"I need a what now?"

"A tutor, Crystal. I know it's only been a few days, but you can't even get the basics down, not trying to be rude. I know you're smart, but you'll need a Spanish tutor to pass the curriculum." The teacher replied.

"But sir-" He cut me off.

"No buts, Ms. Clearwater. I've already assigned you a tutor. He's the best in class."

"Wait, a he?" I asked.

"Yes, a he. He's very fluent in Spanish." The teacher leaned forward from his desk, toupee slightly askew.

"Who is he?" Someone walked in right as I said it.

"Zackary Alexander," the boy stopped as the teacher said his name.

"Me? Um, whatever you think I did, I didn't do it!" Zack said.

"What? No, I was just telling Crystal here that you're her new tutor."

"He is?" I asked.

"I am?" He asked at the same time.

"Yes. Now, run along. You don't want to stay after school too long," the teacher got up and shooed us out of the classroom, shutting the door.

Zack leaned against the wall with one arm, smirking at me. "So, I guess we'll be spending more time together, nena."

I groaned and rolled my eyes. "I can't believe you're tutoring me."

I started walking towards my locker to go home. Sadly, Zack followed me. I stopped before I unlocked my lock.

"May I help you?" I turned towards him.

"No, but you need my help," he smirked.

I rolled my eyes again and put in my code. I pulled out my Spanish books and notebooks. I stuffed them in my backpack and shut my locker.

"Alright, where are we headed?" I asked him, turning around and leaning on my locker.

"Oh, you want to go now?" Zack asked in surprise.

"The quicker we can get this over with, the better," I huffed. He sighed.

"Okay, you can come over in about an hour. I'll text you the address," Zack explained.

"And how exactly are you going to get text me if you don't have my phone number?"

"Like this." He then snatched my beloved phone from my sweater pocket.

Before I could register and react, he had already given it back to me. I glared at him, then looked at my phone.

That idiot gave me his flipping phone number!

I marked him down as idiot and walked away, purposely forgetting to say goodbye to him.

"See you there, nena!" Zack shouted after me.

That idiot...

~~~

I texted Alice about the situation.

Alice: Wait, you're going over to his house?

Me: Yea

Alice: Girl, no. He's really sketchy.

Me: Chill, Al! I'm not going on a date or anything. This is mandatory.

Alice: Keep in mind, he already has a girlfriend.

Me: Why should that bother me?

Alice: Because it's Kaia.

Me: The bitch that stole my clothes?!

Alice: Yeah, her.

Me: Thanks for the heads up.

Alice: No problem.

I took a hot, long shower after that to clear my mind. I slipped into a sweatshirt and jeans.

I had just finished changing when Zack texted me. I put my phone on my small vanity set as I picked out a green headbead and put it on.

Idiot: Hey nena. My house is on 1234 Fake Dr. You ready to come over?

He texted his address and I texted Stephanie about my study session. I packed my bag with a few Spanish books and drove over to the address he gave me.

~~~

I knocked at the door. A woman with straight brown hair answered the door. She smiled warmly at me.

"You must be Crystal, the girl Zackary has been assigned to turor!" she exclaimed. She pushed the door further. "Come, come. Zack's in his room."

"Thank you, Mrs. Alexander," I thanked, walking in.

"Oh, call me Kiera," she told me. "I'll make some dinner."

I started to explore a little, wandering until I found the room. I knocked.

"Come in," I heard Zack call out.

I slowly opened the door and found Zack on the laptop playing a game. He turned around and the little guy on the screen died. I guess that must've been his last life because it said GAME OVER in large letters with sad music. Zack turned back, sighed, and exited out of the game.

"Alright, let's get started," Zack announced. I took out the textbook. He opened it up to the basics. "Okay, let's start with 'hello'. That's-"

"Hola, I know. It's a very basic Spanish word," I cut in.

"Okay, fine. Let's up it up a bit. What does 'eres muy molesto' mean then, smart mouth?" Zack asked, smirking a little.

I groaned. "That isn't basic stuff, Zack!"

"Chica, you are annoying me!" Zack huffed. I snapped.

"There! Chica!" I exclaimed, pointing at him. He stifled a shriek.

"What, where?!" he asked, trying not to sound terrified. I held back a laugh.

