Even though the homework worksheets were long, they weren’t that complicated. Even though the first question for the English homework required us to create a poem using symbolism, the rest of the questions could be answered with simple one or two-word answers.

  Most of these questions were pulled directly out of the notes. Mr. Palmer had done the least amount of work possible, barely rewording sentences to change them from sentences to questions. Once we realized that, Olivia had the idea to pull my notes up in a word processor and use the search function to look for keywords.

  We finished the rest of the worksheet in less than a minute.

  “I can kinda understand not wanting to make assignments that difficult,” Olivia grumbled, “but it feels like Mr. Palmer put almost no effort into creating this. Only one question tests your comprehension, and a page and a half of fill-in-the-blank. What’s the point? It feels like he’s testing our note-taking ability, rather than our English skills.”

  “Well, at least we know what to expect from him,” I replied as I flipped my notebook closed and slipped it into my bag.

  “Yeah, not much,” Olivia sighed. “It’s a good thing you’re so good at taking notes, or I would have been completely screwed.”

  “How about we try something different tomorrow. I’ll try and copy everything down, like I did today, while you just put down what you consider the important points,” I suggested. “That way we’ll have both a summary we can easily skim through, and complete notes to fall back on.”

  “Why? I can keep up,” Olivia grumbled. “I was just off my game today.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt you can keep up,” I smirked. I took her notebook off the desk and flipped to the last page. “The real question is whether it’ll be legible or not.”

  “Gimme that!” she snapped, grabbing the book. After placing the book on the far side of the desk, well out of my reach, she slowly rotated back towards me. “I guess we could give that a try. It would be easier if we didn’t have to go through everything Mr. Palmer said to find the answers.”

  “I’m glad you agree,” I smirked. Flipping my tracker over, I quickly flicked through the different status screens until I came to the time. “Thanks for helping me with the homework. I probably would have been combing the notes if you hadn’t thought of using the computer.”

  “I’m a master of finding homework hacks,” Olivia declared proudly. When I slipped the last of my pens into my bag and zipped it closed, her face fell slightly. “You’re not leaving already, are you? It’s still early, we could play some games.”

  “I’d love to, but not tonight,” I replied, rolling my chair back from the desk and grabbing my bag. “I still want to talk to my mom about her new job.”

  “Fine,” she pouted. “Just remember that we promised to join Amelia for her board game club tomorrow. I won’t forgive you if you back out.”

  “I won’t,” I promised.

  As the two of us left the office, we found Mrs. Taylor sitting at the table.

  “You girls done already?” she asked, looking up from the laptop she’d been working on.

  “Yup, it was super easy,” Olivia announced. Her mother didn’t quite look convinced, so she shot me an enquiring look.

  “It was just fill-in-the-blank questions,” I confirmed, which seemed to satisfy the woman. “Thank you for dinner tonight, it was delicious.”

  This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  “It was my pleasure,” she replied. “Heading out already?”

  “Yeah, I have some things to deal with tonight,” I replied vaguely.

  “Well, I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other over the next year, so don’t be a stranger,” the woman said before turning back to her laptop. “Have a good night.”

  “Thanks, you too,” I replied politely.

  “You sure you can’t stay longer?” Olivia asked as we headed to the door.

  I shot her a small smile before slipping my shoes on. “I’m sure. Don’t worry, though, we'll see each other tomorrow.”

  As I stood up, Olivia lunged forward and wrapped her arms around me. “Fine. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she muttered.

  I reached around and patted her on the back, my smile growing into a grin. “Have a good night.”

  It took a couple of seconds for Olivia to drag herself off of me, finally. She stumbled over to the door and shot me a small smile as she opened it for me. “Have a good night.”

  As I stepped outside, I was immediately hit by a cold gust of wind, making me shiver. I didn’t think I needed my coat to cross between the two houses; it was only a couple of feet after all, but I guess I was wrong. When I saw how low the sun was over the houses, it reminded me how late in the year it actually was. It was early October and, if the weather here was anything like it was back in the city, it wouldn’t be long until the snow started to fall.

  While I stared at the horizon, I heard the quiet sound of metal scraping and clanking together above me.

  “Finished with the Rupture?” I asked Tyberius.

  “It was an exceptionally small one, nothing but mites,” my rusty companion replied. “I stuck around a little longer to make sure nothing managed to escape the site.”

  “Which is why Hairy returned first,” I finished for him.

  I hopped off the porch and started moving across the lawn, heading towards my house. As much as I wanted to chat with Tyberius, it probably wasn’t smart to do it standing on Olivia’s stoop. Instead of heading straight inside, I ducked between the two houses so we could talk out of the wind.

  “So Hairy and I had an interesting discussion earlier,” I said wearily. “He apparently knew my father.”

  Tyberius shifted slightly, causing his body to clank. “He told you that?”

  “No. He actually tried to hide the fact, but you know how he is… his mouth works faster than his brain,” I said. “Did you know?”

  Tyberius nodded. “He never told me directly, but he did let it slip a couple of times during our planning sessions. I’m not even sure he even realized what he said, considering he never brought it up again.

  “And you never thought to tell me?” I asked.

  “I honestly didn’t take it that seriously,” Tyberius replied softly. “You know how Hairy is when he gets excited, he says all sorts of things.”

  “He may talk himself up, but he’s never lied to me,” I muttered. “I think it’s the truth.”

  “What are you going to do?” Tyberius asked.

  “I don’t know… he ran off after telling me. I have a ton of questions for him, but we’ll have to see what comes to mind when I finally see him,” I replied. I stood there for a moment before turning to Tyberius. “What about the protection plans?”

  “That’s something I didn’t take seriously, not until Coopers. Hairy would go off once a week about being prepared for emergencies, and what we should do. I just thought it was one of his delusions, like carrying your books or getting the door for you,” he replied. “It was only after we managed to help you at the market that I realized that he was being serious.”

  “And that didn’t seem suspicious to you?”

  “It did, and when I tried to get answers out of him, he just told me it was our mission, that we needed to protect you. I honestly don’t know if he was trying to brush me off, or if he was too thick to understand the question,” Tyberius said.

  I stared at my oversized rusty friend for several seconds.

  “I believe you,” I finally said. “But no more keeping secrets from me going forward. If you hear something that affects me, or you think is suspicious, I want you to tell me. Got it?”

  “Of course,” Tyberius replied, bowing slightly. “I’m sorry, I really should have told you earlier, but I didn’t take Hairy seriously before Coopers, and I didn’t know what to say after.”

  “It’s fine,” I grumbled. “What’s done is done.”

  The wind changed, sending a gust down the narrow gap between the houses. This one felt much colder than the last.

  “Let’s get inside. I still have to talk to my mom,” I said, shivering. “If you see Hairy, please don’t let him run off before I talk to him.”

  “No problem,” Tyberius replied. He lowered himself down and blocked the far side of the small alley.

  I clutched the shoulder strap of my bag and took a moment to psych myself up before subjecting myself to the bitter wind.

  “I can’t believe this day isn’t over yet,” I muttered as I jogged to the door and pulled it open. Through the portal, I could see my mother sitting at the table, going over some paperwork. “Only one last thing to do.”

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