Love is friendship that has caught on fire. It is quiet understanding, mutual confidence, sharing and forgiving. It is loyalty through good and bad times. It settles for less than perfection and makes allowances for human weaknesses.
-Ann Landers.

I knew I was right not to trust Jake. Not that I really trusted anyone but I knew Jake was up to something and whatever it was, it was starting to get on my nerves. He brought his football buddies to seat with Avery and I during lunch today and if you've ever attended high school, you know that this only gets you unnecessary and unwanted attention. People start gossiping, shooting you mean looks and covert glances. It was really getting on my nerves. He even carried my lunch tray for me further fueling the gossip. Two annoying cheerleaders have already come up to me to ask about my relationship with Jake. I swear I'll skin that boy alive. I can already feel an oncoming headache.

When school finally let out, I was more than grateful. When Avery slid into my car with her no nonsense face on, I was a little less grateful. She wanted to know what was up. It's not everyday the football team decides to go sit with someone. Usually, they invite you over to seat with them but I think Jake knew I would've just ignored his invitation or maybe he was trying to make my life as impossible as possible. When he comes over later for his tutoring session, I'm going to lay down a few ground rules.

'So?' Avery gestured for me to continue.

'So what?' I raised an eyebrow and started the car when I saw Jake coming out of the school entrance.

'You know exactly what.' Avery narrowed her eyes. She's the only one who puts up with me. She understands me to an extent. Something very few people can do.

'Last time I checked, I wasn't psychic.' I replied drily, backing out of the parking lot. I could see Jake waving me to stop. Not going to happen.

'I see him waving at you. He wants you to stop.' Avery squinted.

I rolled my eyes. 'I wasn't aware you were psychic. This parking lot is full of people. He could've been waving at anyone of them. It could easily be someone behind me.'

Avery narrowed her eyes. 'Cut the crap. Out with it.'

I stalled for a moment before replying. 'My parents are forcing me to go out more and to tutor him.'

'Tutor Jake? As in Jake Britton?' Avery gaped at me with her eyes wide open in shock.

'No.' I scoffed. 'Nick Jonas.'

She rolled her eyes. 'So you are going to be tutoring Jake Britton.'
It wasn't a question but a statement. She looked like she was in fantasy heaven from the way her eyes glazed over. I didn't even want to know what was running through her mind.

'Whatever you're thinking, you better stop thinking it.' I said sternly. Her cheeks pinkened confirming my suspicions.

Then it occurred to me. She wasn't surprised when I told her about my parents wanting me to go out more. She was only surprised about me tutoring Jake.

'You knew.' I accused.

'No offense Faye but you're a hermit. Maybe not a hermit but you're an introvert. In fact you take introversion to a whole new level. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Everyone saw it coming.'

'Whatever.' I grumbled under my breath.

'Can I...'

'No you can't come and ogle Jake while I tutor him.' I interrupted her.

'That's not what I was going to say.' She replied indignantly even though a blush stole across her face betraying her words.

'Yeah sure.' I replied skeptically.

She huffed and folded her arms, muttering something about not letting her have any fun.

I glanced at her and shook my head, despite the smile on my face before turning my attention back to the road.
I dropped her off at her house before heading home. I wasn't exactly surprised to see mom's car in the driveway. She always forgets one thing or the other at home so she has to come back and get it. I think it's just a ploy to leave the office without coming off as unprofessional to her employees.

'Hey mom.' I greeted. She was on her way out.

'Hey sweetie. Gotta run.  That Jake kid is coming over to study right?' She asked kissing the top of my head. I rolled my eyes.

'Yes he is. I'm gonna go upstairs and change before he gets here.' I said.

'Okay. See you when I get home.' She slipped out the door. I suddenly felt weary. I locked the door and trudged up to my room. I peeled of my clothes and slipped into the shower. The water was a tad too hot but I didn't bother regulating the temperature. The water beating down on my back felt like a massage that somehow relaxed me  while at the same time making me even more tired. It helped reduce my stress from the past two days with this whole Jake Britton thing. I still stayed under the shower even way after I finished washing myself. I reveled in the feeling of the water beating against my back for a while before I finally came out to avoid pruny skin.

I didn't hear the doorbell ring or a knock on the door so I was surprised when the door of my room was pushed open and an angry looking Jake stepped through it. Luckily, I was just about to finish dressing so I quickly pulled my shirt down. I didn't have the strength to glare at him.

