Chasing Butterflies Chapter 52: Teaching the Youth (Patreon)

///Hello hello!!! To everyone new, thank you so much for joining and supporting the story!

This chapter was a bit delayed, but to compensate it is EXTRA chunky - probably the longest one in the story so far! I did want to take a chance to talk about posting schedule, though.

I did not leave myself any personal backlog for Patreon, so I'm posting chapters here as soon as they're ready. Hopefully that will mean 1-2 chapters a week, which is what the RR release will drop to after a few more weeks. So a little less frequent for now, but I'll do my best to get things out quickly!

Hope you enjoy, and thanks again! :)

///

The wait to get her results back was painfully slow. Unfortunately, this day and age didn't have the kind of medical advances that made for same-day lab testing, nor did they have a convenient online portal that would notify you the instant those results came in. Olivia simply had to wait for the doctor's office to call her dad.

In the meantime, she continued on with her life. Contrary to her past self's worst fears, missing a half day's worth of classes did not, in fact, cause her to fall irreparably behind. The speed with which she'd been blitzing through homework made sure of that.

In the blink of an eye, Thursday arrived. Afternoon band practice raced by in a blur, her mind half focused on her upcoming tutoring session with Bryce. The boy's outlook on Friday's test had grown bleaker and bleaker over the week, even with her help during class. There were just too many fundamental questions he needed answered, and not enough time.

But we're going to fix that. A good cram session is the bread and butter of any college student. And it's not like he'll be learning everything completely from scratch. I tried to set some good foundations during the week.

Olivia hurried to put away her flute after a long afternoon of practice. She was still a bit sweaty—the looming approach of their first competition had most of them trying twice as hard as usual—but there wasn't much to be done about it. The best she could do was change out of her workout clothes and stuff them away in her backpack.

She hurriedly left the band room, ignoring the icy glares of Alyssa and her cronies as she whipped out her phone. They'd gotten out just a bit earlier than usual, which was absolutely perfect.

Olivia: Out, OTW

As she headed for the edge of campus, her pocked buzzed with a response.

Bryce: K. Lemme know if u need help.

I really hope I don't.

Bryce's house was literally right across the street from the school, so close that he could walk there every morning. It was practically visible from campus. Olivia knew that because she'd reviewed the map several times that morning on the computer in an attempt to commit it to memory.

Because of that, Olivia had insisted on walking herself. It would've felt absurd otherwise, having her dad drive all the way out just to transport her a few hundred feet. He did offer, of course—her dad was quite familiar with her navigational capabilities—but Olivia emphatically pushed back. The panic around kids getting randomly abducted off the street wasn’t quite as intense during this day and age, thankfully. Besides, if she truly did get lost, she could always call on him as a backup. As mortifying as that would be.

It's not that far. Just a little up the hill, then take a left, and it's right there. Remember? That's it.

She took a deep breath and crossed the street. This was as simple as it got. Even she shouldn't be able to mess this one up.

***

Fifteen minutes later, Olivia was beginning to rue her own hubris.

How in the world am I this hopeless?

She walked down the same street for what had to be the third time, absolutely baffled by how she'd gotten here again. It wasn't even the right one. Yet even after backtracking several times and attempting to recenter herself on the school, she found herself unable to avoid this loop. It was like some inescapable black hole.

...I have no idea where I am.

Olivia pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. So much for getting out early. All of that head start had burned up into little more than ashes.

As if reading her mind, her phone chose that moment to buzz impatiently.

Bryce: U ok?

She sighed in defeat, pressing the keys with more than a little frustration. It was clear that she wasn't getting anywhere herself. Which meant it was time to ask for help.

Olivia: Yeah. I uh got lost

I can't believe I'm this useless. I know I got used to having a mini GPS in my pocket, but this is absurd. Seriously!

The issue hadn't reared its head often in recent years, to the point that she'd nearly forgotten about it. Even on the off chance she'd have to navigate the halls of George and Cassius's elementary school, the boys were more than happy to lead the way, her lack of directional sense mercifully not passed down to them. Though it did make her remember all those time she'd gotten lost in the college dorms. Jason had laughed his ass off more than once about that.

