season 1, episode 2 - Live A Little (Pt.2)
chapter four,
brady's dilemma!
BRADY'S CAR HAD driven away from the school, now headed to Pinnacle Library. Paige sat in the passenger seat, looking out the window. Brady couldn't stop thinking about his test, ashamed to tell his parents.
Finding a spot, he took it and turned off the car. Him and Paige unbuckled their seatbelts, grabbing their stuff and getting out. Fishing in his pockets, he eventually found the key and locked the car.
Heading inside, they were greeted by thousands of shelves filled with books on each floor. Felicity Harris, the librarian, was pushing a cart of books. "Hi, Ms. Harris!" Paige said, startling the woman. She turned around, relieved it was just the siblings. "Hello, Paige! Brady! How are you guys?"
"We're good, Ms. Harris. What about you?" Paige questioned.
"I'm good. If you guys excuse me, I need to put these books away." Mrs. Harris answered.
Once the woman was gone, the two found a table and sat down. Paige took out her computer and headphones, plugging them in. Bored, Brady decides to go in the aisles to find a good book to read.
Meanwhile, Cole's car pulled up in front of the library.
"Why are you going here again?" Cole asked. Jackie sighed, unbuckling her seat-belt. "I just told you. Mr. Briggs wants me to tutor one of his students."
The girl got out of the car, straightening her top. "So please don't-" The boy quickly drove off. "leave me."
She started heading up the stairs, opening the door and entering the library.
Brady was in the romance section, having trouble choosing a book. Taking out his phone, he quickly texts his sister.
Brady
What romance book should I get?
Gremlin
Idk. I'm busy.
Brady
Just recommend me something. Please :(
Gremlin
Fine. Try "Better than the Movies".
Brady
Ty :)
Brady scanned the shelves, finally finding the book. He was walking out of the aisle when he noticed someone talking to his sister. Walking up to the table, he sat down. "Oh, Brady! Jackie's here!" Paige stated. He gave the girl a wave.
"Wait, is your last name Crawford?" Jackie asked.
"Yes... why?"
"Mr. Briggs told me to come here and find you. I'm your tutor..."
Brady mentally cursed himself. Why would he pair me with someone I barely even know?, he thought to himself.
The boy forced a smile. "We can move to a different table. Paige, are you okay by yourself?"
"Yeah. Can you go now?" Brady rolled his eyes, grabbing his things and followed Jackie to an empty table.
KIA AND ISSAC had just finished writing some questions to answer about their data. The plan was for Kia to record while he would ask questions. Issac was waiting for Cole to get home so he and Kia could record him working out. But first they would try and record some of the boys riding their horses. Walking to the ranch, Kia saw Alex and Danny saddling up. Lee was helping Parker skateboard. "Hi, guys!" she stated. "Hey, Kia!" Lee said, earning a glare from his brother.
"You guys all set?" Issac asked his cousins. "Yes." The two brought out their horses onto the grass, calming them down. Once the two boys got onto their saddles, Issac attached heart monitors on their wrists. As they trotted slowly, Issac asked them questions while Kia filmed the interview with her phone.
An hour later, they were finally finished recording their first experiment. Going to Issac and Lee's room, Issac opened up his laptop.
"Can you show me the video, Peters?" he asked as he created a Google slideshow.
"What the magic word?" Issac rolled his eyes, "How old do you think I am? Five?"
"You can do it, Garcia."
"Fine. Could you please show me the video, Peters?" Kia smiled, taking out her phone and pulled up the footage. "Here." she stated, handing Issac the phone.
While he watched the video, Parker came into the room. "Hi, Kia."
"Hey, Parker." The blonde girl was holding a ball, walking up to the duo. "When you guys are finished, do you want to play with me?"
Kia smiled at her, "Of course. Garcia?" The boy just muttered an 'mhm', causing her to nudge him.
"Yes, Parker. Me and Peters will play with you when we're finished with what we have so far." The blonde smiled, hugging Kia before leaving the room. "She's a sweet kid."
"Oh, please." Kia stared at him, curious about what he had to say. "Really? Is she that bad?"
"One time, she told my aunt that I ate all the chocolate chip cookies. To be fair, she ate them too."
Kia laughed, "How is that funny?"
"I can't believe you thought that she wasn't going to tell. That's what little kids do."
Issac rolled his eyes, "Are you done yet?"
"No." Kia continued laughing, much to Issac's dismay. But he wasn't going to deny that she had a nice laugh... wait, why did he suddenly think that her laugh was nice? They didn't even like each other. Kia eventually stopped and her attention was on Issac. "Garcia, we can keep working on the project. I just needed a good laugh for a minute."
"Thank god! I thought it would never end."
"Should I do it again?"
"No!" Issac exclaimed, rewinding the video.
BACK AT THE LIBRARY, Brady watched Jackie write some problems for him to try and solve on his own. She placed the paper in front of him, causing him to stare at it. What do I do?, he thought. Tapping his pen on the table, he tried to think of ways to solve. After two minutes, he gave up. "You need to focus." Jackie stated. Brady groaned, "This is so boring."
