"Okay, Joshua," I said, pointing at the math book in between us, "you have to memorize this equation. You just have to, man. Don't give me that look. You're never going to understand it, so you have to memorize it."

"But Grace!" Joshua whined. "I can't!"

I faced him, placing a hand on his own. "I believe in you."

He laced his fingers through mine and nodded. "If you believe in me, then everything will be okay."

I rolled my eyes, trying not to notice how my heart rate picked up. "That's not the case, buddy. But it's okay. You're a little slow."

He chuckled, dipping his head down. As if he was hiding a blush. But I didn't think he was blushing. Because I couldn't have been that important to him. I was just a random girl who flirted with him. But he flirted back . . .

"Thanks for the confidence boost, Grace," he muttered, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"No problem."

I glanced sideways at him, and honestly, my breath was taken from me. He was so handsome up close that I just could get lost. But I gave a little shake of my head and said, "Okay, try another problem. You have to be doing better than the other day, right?"

He proved me wrong. Somehow, he had gone even further back than I thought possible. I sighed, taking my hand away from his.

"I just don't understand," he said, shaking his head. "I don't understand anything anymore."

"It's okay -"

"No, it's not!" he yelled, causing me to jump slightly. "It's not. If I don't pass, my parents won't let me go to our family reunion over winter break, and they will make me study the whole time."

"How could they make you study if they are away?"

"They aren't going to the family reunion this year," he said, shaking his head. "It would just be me this time. They're too busy working to even care about seeing the rest of my family."

I furrowed my brow. Joshua had never gotten like this. He was usually happy. "Take a deep breath," I said softly. He followed my directions, and the anger that was written all over his face eased off. "I think you're old enough to make these decisions for yourself."

He nodded, his mouth drawn into a thin line. "Me too. I already told you about why they don't trust me so you know. But we just have to finish this year, and I'm free."

I nodded as well, understanding that more than I let on. "Do you want to take a break?"

His cheeks lifted as he smiled, and he said, "It seems like we're taking a lot of breaks lately."

I couldn't help but smile either. "I think the only way you can learn is taking a lot of breaks. You get so angry and then it's not good. So, I think we should take a small break."

He leaned back in my dining chair and shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me. What are you thinking?"

I didn't want to say what I was thinking, so I shrugged too. "You choose."

He stood up suddenly, the chair screeching across the floor. He reached his hand out to me and said, "Dance with me."

I sat there, staring at his hand. I didn't know why he wanted to dance. He had never shown interest in dancing before. "No thanks."

"Oh, come on," he said. "Please?"

I closed my eyes but stood firm in my decision. "I don't really dance, Joshua. I'm sorry."

But all he did was take my hand and lifted me up to standing. He wrapped his arms around me, drawing me to his chest. I tried to pull away from him, but his arms stayed steady around me. He started humming something, and I tried to think straight. He needed to let go of me before I melted into him. He whispered, "You don't have to be so tense. You're safe with me."

I closed my eyes, letting myself be taken with him. His heart beat softly under his chest, keeping time to our song. His arms were strong, keeping me up in more ways than one. But I tugged my arms away from him. "We need to get back to work," I said, not meeting his eyes.

He chuckled and offered me the chair. I sat back down, and he pushed me in, getting in the seat next to me.

"Let's try this again," I said, nodding. "Now that you've had a break, you should be good."

"Are you sure?" he asked, giving me his full attention. "I'm sort of distracted."

"By what?"

"Oh, by something."

The blush crept up my cheeks as I said, "You're gonna have to work."

"Whenever I try to take the tests at school, someone just worms their way into my mind. They're very insistent too, which makes it so much better."

I couldn't meet his eyes. A guy had never shown such direct feelings for me. Especially not my crush. "You have to stop thinking about that. Don't you want to go to your family reunion?"

"Yeah, but that's just one thing. This is more."

I finally looked at him and kept his gaze as I said, "Don't waste your time."

"I don't think I'm wasting my time," he said, shaking his head. "I actually feel something."

"Are you saying you're a robot?"

He chuckled. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

His eyes focused on mine, and something in there looked a little sad. But I ignored it as I tapped the math book. His head dropped to his chest, so I said, "Look at me."

His eyes met mine, and I leaned closer to him. "What?" he whispered.

"If you finish this problem, I'll make you my famous cookies."

"Really?" he asked, brightening up. "Why are they famous?"

"I make them with love."

He chuckled. "I'm guessing the love you're mentioning is for the chocolate."

"How'd you know?"

He smiled with his full teeth, creating small dimples in his cheeks. That made me realize how close our faces really were. My eyes flicked to his lips, but I heard the door slam shut.

"I'm home!"

I jumped up from my seat and glanced at my mother walking to the kitchen. My face was burning as I turned away from the both of them.

"Mom," I said, grabbing something from the counter, "I thought you had to practice with the carolers."

In my hand was the salt shaker. What in the world was I going to do with that? My eyes scanned the counter and landed on some bananas. I immediately grabbed one and threw it at Joshua, along with the salt.

"That's not tonight," Mom said, giving me a look. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

I stared Mom down, trying to make my face the normal color. I kept my facial expression as neutral as possible.

Mom shrugged. "I don't know."

I nodded, sitting back down next to Joshua. But not as close. I put some distance between us as I gestured to the book. "Have you memorized that yet?"

"No," he said. "I'm trying."

The banana and salt sat next to him, discarded. His eyes searched my face instead of the page.

"I thought you were trying," I whispered.

He looked away just as Mom left the kitchen. I breathed in relief, and he burst out laughing.

"Why in the world did you throw me a banana and salt?" he asked, handing them back to me.

"I don't know! I panicked!" I said, shrugging. "I didn't think she'd be home that quick."

"Did she interrupt something?"

"Yes. You were working on the math problem."

"Would you like to come to my family reunion?"

I looked at him again, face scrunched up in confusion. "Why?"

He smiled and shrugged. "If I do pass, I want you to come with me."

"To meet your family?"

"That and to have a load of fun," he said. "My family is crazy."

"Crazier than you?"

He laughed. "Yes. Yes, they are."

"Then I would love to go with you."

He grinned. "Thank you so much!"

He looked at the math book with a new determination, but a bad feeling seeped into my bones. I just didn't know why.