Chapter 2: The Study Date That Wasn’t a Date (Probably)
1031 Words
Lena had a plan.
No—Lena was a plan.
From her color-coded planner to the perfectly sharpened pencils that lived in her galaxy-print case, every minute of her life was scheduled and accounted for.
Which is why she was currently having a breakdown in aisle four of Staples, comparing two nearly identical highlighters and muttering, “Cool Mint or Seafoam Green. Which says ‘I’m organized but fun’? Which one screams reliability?!”
“You okay there, sunshine?”
She froze.
That voice. That voice belonged to exactly one person who had no business appearing near stationary supplies: Jace Blackwood.
She turned slowly, like she was facing a wild animal that might pounce if startled. “Why are you here?”
“Needed pens. The ones at school suck.” He held up a pack of cheap blue Bics. “These write like butter.”
“You? Buying pens? I thought you did all your homework telepathically.”
He chuckled, stepping closer. “Cute. You practicing your stand-up routine?”
“No,” she said, flustered. “This is just how I talk to people who mock education.”
“I don’t mock education. I just… don’t think it should be boring.”
Lena blinked. That almost sounded reasonable. Dangerous. She had to shake it off.
“Anyway,” she said, clutching her highlighters, “I’m going to study. For our project. Alone. Because I have a schedule.”
“I like schedules,” Jace said, eyes glinting.
“Really?”
“Sure. Especially when I get to mess them up.”
Lena’s breath caught.
“Relax,” he added, smirking. “I’ll swing by at seven.”
“Wait, what?”
“Your house. We’re working on the project, right?”
“I never agreed—”
“You said we’re presenting next Friday. We need to split the work. Isn’t that what good students do?”
Lena opened her mouth, then closed it again. He had her. Logically. Trapped in her own words.
“Fine,” she muttered. “But no smoking. And wipe your shoes before you come in. And if you touch anything in my room—”
“Wait—your room?” His smirk deepened. “Didn’t think we were moving that fast.”
Her soul briefly left her body.
“I meant—we’re working in the dining room.”
“Sure. Whatever helps you sleep at night, Carter.”
⸻
At exactly 7:00 p.m., Jace arrived at Lena’s house on a battered motorcycle that growled like a dragon with indigestion. Her dad stared out the window, arms crossed.
“Who’s that?”
“Group project,” Lena muttered.
“Is that a muffler dragging behind him?”
“Probably.”
“Should I be worried?”
“Yes,” her mother said from the kitchen, pouring tea. “But he’s very attractive, so it’s fine.”
“MOM!”
“What? I’m not blind.”
Lena opened the door before her parents could start discussing Jace’s bone structure.
He was standing on the porch, wind in his hair, holding… a six-pack of root beer.
“For the vibes,” he said.
“What vibes?”
“You know. Nerdy romance. Brainy girl tames the wild beast with study dates and soda.”
Lena narrowed her eyes. “You’re mocking me again.”
“Maybe. Or maybe I just like root beer.”
She let him in with a sigh and directed him to the dining room, which she’d prepped with notebooks, sticky notes, and a laptop set up like a NASA launch station.
Jace glanced around. “This is intense.”
“This is standard.”
He pulled out a chair and flopped down, legs spread obnoxiously wide. Lena tried not to notice.
They started working—sort of. Lena read passages out loud and took notes. Jace doodled in the margins of his worksheet, occasionally making surprisingly intelligent comments that made her question everything she knew about him.
“…Wait, you actually understand this theme?”
“Yeah. The book’s basically about obsession and self-destruction. It’s hot.”
“You think toxic codependency is hot?”
He shrugged. “In fiction? Sure. In real life, it’s just sad.”
Lena snorted before she could stop herself. “You are the weirdest person I’ve ever met.”
Jace leaned back in his chair, watching her. “You’re not what I expected, either.”
She paused, pen mid-air. “What does that mean?”
“You’re… kind of a control freak. But also funny. And your sarcasm? Surprisingly sharp.”
Lena’s cheeks burned. “Is this part of your bad boy charm? Compliment the nerd so she does all the work?”
He grinned. “Is it working?”
“Absolutely not.”
But she was smiling. And he noticed.
They worked for another hour, falling into a strange, unexpected rhythm. Every time Lena started to get frustrated, Jace cracked a joke. Every time he got distracted, she yanked him back with a perfectly timed threat involving glitter glue and public humiliation.
When the doorbell rang and her mom peeked in to say it was almost 9:30, Jace stood to leave.
“Thanks for the root beer,” Lena said awkwardly, walking him to the door.
He stopped just outside, turning to face her.
“Same time tomorrow?”
“You want to come back?”
He shrugged, hands in his pockets. “I didn’t hate it.”
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about my study sessions.”
He smirked. “You’re kind of fun when you’re not threatening me with color-coded tabs.”
Then—then—he leaned in. For one insane moment, Lena thought he might kiss her. Her heart pounded so hard it felt like it might crack a rib.
But he just reached past her, plucked a neon pink sticky note off her sweater, and said:
“You dropped this, sunshine.”
And then he walked off into the night like some sort of sarcastic biker Romeo.
Lena closed the door, turned around, and promptly slid down it, heart racing.
She was so in trouble.
- Writer
