When two academic rivals agree to help each other and end up falling in love, what happens?
Tito, a girl struggling with sickle cell disease, and Benjy, a popular jock at Cherry High School, have always been the top students, with Tito consistently...
"But if he loves me, why is he so concerned about my academics and pays little attention to me? He doesn’t even try to know me."
His mother lifted his chin with her finger. "My dear, you know I never support your father. Yes, we are fighting our own battles too but I can tell he is trying. I don’t know why he is obsessed with you being so perfect and he wouldn’t even explain things to me."
The argument. His mother was talking about the argument. And now, looking closely at the lines on her forehead, his mother seemed unhappy.
"Is everything okay between you two, ma?"
She gave him a fake smile but he could read her well. "Well, we are coping."
"Ma."
"Your father is not the romantic man I fell in love with anymore but we will be fine."
Will they? He wasn’t sure but he hoped. Dare's parents were separated and he knew how hard it was for his friend to have visiting days and separate houses. As harsh as it would sound, he didn't wish that on himself.
His phone vibrated underneath his textbook and his mother gave him a knowing look.
“Studying eh?”
He chuckled. “I swear I was studying minutes ago.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” His mother moved to the door. “I give you ten minutes to get downstairs. Have some food in you at least.”
Benjy smiled. “Yes, mom.”
As soon as his mom left, he brought out his phone.
Tito had sent another message.
Just finished working on our study guide. Meet me in the library during break tomorrow. Don’t be late.
He found himself smiling against his wish.
See you there.
When the bell was rung, he packed his bag and began to make his way out of the class.
"Wait, you are not joking?" Dare asked, standing up to meet him.
"No. I am not."
“So she is tutoring you?” Dare asked again, giving him a look mingled with suspicion.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He pursued his lips. “I told you, if I need to win this, I need her help. She is good, Dare.”
“Did you just admit that she is better than you?”
He winced.
Dare had a lollipop in his mouth and he made a loud suckling sound. “Okay. Okay, but why is she agreeing to this? That girl hates you?”
And she loves you, he wanted to say. He couldn’t, at least not without Tito's permission.
“Benjy?” Dare looked at him, shoving his hands in his pockets.
“Dude, I don’t know." He shrugged helplessly. "Maybe she just wants to help, I think.”
“Weird.”
He glanced at his leather wristwatch. He was running late. “I have to go.”
“To meet her?"
“Yes. She is waiting for me. I am sorry, dude.”
When he finally made it to the school library, he found Tito sitting on a chair, head down. She was reading a book.
The library was quiet and organized even with several students present. It was like everyone knew the rules and no one wanted to be the rebel.
As he walked gently to where she was seated, he couldn’t help but notice how her side profile was temptingly cute. Everything seemed to slow down at that thought.
Whoa. Where did that come from? He blinked away the thought. That was a really strange thought.
“Hey,” he said, standing beside her. He peeked at her book. She was reading a literary novel.
She didn’t even look up at him. “Sit.”
Okay, he mouthed and took a seat beside her.
Tito reached for her bag on the table and brought out a paper. She handed it over to him.
“This is the study guide?” He asked, inspecting the paper.
“Yes.” Her eyes flickered to his face. “Every day, during the break, we come here and practice. Each subject for a week, do you understand?”
“Yes, ma'am.”
She pulled up a scowl on her face. “Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics. Medunal uses those four subjects to set questions so read voraciously.”
“Thanks." He went through the paper again. "When do we start?”
“Tomorrow. Don’t make me wait," she said.
“I won’t.” And for a second, he stared at her. Was that all? Why was she looking at him like she was expecting him to do something?
Tito arched her brows. “So? What do you have for me?”
“Huh?” his mind went blank for a moment.
“Benjy, I am not doing this to help you so tell me what I need to know.”
Oh, Dare. Right. How could he have forgotten?
He leaned closer and caught a whiff of her perfume. The fruity scent threw him into a daze. Wow, she smells good.
“Erm...I...Have you ever spoken to him?”
“No." She gave him a look. "Why would I?”
“Why wouldn’t you? How would he notice you if you don’t talk to him?”
“I can’t walk over and just talk to him. It is insane. Besides, I don’t even know what to say," she said.
“Dare loves bold girls. He is not the shy type so it’s only reasonable for him to go for someone like him. So the first thing we will do is to put you out there.”
"How?"
"You are going to talk to him tomorrow. He can't like you if he doesn't even notice you enough."
“Okay." she mused, nodding her head in agreement. "When do we start?”
“We start tomorrow.” He stood up and clutched the strap of his bag. “Make sure to look less grumpy."
“Shut up, Benjy.”
And again, he found himself smiling.
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