The title of this chapter is a quote said by Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. You'll get to know why ;)

MATT

"Penny, you don't need to justify or anything. We were never together", Matt said sitting in front of Penny and Kyle in the cafe. He remembered the night of the first game, where he had seen Penny kissing Kyle. It had stung a bit, seeing your crush with someone else, but he did not feel angry or sad about it. 

"Matt but-", Penny began, but Matt cut her off.

"Are you happy?", he asked.

Penny smiled at Kyle as he intertwined his fingers in hers. Matt thought he ought to feel jealous or angry. He wanted to, but he couldn't.

"Yes, I am", said Penny.

"Then I'm happy for you", Matt said with finality.

"Thanks, Matt", Kyle said grinning from eye to eye. Why did he smile so much? Matt wondered, then was surprised at himself for thinking that. When did he become so depressed.

Since Emma stopped talking to you, said that irritating voice, in his head, which had been silent for a while now. 

"So what's happening with you and Emma?", Penny asked, as if she read his mind.

"She does not even look at me", Matt said miserably, "but, I want to be with Emma", he said. He had realised it when he had seen Penny kiss Kyle. He had loved to think about being with Penny, but what he and Emma had was real.

Penny and Kyle looked at each other. They seemed to be having a silent conversation which Matt was not being able to decipher.

"Um, Matt, Emma is with Will now", Penny said, not meeting his eyes. Kyle developed a sudden interest in the packet of brown sugar in front of him.

Matt's heart sank. Even though he wanted Emma, he had known she had loved Will for a very long time. And now they were together. And Matt was all alone. Emma was over him? Was she even into him the first place? Were those kisses rebound kisses? Were all those moments they shared together fake like their relationship?

Matt put his head in his hands so that Penny and Kyle won't see the tears forming in his eyes, "I should have seen this coming."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, "Matt get up. I think she still likes you."

Matt looked at her with eyes full of tears which were at the brink of spilling, "How can you say that Penny? You have seen how she's avoiding me. And she likes Will. She always liked Will. I never stood a chance."

"Matt, if she had always liked Will, why would she even kiss you in the first place? Why would she be so angry with you for that, um, misunderstanding, if she did not like you? Matt if she didn't like you, she would have gotten over that. And as for Will, I don't know what to say. Maybe he was there to console her when her feelings were wounded", Matt looked down ashamed at the last few words which Penny said, "Er, I mean which Lily wounded, using you", Penny corrected, "People tend to get desperate for someone to like in such cases."

"Did you just call your best friend desperate?", asked Kyle.

"I just said the truth", Penny said simply.

"I know a way to find out if she still likes me", Matt said, eyeing Penny.

"No. No more fake relationship nonsense", said Kyle, putting his arm around Penny.

"Aw, man", complained Matt.

"So, Emma will not spend time with you willingly. So we'll have to force her. You can then try to explain everything to her and win her back. But how can we force her?", asked Penny.

They spent a moment in silence thinking for ways to force Emma to spend time with Matt.

Matt could not think of anything, "Can we do this fast? I have to get home", Matt said, "I am knee deep in assignments and I don't even understand what I'm doing."

Penny perked up and looked at Kyle. Kyle's eyes widened, "Tutoring center!", they both exclaimed together.

"What?", Matt asked, very confused.

"Emma is a tutor at the tutoring center with me. If we somehow assign her to tutor you-", Kyle began.

"-Then she will have no choice but to tutor you", Penny finished," And the tutor center is a pretty magical place", she said eyeing Kyle. They both burst out laughing.

Matt rolled his eyes, "Please let's focus on me. How is the tutor center a magical place?"

"You've obviously not watched One-Tree Hill", said Kyle and Penny nodded in agreement.

"We're binge-watching it after the basketball season is over."

"Whatever. But don't tutors get a choice as to who to tutor."

"Yes they do. But students get first choice. We'll just have to design the situation in such a way that Emma has no choice but to tutor you", Kyle said.

"When did you become such a schemer Kyle?", Matt whistled.

Kyle turned red, "I'm not", he said, glancing at Penny. Penny just laughed.

EMMA

"Please, can I get anybody else?", Emma pleaded with Ms.Johnson, "What about Pete? I can tutor him."

"Um, since no tutor lasted with him, he has hired a paid tutor who comes to his house. All the other tutors have assignments. The basketball team needs all the help it can get with studies, now that basketball season is here. So you have no choice but to tutor Mr.Lewis", said Ms Johnson, not glancing up from her clipboard, "and trust me, he needs it badly."

At that very moment, Kevin walked in, "Hey, I need someone to tutor me for Calculus?", Kevin asked.

Emma jumped, "I'll do it!"

But then...Kyle came in after Kevin and smiled at Emma, "I'll tutor Kevin. Emma you're a much better tutor, I think you're the best one for Matt."

"Thanks. Kyle", Emma said through gritted teeth. She could not just forget what happened at homecoming. She could not just forget how Matt cheated on her.

You guys were never together, said that small part of her brain.

That was kinda true. But she was still angry. How could Matt do that to her? After all, she had liked him so much!

Well, now she had no choice but to tutor the moron. And there he was, sitting at one of the tables, looking at a copy of Pride and Prejudice.

"Let's get this over with", Emma said to herself.

