Home Schooled

After going to the hospital, Amy explained to her Granddaughter that she won't have to worry about going to school for now. Sending her Granddaughter off to school right now, didn't feel right. Right now her Grandbaby needed time to heal and the school year was almost over with anyway. Amy explained that Gabriela could help her out around the house and they could tend to the garden together. Amy also told Alex that it be best he doesn't come around for a while. Amy wanted to help her Grandbaby the best she could during this time of healing. Showering her Granddaughter with love and affection, Gabriela started to reciprocate it and started feeling comfortable around the house. Gabriela eventually stopped wearing her 'protective clothing' (which was just basically putting layers of clothes on to soften the impact of punches or being thrown on the ground) and her once emotionless, dull face appeared to slowly but surely, come back to life. Even her nightmares started going away, being replaced with happy dreams of being with her loving Grandmother.

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Enjoying her time with her Grandbaby and seeing how she is slowly coming back to life, she suggested they bake a cake for her 11th Birthday and she agreed. After having some fun bonding time with baking Gabriela's birthday cake, it was time for presents. Amy bought Gabriela some 'girly' clothes and lip gloss. The 'girly' clothes included a couple of skirts and a dress, but none over the top, screaming 'look at me I am Girly'. She also got a couple of fitted pants as well as some blouses. As the weeks continued to pass after her 11th birthday, Gabriela started wearing girly clothes more often and even started using lip gloss. Day by day, you could notice Gabriela's changes for the better. Amy thought it was time to discuss homeschooling with her Granddaughter. Even though Gabriela didn't need it, (since she continued to study until the day she moved in with her Grandmother leaving only a couple of months left of school) she agreed. Wanting to do something for her Grandmother, who has done nothing but try to make her feel happy and loved, constantly reminding her that she isn't alone anymore. She was also a bit curious about Alex since she hasn't seen him since the day he brought her to her Grandmother's house.

Upon hearing her Granddaughter agree, without hesitation, Amy was a bit shocked, but happy and said she will call Alex to discuss everything, Gabriela nodded, saying ok. Alex was happy to hear how Gabriela is acting more like a young girl and was fast in agreeing to tutor her. They agreed on this Saturday afternoon to begin.

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Saturday, Gabriela helped her Grandmother with baking cookies for when Alex arrives. She thought it was a bit much since they had plenty of other snacks, but then again her Grandmother was happy, which made her happy. Honestly, though, she was a bit nervous.

Thinking back to when she first met Alex and how he treated her as a young lady despite her tomboyish appearance and the fact that he didn't question her about her bruises, calmed Gabriela down a bit. Seeing her Granddaughter come down the stairs in her 'protective clothing' (Gabriela still felt it best to wear them, just to be safe.) Amy, went to her, scanning her Granddaughter's face, to make sure she hadn't gone back to how she once was. Safe to say there was a small smile on Gabriela's face and her green eyes were peaceful. Amy sighed and asked Gabriela why she didn't wear anything else. Silent, Amy then suggested she put on regular clothes (the girl clothes and not the extra layer of clothing either.) Gabriela thought of how she is safe with her Grandmother and if Alex did try to do something to her, she would just need to call for her Grandmother, instead of fighting back. With that, Gabriela smiled more brightly saying ok, and went to change. She ended up wearing a tan short-sleeved blouse with a pair of black jeans, she kept on her house shoes since they were going to stay at her place to study after all. Oh and some lip gloss.

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Alex arrived at 3:40 pm. He was surprised to walk in the kitchen, not to see freshly baked cookies, but a pretty girl sitting down, munching on one of those said cookies. When Gabriela turned and noticed that they were standing at the kitchen entranceway, she quickly got up and welcomed him. He was happy to be able to see her with life back in her light green eyes and emotion in her face. Amy offered him cookies as well as something to drink, explaining that they will be studying in the dining room since it has a table and chairs at a nice comfortable height. A comfortable height so that they don't need to kneel on the floor or slouch over to reach the table in the living room and of course Gabriela's room is off-limits. Not that her Grandmother minds him going in, providing they keep the door slightly open. It was Gabriela who was against it. Having him in the open-spaced, dining room is one thing, but being alone together in a small space, like her bedroom is another.

Alex explained that he had made a short test for each subject, to see how much she knows and how much he will have to teach her. Alex allowed Gabriela 30 minutes to finish each test, he did give her an hour for the English test though, since she needed to write a page about something she likes. He wanted to see how her vocabulary was and thought that having her write a page long about something random should help him to test it. With a total of 4 tests equalling a total of 2 1/2 hours, however, she finished in 1 hour and 40 minutes. He asked if she wanted to double-check her answers before he graded them. She said she already did. He did think that the 5th-grade questions were fairly easy, but then again he is a Sophomore in high school. She aced all the tests and her vocabulary in her paper was very expressive, in contrast to how she acted. Being the first time to hang out with Alex, she kept her guard up.

'Was she in advance classes in her old school or did she continue to go to school until she came to her Grandmothers house, despite her losing both her parents? Or did she just zip through the questions in order to go straight to the studying part since she doesn't like Pop Quizzes?' He asked if she had advanced classes at her other school. She looked away, with a non-readable expression on her face as she simply said she had plenty of time to study. She didn't give any further explanation nor did he ask further not wanting to scare her away. Her Grandmother also warned him that it has only been a couple of months since she started to open up to her and is still healing, so he needs to be mindful of his words and actions. The last part of what she told him had stopped him from patting her on the head for a job well done.