Effort

BEEP BEEP BEEP. I'm too tired to wake up. I check the time, and with a slow movement of my arm, I postpone the alarm, falling almost instantly into a deep sleep. After an hour passes, something starts pushing me, and suddenly I hear: "Wake up! Wake up!" I open my eyes, and the first thing I notice is the time. It's 11:20 AM. I get up and push my mom outside my room. I put on a blue T-shirt and a pair of black pants from my dresser, rush into the kitchen, and prepare a sandwich because I'm the most skilled in making sandwiches in the house. While the sandwich is in the sandwich maker, I go back into my room and throw some notebooks and books into my backpack. I hurry back downstairs so the sandwich won't burn. I make it back in time and after eating it, I grab some gum and start chewing it as I leave the house.

"By..." I close the door.

Maybe she wanted to say something before I left. Not that it matters now considering I'm in a hurry. It's 11:35 AM, and the private lessons start at 12 PM. His house is a 20-minute walk, so I should get there on time. The sky is quite gray today. I can't hear the chirping of the sparrows either. Everything is so quiet... It's like the world doesn't have life anymore. While I walk on my way, if I look at any teenager, any young man or woman, I can see them scrolling on their phone. It's like what they're doing is engaging or productive, but all I can see is the same face, a bored and serious face. I'm not different from them; I can see that. But why is everyone the same as the other? No one is different anymore. Or at least, that's what I think.

While walking lost in my thoughts, I see his house. I forgot what a 30-minute walk is like. I'm quite tired right now, but I have no choice but to study math. I go in front and start knocking on the door. POUNDING. After three pounds, the door slightly opens. I take a look inside, and then I hear Fujita.

"I'm waiting for you in my room. It's the first on the right after you climb the stairs."

"Coming..."

I open the door and see Fujita inside with a bunch of books. He's so focused on arranging the books that he doesn't notice me in front of the door. I take a few steps, and his head rises from the books.

"Hi! Didn't see you there! Sit down."

"Okay."

I sit down on a blue carpet. There's a very low table with all kinds of books on it, all related to math. I get kind of scared, but he looks confident. So I think he knows what he's doing. I grab a pillow to make myself comfortable and take out my pen and notebook from my backpack.

"I think we can start. First of all, I'd like to give you a test to assess your current level. After that, we can work on your weak points. Do you agree?"

"As you say."

I usually don't do my best in tests. What will actually happen if I get a bad grade?

"Perfect. Here is the test I've written..."

I take the test and as I look at it, I realize I don't understand a single thing.

"You have 30 minutes. If you don't know something, you can skip it."

I think 30 minutes is a lot of time for me. The test has six exercises, and I can solve at most three. About two, I'm sure I can solve, but the third one seems a little complicated. With a bit of luck, I should be able to solve half of the test. But the other half is a lot harder than the first one. I could say it's on a different level than my current knowledge. The first half is on algebra, and the second one is on geometry. My weak point is exactly geometry. I hate it from the bottom of my heart. I look at Fujita, and he seems to be looking in the book, probably preparing some lessons. I don't have anything else to do, so I start the exercises.

I solved the first one in 5 minutes. It's easy because it's basic knowledge from the start of the year. The second one is a bit harder. It takes me 10 minutes to figure out how to solve it. By the time I get to the third exercise, I still have 15 minutes left. Since it's a harder problem, I use all my time on it. I don't verify the problems I wrote before, but I think they're correct. I give him the test, and he starts taking notes in one of his notebooks. He's very focused. More focused than I am, and I should be the one learning. I think he really tries to help me. After 5 minutes of making notes in his notebooks, he suddenly stops.

"You did a pretty good job in algebra. It took you 30 minutes for three exercises, but you did them correctly. However, you didn't do a single geometry exercise. First, we'll work on geometry. After that, we'll start working on algebra to improve your time for solving problems."

"I see."

I wonder what we'll do next. I took a single test, and an hour has passed since 1 o'clock.

"I want you to try and solve this geometry exercise. It's easier than the ones from the previous test, but I don't expect you to solve it completely."

