Page 26 of Learning Little Lizzie

She’d already faced the embarrassment of not having her workbook, and she didn’t really want to go through that again with her homework in the morning. Maybe it was better to get that out of the way so at the very least she wasn’t showing up to class empty-handed tomorrow.

Feeling somewhat more settled now that she had a plan of sorts, she pulled out her math book and dropped it on the table before reaching into her backpack for the notebook she’d picked out at the school store specifically for this class. But the bright red notebook was nowhere to be seen, which meant she didn’t know which pages she was actually supposed to work on.

A further exploration of her bookbag revealed she also didn’t have her workbook. Which made no sense because she hadn’t taken either of those things out of her bag the night before.

Had she?

Frustration wrapped around her, a tight band constricting her chest as she struggled to think of what to do next. Normally, she’d just tell herself she’d work on it later, but Samuel’s words were still ringing in her ears. How much worse would her punishment be if he found out she’d spent all afternoon at the library and done nothing?

She could go ask him, but she could already see the disappointment in his eyes when she told him she didn’t have what she needed to complete her homework or her workbook. And she didn’t have a key to their apartment yet, either, so she couldn’t simply sneak over and retrieve them from her room. Or wherever else she’d left them lying around.

Her phone buzzed, and the band around her chest eased a bit when she saw the group chat notification on her screen. A couple of the people in that particular chat were also in her math class. Opening the message, she typed out her question.

Anyone got the homework from Professor Eaton’s class?

It only took a few seconds for a response to come through and she nearly wept with relief.

Harmony: Yup. Pages 157-159, all of the even-numbered questions. We did the odd-numbered ones in class.

Dan: Wait. Is Eliza Bennett actually doing HOMEWORK?

Eliza: Shut up, Dan. I do homework. Sometimes.

Harmony: A little birdie told me she’s got that hot new math teacher to keep her in line. What’s the story, El?

Eliza: Ugh. I do NOT want to talk about it right now.

Kylie: Leave her alone, you guys. El, want me to come keep you company in the library? I can be there in about an hour.

Eliza: Oh my god, yes please! Rescue me!

Dan: Homework? In the library??? Who are you and what have you done with Eliza?

Kylie: Shut up, Dan.

Harmony: Shut up, Dan.

Dan: Shutting up, geez. Did everyone get their sense of humor removed over summer break?

Poor Dan. Grinning down at the messages, Eliza inhaled deeply for the first time since she’d realized she didn’t have her notebook with her. Out of habit, she swiped to open one of her many social media apps but was greeted with nothing but a black screen and a message reminding her she didn’t have access to that app right now.

Right. Stupid parental controls or whatever he’d put on her phone to basically turn it into a brick while she was at school.

Having a Daddy was the worst.

She set the phone aside, since it wasn’t good for anything at the moment anyway, then stared at the math book in front of her.

What was she supposed to be doing?

Math homework. Right. What pages?

Picking her phone up again, she opened the group chat to find the information Harmony had sent her, then laughed at the playful abuse the rest of the chat was heaping on Dan’s head. Even Hayleigh, who had graduated already and was interning with a local interior designer, had joined in.

Before she knew it, another half hour had passed and she still hadn’t opened her textbook. Setting the phone firmly aside, she flipped open the book—and realized she hadn’t actually looked at Harmony’s text with the homework assignment. Which meant looking at her group text, again, hopefully without getting distracted this time.

She tried. She really did. And it took another three tries, but she finally got the pages from the text Harmony had sent and flipped her math book to the right page.

Now she was presented with a new issue. No matter how long she stared at them, the problems on the page simply didn’t make sense. Maybe if she’d had her other notebook, with the problems they’d solved in class, she could figure them out. Or if she had her workbook from the summer.

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