Long time no see! This is written for BadePrompt's "(S)he didn't tell you, did (s)he?" writing challenge. I chose the prompt chemistry!
"How can you be failing chemistry? Are you an idiot?" The always-supportive Jade West asked her boyfriend judgmentally. She took a long sip from her extra large Jet Brew coffee cup and quirked her pierced eyebrow, impatiently waiting for an answer. "Well?"
Beck remained nonplussed and chuckled. "I don't know," he shrugged. "It's kind of hard to learn chemistry when I spend half the class making out with you in the janitor's closet."
"Oh, so this is my fault?" Jade gasped in utter offense. She whipped her now empty cup at Sinjin, who was lurking behind Beck with a lingering gaze. He promptly scampered off with a yelp.
"I didn't-"
"Do you hate kissing me?" Jade continued her little tirade. She stomped her foot at the geeky little freshmen who dared to eavesdrop on her totally private conversation in the middle of the hallway!
"No." Beck finally got a word in. But once he went to continue, Jade held up a dismissive hand.
"Then, what? What's the problem here?"
Beck took a deep breath and placed his hands on Jade's shoulders. "I'm failing chemistry," he started slowly, as if he was talking to Cat.
"So you don't want to break up with me?" Jade squeaked, tilting her head to the left in embarrassment. She cleared her throat and kissed Beck on the lips when he shook his head.
"I should get going," Beck said, reluctantly breaking the kiss. "I have a test tomorrow and if I don't pass, I might have to go to summer school."
"I am not dating someone who has to go to summer school," Jade scoffed. She laced her hand through Beck's and began to pull him along. "Come to my house later. I can help you study," she winked, snaking her arms around Beck's waist.
Beck scratched his head. If he remembered correctly, Jade wasn't particularly that great in chemistry either. Then again, he couldn't really argue with her as she playfully slipped her hand down the back of his pants.
"I'll be there," he managed to choke out, kissing Jade's temple.
"Be where?" Cat asked, seemingly popping out of nowhere.
"Nowhere," Jade hissed in annoyance. She took a step away from Beck and stared at her little redheaded friend. "Bye!"
"Oh, are you leaving?" Cat pouted, twirling a piece of red hair around her obnoxiously bright colored fingernail. "Bye!
"I'll see you tonight," Beck said to Jade, rubbing her shoulder before he rushed to catch up with Andre.
Jade rolled her eyes when Cat was still there, obviously not getting the hint that she didn't want to associate with her right now. With a bright smile, Cat gripped Jade's forearm and squealed. "Oh! What are you doing tonight?"
"Nothing!" Jade snapped, pulling her arm free. When Cat whimpered and began to wobble her bottom lip, she dully told her, "I'm helping Beck study for his stupid chemistry test tomorrow."
"My brother loves chemistry!" Cat divulged matter-of-factly. "Wellllll," she corrected in a high-pitched voice. "He likes blowing stuff up. "
"Can he blow you up?"
Cat ignored Jade's comment and stared at her friend in confusion. "Wait. Didn't you fail chemistry last semester?"
"I got a D-!" Jade yelled in defense. She turned on her heel and trudged up the stairs, leaving Cat to fester further into confusion. God love her.
Around seven, Beck showed up to Jade's house with his tattered chemistry notebook and obnoxiously heavy textbook. However, when Jade found out that the book belonged to some girl by the name of Chloe Dern beforehand, she forbade Beck from opening it.
"How am I supposed to study then?" Beck asked.
"We can study off your notes," Jade grumbled. She knew of Chloe Dern; she was pretty loose according to Ryder Daniels. Just Beck touching the same book she touched was like a gateway to all the STDs the girl might have contracted.
"I don't have any notes!"
Jade rolled her eyes. "Why not?"
"Because!"
"Because? Your defense is 'because?'" Jade mocked in her patented man voice.
Beck ran a hand through his hair and closed his eyes. "Can I just have my book?"
"No!" Jade shouted in an obscenely loud voice. "Every time you touch this book it means you're touching Chloe Dern."
"That makes no sense," Beck argued in frustration. "I need the book to study."
"You should have taken notes," Jade said hotly. She chucked the textbook across the room and grinned when it smashed one of her mom's ugly picture frames. The world did not need to see a 12-year-old Jade posing with Mickey Mouse. "I don't know how you expect me to help you study when you don't have any notes."
Beck began to jerk his knee up and down in an attempt to curb his anger. "If I could just use the book, I wouldn't need to use my non-existent notes."
"What is this test even on?"
"The periodic table of elements."
"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Jade huffed. She grabbed her PearPad and brought up a picture of the table. "We could have avoided this ridiculous fight that cost us ten minutes of our lives."
"Gee, Jade," Beck started, but decided against furthering the argument. He took several deep breaths and nearly bruised his chin when Jade shoved her PearPad into his unsuspecting hands.
"Look over this while I take a quick shower."
Jade and "quick" showers were never successful. "Wait," Beck called out after her, grabbing her wrist when she went to walk by. "I thought you were helping me study?"
"I am," Jade argued, pulling her arm free.
"So sit," Beck commanded, pulling Jade into his lap. "Help me learn," he whispered into her hair, placing the PearPad down. His lips gently brushed against Jade's neck.
Jade pulled away immediately. "No," she smirked, throwing the PearPad down in Beck's lap. "Study that. Because for every right answer you get, I'll take off an item of clothing."
Beck nearly fainted. "W-what?"
"You heard what I said," Jade smiled coyly. "I'll be back in ten minutes. Study."
As expected, Jade took almost an hour to shower. Beck was almost sure he had all of the elements memorized. Okay not all. Maybe like ten or twelve. Fifteen at the most. But the thought of Jade taking off her clothes made his pants even tighter and he just prayed to God she would pick the ten elements he was certain of.
