How Bad Can A Good Girl Get?

Chapter 4

"So, do you want me to run through the Krebs Cycle again?"

Joaquin threw down his pen on the table, hard. I leapt back, slightly surprised, although I shouldn't have been. I could tell that Joaquin had been getting more and more frustrated as our tutoring session went along.

"Screw this," he muttered, standing up and running one hand through his hair. "Who even uses science anyways?"

"Well, a lot of people," I replied thoughtfully, scrunching up my nose in thought. "Scientists, researchers, doctors, professors -- HEY!" I stopped my listing as I saw Joaquin pull out a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. "You can't smoke in here!"

"I'll open the windows." Joaquin flicked the lighter on, and a small flame burst to life.

"No!" Before I knew what I was doing, I had knocked the lighter out of his hand. The flame died as the metal device fell onto my wooden bedroom floor. I whirled around and glared at him. "You could've set the fire alarms off, you moron!"

Joaquin was smirking. Again. Ugh, I hate that smirk. It's so condescending. "You're cute when you're feisty," he mused, swooping down and picking up the lighter. "You know that?"

I glowered at him. "If you're not explaining the Krebs Cycle to me then we're not leaving."

Joaquin threw back his head and let out an uproarious laugh. "And what makes you think I can't just walk out that door?"

I cocked my head to one side, arms crossed over my chest. "How about I tell your mother that you tried to cheat off of me in Bio? I don't think she'd like that."

"I don't think she'd believe you," Joaquin threw back. His eyes dared me, invited me to come up with a comeback.

"Why won't she?" I sat back down on my bed, facing him. "I mean, why would I lie? I'm the straight-A student who's giving a helping hand to her poor son. Me, Storm Romero, lying and making up a story? That's so out of character for me."

I finished my sentence, breathless. Joaquin stared at me, then slowly started to clap.

"You, Storm Romero, aren't so good after all, huh?" He remarked coolly, his piercing blue eyes connecting with mine.

I shrugged my shoulders, acting calm, but my heart was pounding furiously in my chest. "That's besides the point." I pointed at the stack of papers piled atop of my table. "Are we going to get to work or not?"

"How about a proposal?" Before I knew it, he was sitting down beside me, a smile plastered across his face. But this time, it wasn't a smirk or a simper, but rather a more genuine grin that could only mean one thing: trouble.

"A proposal?"

"My parents are leaving tomorrow night to visit my aunt a few cities away. They won't be back 'til Monday. I'm throwing a party tomorrow. It'll be fun." He looked at me expectedly. "Have you been to one?"

"A party?" I racked my brain. The last party I'd been to was Lucy's seventeenth birthday party, in which we simply went out to eat at the restaurant, came back to her house, ate cake, and binge-watched Parks and Recreation until midnight. "I guess not the type you're describing."

Joaquin laughed. "I think you'll like it. You in? You can bring your friends if you want."

I hadn't realized that my hands were trembling slightly. Get a grip, Storm. It's just a party. Why was I so nervous? 

"Sure," I said, before I could slow down and think about the decision I was making. "What could it hurt, right?"