3 hours later

"So this girl's sister likes that other guy's brother, who is a super rich guy and wants to marry this girl who doesn't want to marry the guy because she is into the guy's dad?", asked Matt.

"But Mr. Darcy does not have a brother or a dad in this book!", said Emma.

"Then how was he born?", asked Matt, looking confused.

"I'm not going to answer that. And anyway, Elizabeth is not into Mr.Darcy's dad. Gross."

"You're have a real stereotype against older men. Not that I don't really know the meaning of the word. But, I was talking about the other girl."

"Which girl?!", Emma asked.

"The author!", said Matt.

"The author is not a character in the book!", Emma exclaimed.

"Isn't she the girl's sister?", asked Matt.

"Which girl!", Emma shouted.

"The one who's into the guy's dad!", Matt shouted back.

"She is not into the guy's dad!"

"Then who is she into!"

"She's into Mr. Darcy!"

"The super rich guy?"

"Yes", Emma said, relieved that Matt had gotten something right.

"But isn't he into the author?", Matt asked.

"The author is not a character in the book!", Emma said frustrated.

"Then who is Jane?", Matt asked.

"Elizabeth's sister", Emma answered.

"See, the author is the girl's sister!", Matt said, looking happy.

"No, she isn't", Emma said, trying to calm herself down.

"Then are they stepsisters?", Matt asked.

"No, they are real sisters", Emma said.

"So, the author is using a fake name so that people don't think that she is the girl's sister? I wish I could tell her that the plan was a terrible flop."

"Oh my God, the author and Jane are two different people!"

"Like, the author is bipolar?", Matt asked, clear confusion in those green eyes.

"No. It's just a coincidence that the author's name matches the character's name", Emma tried to explain.

"She is the author. How can there be any coincidences?", said Matt, but he noticed the death stare that Emma was giving him, so he changed the topic,"So, the author and the author's sister have a pet cat named Kitty?"

"No, that's their sister", Emma said.

"They have a cat as their sister. Can humans even have sex with cats?", asked Matt.

"No! of course they can't!", Emma said. Matt had just forced an image in her mind which she would not be able to forget.

"Then how did their mother give birth to a cat?"

"Ah, they don't have a pet cat", said Emma, rubbing her forehead.

"So what kind of pet do they have?"

"They don't have a pet!"

"Then who's Kitty?"

"She's the fifth sister!"

"So she's human?"

"Yes!"

"Is she the author's sister?"

"The author does not have sisters!"

"But you just said the author is the girl's sister, the one who has a crush on the loaded guy's dad", said Matt.

Emma picked up the book and hit Matt on the head with it.

WILL

"Have Stan's parents adopted you?", Will asked Liv, as they walked down the corridor.

"No. Why?"

"Well this makes it much easier. Emancipation is such a mess", said Will.

"What do you mean?", asked Liv.

"If you can just prove to the court that you can provide for yourself, then you can live on your own", said Will.

"Will, have you seen my salary? I can hardly buy groceries with that much money."

"I have a solution for that", said Will, with a smile.

                                                                               ._._._._._.

"Where are you taking me?", asked Liv, as Will pulled her into the studio, where the flash of cameras everywhere blinded him for a moment. When his eyes adjusted, he dragged her to his dad's dressing room.

He pushed the door open and was hit by the strong smell of make-up. How much did they even put on Dad? In his photos he did not look like he had any make-up on.

Dad was sitting of a chair in front of a mirror with lights around the rim, a make-up artist hovering over Dad with a very fat brush, dabbing powder on his face. 

Dad must have seen Will in the mirror, because he told the make-up artist to stop and turned towards Will, "Ah, there you are, Will! And is that the potential assistant candidate?"

"Assistant?", Liv asked.

Dad got up and walked towards them. He surveyed Liv from top to bottom, "Yes, dear. You see, my original assistant Jess goes to a  night school, and she joined some classes in the evening, before the night school, to catch up with the work she had missed so many days when she went to Milan with me. She anyways stresses herself out to death, so I need someone to share the burden with her. So, I'm asking you to be my part-time assistant along with Jess. She will take the morning shift, and you will take the evening. That is, if you want this job."

"I get the evening shift?", Liv asked in a daze.

"You get to attend all the parties with me", Dad said, with a wink.

"Dad!", Will asked, looking at Liv's flustered face.

"Hey, I meant she gets to meet famous people and remind me the names of those who I forget", Dad said, a scandalized look on his face.

Dad took a piece of paper and a pen from the couch and wrote something on the paper. He showed it to Liv. Her eyes widened.

"Is this the per year salary?", she asked.

"No dear, it's per month", said Dad.

"Per month?", asked Liv, more dazed than ever.

"Per month", Dad confirmed.

Will did not have time to register what was happening before Liv jumped on Will tackling him into a hug. She buried her head in his shoulder and he put his arms around her, stroking her hair gently. He could feel her body shake and his t-shirt getting wet. Liv was crying.

Will pulled away, "Why are you crying, Liv?", he asked, fairly concerned.

"Th-Thank you, W-Will", she said in between her sobs.

Dad put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "You start from tomorrow. Go and try to catch Jess outside before she leaves for her class."

With that, Liv turned away and left, wiping the tears off her face.

Dad smiled at Will, "You're a good guy, son."