'How did you get in?' I frowned.

'You sure took your time in answering the door. I thought we had a deal.' He snapped.

Why is he angry?

'We do. I didn't hear you knock. How did you get in?'

'I was knocking for hours.'

'Sorry about that. I was in the bathroom. I wouldn't have heard.'

'Oh.' He looked shocked. Probably because of the apology. I was too tired to argue with him. I just wanted to sleep.

'How did you get in?' I repeated.

'I picked the lock.' He replied nervously and ran a hand through his hair.

I narrowed my eyes. 'No you didn't because if you did, you'd be proud of it. It's the kind of thing boys will be proud of. Secondly, you're nervous which means you're lying and thirdly, our lock is impossible to pick so I'll ask again. How did you get in?'

'I have a key.' His cheeks were stained with pink. I gaped at him. The fact that he was embarrassed and blushed surprised me more than the fact that he had a key to my house.

As if compelled by some invisible force, he tried to explain himself. 'I was Brian's junior football buddy so he gave me keys to the house for when he sends me to get something for him from the house and....'

'And you made copies.' I finished for him.

'Yeah.' He ran a hand through his hair and shuffled awkwardly. It somehow brought a smile to my face.

'I'm going to need that key. You know that right?' I asked. He nodded.

I grabbed my wet hair and piled it on top of my head. I held it in place with a bunch of hair pins even though a few tendrils managed to escape.

I sighed and plopped on my bed not caring about how unpresentable I looked in my comfy oversized sweater and leggings. Oversized sweaters just have a way of making a girl comfortable. They offer some unseen kind of comfort.

I looked up to find Jake scrutinizing me carefully from where he stood at the door. I raised an eyebrow.

'You look tired.' He said finally.

'I am.' Was my reply. I folded my legs under me.

'Okay. What do you want to do today?' I asked.

'Wouldn't you rather rest?' He asked.

'We have a deal Britton.' I replied.

'One canceled tutoring session isn't going to break me. You should get some sleep.' He said.

'Jake.' From the look on my face, he could tell I wasn't going to break our deal.

We engaged in a stare off before he sighed and finally gave in.

His eyes scanned the walls of my room. I followed his gaze. My eyes glided over the different shades of purple on the walls, the furniture, the bedsheets and even my cosmetics. My mom was really serious about the colours  for the rooms.

'Nice room.' Jake said, holding my gaze.

'Thanks.' I replied. For some unknown reason, I was suddenly shy. I looked away.

Luckily, he pulled out his books and dumped them on my bed.

'So what do you want to start with?' I asked.

'Something simple. Maybe velocity-time graph and acceleration-time graph.' He said.

'Okay.' My relief was evident in my tone. My eyelids were already heavy with sleep and my words were slurred and my mind was foggy as I explained the topic to him. There was no doubt in my mind that Jake noticed this but thankfully he didn't say anything.

'Okay. I'll solve these.' He said. I nodded thankfully and pillowed my head on my hands. The last thing I saw before I drifted off to sleep was Jake looking down at me with a fond yet wistful expression. My stomach churned.

***

The first two things I noticed when woke up was that Jake was gone and so was the sun. I'd slept for over five hours. And then I remembered the expression on Jake's face as I drifted off to sleep but I chalked it up to my drowsy mind playing tricks on me. Why else would Jake be looking at me that?

I pushed the thought out of my mind along with the niggling worry that he'd seen me asleep. I wonder how long he watched me sleep before he left or if he even did at all.

I brushed it off and trudged downstairs for dinner. I caught sight of my reflection on one of the window planes and winced. My hair was piled  on top of my head in a cross between a bird's nest and a child's drawing of a pterodactyl. I had sleep lines covering half my face and my clothes were way past the rumpled stage.

Oh well, I'm at home. Who cares? Mom and dad were already having dinner when I got down.

Mom wrinkled her nose at my appearance. It made me smile. It was so like her. She is runs a PR agency so she's all about appearance both for the CEO and their companies.

'Hey.' I poured myself a glass of apple juice before settling in the seat.

Mom pushed the tray of bread to me. I picked up one.

'Sleep well?' She asked. I nodded.

'You look well rested. Nothing better than good sleep.' Dad grunted. I grinned.

'So, how did the tutoring go?' Mom asked.

'Fine.' I replied even though I was asleep for most of it. Jake's expression popped back into my head. Why was I even thinking about him? I frowned. Mom took it as a sign something went wrong.

