Travis sat down staring down at his blank sheet of paper, while his two good friends, Malcolm and Annabeth sat across from him. Annabeth was reading a book, while texting her boyfriend, Percy Jackson, another good friend of Travis. Her brother, Malcolm had a textbook open and was studying for some AP paper that he had to do.
"I can't do this!" Travis pouted and threw his pencil onto the table. Malcolm didn't even look up from his textbook, so did Annabeth, as they two of them said in unison.
"Travis," Travis squirmed, a little bit freaked out how they talked at the same time like that. Was that the feeling that people get when Connor, his younger brother, and him talk like that? He placed his arm on the desk and rested his head on it, groaning.
"But I can't! I don't know how to write an essay!" He could just feel Annabeth rolling her eyes while smiling at the text that Percy send her.
"Travis, you're a junior in high school. You should know by now how to write an essay." Travis groaned and tried his best to tune out Annabeth's 'you're old enough to write an essay' speech again.
"Alright, Travis," Malcolm cut his sister off, which Travis thanked him through his telepathy. "Let me see your ideas." The junior who couldn't write a essay lifted his head and tossed his crumpled up paper with his ideas for the essay, which consisted of locations where his band could play at. Maybe, Malcolm wouldn't noticed that and think it was just random places that Travis thought about.
"Travis, these are gigs places for your band to play at." He sighed. Oh, he did noticed. Travis thought, he opened his mouth to say something but the door to the tutor center opened up and walked in three figures.
The first one was a male, Percy Jackson. Travis's bandmate, one of his best friends, and Annabeth's boyfriend. He was slacker like himself, but ever since he had been tutored by Annabeth, his grades were now a B to a C+. Apparently, to the girls, Percy, Connor, Beckendorf, Nico, and himself were the hottest guys at the school. Which made perfectly sense.
"How's tutoring the older single Stoll?" Percy send Travis a smirk before leaning down and perking Annabeth's lips. Travis rolled his eyes and was about to defend himself when another voice cut him off.
"It's impossible to tutor him. Too much self centering going in his head. And let's not forget how the hell he was suppose to pick up chicks." Travis' blood boiled, his whole body tensed, turning to the guy that Travis nicknamed 'the Little Bastard.' His fists clenched and scowled at the Little Bastard.
"Shut up, Jessie, at least I have a brain." Travis retorted, before the Little Bastard (or Jessie, it doesn't really matter to Travis) could think of a comeback, his girlfriend and the girl that Travis has been in lo-and the girl Travis has a huge crush on since eighth grade stopped him.
"Jessie, leave Travis alone and Travis focus on your essay." Her mossy green eyes locked on Travis',
giving him a look that said 'drop it and stop.' Her brown long straight hair was braided into a side braid. She wore a green short sleeve shirt with pretty white flowers patterned all over her. Tight skinny jeans hugged her legs tightly, and was tucked into her dirt white Nike shoes.
Travis gulped, trying to control his blushing, and started to shake his knee up and down, his nerves jumping up.
"Well," Percy cleared his throat, Travis refused to look at his bandmate because he knew that Percy had a knowing smirk. "Jessie, Katie, and everyone else is going to the Shake, you coming beautiful?" Travis lifted his head just a bit, to see Annabeth already packing her things, her face just a bit pink.
"Sorry Mal, but it's the Shake." Malcolm groaned and closed his textbook. He looked at Travis, who had a pleading and begging look on his face. It took a couple of seconds before Malcolm finally said his answer to the silent question.
"Let's go. But Travis you seriously need to finish that essay before we meet again at Friday." Travis eagerly packed up his things which was only his pencil and notebook.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." Travis threw his backpack over his shoulder and grinned at Percy who had his arm around Annabeth's shoulders.
"It's rude that you just invited yourself." Jessie rolled his eyes at the tutoree. Katie shushed at him, sending Travis a small apologetic smile which made the little ants on Travis' spine run up and down.
