Not Breaking

Chapter # 5

George was sitting on the couch in her living room, ready to start teaching her, and since Jenna's mom had no interest, she went out with her friends, leaving Jenna and George alone. Jenna sat there with her arms crossed, to see he actually came, not to her surprise. "So you actually came.." She said, coldy. "Of course, I had to come. Now you just have to go and bring your books." He told her, seriously yet casually. "Hah. If you have come here, then okay, keep sitting here. I'm going to my room." She said, rolling her eyes off. "You don't know me, I'm an extremely stubborn person." He smiled. "You don't know me. I'm very stubborn too." She said, crossing her arms at her chest. "Okay then, let's see who is more stubborn." He said, determined. "Alright."

After saying this, she got up to leave but her grandfather came. "Jenna? Who's here?" he asked, coming to them. "Oh, Grandpa.. Um, He.. teaches at my school.. He came just like that- but now he was just about to leave-" she said, but George stood up and cut her off, "Hello. I came to give tuition to Jenna." He said. "Oh, okay, then where was she going? Is she not studying?" Grandpa asked. Jenna immediately said, "No.. Actually-"

"She was going to bring her books." George cut her off. Jenna looked at him with a weird expression. "Oh.. Alright." He said. "Go Jenna.. To bring your textbooks." George said to her with a little smirk coming to his lips. She scoffed at him and went to her room, took her bag and came back when they all sat there quietly. After a silence, her Grandpa said, "Really, that's so good to see that she will now study. Or else we would have left praying for her to study." He sighed. "Sorry? What do you mean?" George asked him. "Actually, since her mother-"

"Grandpa? Do you wanna watch TV?" Jenna interrupted him, getting George’s attention. "Have you gone mad, Jenna? You are studying and should I watch TV?" He asked. "Um… Of course, you'll not." She said, thinking she couldn't escape now. "So what were you saying?" George asked him, "Me? Nothing, I was saying Jenna, you know, her teachers complain about her so much. Her mom is also a teacher there, you know? So yeah. She would have bothered you too, right?" He told George, telling him what he came to know recently. "Yeah, indeed, too much." George told him. "Too much?" Jenna asked him, sceptically. "Really? When was the first time?" Grandpa asked him. George looked at Jenna and smirked. He was about to say but Jenna shook her head, no. "At school, something happens every time." He told him. "Oh, oh. Okay then, Sir, it's good meeting you, but now I should not disturb you both. Study hard Jenna, okay?" He said to both of them and got up to leave them alone to focus.

"Why do you do such things?" George asked, intrigued, after he was gone. "Hmm? I will not answer any of your questions." Jenna said, making a bored face, then got up and went to her room. But, this was not the extent of George’s temper. He sat there, started using his phone to pass time. After a while, Jenna opened her room’s door a little bit to see if he had gone or not, then she saw he was still sitting there, seemingly more stubborn than hers.

He is really a very stubborn person, not moving an inch! Jenna thought and sighed, walking toward him. She went back and sat there. George was a little stunned to see her, but then he grinned. "That's good you came." He said, smiling. "Hmm.." She trailed. "So now did you get it? Who is more stubborn?" He asked, willingly. "Why are you smiling so much?" She asked him, bitterly. "A person should smile more often, not like someone who doesn't even know how." George at first told her, but then mumbled to himself, heard by her. "Hah. But I hate those people who smile, like every minute." Shen scoffed. "Then tell me, what should I do?" He asked. She sighed, "Do for what you have come here." She said, shrugging, boringly. "For the first time I heard you say something right."

George smiled, and started teaching her. Jenna somehow hardly tried to study, and about one or two hours later, George sighed and said, "I think it's going to be difficult.. Teaching after school like this." George said, tiringly. "Huh? I thought it was my punishment, but now I think it's gonna be somebody else’s." She said while smirking a little. "Excuse me? No. whose punishment it was, let it remain to them only, and from tomorrow we will do more subjects too. But, we’ll give more attention to mine." George told her, sternly.

"Now will you leave?" Jenna asked suddenly. George shut the book close, "Yes, I will." He said, getting up, walking towards the door, then stopped and turned to her. "I would like it if anyone sees me off by the door." George said, displeased to see she hadn't even come to the door. "Hmm." Jenna rolled her eye’s off, coming to him. George saw a cycle was there beside the main door, "Is this yours?" He asked. "Of course," She shrugged. "Do you ride it?"

"No."

"Why-"

"You should leave, right? You were going?" She asked, annoyed by questions. "Yeah, I'm leaving. Alright?" He said, exhaustingly.

He walked out finally, Jenna shut the door close, going to her room furiously. George was walking back home, while blaming himself for the fact that he was struck now. As he walked, he saw that bench as before, and remembered how she was crying back that day, all alone sitting there, miserably. It was difficult for anyone to believe, because of what image Jenna made of herself in front of everyone.

Regularly, from now on, George was coming to give Jenna tuition. Jenna focused, surprisingly quietly, often quietly with cold expressions on her face. George, too, tries not to say anything to her unless she is studying. He glanced at her bicycle every time whenever he was about to leave, curious to know if she even rode it. On Sunday, a week would have completely passed since George started coming to teach her after today.

George was teaching her like usual, then he told a joke about something he found funny in the chapter Jenna was reading, but instead of laughing, Jenna looked at him with a plain expression. "Ah, leave it, continue." George said, shrugging to continue after looking at her reaction. After a while, Jenna was writing something and George stared at her for a second and said, "Laugh too once in a while.." He trailed off. Jenna looked up at him, "Why? Why will I laugh?" She asked. "Then try to smile at least.." He shrugged casually. "Hmm.. Um, no." She said, "Look, smiling every often could be great." He told her. "Yeah? How great will it be?"

"Your health would be great, and, by laughing, it will be more healthy, but I guess it's enough for you." He said, suggesting to her. "Really? But, if you smile too much, you should be fat then." Jenna said, narrowing her eyes. "Then, you should do it too, now that you will not be fat." George grinned. "Yeah, now I know that I gain nothing." She said, "There's no benefit and loss in smiling, it will automatically come to the lips." He told her with a chuckle.

"Then, why won't it come to mine?" Jenna said a bit innocently, making George become speechless. "… Maybe you don't want to bring it." He said, quietly. Jenna looked down and said, "If I don't want to bring it.. Then, it won't come automatically." She looked up at him and continued, "So it’s done, right? The talk." George didn't know what to say to her, so he nodded and replied. "Yeah.. what suits you."