Moments after sending the text, her phone's screen lit up with a call notification from Bryce. Olivia answered and held it to her ear. "Hey, Bryce."

"Where are you?" The football player's tinny voice came through the speaker. Despite the poor sound quality, his concern remained quite evident.

"I... Don't know." Olivia walked toward the nearest street sign and peered up. "I'm at the corner of Willow and Beechwood?"

"Wait, Willow? How the f—" He cleared his throat before restarting his sentence. "How in the world did you get there?"

"I wish I could tell you."

Olivia heard shifting from the other end of the line. "All right. Stay right where you are, don't move. I'll be there in a sec."

"All right. Thanks. And... sorry for the trouble."

Olivia hung up, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. She forced herself to stay in place, looking up and down the street for Bryce's broad-shouldered form. He appeared only a couple minutes later, jogging around the corner from a completely different direction than she'd expected.

"Hey, Bryce." Olivia waved sheepishly.

He stared at her in disbelief. "Holy shit, you really are on Willow. How the fuck?"

"I... am kind of bad with directions."

He snorted, obviously trying to suppress a laugh. "I can see that. Well…. Glad you're better at math. C'mon, follow me."

Olivia fell into step beside him, the pair heading back toward the main road. Olivia saw the school nearby as Bryce led her down a different side street than the one she'd initially gone down, one that she'd apparently somehow missed in her initial rounds. How, she had no idea. At this point, she was entirely willing to believe that a band of elves had sprung out of hiding and built it when she’d last rounded the corner.

They arrived before a well-kept suburban house with healthy grass and neatly trimmed hedges. A pair of rosebushes flanked the garage, though their blooms didn't look to be in season at the moment, and the stone siding was in a style that Olivia herself was quite a fan of. Venetian cobble, she was pretty sure. Though she hadn’t looked through the catalogues since they’d built their own.

Bryce led her to the front door, pushing it open. "Here! Found her!"

"Finally!" A man's voice called from another room. "I was starting to think she'd been eaten by wolves."

The scent of fresh chili greeted Olivia as she stepped inside the home. Clusters of autumn-themed decorations adorned every surface, making it clear that someone in the family favored the seasonal aisle of their local home-goods store. Yet aside from the visual clutter, Olivia noted that the home looked otherwise immaculate.

Bryce kicked off his shoes, nudging them toward a neatly organized rack with one foot. "You don't have to take yours off."

"It's fine." Olivia quickly followed suit. Considering the pristine state of the floors, she honestly would've felt guilty tracking in the grass and dirt from her marching practice sneakers.

He led her around the corner and toward a large dining table. "Mom? How much time till dinner?"

"Twenty minutes." A soft voice called back. "It's running a little behind."

"Thanks," Bryce replied, sliding into a seat. "That gives us a bit of time to work with."

Olivia grimaced as she sat next to him. "Sorry. We would've had more if I wasn't so late."

The football player waved her off. "It's fine. We'll have more time after dinner."

"After?" Olivia asked, realization dawning. "You don't have to—"

Her traitorous stomach took that precise moment to rumble loudly.

Damn you, teenage appetite.

She'd planned ahead, even downing a few snacks during her rather unintentional adventure through the local neighborhoods. But apparently it hadn't been quite enough to tide her over.

Bryce raised his eyebrows and chuckled. "Were you about to say you weren’t hungry?”

Olivia gave him a sheepish smile. "Give me one second. I should let my dad know not to wait on me for dinner."

"Go for it."

After sending a quick message to her dad—who was more than a little relieved that she’d successfully navigated to the house—they wasted no time getting to work. Olivia began leading Bryce through the lessons she'd been planning all week, taking him through a series of practice problems meticulously designed to introduce the concepts at an understandable rate. The football player started off obviously tense, but his entire demeanor relaxed little by little as he started getting the hang of it. Slowly but surely, she saw him gain confidence.

She leaned over to scribble something on Bryce's page and bumped into his elbow by accident. "Oops. Sorry."

