Rosa

by awf

Chapter 23: Slow Progress

Rosa welcomed some solitude after the Boone family had gone to their various jobs and schools, if she was being honest with herself. As much as she loved the little girl, spending every waking minute with her was a teensy bit tiring. She was looking forward to seeing Lillian in the afternoon, of course, but for now Rosa was just as happy to have some time to herself. She was still bewildered about the cutie mark, but doing something normal and distracting was sure to help.

First things first - she went to check on her little garden. Of course there was no visible difference just yet, but Rosa enjoyed looking at her handiwork. While she was there, she also tidied up the garden beds a little, pulled a few more stems of grass to even out the shape, and carefully removed all the stones she could find. After that she fetched the watering can and lightly sprinkled the places where she and Lillian had put seeds the previous day. Rosa knew it wasn't a good idea to over-water them, but she wasn't sure how she knew. It was probably coming from the cutie mark.

Job done, Rosa sat beside the small garden and gazed upon it with pride for a while. It would be amazing when Mr. Boone brought her some vegetable seeds. Rosa hoped he would have time to do it that day, so maybe she and Lillian could plant them in the afternoon!

The sun was getting pretty high up in the sky and it was getting hot. After a few minutes Rosa got up and returned to the cool inside of the house. She went in the kitchen and made herself one of her trademark salted lettuce sandwiches, all the while humming her little happy song. Rosa decided to eat it outside and she took the plate to the pool room, where she simply settled down on the tiles so she could look out at the backyard. The floor was a bit chilly, but after the sun earlier it felt nice. Not to mention the sandwich was very tasty. Vague unease about the future kept trying to intrude on her serenity, but Rosa was determined not to think about it. She had a plan and was in no immediate danger. She would relax and be happy. It wouldn't make her problems any bigger.

After she had eaten, Rosa had to get the laundry from the drying machine, then sweep and vacuum, and then do the dishes. It sounded like a lot, but she knew from experience it wouldn't be too much bother. She could probably even read a little after she was done.

Rosa glanced behind her in the direction of the TV. She was still curious about it, but she was also worried she might see something she didn't want to, again. Maybe if she stayed away from the nature channels and the news and looked for a nice romance movie instead?

It was certainly tempting...

---

"Hi Rosa!" Lillian greeted as she jumped up on the couch.

The mare in question glanced around wildly, completely taken by surprise. She hadn't expected the Boones to be home as early as-

A small gasp escaped her as Rosa spotted the clock on the wall. Two?! Already?! She had just sat down what seemed like a few minutes ago, after she had found a movie just starting on the Classical Movie Channel. It was a shame she wouldn't get to see how 'West Side Story' ended, but Rosa absolutely couldn't shirk her responsibilities. Hopefully there would be a rerun someday. The promos during the advertisement break had led her to believe these old movies often repeated.

"Hey sweetie!" Rosa cooed and gave the girl a very quick, perfunctory hug. Then she slipped from the couch. "Wait here, I'll just go say hi to your father and your brother..."

She swiveled her ears around and heard both of them walking around upstairs, so that was where Rosa headed. Of the two, she picked the father first and turned to the master bedroom. The door was open, so she poked her head in. Mr. Boone was unbuckling his belt in the process of changing from his work suit to the clothes he wore at home.

"Hi, Mr. Boone!"

The man barely glanced in her direction, but he stopped undressing. "Oh, hold on a minute. I'll be right out."

He thought she needed something!

"Oh, it's okay, Mr. Boone. I just came to say hello. I'm sorry I wasn't waiting when you came in..." He wasn't looking at Rosa at all, but her ears folded down anyway to show how sorry she really was.

"That's fine. What were you watching?"

He probably wasn't really interested, just being polite, but Rosa answered anyway. "West Side Story, sir. It's um, a musical, I think."

"Ah..." There didn't seem to be anything else and Mr. Boone's reservoir of small talk was apparently exhausted.

Rosa took the initiative. "I'll go and say hello to Benjamin, sir. I'll help him with homework after lunch."

The man let go of his pants and started unbuttoning his shirt. "Good. You do that." Then he nudged the door with a foot so it closed in Rosa's face. Apparently he didn't like her watching, which she could understand, especially after what he'd told her about propriety.

She made her way to the son's room and knocked.

"Go away!" he called out, guessing it was the mare.

"I just wanted to say hello..." she said through the closed door.

There was a brief pause, then: "Hello. Now go away!"

Rosa shook her head sadly, but refused to obey just yet. "I wanna help you with your homework after lunch, is that okay?"

"I can do it myself!"

"Benjamin..." she sighed.

A shoe slammed in the door, making her jump a little. "I said go away!"

Rosa quickly looked around to make sure his father hadn't heard the commotion. She didn't want the man to think she couldn't handle one teenager. Then Rosa opened the door and gave the boy one of her finest glares. "That was uncalled for!" she hissed.

He just looked at her sullenly and Rosa searched his face for any sign of contrition.

"Listen, I'll help you with your homework and that is that. Or do you want me to get your father?!"

The threat worked and the youth paled. His gaze lowered to his lap. "Fine!" he growled, but kept his voice low out of fear of alerting his father. Rosa didn't like the impression she was making, but if he had to see her as a strict governess, rather than a friend, then so be it.

On second thought, maybe she could at least take some of the sting away. "If you promise not to tell your mother..." Rosa began slowly.

