BRIGHT

Chapter 5- Greyson POV- Family

My plan was going to work, it had to. As Peyton and I talked, I asked her questions only on the stuff I partially understood and didn't ask about what I was lost on. I mean, it was worth getting one bad score to possibly be able to hang out with her. I didn't understand why I had such a big crush on her. I had met her like 12 hours ago, but she was just so different from other girls I had met. She was so self-assured and confident in who she was.

As we finished up studying, it hit me how smart she was. She had just tutored me through some pretty tough stuff and she could execute it flawlessly without her notes.

"You are so smart, I can't believe you get all of this already," I said to her.

"I don't know," she said bashfully. She shook it off and continued. "Do you feel good?"

"Yeah, I think so. Thank you again. I really appreciate it," I lied.

"Of course, anytime! I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she asked.

"Sounds good, see you then," I replied. She hung up and I sat there, looking at the screen. She was perfect.

"Greyson, dinner!" my mom yelled.

"Coming!" I called. I scrambled down the stairs. Everyone was waiting at the dinner table for me.

"Sorry, I was just finishing up some Calc stuff," I explained.

"No problem," my dad said. My mom came in and put a plate of food in front of me.

"How was the first day of school, Maggie?" I asked my little sister. She was so adorable. She was only eight, but she was the funniest person I knew. She was so sassy and cute. She had naturally curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. An abundance of freckles scattered about her nose. I was always protective of her, I never wanted to see her upset.

"It was fine, except there was this new guy and he came up to me at recess and told me I was pretty. I told him to back off and all my friends laughed. It was kinda funny," she pepped with a giggle. We all laughed. Typical Maggie.

"How was it for you, Greyson?" Mom asked me.

"It was good, nice to see the team at school," I explained.

"How was practice?" my dad asked me.

"Good, I mean, it's football, so it's always good," I said.

"How's the team looking? Do I need to come to practice and show them how it's done?" Maggie asked, dead seriously. We all laughed.

"I think we should be good, but I will let you know if anything changes," I replied back, jokingly.

"How is Calc, I know you were unsure on that class," my mom questioned.

"Hard, quiz tomorrow already. But I studied," I explained, not mentioning my plan of course.

"Are you understanding it?" my mom asked.

"Kind of, I mean it's really hard, but I'm doing my best," I said.

"If you are struggling, you need to ask for help okay?" my mom instructed.

"I already FaceTimed someone tonight and she worked through some of it with me," I explained.

"Alright, we will see how tomorrow's quiz goes, okay?" Mom asked. I nodded. We all continued to talk and eat. We talked sports, which was something everyone in our family had in common. Maggie was even playing flag football and was really good at it, so I was hoping she may be the first girl on our Varsity team someday.

After dinner, I went up to my room and decided to work on my English homework. I heard a knock at the door.

"What?" I asked.

"Can I come in?" I heard a high voice ask. Maggie.

"Sure," I replied. I closed my textbook and Maggie walked into the room. She plopped herself on my bed.

"I have a question for you," she asked in a devilish voice.

"Oh no," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Mom and Dad may have missed it, but I heard you say she helped me, not he, but she!" Maggie exclaimed.

"So?" I asked, playing dumb.

"Well? Who is she?" Maggie asked.

"She is in my Calc class. Her name is Peyton and she's really smart, so she helped me, that's all," I lied. Maggie knew me too well, even though she was so much younger than I was.

"But usually you would just ask Dad for help, I mean he is an engineer. I think it is kind of his job to know this stuff," Maggie rebutted.

"Okay fine, maybe I like her a little bit. But so what? It's not like we will date or anything," I admitted.

"You filthy liar! You have a crush for the first time since Kailey, and that was two years ago. I know you want to date her," Maggie accused.

"Maggie, I do not need to be talking about my love life with you!" I exclaimed, laughing through the words.

"So you admit you have a love life," Maggie pushed, giggling.

"Alright Sassy, you can get out now," I said with a laugh. She giggled and walked out of the room. Oh, Maggie, she was so funny. Everything just seemed so much simpler when she was around.