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Brian joined the line of cars in the Kiss N’ Ride just as the dismissal bell sounded. Kids began pouring out of the school from all directions. The younger ones were running at top speed across the blacktop, their backpacks bouncing on their backs as they waved frantically at their waiting parents. The older ones were sauntering along in large groups, laughing and shoving at each other while pulling cell phones out of their backpacks.

There was so much activity that Brian’s eyes were aching from the strain of trying to pick Baylee out of the crowd. He desperately wanted to get out of the car and look for his son, and it was taking every ounce of willpower that he possessed to remain firmly in his seat. Nick had wanted to accompany him, but he had convinced his friend that it wouldn’t be a good idea. If Baylee was embarrassed to be seen with one Backstreet Boy, Brian could only imagine how his son would feel if someone were to catch sight of him and Nick lurking in the parking lot.

After what seemed like hours, but was probably more like three minutes, Brian finally caught sight of Baylee. His son was walking slowly through the school yard with three other boys. They were all laughing feverishly and one of the boys was puffing out his cheeks; clearly impersonating someone or something. Trying to maintain a low profile, Brian adjusted the side mirror so that he could watch his son without actually having to turn his head. Baylee was typing frantically on his phone, and one of the boys was watching over his shoulder and pointing at something on the screen.

Brian continued to watch as their laughter died down. The boys split apart as they approached the Kiss N’ Ride, and Baylee waved goodbye as he headed towards the car. Brian quickly averted his eyes from the mirror and was facing forward by the time Baylee pulled open the rear passenger door. He threw his backpack into the backseat and quickly slid in after it. Baylee closed the door with what Brian still deemed to be excessive force, but at least this time he had done it out of excitement as opposed to anger.

“Hi, dad!”

“Hey, Bay.” Brian replied. Baylee’s cheerful tone made him feel more than a little optimistic. “How was your first day?”

“It was the best!” Baylee exclaimed.

“Is that so?” Brian grinned as he pulled out of the space and joined the line of cars waiting to exit the school grounds. He studied Baylee’s smiling face in the rear-view mirror. “What happened?”

“Mr. White has everyone sitting in groups.” Baylee’s excited voice filled the car. “I sit with this guy, Trevor, and two girls. So, right away, Trevor asks me if I want to hang out with him at recess. Do you know what recess is? It’s when you get to go outside and play sports and hang out and stuff. How come you never told me about it? Anyway, so I went out with Trevor at recess and he’s really good friends with these two other guys, Mike and Lucas. I sat with them at lunch too, and it was so much fun! We had recess again in the afternoon and we all hung out, and then they gave me their phone numbers so that we can text and stuff.”

Brian’s head was spinning as he listened to Baylee’s somewhat disjointed version of events. He couldn’t help but realize that his son had yet to mention one word about the actual learning part of school.

Baylee continued to yammer on about his new friends as Brian navigated the car through their new subdivision. “Lucas says that basketball tryouts are in a few weeks. He and Trevor are already going to be on the team because they were on it last year. Mike is going to try to make the team this year too, and he really wants me to try out with him. Can I try out? Can you put up a basketball net for me over the garage? That’s what Lucas’s dad did for him so that he can practice. I think that I have a pretty good chance, because sixth graders are the oldest in the junior division. That’s what I would try out for; junior basketball.” Baylee paused for breath and waited for his father to respond.

“You want to try out for basketball?” Brian clarified. He could feel his heart swell with pride; basketball had always been his sport of choice. Unfortunately, his health had often prevented him from making his own school team as a kid.

“Yup.” Baylee nodded vigorously. “I think that I’m pretty good, but I really need a basketball net at home. Can we get one? Can we put it up tonight?”

“Yes, we can get one.” Brian laughed. He pulled the car into the driveway and killed the engine. “I don’t know if we’ll have time to put it up tonight though.”

“Please dad!” Baylee begged. “I need to practice. It would suck monkey balls if all the guys make the team and I don’t.” He pushed open the door to the car and dragged his backpack out of the backseat.

Brian shook his head as he followed his son out of the car. He wasn’t sure if he had heard him correctly. “Did you just say that it would suck monkey balls if you don’t make the team?”

“Yeah.” Baylee grinned. “Isn’t that so funny? Trevor says that all the time.”

‘It certainly is different.” Brian muttered. He trailed after Baylee as he bounded towards the door. “What else do these guys say all the time?”