The boy looked up, surprised at her tone.

"... I can get you a bit of ice cream before lunch."

He was thinking about it! It was a good thing she had spotted the tub in the freezer earlier. Thanks to her small stature, she would need a chair to reach it, but that was not a big problem. She had always been a small pony in a big human world, so she was used to it.

The boy licked his lips a little, but then he quickly tried to glare again. "Fine!" he said, pretending to be exasperated.

"I'll be right back!" Rosa said, smiling genuinely as she slipped out of the room. Governess, yes, but not a strict one. A fair one. He had agreed to accept help with his homework, so he earned a bit of a reward. Rosa would have to make sure the father didn't spot the cup as she took it up, even though she didn't think Mr. Boone would mind much. While she was at it, Rosa decided to get Lillian an ice cream, too. A small one. It was only fair, if her brother was getting it. She made her way down the stairs, feeling happy that she was starting to figure out how to handle Benjamin. It just took a firm hand - hoof, Rosa mentally corrected herself - and a bit of kindness.

Strict first, reward after, that was the trick. She hurried to the kitchen to get the kids their treats before their mother came home or Mr. Boone came down from the bathroom. His shower had just been starting when Rosa came out of Benjamin's bedroom so she should have a couple more minutes, and then she should have enough time to wash up before Mrs. Boone returned home. That was good! Now if only her dream-visitor would stay away, and no one discovered her cutie mark secret, Rosa could make a good life for herself in the Boones' place. Especially once she grew her first, delicious batch of crops in her garden!

That thought reminded her! She and Lillian had to write a letter for her friends at the School and tell them all about it! Rosa had wanted to do it over the weekend, but so much had happened that she had completely forgotten! Maybe she could even ask Mr. Boone to make a few pictures of her and the girl with his phone and print them out. It was his work computer, but Rosa had seen the printer and it looked like one of those fancy color-laser ones.

She was sure all her roommates would absolutely love Lillian. Maybe she could even arrange to go meet them one day! The very thought was enough to make her giggle and prance a few steps!

---

After an uneventful lunch Rosa found herself once again in Benjamin's room, except that this time she had a chair. He hadn't offered her it, but Rosa had gone to fetch the one from her desk.

"Okay, now the trick here is to get both denominators to the same value, okay?"

The boy wasn't stupid, but Rosa thought he was easily bored. Maybe he just had a bad teacher? Mr. Danhauer, her own maths teacher at the Pony School was old, but could still make the subject interesting because he taught from passion. Rosa and her roommates had always thought he should have retired years ago, but didn't for some reason. The ponies were actually glad about that. Everyone at the School generally liked Mr. Danhauer.

Rosa gave Benjamin a few moments to try and do what she had just told him while she leaned back and stretched out her legs. They had been at it for over an hour, but luckily they were nearly done.

"Okay..." the boy murmured, scribbling some random numbers in his notebook. It was obvious he wasn't even trying anymore. Well, he had put in a bit of effort at the start, and Rosa was proud of him for that. They could build on it.

"Tell you what," she suggested, "lemme solve these last two problems and then we're done, okay? You got the gist of it anyway."

That cheered him up a little. Rosa wasn't sure how he felt about learning from a pony after that session, and there was still the 'panties thing' hanging between the two, but it felt like they were both moving on. She hadn't spoken with Benjamin about that incident at all and Rosa was not about to try now. Maybe when the boy was a little bit more used to her... At any rate, he hadn't stolen any more of her clothes, so that was good. Rosa really just had to be firm with him and make sure he understood where the boundaries were.

She took the pen in her mouth and wrote down the answers, easily calculating in her head. "There."

The boy closed his notebook and pushed it away. "Finally," he said, incredibly relieved. He stood up and walked away without so much as a 'thank you'.

"Benjamin?"

He froze in the door and turned around. "What?" he demanded, sounding annoyed.

"You could say 'thank you', you know? I'm helping you get your grades up so you can get back your phone games."

It was a mistake to remind him. His lips pressed together and Benjamin glared at the mare. "I'm only doing it because Dad said so!" he growled.

Rosa sighed as her ears lowered. "Well, you could still be a bit more polite..."

The boy just stuck his tongue out and walked off. For a moment Rosa wondered why he was going to her room, but then she realized he was probably headed to the bathroom. She slipped down from her chair, then reared up and put her hooves on it. By luck it had wheels so she could easily push it back to where it should be. Then Rosa waited out in the hallway for the bathroom to be free. Benjamin had reminded her that she had to go as well.

He came out, but didn't say anything.

"Um, Benjamin?"

The boy paused and this time he didn't even look at her.

"You did well today. At this rate you won't have to put up with my tutoring much longer..."

"I hope so..."

Rude! Rosa almost said something back, but changed her mind. They both needed some distance from each other. Maybe it was time for her to take Lillian out to the garden and let her help water the seeds. That would take her mind of the recalcitrant boy. After that Rosa and the daughter could write their letter so that Mr. Boone could take it to the post the next day. The afternoon could only get better, right? Rosa was past the hump. That cheered her up a little.

Comments

[awf]

11591269
11594298
Glad you're enjoying it :)

11595417
Huh, good question. I haven't thought about the actual graphical representation of it. Most likely something abstract with smiley faces, I'd guess.

[Mocha Star]

Eyuck. Math.
Lol