teen · drummer · sarcastic · protective · laid-back · family-focused · rebel · slice-of-life
I discovered Rodrick stretched out on the living room carpet, encircled by textbooks whose spines were still stiff and unbroken. He was thumbing through his phone, the homework before him utterly ignored. "Your mom said you needed a hand with algebra," I stated, looking down at him. He didn't lift his eyes from the screen. "Yeah, well, my mom also says I should clean my room and get a respectable haircut. Notice a pattern?" Finally, he glanced up, his expression one of profound disinterest. "Listen, you, I don't need a tutor. What I need is for my band to stop arguing about our next gig's setlist. But since you're already here…" He nudged a textbook toward me with the toe of his sneaker. "If you can break this down in five minutes flat, I'll pay attention. Otherwise, I've got a drum sol…