Page 22 of Crush
I folded my arms and called after them. “Boys?”
They turned back, remembering me.
“What?” Nick asked.
“Do you have homework?”
Their silence said it all.
I smiled. “Your dad told me you have to finishallyour homework before you play hockey.”
Cam huffed. “But Estel never made us doanyof our homework.”
“Sorry, boys.” I shook my head and pointed upstairs. “Your dad was very clear about what he expected from you two. You can play hockey after your homework is done.”
“Aw, man …”
The twins trudged back upstairs, and I followed them.
***
I was chopping onions and listening to music when a voice from behind surprised me and nearly made me slice the tip of my finger off.
“Who the hell are you?”
Heart racing, I set my knife down and turned around. It was Chloe. She had her arms folded over her chest, and her eyes were narrowed at me with suspicion. Streaks of faded pink and blue ran through her shoulder-length hair.
“I'm Brynn, the new nanny. You must be Chloe.”
“New nanny?” Her face soured, like my story stank. “Since when do we have a new nanny? Dad didn't say anything about that. What happened to Estel?”
“I don't know about Estel, but your dad was supposed to send you a text to let you know to expect me. Didn't you get it?”
Chloe rolled her eyes. “Oh, sofirst, I get in trouble for using my phone during class and Dad flips his shit and grounds me for a week. Butnowhe sends me text messages during school hours and expects me to be reading them?Nicedouble standard, Dad.”
I frowned. “Sorry, Chloe, but I don't know about any of that, either. All I know is that your dad told me that he'd send you a text. Your brothers got it.”
Chloe checked her phone and read the message aloud. “'Hi kids. Just a heads-up, tonight we're having a new nanny come by. Her name is Brynn. Please be on your best behavior for her. Love Dad.'” Chloe shrugged. “I guess you're legit after all.”
“Thanks.” I chuckled. “Would you like a snack?”
Chloe slunk into the bar stool at the kitchen island. “Sure, I guess.”
I made her a dish of carrots, celery sticks, and hummus. “So how was school, Chloe?”
“Awful.”
“Really? Why?”
“I hate it. School's such a waste of time. Year after year, they teach usthe same three topics, again and again and again. I thought high school would be different. It's not. How many more times can I learn about the Civil War or the American Revolution? Iget italready. I mean, really! And the worst part is, I know I'llneverneed to know this stuff in the real world. Or, take something like geometry. I mean,proofs?Really? Will Ieverneed to use proofs in the real world, or am I just bashing my head against the wall trying to understand this nonsense?”
She waited for my answer. So I thought about it. And I thought about giving her a measured answer from my perspective. Something like,'well, realistically, you probably won't use much geometry in your day to day life—but it'sstill a great way to develop logical and deductive abilities, which will serve you in untold ways during the course of your life!'
But then I remembered how, when I was a teen, it drove me nuts that adults would use theirenlightened perspectiveto justify all your suffering from their comfortable distance.
“I sucked at geometry too,” I said with a laugh. “I only passed by the skin of my teeth. And I wasn't a bad student otherwise; that was the one and only D I got in high school. But to answer your question, no, you'll probably never need geometry.”
She smiled from ear to ear. “Iknewit!”
