Eighteen

"Julie?" He called me when I was giving any response with the book in my hands. I was trying to figure it out on my own, so he didn't have to explain it again and find out I was listening in the first place.

"I don't get any of it." I confessed. I figured out that if I really wanted to learn, I had to tell him I didn't understand a thing in the solved example I was looking at.

"Where exactly don't you understand? which part?" He shifted closer to take a look at the book with me.

"Every part of the solving," I gave the book back to him."I'm sorry, I wasn't listening while you explained it." I took a keek at him from looking at the ground to know if he was angry or anything.

"You were listening, huh." He sighed.

"Yeah," I nodded."I was listening, I just wasn't watching you solve it, or maybe I could just hear you talk, I definitely wasn't listening, if I was I would have a clue about this." I looked at the book in his hands to reference what I meant by 'this'.

"Let me explain again then," He turned to a new blank page."hope you listen this time."

He started to explain it again and I didn't want to get distracted this time so I focused on the question he was solving.

"Now we cross multiply right?" I asked when we got to that step of the solving method.

"Yes." He smiled, happy that I wasn't distracted this time but that smile almost took my attention so I forced my eyes back to the solving.

After he was done solving the example, I attempted the original question from my homework and followed the steps he took with the example and it was actually easier than I thought it would be to solve it on my own.

We progressed with the assignment, doing the same thing; him solving an example and I solving the real question from the homework book.

"I think I can solve that one myself." I said when we got to the last question. It was just a quadratic equation, I could solve that, I was sure of that, somehow he had me filled with this confidence to want to solve it myself.

"Okay," He smiled. "Are you going to solve it directly on your book?" He asked when I picked up my homework book instead of the rough book.

I playfully hit him with the book and he laughed. He knew I was excited to solve that one myself and mistakenly picked the wrong book, so he asked that sarcastically.

"I know, I have to solve it on the rough first, to be sure it's correct." I told him before I started solving.

"14 ×9?" I asked before reaching for my phone which we've been using to calculate.

"One twenty six?" He answered before I could unlock my phone."Still check the calculator, I'm not sure."

I tapped on the calculator, still surprised at how fast he answered that and wondering how he could even calculate it that fast.

"One hundred and twenty six, you were correct." I said keeping the phone down and continuing with my solving. "I'm done with it." I announced victoriously.

"Let me see, what's your answer?"

"Nine?" I said, a little unsure if I got everything right while passing him the rough book.

"Well copy it into the other book."

"It's correct?"

"Mhmmnn." He affirmed with a nod.

.....

When we were done and about to go, i checked the time on my phone it was still afternoon, almost four o'clock. I didn't want to go home yet, I wished we could still stay, I wanted to be around him...we could stay.

"You said there was a bridge here right?" I remembered he had mentioned earlier."A mini bridge? Can you show me?" I asked, my eyes on him when he stood up, he held out his hands in front of me but I stared at it for a while before realizing that he was offering to help me stand up. I took his hands and he pulled me up, almost effortlessly.

"Yeah, I can show you, it's just here." He pointed in a direction and we were headed there as soon as I was done dusting my short. If I knew, I would have brought my bag to keep the books I was carrying but nevertheless I was happy, I was walking next to him.

It was still in the park; the mini bridge. It was called that because it wasn't really a bridge, it wasn't leading to any where, you could walk around it to get to the other end instead of going through it but people still walked through it.

"Come let me show you something else." I let him take my hands. We walked to a part I thought was more beautiful than every part of the park.

"Wow." I could only mutter at the sight in front of me. It was a creek, with small beds of flowers at the top edges near it and on some of the little rocks around too.

"I know right? Nick and I used to come hear and throw stones sometimes when we were younger.

"It's beautiful. Why can't they make an entrance somewhere around here? This should be the first thing anyone should see on entering this park." I stated seeing myself in the water's reflection. I could see Uche's too, he was staring at me....or was he? I didn't want to turn around, if I did that might be awkward so I focused on the moving water.

Someone threw a pebble into the water and it splashed, making me back away from where I stood close to the water.

"Sorry!" The person said before walking away.

"Can I throw a stone in the Creek too?" I turned to him and he immediately looked away.

"Yeah." He said helping me pick one of the rounded little stones around. He was acting like I just caught him doing something which I actually did. He was staring at me like I often stared at him, did he like me too?

"Make a wish." He gave the stone to me.

"Will it come true?" I would be surprised if he said yes.

"Maybe, if you believe."

"Did you ever make a wish here?"

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Heyy, it's your author geni. Please note that everything written here is nothing but fiction.

Please vote as you read, and comment also. I am very open to constructive criticism.❤️✨