The boy was much closer than expected. Evidently, her incursions into his personal space had been a bit more aggressive than she'd realized. Bryce's cheeks reddened slightly as he realized the same.

"Dinner is ready.”

They both looked up from Olivia's notebook in unison. Bryce practically jumped back as his mom glided around the corner, curly hair pinned up and a massive Dutch oven full of steaming chili held before her. Olivia suppressed a chuckle at his skittishness.

Hah. Boys. I didn’t think he was the type to get embarrassed so easily.

Though perhaps it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Given his initially tongue-tied reaction to her coming over, his parents may well be the type to give him a hard time about girls and the like. And if that was the case, then he'd certainly be hesitant about adding fuel to the fire. Even if there was no actual fire to speak of. There didn't need to be, not for teasing to ensue.

"Guess we should take a break then?" Olivia asked. "Is there anything we can do to set the table?"

"Yeah... Yeah." Bryce let out a breath. "Mom? What do we need?"

In moments, they'd stowed away their books and laid out a plethora of toppings for the chili. Bryce's dad emerged from the other room to join them. He was an older man, probably in his fifties, with only a few wispy remains of hair stubbornly coating the top of his scalp. His navy shirt was tucked into khaki cargo shorts, the name HALE emblazoned in big letters across the front with a gruff cartoon bulldog below.

Hale University, huh? Pretty darn good school. I wonder if Bryce is applying there. It’s about that time of year for applications, right?

The thought made her think of her own college ambitions. She’d need to get into the same college as last time if she wanted any chance of meeting Jason again, but with how her grades had been so far, that shouldn’t be a huge issue. Either way, it wouldn’t be something to truly worry about for another two years.

"Mmm-mmm! Smells great, Alice." Bryce's dad grinned as he slid into a seat. The woman smiled softly.

"Thank you. We were out of black beans, so I substituted some pintos this time. Let me know how it tastes."

"You're experimenting on our guest?" The man took on a look of mock horror.

"I'm happy to be a test subject," Olivia chimed in. "Really. Don't mind me."

Those weren't just polite words, either. She got her first good look at the chili as Alice spooned her up a bowl. Ground beef, beans, and hearty pieces of sausage all piled high within a dark, thick sauce.

The beans might give me slight issues, but with all the meat in here it might not be a problem. Not that I would've refused either way. That would just be impolite.

“Well then,” Bryce’s dad chuckled. “Should I refer to you as test subject number one? Or do you have a different name I should use?”

“Oh! Olivia.” She quickly supplied. “Sorry for not introducing myself earlier.”

“Olivia. Wonderful to meet you. Mike Rogers, call me Mike, and this is my lovely wife Alice.” Mike gestured to the quiet woman across the table. “Oh, and Bryce. Though I think you’ve met before.”

Bryce rolled his eyes as Olivia chuckled. “Once or twice. I’m still working on putting a name to the face though.”

Actually… shoot. What am I supposed to call them?

Obviously, Bryce’s dad had told her to call him Mike. But she knew for a fact that no teenager would ever do that. A combination of awkwardness and sheer incongruity made it all but impossible—even if Olivia felt way more comfortable with that form of address than the more stiff “Mr. Rogers.”

Filing that dilemma away for now, she loaded up a bowl with some toppings and gave the dish a tentative bite. A rush of savory spices and heat flooded her mouth as she grinned. "This is fantastic."

Alice beamed. "That's kind of you to say. It's my mother's recipe, with a few additions."

"A few, she says." Bryce's dad muttered playfully. "Like you can even compare the two."

Bryce's mom simply smiled, with perhaps a little pride leaking into the expression.

Oliva swallowed another bite. "Well, I certainly like it. Though I can't give you a good control comparison to any other versions."

Mike laughed. "Well, give it time. There'll be other opportunities. Right, Bryce?"

"Dad..." The football player looked absolutely stricken.

"What?" The older man tried to look innocent. "You finally found a tutor that you like. One that knows her stuff better than those washed-up college students. I certainly hope you don't have plans to stop having her over anytime soon."

