Chapter 17: Nature

Patrick stays true to his word and drives the same way he drove to my house: almost like a normal person. I'm still reeling from his comment, though. And his earlier comment, when I asked about bringing my own underclothes. Is he flirting with me? He must be. Or he's toying with me, which seems extremely probable at this point. Really, I don't know what to think about it at this point (my stomach seems to be an aspiring gymnast at this point with all the flips it's doing, which also isn't helping).

"You'll like my tutor," he's saying, like he hasn't been teasing me randomly and relentlessly for a completely unknown reason ('because he can'?). "She's great. So incredibly smart, it's crazy. And she has good taste in cars, too."

"High praise, I'm sure," I murmur, and he smirks. I'm sure he's noticed that I've been quiet ever since his comment about me being cute when I blush. It's not that I'm particularly against it, or being bashful (though, I have no idea how to handle him saying things like that, so maybe a bit bashful). It's mostly that I have no idea where it comes from. Is it just the first thing that pops into his head? Is he flirting with me? Is he trying to catch me off guard (it'd be working)? Is he even being genuine, or is he just messing with me, like when he said that thing about kissing me at the restaurant? Nothing he does seems to make any sense.

"You haven't asked why I have a tutor, yet."

"Well, I assume it's because you're failing all your classes, since you come to class really late half the time and skip completely the other half of the time. Plus, you never seem to worry much about doing schoolwork. And-"

"I don't like learning at school. I don't see the point. I learn most stuff at home."

"Is that why your parents don't worry about you skipping class?"

"Pretty much."

Well, that's one mystery solved. If he's basically homeschooled, then his parents wouldn't bother trying to get him to behave at actual school. "But then why come to school at all? If you just saw your tutors during the school day, you could do whatever you wanted afterwards, instead of coming home from school to have more school."

"I mean, I don't really go to school anyways. I skip a lot, as I'm sure you've noticed, and when I do go to class it's because I want to. I take all of the classes I care about from home, with tutors."

He didn't really answer my question, of why he bothers going to school at all (especially if he's going to skip so much), but I decide to drop it. "You have more than one tutor?"

"Yeah, I've got one for every subject I want to learn. Well, except biology. Hey- you take biology, right?"

I nod slowly, definitely wary of where this is going.

"You could tutor me in biology, then! And I'm sure you could get extra credit for that, so it would be mutually beneficial!"

I swallow. Change the subject. "Maybe. So, what subject is this nature project for?"

"Guess."

"Well... I don't know what you're taking at home, but English wouldn't involve nature. Neither would math. Or..." Biology is the only class I can think of that would have anything to do with nature. But he just said he doesn't have a biology tutor, so not that, either.

"Do you give up?"

"Sure. What subject?"

"Philosophy."

I turn to look at him. "Philosophy?"

He's grinning, like he knew this would throw me off. "Yup."

"How the heck does philosophy connect to studying nature?"

"Hobbes, Locke, Rousseau, Montesquieu- lots of philosophers had this idea of what human life before society would be like. They called it the state of nature."

Oh my goodness. I mentally remind myself not to correct him. "The state of nature."

"Yes. For Hobbes, it was characterized by violence and savagery, so people entered society for security and civilization, which leads to his theory of the social contract where people forfeit their rights in return for security, from a government. For Locke, the state of nature was totally different, as was his social contract, and so on."

"So, why did your tutor suggest a camping trip?"

"So we can see what humans are like removed from society, and see why we end up going back."

"Such as?"

"Well, if we became super violent when removed from society, then we'd go back for the protection of at least knowing that murder is a felony and therefore discouraged and somewhat less common."

There are so many problems with what he's saying. Does he really believe that we'll just automatically become super violent, as soon as we're away from his house and other people? He said we'd be out over the weekend- I don't think that's enough time for us to revert to our pre-societal mindsets, considering that's all we've ever known, not to mention the centuries of the human minds' evolution. Don't correct him. Don't correct him. "Yeah. Fair enough."

Patrick pulls up to his house (it takes a much longer time when he's driving at an almost normal speed) and gets out of the car. I follow him up to the front door and into the house. His mother comes down the stairs, same as before. I wonder if that's part of the routine for his parents. She frowns when she sees me though, and I immediately go into panicking mode. Did she not like me last time? Did I break a rule?

"Who's your friend, darling?"

"Todd, Mum."

She comes closer to me, frowning as she looks at me. "You look familiar."

Patrick rolls his eyes. "He should."

"Have I met you before?"

"Last Friday, ma'am."

"Call me Darla. And- oh! Yes! Todd!" She (Darla?) turns to her son. "You brought him home again?"

"Yes, for my state of nature project."

Darla turns back to me as her husband comes down the stairs (Mr. Dumont? I don't know his first name. He would have told me if he wanted me to know, right? So- Mr. Dumont). "Honey, look! It's Todd, from last Friday!"

"Again? It's the same boy?"

"Yes!"

I'm really confused. Why are they so happy? Did they really like me that much? Well- I guess I don't have to worry about them not liking me.

Patrick grabs my wrist. "Come on. My tutor's upstairs."

I nod and follow him up the staircase. Once we're (hopefully) out of earshot of his parents, I tap his shoulder (he's still holding my wrist, so with my other hand). "Why are your parents so happy to see me?" I half-whisper.

"Isn't that one of your teacher's pet superpowers? To make all adults automatically love you?"

I roll my eyes. "Not to that extent. What did you tell them about me?"

"Nothing. They're just overreacting."

"About what?"

"Me bringing a friend home more than once."

I stop walking, forcing him to stop as well. "I'm the first person you've ever brought to your house more than one time? No one else?"

"Yes. Why?"

If I wasn't sure he was treating me differently before, it's practically confirmed now. "Because... why?"

"You're interesting. And Raymond liked you." He tugs on my wrist again, and we start moving again (mostly because I'm kind of stunned).

"And nobody else met that criteria?"

"Not interesting for more than a day. By then I'd have figured them out, and be done."

"That's nice of you. Very compassionate," I say drily.

"I don't usually hang out with very touchy-feely people. It's a mutual doneness."

I want to ask if that means that he won't be done with me until I'm ready to let him go as well, but he suddenly turns a corner into a room and lets go of my wrist. "Sharla!"

"Hey, kiddo. Is this your companion for the state of nature experiment?"

"Yes. Sharla, Todd. Todd, Sharla."

She stands, giving me a warm smile as she shakes my hand. "Pleasure, Todd. Care to introduce me?"

I'm confused for a moment, until I remember his serial-name-changing. "Right. He's Patrick."

"Great, thanks. Now, do you know what this is all about?"

"Kind of?"

"You two are going to drive out until you can't see anything man made, and basically stay there until you either have a reason to come back, or it's Sunday. Or if something happens, in which case you'll activate this fancy alarm toy that Patrick bought a few days ago. You'll take notes on your reactions and feelings, and what you observe of each other, and use that evidence to choose and support a philosopher's state of nature theory. Try and separate yourself from thinking of the comforts of modern life. I've packed everything for you, so you can pretty much get going now. Have fun!"

Guys. 100K READS ON PRIDE???? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! *Starts sobbing from overwhelming happiness.* Seriously though, for any of you who have supported Pride, I am so incredibly grateful and I feel so unbelievably lucky to have such amazing readers. Thank you so much!!!

Alright, now what do you think of the chapter? Did you predict the millionaire being homeschooled? What do you think of his state of nature camping trip? And Todd being the first person he's ever brought home more than once? Let me know in the comments!

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