UNEDITED
Not all storms come to disrupt your life, some come to clear your path.
Those are the words that Justin McCallister has been repeating in his mind since the day he was diagnosed with a non-cancerous brain tumour that's been causing partial...
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Adelaide
Tomorrow is Halloween.
But that doesn't matter as much as the fact that I'm currently sitting in Justin's bedroom, Chem notes, previous quizzes, and two large textbooks lounging across his grey quilt in an unorderly fashion.
I'm sitting near the foot of my bed, cross-legged and elbows resting on my knees. Justin is propped up against a pile of pillows, looking relaxed.
"So where do you want to start?" I ask, hoping my nervousness doesn't show. To distract myself, I begin flipping through my blue notebook, skim reading my organized notes. I know he's not doing it on purpose, but he's making me nervous as heck. His arms are crossed behind his head, making his black sweater pull up, revealing a thin line of skin just above the waistband of his boxer shorts and jeans.
Thank the world our first tutor session isn't taking place at my house or else my brothers or even my parents would be making fun of me. Harshly and with no reluctance. They'd eventually apologize, but not until they thoroughly enjoyed teasing me.
Justin exhales a deep breath, running a hand through his hair. "I have no idea. Chem makes no sense to me, so maybe whatever's easiest? Build it up from there?"
I nod and flip back to chapter one in the textbook. It's the review chapter that basically refreshes everything we learned last year. As I skim read, I decide what we're going to start with: ionic bonds and covalent bonds. Those are the two terms you really need to know before moving on.
"Okay," I say, tapping the glossy textbook page. "Let's start with the first chapter." On a clean sheet of lined paper, in black ink, I write down the two terms, leaving enough space for their definitions. "So, in order to be able to understand Chem, you need to know the difference between the two main types of bonds that can be formed between elements. Covalent is when a bond forms between two non-metal elements, and ionic is when a bond forms either between two metals or a metal and a non-metal."
I look up at Justin. He's scrambling to write down my explanation, and when he's done, he nods his head. "Okay. That's easy enough."
"Good," I smile, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. I really should have tied it up into a bun with all the hunching over I'm doing, but it's too late now. And it's not like Justin is going to have one laying around, so asking him for one is out of the picture. I make a mental note to wear some around my wrist for next time.
Looking up from the pen in my hand, I ask Justin, "Are you ready for more?"
Though he doesn't look particularly interested in reviewing and learning Chemistry, he still grins and nods his head. "Bring it on."
* * *
Three hours of tutoring goes by faster than I want it to. And that's saying a lot because I'm not a fan of reviewing things I already know when I could be doing something better. I don't mean "something better" without Justin. I mean "something better" with Justin – like...
