The lights flickered on.

"What are you guys doing?" Jerome snapped, walking in and crossing his arms, glaring at Mara and Eddie in a jealous manner.

"We're working on an article for the school website," replied Mara, removing the ear buds from her ears, looking startled and scooting away from Eddie.

"Why were you sitting so close?" Jerome asks, raising his eyebrow.

"Why do you care?" Mara replies with a questioning tone and a slight grin slowly spreading on her face. Meanwhile, Eddie smirks and shakes his head. It was so obvious that Jerome liked Mara to everyone except for, well, Mara.

"I don't!" Jerome says, too fast for it to sound true, which only caused the smirk on Eddie's face to grow larger.

"Then why are you asking about it?" Mara retorts, a smug look on her face, standing up and crossing her arms like Jerome.

Eddie chuckles, watching the action unfold. He rests his arms behind his head. "Life here is like a soap opera sometimes."

Jerome glares at Eddie, and looks like he is contemplating something in his mind. Finally, he says, "Mara, I need to talk to you," and with a worried look, pulls Mara into the hallway.

At Jerome's touch, Mara got chills up her spine. Mara had only recently discovered the fact that she had a crush on Jerome. When she saw how caring and sensitive he could be, that was when she truly fell for him. However, she was still with Mick, trying to do the long-distance thing. Lately she'd been getting less excited about Mick. Whenever she chatted with him online, she found her thoughts trailing onto Jerome - how his smirk made her heart melt, or how when he set his mind to something, he would follow through. She thought about what it would be like to be with him, and not Mick. How would things be different? But then Mara reminded herself, Jerome couldn't like her as more than a friend. Why would he? And so Mara pretended that what she had with Mick was real; pretended she was happy, when the truth was, her relationship with Mick was just a ticking time bomb, ready to explode any day now. She sighed and was suddenly brought back into reality as she heard Jerome's voice.

"Mara?" he questioned, concerned. Mara's eyes seemed to come back into focus and she blushes furiously, remembering what was going on.

"What is it? Is it about your father or Trudy?" Mara whispers. Jerome looks at her for a second, but instead of answering, he leans in and presses his lips onto hers gently at first, but then with more hunger as if finally letting out what had been bottled inside of him for so long. He felt Mara kissing back. When they pulled away, they smile at each other and lean in for another kiss.

However, just as their lips touch, Eddie's voice breaks the peace and quiet. "Hello? I thought we were going on a ghost hunt, Mara," he says in an exasperated tone, mad about his problems with Patricia.

Mara and Jerome break apart, both blushing a dark shade of pink. "Sorry," says Mara. They share one last look before Jerome goes up the stairs. "Good night."

"Good night, Jaffray," Jerome says with a warm smile and a wink.

Mara watches him go up the steps, his feet making a slight padding noise as they hit the old wood. She knew that this was the night. The night she broke up with Mick.

"It would have always been this way. Even if Mick had stayed," she thought, getting lost in her thoughts again. This was what Jerome did to her.

This time a different voice broke her thoughts. "Mara? Hellooo?" She recognized Eddie's voice and sat back down on the couch. "I knew it," Eddie said.

"Knew what" asked Mara, but Eddie just chuckled. Mara was so smart about everything except for her love life. With her love life, she was completely oblivious.

A/N: This is a Jara one shot. It is set when Eddie and Mara went ghost hunting for Senkhara, and Patricia never yells at them to turn on the light. It's not very good, but please review. I'd love constructive criticism or thoughts on the story! Disclaimer: I don't own HOA!