jack's pov
after collecting a few textbooks that i left at my house, i walked across the street to dakota's and rang the doorbell.
"oh, hello jack" dakota's mom greeted.
"hi miss richards, is dakota back from school yet?" i asked, as she opened the door wide enough for me to enter.
"she is, she's upstairs in her room. you can go ahead" she informed.
"thanks" i took my backpack off my shoulder and carried it with me upstairs to dakota's room.
"come in" she called after i knocked on the door. "oh, jack. you're early".
she locked her phone and sat up on the bed.
"yeah, i know" i scratched the back of my head. "should i just come back later or?".
"no, stay. it's fine, we can just get started".
"great" i smiled and unzipped my backpack to start taking out my notes and textbook.
dakota started clearing her desk space, "so, what did you want to work on today?".
"i was thinking substitution, because we did that in class today and it went completely over my head" i spoke, trying to find the page in the textbook.
"sure" she chuckled and took out a few of her own notes too.
+
dakota's pov +
about an hour passed and jack finally got the hang of substitution, so we decided to go onto another few topics that he's been struggling with recently.
"the answer to number twelve is actually 25, not 35..." i explained as i marked the work that he just completed. "...then thirteen is the square root of 6 and fourteen is wrong too—".
jack huffed and threw his head back, "i'm sorry, i'm just really tired".
"oh. that's okay" i closed the text book. "we've been doing this for over an hour, let's take a break. do you want anything to eat or drink?".
"yes, please" he groaned with relief as we both stood up to go downstairs.
i switched on the light to the kitchen, where i immediately noticed a note on the counter. i quickly read through it.
"looks like it's just us now. my mom is at the store and i don't know nate's whereabouts".
"what about your dad?" jack sat down on one of the bar chairs. "i think i remember him back in middle school".
i opened the fridge to start finding some drinks and then the cupboard for snacks, "yeah, a lot has changed since then. he walked out on us freshman year".
"oh. i-i'm sorry".
"don't be, he was a deadbeat any ways. there was this one time, where we were short on money, so he decided to rob some—" i paused and shook my head. "sorry, i don't know why i'm telling you this. you probably don't care".
"no, i do" he eagerly said as i started pouring some orange juice into two glasses. "please".
i took a deep breathe, "well, he robbed some money, went to prison for a while then when he got out, it changed him - he'd stay out late then come back a week later, he'd deal drugs and he just suddenly forgot how to care about me and my mom".
"so, you don't miss him?" jack asked, sipping his drink.
i shrugged, "i miss the memories, that's all. you know, all the happy ones before things went bad".
he understandly nodded his head, then i took out two different bags of cheetos from the top cupboard.
"cheesy or hot?" i questioned him and he squinted his eyes and stuck his tongue out like this was the hardest decision of his life.
"uh...hot".
"good choice" i nodded, putting the other packet back and began finding a large sharing bowl.
"so, how did you become such a math genius?" jack wondered.
"woah, i wouldn't say genius" i looked back at him. "i just study a lot".
"no, really" he chuckled. "what's your secret?".
"that's it, i just study".
"wait, you were serious?" he looked at me with stunned eyes, but i just nodded my head with a smile. "yeah, maybe i should have tried that at the beginning of high school instead of caring about football and being popular".
i finally found a bowl and ripped open the cheetos bag to start pouring it in, although jack was too impatient and started taking a few before i was finished.
"what's so great about being popular, any ways?" i inquired, as i stood across from him.
"at first, it's the attention" he spoke with his mouth slightly full. "then, it's the mass group of friends, the parties, the cool jock jackets but then you realise that after all these years, you're actually pretty lonely".
i gazed up at him as those last words escaped his lips, but he quickly diverted our eye contact and looked down. i could clearly tell that he wasn't prepared to go into that conversation, so i subtly decided to change the topic.
"but even though you're not the best at math, you're pretty good at english . being creative is way more better than being academic" i assured, sitting down beside him.
"you're just saying that because you're my tutor" he brushed off. "but you're lucky, dakota. you're academic, creative then you've got the bonus of being nice and pretty".
instantly, my cheeks heated up from the compliment but i chuckled to make it less obvious that those words practically meant everything to me.
"yeah?".
"what? has a guy never called you pretty before?" he wondered, throwing a cheeto into his mouth.
i nodded my head a little too quickly, "they have, but not a lot and some probably don't even mean it".
"well, all of those guys are stupid because it's true" he playfully nudged me with his elbow and i smiled at his gesture, before hearing the front door open then close.
"i'm back!" nate called out, then entered the kitchen with a joint tucked behind his ear" oh, he's here".
"nate, please get out" i begged.
he frowned at me and took a handful of our food, "why?".
"because we're talking and plus, you reek of weed so you better take a shower before mom gets back".
he groaned a loud, then tried to take our bowl of cheetos before i quickly snatched it off him and settled it back on the table.
once nate left the room, i sighed and returned back to eating.
"sorry about him" i apologised.
"you two are cousins, but fight like brother and sister" jack laughed. "although, i never really understood why nate lives with you".
"yeah, um, his dad died when he was young then due to that his mom - my mom's sister - turned to alcohol and couldn't look after him anymore" i explained in a whisper. "so, my mom took him in and he's been here for about eight years now".
jack raised his brows, "really? wow, that's tough".
"he's been through a lot, but he always brushes it off and acts like everything's okay".
"i know the feeling" jack responded.
"but could you not tell anyone about what i just said?" i quietly asked. "no one at school really knows and you can already tell that nate's not the type to be an open book, so he'd kill me if he found out".
"of course, i won't. i'll even pinky promise" jack stuck out his pinky finger and i giggled at how childish he was, then wrapped my finger tightly around his.
"i, jack finnegan gilinsky, promise not to tell anyone else about anything that dakota richards has told me today" he recited.
i raised my eyebrow at him, "how do i know that you even believe in pinky promises?".
"i believe in everything" jack told, pointing his finger at me.
"that's a pretty broad answer" i chuckled. "what else do you believe in then?".
"well, i believe that you'll help me pass maths".
i smiled and stood up with the snacks bowl, "then, we better get back to work to make sure that comes true".
jack saluted my words and picked up his drink, as well as mine, just before we left the kitchen to go back upstairs.
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fr i hate myself for how long i've had this story on hiatus but ilysfm if you're still reading
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