Chapter 162 Chapter One Hundred And Sixty Two
LENA'S POV
Tick. Tick. Tick.
The timer on my phone counted down relentlessly, each second bringing me closer and closer to my fate.
"Wait, Jace." I scrambled, "On second thought, I don't think this is such a good idea—"
"It's an excellent idea," he said without looking up, his pen never stopping. "Maybe the best idea you've had all day."
My palms were starting to sweat. "Is that… is that the right page you're on? Maybe you should double check, or I could go get you a new textbook if—”
"I’m sure. Already did the last page."
"Already?" I grabbed my phone to check the time.
Only ten minutes had passed since I started the timer. Ten minutes.
“Oh, but an hour really is a long time to do all those questions.” Not at all, it was actually very short, but I was hoping maybe he didn’t know that “You don't have to rush. Instead, you could just maybe do the first page, then we can take a break. Maybe. If you want. We could—"
He stopped punching numbers into his calculator long enough to reach over and press his finger gently against my lips, silencing me.
"Not now, babe," he said, his eyes never leaving the textbook. "I'm working."
The casual pet-name combined with his touch shocked me into silence, before I eventually stuttered. "I'm— I’m not your—" I trailed off with a groan of frustration, pulling away from his hand.
This is a disaster. This is an absolute disaster.
"Why didn't you just do this from the start, huh?" I demanded, furiously watching him breeze through another problem. "How come all of a sudden you're practically Isaac Newton?"
He paid no attention to me; instead, he just kept writing, his focus absolute.
I grumbled under my breath, fidgeting in my chair. "This is ridiculous. You've been pretending to be bad at math this whole time, haven't you? All those wrong answers earlier were on purpose. You could've been passing if you'd just applied yourself. What is wrong with you? You’re so—"
"Are you surprised your incentive is working, princess?" He finally glanced up, and the smug smirk on his face infuriated me to no end. "You should be happy. Means you get to keep your tutor license."
I looked away from his notebook, crossing my arms defensively. There's no way he's actually going to finish the entire chapter in time, I told myself. Let alone get over half of it correct.
He was probably just bluffing.
And besides, I only said that to push him so he'd work harder, but eventually he's going to get bored with it… He has to get bored. Right? Nobody likes kissing that much, do they?
I stood up abruptly, needing to do something, anything, other than sit here and watch my own plan backfire spectacularly.
Before I could even manage a few steps, his hand shot out and grabbed my wrist firmly.
"Where do you think you’re going?" He looked up from his work, his eyes sharp with a glare.
"I just—" I gestured vaguely at the pile of textbooks on his shelf. "I mean, since you're busy with math, I wanted to take a look at your other books so I could plan out where to start with those.”
“Why?” He demanded
I scoffed, “Because it’s part of my job? I have to tally it up with the spring schedule I made and then figure out how to make the most of the limited time we have.”
He clearly didn't want to let me go. His hand got even tighter, and his fingers stroked once across my wrist, making my pulse jump. I could see the internal debate happening just behind his eyes.
But then he glanced at the clock, seemed to suddenly realize that he was on a tight schedule, and then he released me.
"Stay where I can see you," he ordered, pointing at his gaming chair that was still within his line of sight. "Don't you dare run away."
I huffed, pulling my wrist free and rubbing at the warm spot where he'd held me. "What do you take me for? I always play fair."
“You’d better.” He went back to his notes, but pointed his pen at me like a weapon. "I'll hold you to that, princess."
I walked over to his gaming chair with as much dignity as I could muster, very aware of his frequent glances at me to make sure I wouldn’t try to escape.
This is fine. Everything is fine. He probably won't finish. And even if he does, it's just a few kisses. We've already kissed. It's not a big deal.
Except it is a gigantic deal because we literally just agreed to stop, and because I'm supposed to be with Noah, and because Nicole and Jake are counting on me, have been counting on me, to stick to the plan.
I pulled out his English binder, flipping through the disorganized mess of papers.
Most of them were blank or had doodles in the margins, football plays, mostly, and other illegible things that I couldn’t make out. But there were also a few drawings that looked suspiciously like me. My profile. My hands. My old glasses.
Don't think about that, Lena. Focus on work.
I started reorganizing through the papers, creating different piles for completed assignments, missing assignments, and upcoming projects.
I pulled out the spring schedule that I'd meticulously created over break; a colour-coded spreadsheet tracking every single assignment, test, and project for all his classes, back when I was convinced that I hated his guts.
How am I going to tell them?
The thought hit me suddenly, making my hands pause on the papers.
Nicole and Jake would be so disappointed if they found out what just happened, or worse the deal I’d just made with Jace. They would think I was sabotaging the plan, choosing Jace over our friendship again, and over getting back at Allison and her friends.
The last time they found out I was with Jace instead of Noah they freaked out so bad they didn’t even bother to hear what I had to say and they cut me off immediately, I remembered in a panic.
Just what would they do if they found out a second time?! I would lose all my friends.
And Noah...
God, Noah.
He'd played the perfect boyfriend downstairs, publicly claiming to be waiting for me, protecting my reputation in front of Mrs. Dawson, even though it was all a bit out of left field. And here I was, promising kisses to his enemy.
But I can't lie to them, can I?
Can I even keep it a secret?