"I don't know what chica means, is what I mean," I explained. He sighed in relief. "What do you think I meant?"

"Something about Five Night's at Freddy's. You don't need to know," Zack replied. He changed the subject. "Okay, anyways, chica means..."

~~~

"Can we take a break?" Zack whined. I looked at my watch.

"Seriously, Zack? It's only been two minutes since you taught me chica!" I replied.

"But teaching is so tiring," he complained. "And in class, I don't even have to pay attention because I'm so good."

I snapped the texbook close, sending out a small dust cloud up. I coughed and fanned it away.

"Fine. You know what? I could take a break too," I mused, giving in.

He leaned back on his computer chair and I laid back on his bed.

"Okay, what do you want to talk about?" Zack asked.

"Eh, stuff," I replied, being vague. He sighed.

"How's life?" he asked.

"Eh, crappy but good so far," I replied. "How are you and Kaia?"

"What do you mean?"

"Aren't you and Kaia a thing?" I asked, sitting up now.

"Who told you that piece of crap?" Zack asked. I got all defensive.

"Whoa, it's just a question," I replied, holding my hands up.

He sighed. "Yeah, we used to. But we broke up."

I nodded. "See, this is the reason to why I don't do relationships with anyone."

Zack sat up straight. "Wait, you mean you have never been in a relationship before?"

"Right, because who would date me? I'm not exactly pretty, Zack," I replied, laying back down. Before Zack could reply, his mom called us out.

"Crystal! Zackary! Come eat some dinner!"

We calmly walked to the table and started to eat dinner. Let's just say, I may have tasted heaven.

~~~

After 20 minutes of studying, I felt like I could take a break. I got up and went out of the room.

"Hey, where you think you're going?" Zack asked.

"Getting some water," I replied.

He threw something at me. With my reflexes, I was able to catch it. I looked at what he threw at me. Water bottle. I sat back down.

"Thanks," I thanked him, then taking a swig of water.

He gave me a smile. It was different from those smirks.

And it melted me.

He walked to his bed and sat next to me, after scooting me to the wall.

"Let's talk about the carnival," Zack stated.

"Sure," I replied, fiddling with my sweatshirt strings.

"Who are you going with?" Zack asked.

"Lilith, Imogen, and Braelynn," I replied. "Oh, and Ashton."

Zack frowned. "Why Ashton?"

"Why not?"

He pressed his lips together tightly. "I want you to ditch Ashton," he said slowly.

I spewed my water over his bed. "What?!"

"I want you to-"

"Ah- I heard you. But here's the million dollar question: why?" I asked.

"I just don't like the idea of you with him," Zack argued. I poked his cheek lightly.

"Aww, is little Zackary jealous?" I teased.

His cheeks were suddenly dusted with a light pink. He swatted my hand away.

"No, I'm not," Zack replied, maybe sounding a little whiny. "Besides, you owe me for tutoring."

"This is a forced thing!" I exclaimed, sitting up.

"What about when your clothes were stolen? Huh? If it wasn't for me, you would've been mortally embarrassed to the whole school!" Zack argued, sitting up as well.

I wasn't about to point out I was embarrassed about how the whole school saw his name on the swearshirt and misinterpreted it.

"Fine," I bit out, crossing my arms and leaning back, pouting a little. He laughed lightly and I looked at my watch. 9:30.

"Alright, we should get back to Spanish. We only have 20 minutes left before I head back home," I stated, pulling the textbook onto my lap.

"Only if you promise to ditch Ashton," Zack said.

"Okay," I heard myself say. He gave me one of those smiles.

Damn you, Zackary Alexander!

~~~

I packed all my Spanish books and said my goodbyes.

"Thank you for having me over, Mrs. Ale- I mean, Kiera," I corrected myself.

"Thank you for coming over," she smiled and left me and Zack at the doorstep.

"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," Zack replied softly.

"I guess you will," I replied, and started to turn away, but Zack clamped his hand at my wrist.

When I turned around, he embraced me in a tight hug. He released me and I gave a smile, despite my thundering heartbeat. He rested on the doorframe.

"See you later, loser," I replied, waving my hand as I headed towards my bike.

I could feel his eyes on me and it wasn't until I revved the engine and sped off did he go back inside.

What a gentleman.

Wait, what am I saying?!

Was I starting to care for this guy?!