Beth POV

I've always worked hard for marks.

I'd spend countless hours to achieve the marks my parents demanded. I rarely meet the grades they wanted.

I would usually be a couple of points short, like 1-3% off of the mark they wanted.

"You need to do better next time ok," my mom told me...

They weren't rude or anything, they just wanted me to succeed for my future.

But, they never praised me. I would get the highest mark on an English test, and they would say the same thing

"Better, need to do better next time,"

I put up a smiling facade for them. But deep down, I wanted praise from them

I wanted them to tell me I did a good job...instead I was chasing an invisible ball. One I would never catch

My parents were anything but bad people. They just wanted a lot from me and most times I never could deliver.

It was taking a toll on my mental state.

I remember breaking down multiple times because I couldn't meet their expectations.

I sat at my desk in Physics class as I groan and whine in my head...these topics make no sense.

Magnetic fields make no sense. Hand rules? What?

I dreaded the test that was at the end of next week. I don't get this unit at all.

The teacher finished the lecture and we were sent off to do classwork, many people just talked to their friends. But I tried to make sense of the topics.

Maybe I should ask the teacher? No, what if she thinks it's a stupid question? Maybe she will accuse me of not listening in class...I better just figure it out myself.

I was starting to get frustrated.

"Um, Hello?" I hear a boy ask, I look at him as I don't recognize him

He was a tall guy with glasses resting on his nose.

"Hello?" I say back confused trying to be polite. Maybe he will leave me alone after whatever he asks me.

"I'm sorry to interrupt your thoughts, I see your having a hard time grasping the concepts too. I was wondering if maybe we could study sometime after school?" He asks shyly. His voice was quiet despite being deep.

With his short (H/C), you'd think he was a popular kid.

Studying...with him? I looked at him from head to toe. I don't like judging people off on their appearance, but this kid doesn't look very smart.

My head went into overdrive as I run a bunch of scenarios and figure out the best words for this conversation.

"I guess we could," I say as he smiles faintly.

"Ok, what time and where?" He asks as my brain thinks again.

"How about outside of the Tim Hortons at 4:30? I ask as he nods

"Ok, I'll see yo---," his voice was drowned out as the bell rang as the other students started moving out. He quickly got out of my row so he wouldn't block my classmates as they dashed toward the door.

He did a little awkward wave before grabbing his binder from below his desk and leaving as well.

I didn't notice, but I still had all of my stuff out.

I packed up quickly so I could head to my next class.

A girl bumped into me and my stuff scatters across the floor as her friends trample my things.

"Watch where your going, ugghhh, I need a new jacket now. The wannabe perfect touched it," the led girl says as I bend down and pick my stuff up. Gabby was a popular girl, alongside her were her two sidekicks.

My silent reaction wasn't what she wanted so she turned around and kept on her way

But at least I'm heading to English now.

Unlike Physics, I was much better at English.

The rest of the day went by in a flash. And the next thing I know I was waiting outside of a Tim Hortons

I was a little worried he wouldn't show up, but a truck made in the 90s rolled up and he hopped out of it.

"Hello," he says with his faint smile. His eyes told me he was surprised I was there.

"Hi," I greet back as he takes a binder out from the back seat of his truck and lays it down next to me.

The tall guy sat across from me as he inspected me.

"Your Beth right?" He asks as I'm shaken from my stare

"Yea, that's right, you are...." I say trying to remember his name

Regrettably, I didn't know him. I don't remember him at all

"It's (Y/N)," he says as I nod

"Right, (Y/N), my bad," I say as I smile a little. Who doesn't know their classmates...way to go me!

"Ok, let's get started," he says with a smile.

I will admit...I was surprised during the next hour.

Not only were my initial thoughts about him wrong, but he turned out to be a person I wanted to be around by the end of it

(Y/N) was actually smart....like really smart. Once I told him the things I didn't quite understand, he explained the concepts to me again perfectly.

"What do you need help with?" I ask him as he smiles shyly

"I actually don't need any help, I just said I did because I thought you would have a higher chance to agree with it," he says as I nod

"Oh, ok," I mutter

(Y/N) was not only smart. He was shy and timid. He said things in awkward ways in idol chat. But when it came to academics, he stunned me.

Once we got the topics down pat, I socialized for the first time in a long time.

I found myself talking to him more In that hour than I had the past two years. My throat was actually getting sore with all the chatting.

I was a little disappointed when the air started to cool off as the sky started to darken.

"I'm getting a little cold, I think I'm going to pack up and head home," I say. I wanted to stay, but my body was freezing as winter was around the corner.

"Yea, it's getting around dinner time anyway," he says as he looks around

"You got a car? I'll walk you to it," he says as I blush a little

"No, I don't, I walk," I tell him as he looks at me

"I'll give you a ride," he offers

"No, no, I can't accept that," I say as he smiles

"I made you stay out till now, least I can do is take you to your house," he says as I give in.

"Ok, I guess it won't hurt," I mutter. In secret, I was happy I'd get to spend a little time with him.

