Torn Apart but Put Together | ✔️

Chapter 8: School (later years)

"Mom, I'm home!"

"Hi Charlotte! How did your first day as a dog walker go?" she'd ask, with a big grin on her face.

"Horrible...I've lost the owner's crazy dogs," I'd say, hoping that doesn't ruin her mood.

Why is she so happy anyway?

"Aww, don't worry about getting a job so soon, darling. Guess what?"

"What?" I'd question, curious as to what she has to say.

"I've told my boss about what has been happening with Steve and how we would like to move out. He said that he'll give me twice the amount of money if I work for a little longer each day to help!"

I couldn't believe my ears.

We're getting out of here in no time!

"That's awesome! How much time would it take approximately?"

"I'm thinking a month?"

"Ahh! For me though, I think I should just focus on school now since I think the stuff we learn in school can be important in future jobs," I'd explain.

"Yes, for sure. I can call the principal now and ask for any possible arrangements."

She'd take out her phone, dial his phone number, and put it on speaker tone so I can hear it too.

He'd pick up on the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Carmen, Charlotte's mother. My husband, well I've divorced him, has been causing her and I a lot of troubles, so it has been difficult for Charlotte to concentrate on school work. He's in prison now; he shouldn't be that big of an issue now. Is there any way for Charlotte to catch up on school?

"Oh, of course! There's a tutor for disabled or sick kids at our school."

"Sure, sounds good! When's the soonest that he or she can come?"

"Now if you want."

"Ok, we're free now."

DING DONG

That was fast...

I'd rush to open it.

"Hi! I'm Ms. Garcia. You must be Charlotte?" a woman in a seaweed green dress would say.

"Oh, hi! Yes, that's me. Come on in!"

As she came in, I'd see her holding a notebook, workbook, and computer.

As she sat at the dinner table, she'd say, "Alright. So, over...however much time you need, we're going to cover the four operations, fractions, and angles."

I'd nod.

She'd then take out a piece of paper, pen, and open up her computer.

"Can you read this problem here?" she'd point.

"Yes, uh... four plus eleven."

"Good! One way you can do it is to count four from eleven, so twelve (1), thirteen (2), fourteen (3), fifteen (4)! That works best with small numbers though. For bigger numbers like 1,489 + 5,696, it's not as friendly. Instead, you can write it like this:

 11

+ 4

---------------

"You need to memorize this format because you'd need it for as long as you take math classes," she'd say, a little louder so that I get the emphasized message.

I'd nod, again, trying to ingrain this information into my messed up brain.

"After you write this down, you need to look at the ones place value, which are the numbers furthest to the right. Can you tell me what those are?"

"One and four?"

"Exactly! So...what is one plus four?"

"Five?"

"Yesss! So you write '5' underneath the horizontal line, under '4' ."

I'd do what she says.

"Now, what are the numbers in the tens place value? That's one column to the left of the ones place."

Numbers? Plural?

"Um, one and-" I'd pause.

What the heck? Are there two numbers?

"You got the first one right. The second number isn't visible, but it's zero. Whenever there's an empty spot like this, you can write a zero there if it helps you."

"Ohhhhh!" I'd say, thinking about how stupid I was. "So, one plus zero is just one, right?"

"Yep, you got it! You learn very fast!"

"Heh, thanks"

If only Steve hadn't been in my life then maybe I would've been learning algebra by now...

"Now, what number does it say below the horizontal line?"

"15?"

"Yep! As you can see, both methods get you the same exact number; I know the second method may seem like extra work or a time waster. I promise you that it's not. As you get into greater numbers, you'd need this more."

"Ok, thank you! I've heard that math is mainly practice, right?"

"Yes, just like regular school, there would be homework. I'll come here every weekday to check up on how you're doing; here's the homework for tonight," she'd explain, handing me a piece of paper. "Those problems are similar to the one we just did but with different numbers."

"Thank you so much!"

"You're welcome! I have to tutor my next student now, but if you ever get stuck on a problem, try it yourself first. We will correct it tomorrow."

"Ok, byeee!"

... And she left... okay.

Homework may seem like a dreadful thing for most students, but for me, I'd be overjoyed since I'd actually be learning or practicing stuff instead of fearing for my life 24/7. After some time, I'll just be like normal kids with a different backstory!

Ok Charlotte, just start on the homework...

Ok fine

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I know no one wants to think about math right now, but Charlotte has to catch up on school sooner or later.

Don't forget to comment and vote if you want!