Four Of A Kind

Chapter 131: [3.33] A Zero-Sum Sister

I hesitantly put one arm around her, patting her back awkwardly. “Uh, you’re welcome? But you did all the work.”

She pulled back just as suddenly as she’d lunged forward, her face flushed a deep red that matched her hair. She straightened her glasses, which had gone crooked in her enthusiasm, and cleared her throat.

“Right. Yes. I did.” She smoothed her uniform skirt with hands that weren’t quite steady. “But your methods worked. The graph paper, the color-coding, breaking down the steps. No one ever showed me that before.”

“They should have,” I said simply.

Cassidy looked at me for a long moment, something vulnerable and warm in her expression. Then, as if realizing she’d forgotten her armor, she quickly schooled her features back into her usual scowl.

“Well, they didn’t,” she said. “But now I’m going to destroy this test on Friday and win our bet.”

I laughed despite myself. “We’ll see about that.”

“Oh, it’s happening, scholarship boy.” She tapped the quiz with one finger. “This is just the beginning.”

The library door burst open before I could respond, and Harlow bounded in like an overexcited puppy, her pink-tipped hair bouncing in twin tails.

“There you are!” she exclaimed. “I’ve been looking everywhere! Mrs. Tanaka said you were in the library but I checked the fiction section first and you weren’t there and then I thought maybe you were in the reference section but that was empty too and then I realized you’d be at the tables and here you are!”

She said all this without taking a breath, then plopped down in the chair next to me, dropping her schoolbag on the floor with a thud.

“What are you doing?” Cassidy asked.

“Joining study time!” Harlow’s smile was bright enough to power a small city. “I got a C+ in Calculus and Vivi said I need to bring it up before Mother sees my report card, so I thought maybe Isaiah could help me too since he’s doing such an amazing job with you and you’re getting so much better and everyone’s talking about it!”

Cassidy’s expression darkened. “Everyone’s talking about what?”

“About how you’re improving! Mr. Klein said your last essay on the French Revolution was actually really good and showed clear understanding of cause and effect, and Ms. Chen in the library said you’ve been checking out books on your own for research, and—”

“That’s my session time,” Cassidy interrupted. “We have a schedule.”

Harlow’s smile dimmed a few watts. “Oh. I just thought since we’re sisters and live in the same house it would make sense to—”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Cassidy snapped. “I need this time. You can find your own time.”

“I don’t mind helping both of you,” I said carefully. “We could adjust the schedule to—”

“No,” Cassidy said firmly. She gathered her papers into a neat stack. “This is my time. I earned it. You can tutor her some other time.”

Harlow looked between us, her usual bouncy energy deflating like a punctured balloon. “I didn’t mean to intrude. I just thought… I’m sorry.”

She stood up, gathering her bag, and I felt a pang of guilt at her crestfallen expression.

“Wait,” I said before she could leave. “I have a free period tomorrow during fifth. We could meet in the library at school if that works for you.”

Harlow’s face lit up again. “Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“Anyone who asks for help deserves to get it,” I said, and meant it.

Cassidy made a small noise that might have been agreement or protest, I couldn’t tell which.

“That would be amazing!” Harlow clapped her hands together. “I’ll bring snacks! And my textbook! And all my notes! They’re color-coded but the system doesn’t really make sense because I started with assigning colors based on how the concepts made me feel but then I ran out of colors so I had to start using patterns and stickers instead and it got a little confusing but I’m sure you can figure it out because you’re super smart!”

I blinked, trying to process the verbal avalanche. “Just bring the problems you’re struggling with and we’ll start there.”

“Okay!” She beamed at me, then turned to Cassidy. “And I’m really sorry for interrupting. I should have asked first.”

Cassidy’s posture softened slightly. “It’s fine. Whatever.”

Harlow bounced on her toes, clearly ready to leave us to our session. “I’ll see you tomorrow then! Fifth period! I won’t be late, I promise!”

She whirled around and skipped out of the library, leaving a wake of energy behind her that seemed to linger in the air.

Cassidy watched her go, then sighed. “She’s exhausting.”

“She means well,” I said.

“I know. That’s what makes it impossible to stay mad at her.” Cassidy pushed her glasses up again. “But this is still my time.”

I studied her face, noting the slight tension around her eyes, the defensive set of her jaw. “No one’s taking your time away.”

“You just gave her tomorrow’s fifth period,” she pointed out.

“That’s my free period. It doesn’t affect your schedule at all.”

Cassidy picked at the edge of her graph paper, not meeting my eyes. “I know that. I’m not stupid.”

“I never said you were.”

“Yeah, well…”

I understood then what this was really about. It wasn’t just about me tutoring Harlow. It was about Cassidy finally finding something she was good at, finally making progress, and fearing that someone else would come along and do it better. Especially her sisters, who seemed to excel at everything naturally.

“Cassidy,” I said, keeping my voice even, “you just scored a 90 on a quiz that would have been impossible for you a month ago. You found my website on your own and worked through practice problems over the weekend without anyone making you. You’re organizing your work, catching your own errors, and making real progress.”

She looked at me warily, as if waiting for the ’but’ that would negate everything I’d just said.

“No one can take that away from you,” I continued. “Not Harlow, not your mother, not anyone. It’s yours. You earned it.”

The tension in her shoulders eased slightly. She glanced down at the quiz with its bold ’90’ written at the top, then back at me.

“I still want to get to a B by the end of the month,” she said. “Before the test.”

“Then we’ll keep working until you do.”

She nodded once, decision made. “I need to win that bet.”

“Because you’re so excited about making me your pet for a day?” I raised an eyebrow.

The blush returned to her cheeks full force. “Shut up. That’s not—I didn’t mean—”

“Relax,” I said, grinning. “I’m just giving you a hard time.”

She threw an eraser at me, which I caught easily. “You’re the worst.”

“And yet you just tackled me in a hug.”

“I did not tackle you,” she sputtered. “It was a… a momentary lapse in judgment.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I was overcome with academic enthusiasm.”

“Sure.”

“I’m never doing it again.”

“Noted.”

She glared at me, but there was no real heat behind it. Her lips twitched like she was fighting a smile.

“Can we move on to the next set of problems?” she asked. “I want to be ready for Friday.”

“Absolutely,” I said, pulling out the next worksheet I’d prepared. “Let’s see if you can keep this momentum going.”