Chapter 4

Leo stared at her, his face a mixture of fear and disbelief.

He looked from her calm, unblinking eyes to the back door of the house, as if expecting his father to walk out at any moment.

The threat, combined with her impossible knowledge, was too much for his seven-year-old brain to handle.

He was completely outmaneuvered.

With a defeated sigh, he started to jog.

It was a slow, clumsy shuffle, his arms pumping awkwardly and his breath coming in ragged gasps after just a few steps.

Ava watched him with a critical eye, not a shred of pity in her expression.

This was necessary.

This was step one.

"Faster," she commanded, her voice sharp.

"And pick up your feet. You're not an old man."

He shot her a glare but grudgingly increased his pace, his chubby legs working hard to carry his weight around the perimeter of the yard.

He huffed and puffed, his face turning red.

By the time he finished the fifth lap, he collapsed onto the grass, panting heavily.

"Okay," Ava said, standing over him.

"That's enough for today. Tomorrow, we do six laps."

She then walked over to the water spigot, filled a cup, and handed it to him.

"Drink this. Not soda."

He took the cup without a word, gulping down the water greedily.

He was exhausted, but for the first time, a flicker of something other than resentment was in his eyes when he looked at her.

It was a grudging respect.

She had beaten him, fair and square.

"Now," she continued, "we're going inside to do our homework. Together."

In the living room, she spread their books out on the coffee table.

She finished her own assignments in less than twenty minutes, the second-grade material laughably easy for her adult mind.

Then, she turned her full attention to Leo.

He was chewing on the end of his pencil, staring blankly at a simple math worksheet.

He had managed to answer three out of ten problems, and two of them were wrong.

"You're not even trying," Ava said, tapping the paper.

"What's seven plus five?"

"I don't know," he mumbled, his gaze fixed on the television across the room.

"Look at me," she ordered.

He reluctantly tore his eyes away from the cartoons.

"Hold up your fingers. Seven on one hand... wait, you can't. Okay, use the blocks."

She grabbed a handful of his building blocks from a nearby toy chest.

She patiently counted out seven, then five more.

"Now, count all of them."

He did, his lips moving silently.

"Twelve," he said, a look of surprise on his face.

"See? You're not dumb, you're just lazy," Ava said.

"Now do the next one."

They worked for an hour.

It was a slow, grueling process.

Ava had to fight to keep his attention, constantly redirecting him from distractions.

But by the time their parents came home, the homework was done.

And it was correct.

When Leo's father walked in, he saw them sitting together on the floor, books spread around them.

He blinked in surprise.

"Are you two doing homework?" he asked, a wide smile spreading across his face.

Leo, for the first time, didn't pout or complain.

He looked down at his completed worksheet, a small, unfamiliar feeling of pride swelling in his chest.

"Yeah," he said.

"Ava helped me."

Ava looked up at her new stepfather, a polite, practiced smile on her face.

"Leo did a great job, Uncle," she said, using the respectful term for him.

"He's very smart."

The man beamed, ruffling Leo's hair.

"That's my boy! And Ava, thank you for being such a good sister."

Ava just nodded, her expression unreadable.

Sister, she thought.

No.

I'm his warden.

His reformer.

His boss.

The transformation had begun.