'What happened?' She asked.

'To what?' I replied even though I knew exactly what she was talking about.

She stared at me for while trying to decipher what was wrong. I went about eating my dinner blatantly ignoring her. After a while, she gave up and conversed about mundane unimportant topics like what happened at work with dad while I ate my dinner in rigid silence and tried to figure out why I couldn't seem to fully push Jake Britton out of mind. He was always at the corner of my mind, waiting for any opportunity for him to creep into my mind again. I could barely get five spoons down  without remembering the wistful expression conjured up by my mind. And that irked me beyond words especially since I'm usually able to control my thoughts but when it comes to Jake Britton, my control seems to evaporate. I was acting like... a girly girl?

I pushed up from  the dining table forcibly and stalked up to my room in anger. I had no doubt my parents were looking at me in shock.

I fired up my laptop to watch old episodes of vampire diaries. Damon Salvatore was sure to get my mind off Jake Britton. Even if only temporarily.

***

I kept waiting for Jake to do something. Anything. He'd caught me sleeping. I was expecting the whole school to be covered with embarrassing pictures of me drooling even though I know for a fact that I don't drool. But there was no pictures. No one was staring at me weirdly or whispering things behind my back. It was like I'd slipped into my previous state of popularity. Popular to the point of being nonexistent. A state most teenagers who aren't footballers or cheerleaders share. I wasn't so sure whether or not to feel relieved. He had ample time to search my house. He would've found a number of embarrassing things if he searched the house. Like my underwear, stupid baby pictures, a video of me taking my bath when I was two among other things. My mom being the sentimental soul that she is, she recorded that because according to her, someday she wouldn't be able to do that for me anymore.

I sighed and buried my face in my hands. Whatever Jake is planning, he should get it over with a put an end to my misery. I'm pretty sure he's enjoying it anyway.

I scowled. He's always there, torturing me. Every time I come out of a class, he's somewhere along the corridor, smiling and laughing with his friends or staring at me intently or flirting with some cheerleaders. It annoyed me and that above all unnerved me. Even when I'm in class I can't escape him. He keeps invading my thoughts every few minutes.

I sighed and tried to focus on what the teacher was saying but I couldn't understand a thing. Luckily the lunch bell rang. I packed up my things and headed to my locker. Avery fell into step with me.

'What's up? You were distracted during class. You kept zoning out. That's unlike you.' She stated.

'Thanks Captain Obvious.' I snapped then sighed at her surprised expression. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

'Let's go eat. I'm probably just cranky from lack of food.' I said. Avery followed me despite her doubtful expression. We bought our food and headed to our usual table at the back of the cafeteria. I was studiously ignoring the jocks table. My eyes were trained on the table at the back of the cafeteria so I didn't notice when Avery changed directions or when Jake walked up to me. I jolted when I felt a soft cool yet heated touch on my elbow steering me in the direction of the jocks table. I struggled to find my tongue for a moment. This is it. The big prank. He's finally going to put me out of my misery and ruin my nonexistent social life. Not that I cared.

'What do you want Jake?' My voice was cool and level, almost frigid.

He was caught of guard and blinked in surprise for a moment, before a grin spread across his face. A grin the made me uncomfortable because of how much I discovered I liked it.

'You think I'm up to something.'

'Are you?' I searched his face for signs of mischief or deceit and came up blank.

'Don't be so quick to judge, Faye.' I liked the way my name rolled off his tongue but thankfully I couldn't focus on that because of his annoyed expression. And for some odd unknown reason, I felt like I had somehow disappointed him in some way.

The apology was out of mouth before I could even stop it. 'I'm sorry.' I really was. I don't even know why I was because I've done worse and I didn't feel guilty so what was up with this sudden unwanted wave of guilt?

He stared at me intently in that unnerving way of his before muttering something under his breath. I could only make out the words; can't... stay away... you want.

It made next to no sense but I decided to ignore it regardless. I let him steer me to the jocks table because Avery was already there and I could tell she was enjoying the experience so I didn't want to cut it short for her. See, I can be a good friend too every now and then. But just to be clear, this is a one time thing. I'm not sitting with them tomorrow. I won't have the whole school thinking I'm Jake Britton's newest conquest.

Lunch was a fun experience despite my misgivings. I discovered that most of the boys on the football team were brilliant. Jake included. I knew they weren't exactly dull because they had to have good grades to be able to play on the team but I didn't exactly expect any of them to be smarter than necessary. I was shocked to find out I was wrong but it was the good kind of shock. All in all, I had fun hanging out with them even though I wouldn't readily admit it.