He unlocked his truck and opened the passenger door open for me.

"Door won't open without a trick," he says flashing me a smile.

I climbed in and shut the door. He started the engine and I gave him directions to my house.

"That's nice!" He says as he admires my house.

"Thanks, both my parents are surgeons," I tell him as he nods interested.

My house was one of the bigger ones in town. It was modern, nice, and expensive. I don't know how much it was, but I knew it was a lot.

"I don't live that far away. I only live about 2 blocks behind your house," he says

"Oh, wow, that's pretty close," I say. We lived in a town, so there weren't too many houses between mine and his.

I went to open the door but he stopped me.

"I'll open it for ya," he says rushing around to the other side. It looked like he struggled to get the door open, but he eventually did.

"Need to get that fixed," he says flashing me another smile.

Throughout the study session, his smiles slowly got bigger and bigger as he got to know me more.

"Thanks for the ride," I say as I grab my stuff.

"Yeah, we should do it another time," he says as I nod.

"That would be great," I say as he remembers something.

"Wait here," he says as he dives into his truck through the passenger side. I chuckled a little as he made a mess in his otherwise very organized truck. Finally, he found a piece of paper and a pen.

"Here," he says giving me a piece of paper with a number on it.

"That's my phone number, we can text or call each other for future plans," he says as I grab the paper gently and nod

"Cya later," I say as he says his goodbye as well.

I entered my house and he drove away.

"Who was that? He seemed like a nice boy," Mom says smiling.

"He asked me to study after school," I told her as I set my stuff down.

"And how did that go?" She asks

"Good, he's really smart," I say as she smiles and nods.

"He gave you a number and everything," she says noticing the paper on top of my stuff.

"Uhh, yea. He gave it to me Incase I had any more questions," I say as she smiles

"Oh, he does seem like a nice boy," she says as she disappears into the house.

I did my own studying in my room after dinner.

But something was on my mind the whole time.

Eventually, I figured out what it was. I took the number he gave me, and punched it into my phone.

"Hi, it's Beth," I text him.

I waited for a couple of minutes a little nervous that I put in the wrong number. I rechecked and if was the right one.

"He's probably doing something," I remind myself.

About 10 minutes after my first text, he replied.

"Hi, Beth, how's it going?" He asks me.

We conversed until it was night.

"Goodnight, cya tomorrow," he says.

"Good night," I reply.

I got ready for bed, and I was excited for school for the first time in a while.

My next tests were wonderful. I aced all of them, and for the first time ever, I had gotten all the marks my parents wanted me to get.

"That's awesome," (Y/N) told me as I smile

"Thanks," I mutter as he eyes my English test Mark

"Jesus, your smart," he says as I giggle.

"That's not fair, your smart too," I tell him as he shrugs

"Yea, but the difference between your lowest subject and mine are big in your favour," he says.

"That's only because you helped me with it. My weakest subject just so happens to be your strongest," I tell him. In Physics, I'm sure he's the best at it.

"Yea, but the same goes for me," he says. (Y/N)'s weakest subject by far was English.

"You just have a math brain," I tell him

"Yea, and you almost match it while having a writing one," he teases

It's been a while since we started studying together, and I've noticed a very positive effect from it.

While we studied together, we also started hanging out without studying as well.

Maybe it was the social stimulus, but I feel lighter on my feet in the morning and I've been happier too.

Having (Y/N) praise me, someone who I was concerned as my equal, was nice...but I really wanted my parents to do it.

"I'm going to head home and tell my parents," I tell him as he stands up

"Need a lift?" He asks as I nod

"Yeah sure," I say as he opens the door...he still hasn't taught me the trick to get it open.

"It's getting colder and colder outside, maybe we should start studying in one of our houses soon," (Y/N) says as I nod

"Yeah, wearing a winter jacket while studying isn't very efficient I don't think," I say

"Plus, Snow will be coming soon too," he says

"It would be hard to lay our stuff down in the snow I guess," I say as he laughs

"Yeah, what about your place?" He asks me as I think

"Yeah, I guess we could study at my house," I say as he smiles.

"Good because my room isn't the biggest," he says with a chuckle as we arrive.

"Thanks for the ride," I say as he nods with a smile.

"Of course, should I come over for tomorrow?" He asks me.

"Maybe, I'll ask my parents," I say as I wave goodbye.

I enter my house and he drives off once I'm inside.

"So, how were your tests?" Mom asks as I dig around in my bag for the test marks.

"Here," I say handing her the paper.

"Good," she says handing them back to me. I waited for her to say more, to say something like, "Great Job!". But it never came.

"I have a question," I say as she nods for me to continue.

"Since it's almost winter, I was wondering if (Y/N) and I can study here?" I ask her

"(Y/N) is the boy right? The kid who you have been hanging out with?" She asks me as I nod

"Yeah, he can come over," she says as I smile.

"Thank you, Mom," I say as she returns the gesture.

"Just make sure you introduce him to your father," she says.

"Of course!" I say.

That night I texted (Y/N) telling him that we had the green to study at my place.