"What took you so long?"
Jade shrugged and plopped down next to her boyfriend. She was wearing a significantly tight tank top and black sweatpants there were riding low on her hips.
"I was…shaving."
Beck cleared his throat and passed Jade the PearPad. "So for every one I get right, you take off something you're wearing?"
"Yes," Jade confirmed with a nod. She stared at the periodic table of elements in complete and utter confusion. If she recalled correctly, she most definitely failed that test last semester. But what Beck didn't know wouldn't hurt him. "Ready?"
"Yes."
"K."
Beck scratched his head. "Potassium?"
"Nope," Jade said, popping the "p." "Try again."
"Babe, I think that's right," Beck tried to say. K was one of the ones he knew beforehand because his teacher used to make horrible jokes about potassium.
"Uh, excuse me," Jade scoffed. "Who passed chemistry last semester?"
"You."
"And who's failing chemistry this semester?"
"Me."
"Now that we've understood where we stand…" Jade trailed off in annoyance. She scanned the table and picked another random element. "Pb."
"Peanut Butter," Beck laughed, nudging Jade when she rolled her eyes.
"Okay, Cat," she mumbled under her breath. "Try again."
"Lead."
Jade smirked. "Correct." She removed her left sock.
"Oh, come on," Beck groaned. "Take off your shirt."
"In your dreams," Jade couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe next time you'll remember that K stands for krypton, not potassium. It's so obvious."
Beck knew he should have studied harder.
Nearly an hour later, Jade was indeed shirtless but still had pants on.
"Okay, get this one right and I'll take my bra off," she whispered, leaning forward to show Beck her cleavage.
Beck rubbed his hands together confidently. "I got this."
"P."
"Potassium?" Beck asked sheepishly. When Jade tilted her head, he cleared his throat and answered more prominently. "Potassium."
Off came Jade's black lace bra and that concluded their study session.
A week later, Beck stared at his test in disbelief. He had gotten a big, fat F.
"Mr. Oliver," the teacher Mrs. Ocean sighed in disappointment. "I guess you'll be joining me in summer school."
"But I studied," Beck argued weakly. "My girlfriend helped me study and I got all of them right with her!"
"Well she must have been lying to you," Mrs. Ocean scoffed. "K does not stand for krypton. It's potassium. Remember I made that joke earlier in the year?"
"I must have been absent that day," Beck said, shrinking in his seat. By "absent," he most definitely meant "making out with my girlfriend in the janitor's closet." "How did that joke go, Mrs. Ocean?"
"Do you want me to tell a great potassium joke?" Mrs. Ocean said enthusiastically. "And what do you think the punch line is, Mr. Oliver?"
Beck bowed his head. "K."
"Correct!"
Once he left the class, Beck trudged down the hallway. He looked at all of Mrs. Ocean's corrections and nearly dropped to his knees dramatically. P stood for phosphorus, not potassium, Jade! All of the ones he got wrong were the ones he originally got right with Jade, who in turn, said they were wrong. So realistically, him failing this test was all Jade's fault. Jade belonged in summer school!
Cat skipped over and looked at Beck sadly. "What's wrong, Beck?"
"I failed my test," Beck said robotically. He held up the pristine white paper with copious red scribble marks all over it. "I don't understand. Jade helped me study."
Cat let out a squeak.
"Cat," Beck began, gripping Cat's forearm just in case she was looking to weasel away without spilling whatever secret she was keeping. "Talk. Now."
"She didn't tell you, did she?" Cat whispered vaguely.
Beck threw his hands up in the air. "Tell me what?"
"Jade got a D- in chemistry last semester."
"What?"
"Jade got a D- in chemistry last semester," Cat repeated, obviously not catching the sarcasm in Beck's voice. "But oh my gosh, don't tell her I said that! I could have helped you study! I got a B+!"
"You did?" Beck said in surprise.
"Yes!" Cat pouted. "I'm pretty smart, you know."
"Hah," Jade scoffed from behind her best friend. "In what universe?"
Cat shrugged in complete befuddlement. "Beck failed his test!"
"How?!" Jade yelled, startling a few students. "How could you fail? I, I," she stopped, pulling Cat close and covering her ears, "stripped for you!"
"You," Beck pointed an accusatory finger at his girlfriend. "You made me fail! You're the one who told me all of the ones I got right were wrong! Now I have to go to summer school! Why didn't you tell me you failed chemistry last semester?"
"Hey, a D- is passing!" Jade said simply. She pushed Cat away and motioned for her to go and bother Tori. "Is it really my fault you failed?"
Beck nodded frantically. "Yes!"
"Yeah, I don't think it really is."
"It is!"
"Okay," Jade conceded. "Whatever. I'm sorry?"
"You better be," Beck mumbled, playfully pushing Jade's face away when she went to kiss his lips. "No. I'm mad at you."
Jade pouted and clasped her hands together in a pleading motion. "What can I do to make it up to you?" she asked dully, staring at her feet.
"You," Beck began, lazily slinging his arm around Jade's shoulder. He dragged her towards the main office. "Can take chemistry with me this summer. I mean, a D-? Really, Jade? You can do better."
Jade untangled herself from Beck's grip. "I worked hard for that D-!"
"Cat, got a B+ in chemistry," Beck said matter-of-factly. He watched Jade's eyes narrow. Her left eyebrow began to twitch. "Cat, who can't even remember her own phone number, got a better grade than you in chemistry."
"Well…"
"What do you say?" Beck asked one more time, kissing Jade's temple.
Jade burst out laughing and began to walk away. "Have fun in summer school, babe. I'll just tell people you went to Canada."
