(Uhh, some Hamlet spoilers)

    Jared Kleinman was good at many things. He was good at making jokes. Every time he would tell a story Evan would burst out laughing. Jared was good at computers class. He always finished early enough to help Zoe with her work. He was good at video games. Whenever he would play with Connor, the other boy would inevitably end up quitting in a fit of rage.

     One thing, however, Jared was not good at was English class.

    "I just don't get it." Jared sat at the lunch table with Connor and Evan. Connor had his arm slung around the other boy's shoulder as they ate. "I don't understand Hamlet, no matter how many times I read it, it just doesn't make sense." Jared slumped down in his seat, "The test is next week! What am I supposed to do?"

    "Why don't you ask Alana to help you?" Evan asked, taking a chicken nugget and feeding it to Connor.

    "Yeah, she's be glad to help." Connor said with a mouthful of chicken nugget.

    So, Jared asked Alana during trigonometry class, which they shared together. He felt awkward asking as they'd never really hung out previous.

    "Oh my god, Jared, I'd love to help you!" Alana said excitedly, clasping her hands together. "Hamlet is one of my favorite plays!"

    "Awesome." For some reason Jared found himself blushing, what was wrong with him? He never felt nervous. "So what time works for you?"

    "Oh! How about after school today? You can come over to my house!" She said.

    Jared was taken aback, he hadn't expected the tutoring to be so soon, "Um, yeah, sounds perfect." He smiled.

    "Great!" Alana smiled back.

    Jared picked Alana up in his beat up, old sedan after school. Alana hopped into the front seat, holding her massive pile of school books on her lap.

    "This is so exciting!" Alana said joyfully. "Oh, you're going to love Hamlet, it has sword fights, a poisoning, a ghost, an insane love interest-"

    "There are sword fights?" Jared asked. He had read the damn thing 3 times already and hadn't even been able to decipher that.

    "Oh really epic ones! Over Ophelia." She looked sadly at the book in her lap. "Oh, poor Ophelia."

    "Is this the place?" Jared asked, turning onto a street.

    "Yep! Right up here." Alana instructed. Jared pulled into the driveway of a rather nice house. The two went inside and sat down at the kitchen table.

    "Your parents home?" Jared asked, opening his book.

    Alana shook her head, "No, both my dads work late most days."

    "Oh, I see." Jared said. "So where do you want to start-"

    Alana reached over and began flipping through the book, her hands brushing along Jared's. Jared leaned back, feeling his face turn red.

    This was fucking stupid, what was wrong with him?

    "Here, the part with Polonius, this will definitely be on the test." Alana told him, scooting her chair closer.

    As Jared leaned over the book, he could feel Alana's leg pressed up next to his own.

    "So in this scene Polonius is hiding behind a curtain, and Hamlet thinks it's his uncle." Alana explained.

    "Wait, I thought it he thought it was his stepfather?" Jared asked.

    Alana made a face, "Technically he's both, that's part of why Hamlet hates him so much."

    "Oh, gross." Jared laughed, Alana chuckled along with him.

    After an hour of going through the material, they decided to call it a night.

    As Jared was lead to the door, he rubbed his neck with his hand, "Listen, I had a good time." He smiled, standing in front of the door.

    Alana smiled back, "So did I." She leaned up and lightly pressed a kiss to his lips. "Why don't we have a real date sometime, hm?" She said.

    Jared smiled dumbly, knowing he probably looked like a fool, "Yeah, that sounds great." He replied.

    "Goodbye Jared." Alana giggled.

    "Bye, 'Lana."