"I think Percy's invitation meant for us. I mean, I am his bandmate." Annabeth whistled, making everyone turned to her. She held her chin high, her steel grey eyes looking from Jessie to Travis.
"I honestly don't know what is going on with the two of you. But whatever, Jessie, Travis and Mal are coming with us. So, let it be. Travis, stop acting like a big baby." Travis crossed his arms and pouted at Annabeth. He opened his mouth but Percy shook his head.
"Fine, I won't say anything. Let's go shake things up now." Malcolm and Percy laughed, Annabeth and Jessie rolled their eyes but Annabeth had a easy 'I so expected that' smile. Katie put her hand over her mouth to keep her giggles in check which made Travis' smile even wider.
"Someone get more ketchup!" Connor whined, he held up one of his curly fry. "My fry needs his mate!"
Drew Tanaka, Connor's girlfriend who sat next to him, rolled her eyes and grasped his wrist. She pushed up while Connor was whining. The fry smashed into Connor's lips, the fry's insides were now smeared onto Connor's lips, its stomach flew off his lips when Connor spit it out and landed onto the table.
"What was that for!" Connor turned towards his girlfriend who was laughing with all of their other friends. Travis laughed and handed him a napkin which his brother gladly took.
"Because you were whining too much. Did I hurt you?" Drew asked, while pouting at her boyfriend who groaned and wiped the fry's insides off his mouth. Once everyone calmed down, Travis rubbed his hands on his thighs before grabbing the large plate that was reserve for the ketchup.
"I'll get the ketchup." Travis said while getting up, his brother reached his hands out like he was a baby and wanted his parent to carry them up.
"If you weren't my brother, I would have said 'I could marry you!'" Everyone burst into another fit of laughter, and Silena, Beckendorf's girlfriend, once she had her laughter under control, she smirked at Drew and Connor.
"But aren't you suppose to be saying that to Drew?" Percy, Beckendorf, and Grover, another friend of Travis and Grover was the best friends with Percy and Annabeth, laughed and started to joke with a blushing Connor.
"Wait! Katie go with Travis! Ask Helen to make me a mango shake?" Travis stopped walking when he had heard his name. He swirled around and watched as Katie sighed and got up, she rounded the table while shooting Silena glare, which she happily returned with a warm, big, 'thank you' smile and an 'I love you!' shout.
"Why can't she just get it herself?" Katie asked Travis once, she caught up with. Travis chuckled and offered her a shrug.
"Let's just go and get the ketchup and Silena's shake before everyone gets mad at us." Travis send her a smile, Katie smiled back and linked her arm with Travis.
"Then we should hurry because Silena gets a bit cranky when she doesn't get her mango shake." She giggled and pulled him along to the bar counter where their favorite waitress, Helen was causally leaning on while tapping away on her phone.
"Coming right up, babes." Helen said with her Brooklyn accent coating her words. She send the pair of friends a wide smile and walked into the kitchen. Katie slipped onto the nearest bar stool and tapped onto the counter.
"How's your tutoring?" Katie asked while Travis squirted ketchup onto the plate. He again offered her another shrug of his shoulders. "What you mean," she shrugged her shoulders and stared at Travis.
Travis ran a hand through his hair and placed the plate in front of Katie, he shifted so he could lean onto the counter with his forearm, while facing Katie.
"I don't know. I guess it's going good, I mean, I'm not really improving but it's working." Katie noded, she started to gently swing her legs and hold onto the edge of the counter.
"If you still don't understand anything, you can hit me up and I will try to help you." Travis shook his head, declining her offer.
"Thanks, Katie but Malcolm and Annabeth is good. Besides, according to your boyfriend, I can't be teached." Katie frowned and looked like she was going to say something but Helen came back into view, holding a large mango shake with whipped cream on top. She smiled at Katie and Travis before handing the large glass of mango shake to Katie.