"That's great, I'll see you at school tomorrow," he types back

I look around my room. While it wasn't messy, it wasn't tidy either.

I better clean it up before he comes.

The next day

I was excited for the day to be over, and school hasn't even started. This will be the first time that (Y/N) has been inside my house

I approach my locker and my heart sinks. The lock on it has been cut off.

I swing it open and inside, all my papers, all my supplies, are either shredded or broken.

I was stunned for a moment, I just looked inside in shock. My heart sank as I started thinking about the day.

I looked inside my backpack thankful that I had all of the things that I needed in there.

I knew who had done it, Gabby. The same girl who I bumped into the day I met (Y/N).

She always bullied me, always made sure that I had no friends. It's all because I get better grades. She always tries to get the best of me, but I always do better.

I close the locker, I'll deal with that at the end of the day. And I focused on going to class.

I always arrived a lot sooner than most people, so the halls were pretty quiet.

"Leave her alone! Unless you want what just happened to continue," I hear Gabby say around the corner. I barely stopped myself from turning the corner, instead, I hid around the corner and listened.

"I don't care," I hear a deep and quiet voice. It was too quiet, so I couldn't tell who it was.

"My boyfriend has many more friends than who you saw today, let this be a warning. Leave Beth alone, or else," she says threatening as I hear her walk away.

I peek around the corner and I see who the voice belonged to, it was (Y/N). What's he doing here?

I can see he has a couple of bruises. Gabby walked away with her boyfriend and a couple of his friends

I put one and two together.

She had (Y/N) best because of me.

Waves of guilt flood me. (Y/N) huddles into a ball as I feel the need to rush toward him and hug him.

I'm the reason why...he's hurt because of me.

I resist, after a minute of rest, he stands up and walks away.

I spent the rest of the day avoiding him. If he stays away from me, he won't get hurt right?

Every time he approached to talk to me, I found a reason to leave.

School ended and I tidied up my locker, spent 30 minutes going to each of my teachers and asking for extra copies of the notes that were ripped.

I left the school and was about to start walking when someone spoke to me

"Would you like a ride?" (Y/N) asks as I get the first proper look at him.

He had a bruise on his forehead and his cheek.

"Did Gabby do that?" I ask him ignoring his questions.

He takes a while to respond.

"Don't matter who did it," he says as I shake my head

"Of course it does!" I say

"I'm the reason why she did it," I continue

"No," he says

"She told me to stay away from you, I said no," he tells me.

"And then this happened," I say referring to his head.

"Eh, just a couple of bruises," he says as I frown.

"That's not ok...it's not worth it," I say as he disagrees

"Of course, it's worth it...come on, we got studying to do," he says.

I soon realized he was stubborn as well.

We drove to my house.

"I fixed the door," he says on the way there

"Yeah?" I ask him as he nods

"I figured since it gets used more often, should get it fixed," he says as I nod.

I guess this is my new reality. From the sounds of things, he doesn't plan to leave me alone.

We reach my house and I got out of the truck. He followed closely behind me as we approached the door.

"I'll introduce you to my parents," I say as he nods

"I'm home!" I declare as I open the door.

Mom was standing right there as we shuffled inside.

"Hello," she says to (Y/N) as he smiles

"Hello, I'm (Y/N)," he introduces himself.

"Beth has told me all about you," she says as he blushes.

"I'm flattered," he says as Mom laughs.

"Dear! Beth has brought home a guest!" Mom yells into a hallway.

Dad appeared almost the next second.

"Beth! Friend! Looks like my girl finally made a friend!" Dad says as I blush

"Dad!" I say as he gives me a grin

"I'm Brandon," Dad says looking at (Y/N) as he extends a hand

"(Y/N)" he responds as he shakes Dad's hand.

"Oh dear, I haven't introduced myself, I'm Kathy," Mom says as (Y/N) nods

"Nice to meet you two, your daughter is the smartest person I know," he says as my face flushes red.

"That's to be expected," Mom says as something tugs at (Y/N)s face, but it disappears as soon as it came.

"I'd like to thank you, for letting us study here," (Y/N) says as Dad nods

"Of course, Beth's marks have only gone up since you two started studying," Dad says.

"We should go to my room," I say as (Y/N) nods.

"Remember, only studying," Mom says as I nod

"What else would we do?" I ask as she smiles

"Nothing," Mom says as we disappear into my room.

"Your room is nice," he says as I close the door.

My room was plain, it was not nice.

"You don't need to lie," I say as he smiles

"I'm not, it smells really good, it smells like you," he flirts...but he doesn't notice that he is doing it. I blush.

"T-Thanks," I stutter as he takes out his books on my coffee table in the middle of my room.

We started studying once again. But we were much closer inside than we ever were outside.

Before I knew it, I felt an irresistible attraction to him.

It was at that point, I knew. I liked him more than study partners. More than friends. I found myself trapped into his (E/C) eyes.

I was a little scared of where this would take me. But I knew that (Y/N) wouldn't leave me alone.

I think we both came to realize, that we both started to love each other.

To be continued.