***

'So what do you want to do today?' I asked sitting cross-legged on the sofa.

'Motion.' He replied. I smiled. I like that topic.

'Good. It's easy enough.'
He shot me a look so I added, 'If you understand it.'

He merely shook his head.

For most of the time while I was explaining, I felt Jake's eyes on me rather than on his paper. I didn't say anything mostly because I was flustered which is a remotely new experience for me but even if I did say something, what was I going to say that wouldn't make things awkward. This is exactly why I avoid talking to people. There are so many rules and human emotions are so messy and annoying.

As soon as I could without appearing to be slacking, I gave Jake some questions to solve and left him to his own devices. I was going to go upstairs but then I didn't feel too comfortable about leaving Jake alone in my living room so I stayed.

I sighed and pulled out my phone. I fired up a trivia questions app.

Three riddles and two questions later, 'What?' I snapped after I got tired of the staring. Screw etiquette.

'Nothing.' He grinned, delighted that he got a reaction out of me.

'Then stop staring at me.' I snapped, my irritation level growing.

'Why?' He smirked. 'Do I make you uncomfortable?'

I growled in frustration. Why does it feel like we're going round in circles?

'It doesn't make me uncomfortable. What it does is make me feel creeped out.'

For some unknown reason, he grinned. I wrinkled my nose and got back to my phone. He still didn't stop staring. I did my best to ignore him but he refused to be ignored. He started whistling and he knows for a fact that I hate whistling. It just gets on my nerves.

I clenched my fists. 'What the hell are you playing at Jake Britton?' I gritted.

'Me? I have no idea what you're talking about.' He said with mock innocence. I glared at him to show him I wasn't finding his antics funny.

Slow breathtaking smile made its way to his face. Like he'd expected my reaction. My heart thudded in my chest for a moment. A single unwanted moment.

'So I'm taking you out two days this week.' He said conversationally.

'No you're not.' I replied drily.

'Why not? It's part of the deal and a deal's a deal.' He said.

'No it wasn't. The deal was that you'd provide me with an alibi to back me up.' I returned my attention to my phone.

'That's not how I remember it and I have a very accurate memory of the event.'

I arched a brow and regarded him with a bored uninterested expression. 'I'm sure you do. Now if you don't mind, stop interrupting me.'

'I'm taking you out tomorrow. Whether you like it or not.' He said with a determined look.

'I'm pretty sure that's called kidnapping.' I replied.

'I wouldn't have guessed.' He replied drily.

I bit my lip to stop myself from grinning, one, because I didn't know why I wanted to grin and two, because I didn't want Jake to think he had anything to do with making me smile.

'I'm hungry.' He announced a little while later. I obviously ignored him.

'I'm bored.' Ignore.

'Faye,'

'What?' I sighed, exasperated.

'I'm hungry.'

'I don't care.' I enunciated.

He glared at me. 'Fine. I'll starve to death on your couch then.'

'No you won't because it takes longer than a couple of hours for a person to starve to death and in a few minutes, you'll be out of my house. You can starve to death wherever it is you go next. I honestly couldn't care less.'

'I'm done with the questions.' He huffed. I put my phone down and scanned his paper. He got all the answers right. His working was meticulous and neat as was his bold long handwriting.

'You seem to really under this. You even got the last question right and that's a really tough one.' I said. Honestly, I was impressed but I didn't let him know that. He shrugged off my compliment though I could tell it meant a lot to him from the satisfied smile that made its way to his face when he thought I wasn't looking. I rolled my eyes.

Pathetic.

'I'm ordering pizza.' He announced.

'So?' I replied, going back to my phone.

Less than twenty minutes later, the pizza arrived. My stomach rumbled quietly reminding me that I had only eaten an apple all day.

Jake returned with the pizza which I eyed greedily because let's face it, hungry or not, pizza is pizza.

Jake noticed my greedy gaze and smirked. He pulled the pizza to himself and my stomach gave a low growl which we both heard.

Jake met my eyes, 'I'm not giving you any of my pizza.'

'Who said I was going to ask?' I replied and walked over to him.

I snatched a slice then added, 'I take.'

'My house, my rules.' I replied to the indignant look on his face. A slow grin slid onto his face somehow making him even more strikingly handsome.

Not that I care...