"Thanks, Helen." Katie smiled and the two of them turned and started to walk back to their table, not saying a word.
Travis threw his textbook onto his bed, he could hear Drew and Connor in the next room laughing and having fun. Sometimes, he just wanted to go back where Travis had a girlfriend and Connor didn't.
He reached over to his nightstand, grabbing his phone and entering the passcode as fast as he can. Travis wanted to get out of the house before he could hear something he shouldn't. Opening up his contact book, he strolled through his list of friends, he couldn't call Malcolm he was with Jason Grace and the rest of the student council. Annabeth? No, she was probably with Percy and he didn't want to ruin their...private moment.
Finally, Travis reached Katie's name. He paused and bite his lower lip, would she still try and help him with this Cal homework? He did reject her on the offer, but Katie was a sweet girl and not mention she was also helpful, gorgeous, amazing, beautiful, caring, magical-whoa, did he just described a girl as magical? An unavailable girl?
With a shake of his head, he tapped onto Katie's number, silence was coming from Connor's room which starting to scary Travis. After three rings, Katie picked up with a sleepy voice.
"What do you want?" Travis smiled to himself, imagining an irritated but sleepy expression on Katie. Her hair was slightly bed head, her mossy green eyes droopy.
"Am I talking to Cranky or Sleepy? Because I have a message for Sleepy from Bashful." On the other side of the line, Travis could hear Katie shifting in her bed, probably now registering that she was talking to him.
"Travis? What is it?" Smiling, he could hear the little worry that was crept in her voice, with the dash of alarm and surprise.
"Yeah it's me. I...I just wanted to know if your tutoring offer is still standing." Travis swung his legs over the edge of his bed, rubbing the back of his neck. Now, he could hear disturbing sounds and noises from Connor's room. Travis' leg twitched up and down, waiting in anxiety for Katie's reply.
"Yeah, but not right now."
"Please Katie? I need help and I don't understand this history unit and I have a test on it in two days. Katie, please."
"Travis...I really don't know…"
"Connor and Drew are in the next room and I think they want some privacy. Please Katie don't let me suffer through that!" Hey when in doubt, throw in a disturbing fact. There was silence on the other side of the line as Katie thought it over, the sounds from Connor's room grew louder and louder, which made Travis' leg twitching faster and faster.
"Fine," she finally said with a sigh, Travis jumped up and grabbed his book bag, stuffing in everything while shifting his phone so he could hold it in between his ear and shoulder. "But because I'll feel bad for you if I just let you stay here and listen to them."
With a thank you, Travis hung up the phone and threw his leather jacket onto himself. He walked out of his room, dashed down the stairs and yelled at Connor and Drew that he was going to Katies'. Not waiting for a reply, Travis shut the front door, and unlocked his car.
It took about fifteen minutes to get to Katie's garden house. He always loved it Katie start to talk about her flowers, trees, and whatnot. Her eyes would light up and a twinkle would dance around, her smile was wide and carefree.
He was so engrossed with his thoughts of Katie, he didn't even he was in front of her door and was about to ring the doorbell. Before he could stop himself, Travis rang the doorbell that was muffled against the door.
"Coming! Hold on just minute!" Katie yelled, there was some thuds and thumps before the door opened and revealed the Katie R. Gardener. In her pajama short shorts and tank top.
"Hey, Travis. Come on in." Travis gulped and nodded, as Katie held the door a little be wider. He stepped in and watched as Katie closed the door behind him. "Okay, let's go in my room. My younger sister, Miranda, is upstairs too but she won't be bothering us." Katie said those last words a little bit louder, there was a muffled 'yeah!' from somewhere upstairs.
"Okay, let's get studying." Travis groaned which made Katie smile and grabbed his hand.
"It's not so bad, you big baby. Come on." She tugged on his hand while pulling him up the stairs.
"It isn't for you! Maybe!" Katie's laughter fluttered Travis' heart and made him want to keep her in his arms.