Bryce glared wordlessly, the reaction just seeming to make his dad even more amused.

Yup. Got it in one with the teasing thing.

"I'm just happy to help," Olivia chimed in to change the subject a bit. "Although I wouldn't be able to help at all if he weren't such a hard worker."

Bryce reddened slightly at the compliment, avoiding her eyes. But it was true. Even if the guy had no natural talent for math, he made up for it in sheer determination and a willingness to try. That, she could admire.

"That he is. Always has been, ever since he was little." Bryce's dad confirmed with more than a little pride. “Have you been tutoring kids for a while?”

“No. Actually, Bryce is the only person I tutor.” Olivia explained.

“Really?” Mike asked. “That’s surprising. Why not turn it into a business of your own?”

“She totally could,” Bryce chimed in. “I keep telling her that. But it was hard enough getting her to let me pay her.”

Bryce gave her a pointed look. Olivia just shrugged. “What? I don’t need the money. And I did give in eventually, didn’t I?”

Albeit at way lower prices than you wanted.

“You don’t want to get paid?” Bryce’s dad asked with obvious incredulity. “Why, young lady! You’re offering a valuable service and deserve to be compensated for it. Besides, it’s not about needing the money now. It’s about your future. it’s never too early to start investing in that.”

Bryce gave his dad a look. “You’re not going to give her a lecture on finance, are you?”

"What? It's my responsibility to teach the youth. How else will they learn about responsible investing? They certainly don't teach it in schools."

The football player sighed. “He does this to everyone. Sorry. I don’t think he’ll let you leave until you know the difference between a 401(k) and an IRA.”

“Don’t 401(k)’s have higher contribution limits?”

Mike’s eyes lit up even as Bryce shrugged. “No clue. Why do you think I’m still here?”

Olivia laughed. His dad had a point, though. Olivia had put the matter of what to do with her money out of her mind for a while now, content to let it sit in her shoebox like last time. But given the assortment of other small changes she was already making...

...I was already leaning toward doing something with it. If I just let it grow over time and don't touch it, even a small sum could build into something pretty respectable by the time we're old and grey. I could use this little nest egg to fund our retirement if I'm smart about it.

By this point, it seemed fairly clear that Bryce’s dad was involved in finance. So why not pick his brain a bit and get some feedback on options?

"I have thought about what to do with it," she admitted. "But not as much as I probably should. My default is just to put it in a savings account. But between this and the money I have saved, I could probably pick up a few safe dividend stocks and have them reinvest, maybe? I hadn't put much more thought into it than that."

Bryce's dad blinked. "Dividend stocks?”

Olivia shrugged. "It’s better than letting the money sit there and get chewed through by inflation. Plus it’s not as high risk as some other options.”

"Now you've done it..." Bryce muttered.

Olivia watched as a wide smile spread across the man's face. "Completely respectable. Very respectable indeed! Most people think that four or five percent returns on a savings account are great, but you are one hundred percent right. Inflation will eat into those gains like you wouldn't believe!"

Wait. Four or five percent? The interest rate is that high?

It was positively jarring. By the time she was in college, she remembered the rates being positively laughable, less than a fraction of a percent. She'd never really paid attention to it herself, meaning she'd never known a time where putting money in one had been worthwhile. But she'd heard Jason complain enough times to remember.

Bryce's dad continued animatedly. "Dividend stocks are a perfectly solid choice. But if you did want to diversify your portfolio a bit, I'd be more than happy to offer some suggestions. The bigger index funds are almost always a safe bet—even if they dip for a while, they always recover. Time in the market beats timing the market, you know. There's also a few rather promising options with very high returns. For example, the Benny Rudolph investment firm has pulled over fifteen percent annually for decades now...

"Dad..." Bryce's tone was exasperated.

"What? I'm simply helping the young lady explore her options."

But Olivia barely heard them. Her brain had stuck on one of the names the man had mentioned.

Benny Rudolph?

She puzzled over it until it finally clicked. She had heard that name before. Albeit in a far different context.

"Benny Rudolph? The Ponzi scheme?"