Chapter 216: Uncomfortably Familiar
Meredith.
Xamira sat cross-legged on the thick carpeted floor, her little notebook sprawled open, her brows furrowed in a way that was far too serious for a seven-year-old.
Her tongue poked from the corner of her mouth as she scribbled out numbers with the short end of a graphite pencil.
I lay beside her on my stomach, chin resting in my palm, watching the way she chewed her lower lip like it was her nemesis.
It made me smile, although quietly.
The room smelled faintly of lavender and the buttery scent of the scones one of the maids had brought earlier. But Xamira hadn’t touched hers yet.
"Are you sure this is how you carry the number?" she asked suddenly, holding up the page like it was a declaration of war.
I reached for it. "Let me see."
She scooted closer and nudged the page toward me. Her handwriting was small but neat, slanted slightly to the right, as though even the letters were in a hurry to prove themselves.
I pointed to the third equation. "You’re close, but the three needs to go up here—see? Carry it above the tens column, not the ones."
She blinked at me, absorbing the correction. Then she nodded solemnly and picked up her pencil again.
"Okay, okay. I get it now."