The bell rang and Cory watched his students enter the classroom. He frowned as he watched Maya walk in with her arm in a sling. It deepend when he noticed his brother was walking beside her.
"Maya, what happened?" He asked, making the pair stop in front of his desk.
The young blonde shrugged. "Went out on a walk with this one," she nodded towards Josh. "In the pouring rain this weekend. I slipped and fell, broke my arm."
"Ouch," Cory cringed. "I hope you'll get better soon." He then turned his attention to his brother. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, but what are you doing here?"
Josh smiled and lifted up the books he was holding. "I have a week of vacation and felt bad for Miss Clumsy here, so I thought why not help her out." He shrugged. "You know, carry her books, help her take notes, that kind of stuff."
Cory nodded. "Couldn't one of her friends help her with that?" He motionned for his daughter and her friends.
"It's my fault she went out in the first place," Josh justified.
"Fine," Cory said, "but you do know that Maya usually doesn't bring her book, right? Or take notes."
Josh shook his head at the blonde, but smiled. "It doesn't surprise me, but maybe she might actually learn something."
Cory gave him a skeptical look, but showed the two to their seats. He rolled his eyes as he noticed that, while Josh was taking notes, Maya was just staring at Josh.
He was surprised to find out though that by the end of the week, Maya was acing all of her classes. He asked her about it as she was walking out of the class on friday.
She shrugged and smiled. "Josh's been helping me study," she told him. "I guess he just has a way of explaining things so I can remember them."
"Maybe I should ask Josh to take your notes all the time from now on then," Cory teased.
Maya rolled her eyes. "That won't be necessary. He's already offered to tutor me once a week."
"Just like that?" Cory asked.
Maya gave him an offended look. "Yes, because anyone who comes near me should have an ulterior motive, right?" She sighed. "Shawn's helping him get the photography internship he wanted."
Cory frowned and placed his hand on her shoulder. "I didn't mean it like that, Maya," he said honnestly. "I was just surprised because he usually is a bit distant because of the three years thing."
"I know," Maya gave in, "I'm sorry. He's realised that us being friends is okay despite the age difference and friends help each other out."
"I'm glad to hear that," Cory told her. "That's very mature of both of you." Before he let her go, he added. "Maya, I'm so proud of you. Keep up the good work."
