The Bad boy's Secret Tutor

The Seat Next To Me

The next day, the rain hadn’t stopped.

Mia showed up to the library 5 minutes early, like always. Books stacked, pens lined up, highlighter uncapped. Her safe little routine.

Except Jake was already there.

Hoodie on, hair still damp, earbuds in. He wasn’t on his phone. He wasn’t asleep. He was... staring at the door. At her.

When she sat down, he pulled out his notebook. Actually pulled it out.

"Don’t get used to it," he muttered. "Coach is watching my grades now."

Mia nodded and slid the quiz from yesterday toward him. "You got a 62."

Jake groaned and dropped his head on the table. "That’s a D. That’s a bench."

"That’s also 20 points higher than last time." She tapped the page with her pen. "So we’re improving, Mr. Bennett."

He peeked up at her through his lashes. "You’re calling me Mr. Bennett again."

"You’re calling me bookworm again."

A pause. Then he actually laughed. Low, and real. Not the smirk-laugh he used in the halls.

For an hour they worked. No jokes. No distractions. Just math, and the sound of rain, and Jake asking questions he used to pretend he didn’t care about.

When Mia explained derivatives for the third time, he finally got it.

"Wait... so it’s like the speed of the ball, but for the graph?"

"Exactly."

He sat back, impressed with himself. "Huh. Bookworm’s a good teacher."

Mia felt her cheeks heat. She looked down at her notes. "Don’t make it weird."

"Too late." Jake leaned forward, resting his chin on his hands. "Why do you do this? Tutoring, I mean. You could be doing anything else after school."

The question caught her off guard. Nobody ever asked.

"Because..." She hesitated. "Because when I’m explaining something, people actually listen. For once."

Jake went quiet. The smirk was gone.

"Yeah," he said softly. "I get that."

The library doors banged open. Three of Jake’s teammates walked in, loud and dripping.

"Yo Bennett! Coach wants you at practice!"

Jake didn’t move right away. He looked at Mia’s notes, then at her.

"Same time tomorrow?"

Mia swallowed. "Same time tomorrow."

He grabbed his bag and left with them, but halfway to the door he turned back.

"Hey. Thanks."

And just like that, the invisible girl wasn’t invisible to him anymore.

Outside, the rain was letting up.

But inside Mia, something else was starting to storm.