The Bad boy's Secret Tutor

The Big Test

Friday.

The day everyone had been waiting for. Calc test. 40% of the grade.

The classroom felt heavier than usual. Pens clicking. People praying to their formula sheets.

Jake sat two rows behind Mia. For the first time all semester, he wasn’t cracking jokes or tossing paper. He was actually... studying. His knee bounced under the desk.

Mia could feel it. The whole school was watching. If Jake failed, the rumor was true — she was useless. If he passed, people would say he cheated.

Either way, she was in the story now.

"Begin," Mr. Reyes said.

The first 20 minutes were silence. Just scratching pencils and rain on the windows again.

Mia finished early. She always did. But she didn’t leave. She sat there, tapping her eraser, glancing back once.

Jake’s forehead was scrunched. He was working. Erasing. Trying again. No shortcuts.

When he turned in his paper, he didn’t smirk. He didn’t look at the jocks waiting by the door.

He looked at Mia.

And nodded.

---

3:15 PM. Library.

Neither of them said anything for 10 minutes. Just sat with the quiet and the stack of practice problems between them.

Finally Jake broke it.

"I think I did okay," he muttered. "Not great. But okay."

"Okay is better than failing," Mia said. "And okay is because you actually tried."

He laughed, but it was tired. "You sound like my coach."

"You sound like someone who doesn’t want to be benched."

He leaned back in the chair and stared at the ceiling. "You know what’s weird? I don’t even hate math anymore. It’s still stupid. But... doing it with you makes it less stupid."

Mia’s pen stilled. "Don’t."

"Don’t what?"

"Don’t say things like that." Her voice was small. "People are already talking."

Jake sat up. "Let them talk."

"Mia."

She looked up.

"I’m not doing this because I have to. Not anymore."

The door opened. Mr. Reyes walked in, holding a stack of papers.

"Bennett. Mia." He set two tests on the table.

Jake: *78% - C+*

Mia: *98% - A*

Jake stared at the C+ like it was a trophy. "I passed."

"You passed," Mr. Reyes said, smiling a little. "And you pulled your team average up. Good work. Both of you."

He left.

The library was quiet again.

Jake picked up his test, folded it carefully, and put it in his bag.

Then he looked at Mia. Really looked.

"Thanks, bookworm. For real."

He stood, slung his bag over his shoulder.

"Same time Monday?"

Mia nodded, heart hammering. "Same time Monday."

He left. But this time, he didn’t slam the door.

Outside, the rain had finally stopped.