The Midas Touch

Ch. 4

[edited]

Thursday, March 31st, 9:32 pm

Kazuya^^^

"WHAT?" I immediately shrieked, snatching my hand away from my mom and leaping up. She grimaced at my actions, looking a little hurt, before sighing and rubbing her temples in defeat.

"Darling, you have to understand" she said softly, and all my anger quickly dissipated just at the tone of her voice. I crossed my arms but didn't dare yell at her again.

"Understand what?" I snipped, being harsher than I wanted to be. I couldn't help it. I was shocked. She looked at my dad, who started to rub her back. He leaned in and whispered something in her ear that made her visibly less tense.

My heart seemed to warm at their simple interaction. I want that.

Mom turned back to me, lip puffed out in cautious defiance. "It's hard getting a tutor these days, Daz. Especially one for pre-calc. The only other options besides asking people from your school for help are college students" she sighed.

"And trust me" she said, looking off into the distance. "We tried to find somebody else, we really did, but they were either too busy, hated pre-calculus and thought it was the devil, or had a grade worse than you have right now".

She chuckled to herself at that, and I couldn't help but smile in return.

"So when Ms. Vitus put out the offer for us to take, we thought, why not? It's a max of maybe one hour. I think you can manage that, right?" She asked, looking up at me.

I hesitantly nodded, but she didn't seem convinced. Her eyes slitted slightly as she read me, but she gave up on trying to read me, instead putting her head in her hands and rubbing her eyes.

"Daz" my dad butted in, arm instinctively wrapping protectively around her. I looked at him. His scruff that needed to be shaved looked uncomfortably itchy, and his thick black hair was slightly matted. He looked uncomfortable.

My skin turned prickly at the sight, suddenly noticing how deep the circles under my moms eyes were, and how tired they both seemed. Dads tie was undone and tilted, his shirt untucked, and moms work skirt was wrinkly, her blouse unbuttoned.

I swallowed thickly. "Yeah?"

"We want you to do this. We really do. So please please suck it up and do it for us" He said simply, and I nodded, again noticing the way that his frown lines had appeared instead of his usual smile lines.

"Okay" I said quietly, looking down at my feet. My moms head shot up at the sound of my voice. "Really?" She asked, and I nodded again.

She immediately jumped up from her spot on the bed and gave me a long hug. I tensed but soon relaxed under her touch, leaning down to place my face in the crook of her neck.

"I love you baby. Thank you" she whispered. I nodded yet again, not trusting myself to speak without getting choked up.

Dad curled around and hugged us both as well, and we stayed there for a moment, just enjoying each other's company.

Eventually, mom stepped back, her smile in full force as she wrinkled her nose at me.

"You stink. Go take a shower" she said, and I laughed, leaving the room, though not before noticing how greasy her hair had gotten. "Yes ma'am".