactly easy with his extremely tall figure), I lead him toward the doorway that leads out of the living room. "How about you go get some fresh air? It'll do you some good." With one last shove, he's gone, and I give a sigh of relief. "Finally, peace and quiet," I breathe, sitting back on the couch and pulling out the page I was working on before.

"What are you working on?" Lucas questions, scooting over towards me to look at my paper.

"Apparently I didn't take up my own advice on 'getting the worst done first'," I groan. "Usually I moderately like math, but today it's just...weird." I gesture pathetically to the squeezed tree slice of torture.

Lucas lets out a small laugh and carefully takes the paper from me, his eyes moving over the ink. "Hey, we just learned this in class!"

"Do you mean the only class I fell asleep in...?" I question. I purse my lips, mumbling, "That nap was not worth it."

He gives a little laugh. "Don't worry about it," he answers. "I slept well last night and didn't sleep through one class."

"Oh, goodie," I reply without enthusiasm.

He laughs again, and I turn to him with a wrinkled nose. "Why do you keep laughing?" I question irritably.

"'Cause you're funny," he replies promptly, his laugh turning slower as he speaks.

"I'm glad you find me so amusing," I reply monotonically, promptly turning back to my homework and focusing on the swirling numbers, signs, and words.

After another short laugh, he leans forward to start helping me through the impossible.

Thirty minutes of quadratic equations and a drink of sour lemonade (of which I refused to partake) later and I truly duly understood why they called it the harder of the two.

"I hate when people say 'look'! I'm looking, I'm just not seeing." I gesture to the example equation we were working on.

"Hey, look at me," Lucas says calmly, grabbing my chin and pulling it to face him. "I think you deserve a break. Plus, Justin's been out there a while. Don't you want to know what he's doing?"

"Not really," I reply sharply, folding my arms and forcing my head away.

"You're not even a little curious?"

"For his sake, I'm going to say yes. Just so we can make sure he isn't choking on something that doesn't belong in a sixteen-year-old boy's mouth—or anyone's for that matter." I stand up and follow Lucas out of the living room and into the next room, which is made of clear glass, water, and fish. A shark passes by to my left, and I scurry after Justin and into the Egyptian-themed room next door.

———————

"You sure those thirty minutes he was gone weren't spent on finding the back doors? Or going through those twenty fake ones?" I question Lucas, turning away from the other fake back door to his red face. "No wonder he disappeared."

"Oh hey, guys!"

I snap my head to face Justin, whose legs were propped up on the counter, a bruised banana in his hand.

How did we get back in the kitchen!?

"What's up?" the red-head asks. "Are you here for a snack? 'Cause if you are, you're out of luck. I just finished the last bag of chips."

"We have other snacks as well," Lucas retorts, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Not anymore," Justin replies, finishing off the last bite of banana and removing his propped legs from the counter. Walking over to the trashcan, he holds the banana peel above the hole and says, "And..." He drops it in. "Now you are officially out of food. Well...good food at least. There's still frozen vegetables in the freezer and spinach chips in the pantry, but it's ridiculous that those are labeled edible." He makes a disgusted look as he turns away from the trashcan to walk over to us. "So, what do you want to do now?"

"Go home," I reply within a heartbeat.

"Come on, Paris," Lucas murmurs. "We still haven't finished with quadratic equations."

"What is that? A workout?" Justin questions.

He knows what a quad is?

Wow.

"Quad kinda sounds like a painful word. And workouts are always painful."

Okay, never mind.

"So is math," Lucas responds.

"True—"

"But not all the time."

"Also true—" he pauses. "Wait, what?"

I roll my eyes, stepping forward in between the two brainless brothers. "You guys are beyond ridiculous. In fact, you passed ridiculous centuries ago."

"You haven't known us for—" Justin begins.

"For what?" I interrupt. "Centuries? No, I had no idea I haven't known you guys since long, long before I was born."

Before Justin can reply, Lucas cuts in, "Guys, chill."

I turn to him, saying, "Take it to the freezer."

I'm not used to so much human interaction. I'm going insane.

Are all humans this annoying?

Why am I talking like I'm not a human?!

I shake my head vigorously, trying to concentrate on the two blinking boys staring at me like I'm a dinosaur that suddenly came to life to say hello.

"Freezer? Chill?" I try. Sighing in defeat, I let my arms fall limp to my sides. "Forget it. Let's just finish the quadratic equations so I can get home. It's getting late."

"Fair enough," Lucas says with his usual smile back on his face. All signs of shock have vanished as he passes me to lead the way on our trek back to the living room.

Le sigh.