Jon was on edge as he sat down in the library next to Mikey. Something was strange, and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It definitely had something to do with Mikey, but Jon didn't think the boy was being nefarious in any way. He seemed, at least today, to be genuine and friendly. And Jon just had this feeling in his gut that he should be friends with Mikey.
But maybe that was part of what was wrong? After the confusion with his bedroom changing the previous night, Jon knew he had to keep his senses on high alert.
"You haven't even started yet?" The statement from Mikey wasn't judgemental, it was concerned. "Here, let me show you how to do the first problem, then you can figure out how to do the rest from that one."
There. That was familiar. Doing homework with Mikey. Something still wasn't quite right, like something felt backwards. But even though Jon didn't actually need help with the math problem and had just been caught up in his own thoughts, he felt a warmth rising within him as Mikey explained steps that Jon already knew. Miss Warren had been right, when Mikey uses his words and doesn't just stare with no explanation, Jon found that he enjoyed getting attention from him. A little bit of context and explanation made all the difference.
When Mikey had finished, Jon mentally scanned the rest of his worksheet and completed the rest of the worksheet in his head. Then he filled in the second problem, and turned to Mikey again: "I'm stuck on the third question, Mikey, can you help me?"
The boy dutifully turned in his chair and began explaining what to do (incorrectly, Jon thought to himself, making a mental note to fix the mistake later). The fluttering in Jon's belly grew, and even though he knew it was more work for himself in the long-run, he couldn't help but continue all throughout the study period to ask Mikey for help on things that he already knew how to do. He just wanted to experience the feeling of getting attention from Mikey as much as he could before the period ended.
But the period did end. And the both of them were barely halfway through one assignment. Normally Jon would be panicked about getting behind on his work. But this didn't feel like falling behind. It felt like a trade-off, like he was getting something better than grades in return. He couldn't pretend to be bad at math forever, but for now it was getting him what he wanted. He'd just have to figure out different ways to get what he wanted as time went on.
And poor Mikey left study hall completely oblivious.