“They say tons of funny stuff!” Baylee answered. He pushed open the door and dropped his backpack in the middle of the foyer. “Uncle Nick! Are you still here?”

“You know it.” Nick appeared in the hallway. “How was school?”

“Wait!” Brian interrupted. “Before you start telling Nick all about the guys, can you tell me about the actual school part of school? How’s your teacher? Did you learn anything?”

“Mr. White is so cool!” Baylee confirmed. “Every day we have English and math. Today, we had science and art, and tomorrow we have social studies and gym. We even have music on Fridays.”

“And how did you do?” Brian pressed. “Was the work easy or hard?”

“Most of it was easy.” Some of the excitement disappeared from Baylee’s eyes. “The math was kinda hard. Mr. White gave me some papers to give to you. They’re in my backpack.”

“I see.” Brian picked Baylee’s backpack up off of the tile floor. He was surprised at how much it weighed. “What do you have in here?”

“My homework.”

“It seems like you have a lot to do.” Brian opened the bag and peered inside. He could see a math and a science textbook, as well as a novel.

“I have to do some science questions and get caught up on fractions.” Baylee rhymed off the tasks on his fingers. “And I have to read the first chapter in 'Bud, Not Buddy'. I don’t even have to catch up in novel study; Mr. White just handed out the books today.”

“I guess you better get going on this.” Brian pulled out the two typed written sheets that he assumed were for him and handed Baylee his backpack.

“I’m going to need help.” Baylee acknowledged. “With the fractions.”

“I’m sure that can be arranged.” Brian smiled. “Why don’t you get started on the science questions, while I read this stuff from your teacher?”

“What about the basketball net?” Baylee looked almost devastated. “Are we really not going to get one tonight?”

“You want a basketball net?” Nick asked. “Why don’t you and your dad stay here and work on your homework while I go to Target and get one?”

“You mean it?” Baylee’s eyes were wide. “I want the kind that you put on top of the garage.”

“As long as it’s okay with your dad.” Nick shot Brian a sideways glance. “I don’t mind picking it up.”

“It’s fine.” Brian was already scanning the papers that Mr. White had sent home. “Thanks, Nick.”

“Don’t mention it.” Nick grinned. “I would much rather go shopping than do homework.”

Brian rolled his eyes. “From what I remember, you always wanted to do anything else but your school work.” He handed Nick his credit card and shot him an appreciative glance. “Thanks, again.”

“Thanks, Uncle Nick!” Baylee’s voice reverberated down the hallway. He had already emptied the contents of his backpack onto the dining room table, and he was busy flipping open his science textbook to the assigned page.

Brian waited until Nick had shut the front door before he made his way to the kitchen. He slid a tall mug under the spout of the Keurig and selected a hazelnut K-Cup from the revolving holder. He pressed ‘brew’ and returned his attention to the papers in his hands.

It seemed as though Mr. White had taken the time to complete an academic assessment with Baylee. Brian had never heard of the Woodcock-Johnson Test of Achievement, but the write up that Mr. White had provided made it sound pretty intense. He flipped the page over and took in Baylee’s scores. His reading vocabulary, passage comprehension, and letter/word identification abilities were all above grade level. His science and social studies results indicated that he was functioning at grade level. It was the results for calculation that Brian found concerning. According to the assessment, Baylee was functioning below grade level in numeracy; two grades below to be precise.

Brian tore his eyes away from the paper long enough to retrieve the steaming mug of hazelnut flavoured coffee. He took a long sip as he continued to skim the comments. Although Mr. White didn’t seem overly concerned about Baylee’s less-than-stellar performance in math, Brian was fuming. What the hell had that two-bit tutor that Leighanne had hired been teaching him?

He knew for a fact that Kevin was primarily responsible for Baylee’s above average reading abilities. His cousin loved literature of any kind, and he was always bringing Baylee books and encouraging him to read. When Baylee was younger, Brian had spent countless hours reading to him. The two of them had curled up wherever they could find a quiet space, both of them eagerly devouring the stories that Kevin consistently provided. As he had grown older, Baylee had continued to read on his own; always anticipating the next book that his Uncle Kevin was sure to bring him.

“Dad?”

“What is it, Bay?” Brian asked. He lifted his eyes from the paper and gave his son what he hoped was a happy and supportive look.

