Teenage Millionaire

Chapter 34: Change

Noah and I get a decent amount of work done on the project before class ends. He comes to calculus on time, too, doesn't try to accompany me to biology, and then joins me again on my way to physics. Ms. Jenson doesn't seem to have any idea what to do with a Noah who comes to class on time (early, even) and doesn't disrupt the entire class. She gives me a bit of a look when I come into class with his arm around my shoulder, but I'm not worried. Noah starts to take his arm off my shoulder, but I stop him. He's done more than enough for me, today.

After dismissal, he drives me home. I tell him he doesn't have to, but he insists. I wonder if he's still worried about my parents, or the payment, but I dismiss it.

We pull into my driveway, and this time I don't mind the idea of being seen in his flashy purple convertible (not that my parents will be home yet). It's a nice car, honestly.

He parks in my driveway and turns to me. "Are your parents home yet, or is the 9:00 p.m. arrival a regular thing?"

"A regular thing, they won't be home for at least five hours. Thanks for driving me."

"Of course. I'll see you tomorrow."

I smile and get out of his car. "See you."

He flashes me a toothy grin as he pulls out of my house's driveway, and then he's gone. I watch after him until he turns a corner and disappears from view, realizing I'm still smiling a few moments later.

I work on my biology project until my parents get home. Nothing else is too urgent, and I've missed a few days of work on it. It's nearly done, anyways, but editing is very important and I haven't done very much of it. And presentations are on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (why is everything due during my birthday week?). I'm scheduled for Wednesday, because I do not want to have to do that presentation on my birthday, and I won't have time to practice on Thursday night if I were to present on Friday. So, Wednesday.

I manage to get some good editing done, and a few rough run-throughs of the presentation before my parents get home. When I hear the door close behind them, I take a deep breath and mentally go over the components of the lie before heading downstairs.

"Sweetie! You're back!" My mom opens her arms for a hug, which I oblige. My dad hugs me as well, both of them smiling.

"We got a call from your school about the extra credit yesterday. They said it couldn't raise your grade, since you already have 100% across the board, but that it can be banked in your social studies 30 marks for next term," my dad tells me, beaming.

"Which means that you already have extra credit in a course you haven't even taken yet! Oh, we're so proud of you, sweetie," my mom says, practically glowing as she looks at me.

My heart swells, and it's impossible not to smile back at them. They're both practically radiating pride as they look at me.

Over the course of dinner though, my happiness fades. What if I told them it was more of a sleepover with a friend than a tutoring project for extra credit? Would they be disappointed? It feels wrong to be the object of their pride when it's built on a collection of not-quite-truths. I mean, I did participate in the project, and get extra credit for it, but it didn't take long at all. Saturday and Sunday were almost completely study-free, and consisted mostly of enjoying time with him.

"Sweetie? What's wrong? Aren't you happy about the extra credit?" my mom asks, looking and sounding genuinely concerned. It doesn't escape my notice that she mentions the extra credit, though. Like that's the focal point of my life. Like school is.

I take a deep breath and look at both of my parents. I know they care about me, so much, and that's why they push me the way they do, that's why they want me to be so good in school. But... doesn't my happiness matter, too?

I look down, fixing my gaze on the table before I speak. "If... if I... didn't have 100% in everything... if I didn't study all the time, and do so well in school... would you still be proud of me?"

It's silent for a moment, and my heart breaks a little. I still don't look at them. I can't. I can't see the expressions on their faces for me even suggesting such a reality.

"Of course we'd still be proud of you, son," my dad says, sounding a little unsure.

"Oh, yes, of course! We only care so much about your grades because we want you to have opportunities in life. We want you to be able to build a happy future for yourself, and get to choose what you want to do."

And there it is. My future. Of course I care about my future, of course I want to be happy and have choices and opportunities- but doesn't my happiness right now matter, too?

I don't say that. I just nod a little and put a small smile on my face. "I know. Just making sure."

I lie awake hours after I was supposed to be asleep. I couldn't study after dinner, not really. It felt redundant- I know everything already. I'll take online practice tests randomly sometimes, without planning for them, and I always get 100% without any trouble at all. And forcing myself to go through hours of monotonous studying just makes my brain feel numb. Biology is the only subject that's still interesting, and I still can't make myself study it for more than three hours. Working on the presentation is different, because that's work. That's an assignment, instead of wasting paper as I read through the textbook, making notes and doing practice problems.

How did this change so quickly? I used to study without a problem for five to six hours without breaks after school, then for another one or two after dinner, every single day. For the entire day on weekends, maybe with a few breaks between four hour intervals. Now I can't even think about that without wincing at the idea. It's not like I don't want to study or do well in school- but doing the homework assignments, taking thorough notes in class, and studying for short intervals seems like enough.

I fall asleep feeling agitated and unresolved.

The next morning is similar to the one before, only I walk to school from my house. He's showing off his car in front of the school- not everything has changed. When he sees me, he grins and parks, then immediately comes over to me. I wait for him before going inside, which causes him to give me a small smirk when he gets to me.

"Aww, you waited. I'm touched."

I blush a little. "Well, what else would I do? Just ignore you and go inside? That'd be rude."

He continues smirking as he settles his arm around my shoulder, and we walk towards the school together.

Same as yesterday, he comes to every class with me, before the bell rings (except biology). We get lots done on our English assignment- we finish the comparison of the poems and start on the side-by-side presentation, along with the written component. In calculus, he actually hands in yesterday's homework assignment. And in physics, he correctly answers at least four of Ms. Jenson's questions posed to the class (though that may have been just to annoy her. And it worked, too: she stopped calling on him after she realized he'd studied the night before).

It's hard to tell if I'm more or less surprised at his good behaviour than everyone else. On one hand, I know that he has his own lessons at home after regular school hours and on weekends, and now that he's actually attending school rather than skipping, he's practically at school all the time. But on the other hand, I know him better than anyone else at school (they all think he's a slacker- he's not, he's just bored) and I know how smart he is during his tutoring sessions.

I can't help but wonder why he's doing it, though. He's taking tutoring at home, showing up to school, and doing sets of homework for both. It seems like a lot, even to me. Yesterday, he said he was doing it to maintain my reputation with the teachers. Is he still doing it for me? Why? Because he likes me, like Raymond said? Or for some other reason? And even if he's not doing it for me, he hasn't dropped me yet, which prompts the question:

What does he want from me?

What do you think of the chapter? Todd's parents' reaction to his extra credit? How about the difference in Todd's studying? And the millionaire actually coming to school regularly?

If you enjoyed this chapter, please let me know by voting or commenting! Thank you so much for reading!