He's right. The exercise is indeed easier than the previous ones, but it still has some level of difficulty. I hurry up and solve it after looking at some similar exercises from my book.

"Here. It's done."

He takes it, and after looking at the problem for a moment, his serious face shows a smile.

"I didn't expect you to solve the whole problem. I think we might finish these lessons earlier than I thought."

He gets up and starts putting books back into his bookshelf.

"Take this book and these notes home. Learn from them, and next time we'll have more things to practice. Right now, we don't have anything else to do, so let's go out."

"Out?"

It's still 1 o'clock.

"Yes, let's go for a drink."

I don't have anything to do, and I can't go home right now because my mom will scold me for coming home so early. So I decided to follow him.

"Where are we going?"

"To the store that's two streets away from my house."

"Ah... that one."

It's a 5-minute walk from his house to that store. While I'm walking, I notice something different from the time I was walking to his house. The sparrows have started chirping, and the sky is mostly blue. It doesn't have that gray color anymore. It changed in just one hour.

We arrive at the store and get two cokes, while I look for a more secluded table. I go to the table that seems the most secluded and make him follow me. I sit down and start going through my phone since I don't have anything else to do. Fujita checks his phone after getting a notification.

"I think you won't be bothered, but next week we'll be meeting with some of my friends."

"I have to come?"

"If you still want to do private lessons…"

I can't refuse a PS5.

"Then, next week it is."

"That's what I wanna hear."

I drank my coke, he still has some left. Can I go home after this?

"Won't you finish it?"

"Uh, this?. Gulp. Pleased now?"

He is back on TikTok.

"Not really…"

Sigh. I'll go and get two beers. It's on me."

"You don't need… He left."

Geez, what's with him? He seems upset deep down today. Maybe I should speak less. I don't want to make anything weirder between us.

"Here's your beer. Cheers!"

"Cheers…"

"What are you really doing these days? Any girl you're interested in?"

"To be honest I'm not interested in anyone."

"Damn, bro you need a girlfriend. Just so you know, next week, there'll be girls too. So if you like any of them, talk to me. I'll see if I can arrange something."

"I think I can manage my love life."

"If you say so… I just wanted to let you know."

He sure is interested in my life. I don't know if I should let him "help" me. I still don't know his true reasons.

"That was one hell of a beer. Get your backpack, we're leaving."

"Okay."

What is the next destination?

"It's 2:30. I think it's time we should part away. See you soon!"

"See ya!"

That was tiring. Now I can get back to my day to day life. What should I do once I get home, watch a movie, read a novel, or just play something? I realized something. The chirping stopped and the sky became gray again. What weather… I'm sure the sky was much clearer 20 minutes ago. Everything changes so fast. From relationships, people to weather, everything changes. Now everything can be happy and tomorrow gray.

"I'm home!"

"Welcome back! How was it, did you learn anything?"

"It was fine, I guess…"

"Did you go somewhere after you were done?" she says with a curious face.

"We stayed for a drink. Going to my room."

"Don't forget to come down for lunch later."

I close the door, and jump onto my bed. It was quite a tiring day. I should start drinking some coffee in order to remain awake later in the day. Should I read some manga to gain some more energy? Or should I play some Rocket League on my PS4.

Tough choice… manga be it. What should I read? I do have some series which I'm currently reading in my bookshelf that's next to my bed. Hmm… let's read A New Miracle volume 4. Now, there's one more step in order to immerse myself in the story. Get in my favorite position that has full potential while I'm in reading mode. It lets me remember every… BEEP. What is it now? An Instagram notification? Let's see… Oh, it's Fujita. Guess I gotta accept. What was he up to lately? A post with fishing? Him, of all people?! So, they are his friends. I hope I won't have problems with them when we meet. BEEP. A message from him. "I forgot to tell you, but you have some exercises as homework, here are some pictures so you can solve them. Send them here when you finish them so we can go over them next week.". Oh my God, I can't even enjoy a manga from now on…