"We literally just started!" she exclaimed, receiving a bunch of 'shhhs' from people. "We literally just started." she whispered.
"Look, I don't need a tutor. I'm perfectly fine on my own." Brady was getting up to leave when Jackie stopped him. "Why don't you let me help? You and I both know that you want to pass this class." Brady walked past her, going into one of the aisles. She trailed behind him.
Jackie crossed her arms at the opposite end of the aisle, "Well, your teacher told me that if I don't help you, you have a high chance of going to summer school."
Brady stopped walking, slowly turning his head around. "Are you saying that just to get me to stay?"
"No. Now, what sounds better: getting tutored by me or failing the rest of the class?"
Brady was speechless. He couldn't even come up with something. "Fine. I'll stay." He turned around and faced Jackie. "You're very persistent, you know that?"
"I have my ways." The two walked back to the table, but this time Brady was willing to learn.
"Is a D in Trigonometry good?" Brady asked.
"God help me." she whispered under her breath.
Two hours later, Brady had finished the problems. He waited for Jackie to grade his paper. The girl placed her red marker down, giving his work back to him. He got nine questions correct and eleven wrong. "You didn't do too bad. I think your struggling with like terms and factoring the equation. Could I give you my number, please?"
"Sure." Brady took out his phone, handing it to her. Jackie typed away and saved her number in his phone, giving it back to him. The two of them decided to pack up their stuff and call it a day. Paige closed her computer, zipping up her bag and join the duo. Brady decided to borrow "Better Than The Movies" by Lynn Painter. He would have to return it in three weeks.
The two siblings waved goodbye to Ms. Harris, causing Jackie to send the woman a small wave. Once they exited the library, Brady unlocked his car. Paige headed inside, closing the door behind her. Brady was about to open the door when he stopped himself. He turned around, facing Jackie. "Is anyone coming to get you?" Brady asked.
"Well, Cole was supposed to wait outside but he left before I had the chance to tell him." Jackie answered. Of course he did, Brady thought.
"I'll drive you." Jackie furrowed her eyebrows, "What?"
"I can drop you there. Kia's house is next door to the Walters, I know my way."
"You... you don't have to do that."
"Its the least I can do. I mean you spent two hours helping me today. So what do you say?"
"Okay, you can drive me." she answered. Brady opened the door, allowing her to sit in the passenger seat. Getting in the driver's seat, he checked if they all had their seatbelts on. Luckily, they did. Starting the car, he drove away.
KIA AND ISSAC were finally done putting their data into the slideshow. They agreed on recording Cole on the weekend. That meant that the two could finally play with Parker.
Going into the backyard, Parker smiled, hugging Kia. "Are you ready to play?" she asked.
"Yeah. Let's see how lame your cousin is at throwing."
"Oh, please. Like I've seen you throw a ball in gym."
"You always talk during gym."
"You do too."
"Well-"
"Can we play now?"
Kia and Issac glared at each other for a minute before breaking eye contact. Parker threw the ball to Kia. She then threw it to Issac but Lee stole the ball. The three of them chased the boy, eager to get it back.
"Lee!"
"Dude, give it back!"
"This is kind of fun."
Brady's car pulled up in front of the Walter household, causing him to get out. Opening the door for Jackie, she got out, giving him a small 'thank you'. Paige exited the car, allowing her brother to lock it. They couldn't really stay long since it was getting dark.
Jackie knocked on the door, causing Alex to open it. "Hi, Jackie. Why did you get here so late?"
"Your brother left me. Again." He stepped aside, allowing them inside. A bunch of kids were doing multiple things at once. Paige and Brady were happy their parents didn't have any more kids after them.
The three of them noticed Lee being chased by Kia, Issac, and Parker. It looked like the two actually didn't fight for a minute. But thats only how long it would last.
Paige decided to join them, leaving Jackie and Brady alone. "But again you didn't have to do that." Jackie stated.
"I couldn't just leave you alone. How would you have gotten back?"
"Well, thank you."
"If Cole -"
"If I do what?" The said blonde asked.
"Nothing. Never mind. I'll see you around, mathematician."
Brady went in the backyard, gesturing to Paige that it was time to leave. Saying goodbyes to Kia, Issac, Parker, and Lee, the two blondes left.
If there was one thing the Crawford siblings shared, it was their hate for Cole Walters. On their way home, Brady told Paige about the encounter he had with the said boy. "I mean, he just left her and that's what he has to say?"
"Honestly, I would've told Mrs. Walters what he did." Brady felt bad for Jackie, having to live with her mother's old friend and her family after her family passed. Trust me, the word spread fast in the school. That's how he found out. But he just hoped things would get better for her.
Especially when she lived with a person like Cole Walters.
Maya Speaks 💫:
Kia and Issac are such an iconic dynamic
Also what are your thoughts on Brady and Jackie rn?