Chase's Point of View

"Ugh!" I hear Adam yell as I walk into the lab. He's frustrated at something. "This is so stupid! I hate math!"

"What's wrong?" I ask as I walk over to his seat in the lab.

"I don't understand any of this. I want to know whose dumb idea it was to put letters in math."

"I think it was the Arabs."

"Well I want to meet this guy and punch in him the face." He slams his fist against the counter, almost breaking it.

"Here, let me look at it." He hands me his homework. Oh boy, it's worse than I though. Does he realize the letters are actually part of the equation? They aren't just there to look pretty.

"How bad is it?" Adam asks nervously.

"Maybe you should request an easier math class." I suggest.

"I already did, twice. This is the easiest one they have." I look at his text book Pre-Algebra: Enrichment Course. Okay, that class if for slow seventh and eighth graders. I didn't even realize they offered that at the high school level.

"What math class are you taking?" Adam asks me.

"AP Advanced Calculus 2."

"Ooohhh I have a calculus, see!" He holds up a calculator.

"No Adam, that's a… never mind." I shake my head.

"Hey, what does it mean if there are parentheses in a math problem?" I am about to open my mouth and make fun of how stupid he is, but at the last second I change my mind.

"How about I help you with your math homework today, alright?" I offer. He smiles and nods rapidly.

We spend the next 4 hours going through his math homework. By the end of the night, he's got the whole chapter down. I think I might have lost a couple IQ points, but at least he gained a few.

"Thanks for helping me tonight Chasey." Adam says as we get ready for bed.

"I can't believe you were able to stand four hours of Adam duty." Bree teases. "Weren't you going to go to some nerd convention?"

There's a science convention in town today, or at least there was. I missed it because I was helping Adam with his math.

"Yeah, but it's alright. I doubt it was any good anyways." That's a lie. That convention was supposed to be legendary.

"You missed your nerd convention for me?" Adam looks shocked. I don't blame him, I usually don't bother to try and help him. I guess I really should be nicer to him.

"Yeah, but it's alright. I would rather spend time helping you." I smile. I really mean that, I enjoyed helping him learn.

"Really?"

"Really."

"Thanks buddy."

"Anytime big bro."