Once we got into going over the math problems and theory, I started relaxing again. It took everyone's mind off of... well, whatever! Mark was having some pretty serious problem with the material, but it felt like the problem was mostly in the presentation of the text. Once he actually understood the concepts in the chapter, it stuck with him and he didn't have much problems with it afterwards. The challenge was just in finding the right way to explain things to him.
Well, yes, okay. A couple times while I was trying to explain something, his eyes did drift somewhere besides my face, or he'd follow the movement of my tail up to the rest of me. He didn't do it that much, though, once we dug into the homework assignments we had. I'm not quite sure how I felt about that -- and I'm not quite sure how I felt about not being sure how I felt!
It was almost eight PM when Mark's mother came down. I smelled her first, or rather what she was bringing. My nose picked up the scent of food and I found myself looking up towards the stairway, ears perked. Before anyone asked me what was the matter, Mark's mother called down, "You kids hungry?" She walked down the stairs with a tray of hot dogs and a few apples.
"Yes, ma'am." "Thanks mom!"
She laughed quietly. "I'll bring some lemonade and water down, too. How is the homework going, son?" she asked as she set the tray down on a spot we hastily cleared for her on the table. My stomach growled faintly at the smell, and I felt quite embarassed! Mark's mother just looked faintly amused.
"Better, mom." Mark looked down at the homework papers. "I think I understand that bit about integrals now."
"Good, son. I'm sure you'll be able to explain it to me later, then."
Mark gulped as his mother went back upstairs. "Uh-oh. I hope I do get it right -- last time she did this and I screwed up, I got grounded for some enforced studying." He looked unhappy. "I might not be able to make the movie Friday night."
"It's okay, Mark," I said. My tail flicked behind me and I flipped one ear down. "Full moon is Thursday anyways -- not sure I'd want to be out in a Friday night crowd after that."
"Oh yeah, I forgot." Mark nodded. "Sorry, Jonni."
I smiled at him. "It's okay. I don't want you to be grounded, though! We'll work more on it after we eat." I felt faintly fluttery in my stomach as I looked at the smile he gave me in return. I hope that's just hunger! I tried not to blush and snagged a hot dog to munch on as Mark's mother came back down with drinks.
Zach poured himself a glass of lemonade and sat back with a hotdog. "Whew! It's good to take a break from studyin'! So, what should we talk about?"