“Do you want to take a look at my math book? Mr. White says that I have to complete the first two lessons in the fractions unit in order to get caught up.” Baylee looked embarrassed as he spoke. “I kinda don’t know how to do any of it.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Brian acknowledged. “We’ll figure it out.” He placed the letter from Mr. White on the counter before walking into the dining room and picking the textbook up off of the table. “I’m gonna go and look at this in the living room so that I don’t distract you. Just let me know if you need any help with anything else.”

Baylee shook his head. “I’m almost done with the science questions.” He lightly tapped his pencil against a piece of lined paper that was full of his tiny, and surprisingly neat, printing. “I’ll read the first chapter for novel study while you look at the math.”

“Sounds good.” Brian marvelled at how well Baylee seemed to be adjusting to the whole school situation. He had been expecting his son to put up more resistance, but Baylee actually seemed to be revelling in the normalcy of the experience.

Settling himself on the couch, Brian flipped open the textbook to the fractions unit and stared at the pages of questions. He took another long sip of coffee as he looked for the part of the textbook that explained how to do the work. It didn’t take him long to realize that there were no explanations. Obviously, the book was only designed to provide practice; the teacher was supposed to deliver the lessons. Brian quickly flipped to the back of the book and let out a small sigh of relief. At least there were answers.

“What the hell is an improper fraction?” Brian muttered as he skimmed the instructions for unit one: ‘Convert each of the following mixed numbers into an improper fraction or vice versa.’

“Baylee, did you happen to take any notes during math class today?” Brian hated to interrupt his son, but he had no idea where to start.

“No.” Baylee’s voice floated back from the dining room. “The rest of the class had a quiz today. We start lesson three tomorrow. That’s why I have to do lessons one and two tonight.”

“That’s fine.” Brian called back. “I was just wondering.”

He set the textbook and his mug on the coffee table and went to retrieve his phone. On his way back to the living room, he grabbed a pad of paper and a pencil off of the desk in the office. He felt beyond humbled as he scrolled through his contact list and brought the phone to his ear. He had a feeling that this was not the only time that he was going to need some help.

“I’m sorry, honey. It’s Brian. I HAVE to take this!” Howie’s voice drifted through the line along with a series of ear-splitting wails.

“Hello?”

“Brian! Hey!” The cries became quieter as Howie officially greeted him. “Sorry. Holden is having a little bit of an episode.”

“I can hear that.” Brian chuckled. “Do you need me to let you go?”

“No!” Howie answered a bit too enthusiastically. “I mean, Leigh’s got it covered. What’s up?”

“Baylee started school today.” Brian began.

“Oh yeah!” Howie interrupted. “How’d it go?”

“I think he had a good time.” Brian smiled. “He actually seems to be in a good mood, which is a refreshing change.”

“I’m so glad!” Howie gushed. “I guess it’s not such a horrible thing that you actually had to enrol him then.”

Brian blushed furiously at Howie’s comment, and he was immensely thankful for the fact that his friend couldn’t see him. He still couldn’t believe that he had actually tried to lie about his plans for his son’s education. He definitely wasn’t going to be winning a ‘father of the year’ title this year.

“I’m glad that he’s happy.” Brian admitted. “I’m not sure what’s going to happen when I need to be back on the road though. I don’t think that he’s going to want to be pulled out of school and forced to return to the whole homeschool situation.”

“Yeah. That’s going to be tough.” Howie acknowledged. “So what can I do for you? I know that you want something. I can tell by your voice.”

“Am I that transparent?” Brian laughed. “I’ve actually called to ask you a math question.”

Howie paused. “A math question?”

“It’s a fraction question actually.” Brian continued. “To make a long story short, Baylee is behind in math. He’s asked me for help with his homework and I don’t remember how to do any of it.”

Howie roared with laughter and Brian pulled the phone away from his ear in order to soften the blow on his ear drums. “What made you decide to call me?”

“Because you’re the only person I know who has a chance in hell of being able to help me.” Brian admitted. “You were always the smartest out of all of us when it came to academics; you still are.”

“You make a good point.” Howie chuckled. “Okay, lay it on me!”

“First, I need to know how to change a mixed number to an improper fraction. Then, I need to be reminded about how to add and subtract fractions. I think that I need to make the bottom numbers the same, but I don’t know if that’s right.” Brian picked up his pencil and scooted to the edge of the couch. He positioned the pencil overtop of the paper and waited for Howie’s response.

“The first thing you’re going to do is multiply the bottom number by the whole number ...”