I'm back, babes. :) Sorry for the absence, but how does two chapters in twenty-four hours sound as a forgive-me? Get ready for some 'subtle' flirting and an educational proposition in this next chapter. Actually, though, this chapter is a little lacking so you should go ahead and reread the last one to get you excited for tomorrow's update. ;)

Years flew by

I was less than twelve

Long division

I need your help

Chapter 3: "you'll tutor me?"

Evie's Friday continued normally after lunch, aside from the little itch in the back of her mind that told her something wasn't quite right with Jay.

It bothered her so much that she decided that she would ask him about it, just to make sure they were okay and she hadn't done anything to upset him. She was already planning on bringing him the homework he'd missed from the classes she was sure he skipped this afternoon, and she knew him well enough to bet he wasn't going to skip tourney practice and that she could catch him on the field after it finished. Maybe if Carlos, Ben and his other teammates weren't around he'd open up about his weird mood with her then.

It didn't take her very long to convince Jay's teachers of some excuse for why he was absent. They'd all learned that if they pulled the 'villain's kid' card they could pretty much get by on pity. Maybe that was a little wrong, but in this case, Evie knew that Jay's teachers wouldn't accept him being sick unless he'd gone to the nurse, which he hadn't. She also knew that Jay had way too many absences already. One more without cause and they would probably give him a week's detention. Even though Evie disapproved of cutting classes, and Jay would get an earful about it from her later, sitting through detention was something she'd gladly help any of her friends avoid if she could.

The walk to the tourney field was nice, the sky a perfect blue and the sun warm on her skin. Once again, she so loved Auradon for this reason.

Arriving at the field she spotted Jay immediately, not only because she knew he was number eight, but also because he was the only one with black hair flying out from underneath his helmet. She got there just as he sent another player flying over his shoulder with a tackle and then passed the ball to a player she was pretty sure was Ben. Honestly, Jay was the only one who she could really keep track of out there.

Since it seemed like practice was pretty far from over, Evie decided to settle into the bleachers and watch, or do homework, until they finished. She didn't have anywhere else to be until dinner anyway and she wanted to catch Jay right away.

After she found a seat midway up the metal bleachers, Evie pulled out her history textbook from her bag. Jay's stack of homework came with it since Evie had just tucked it in her bag without looking. She moved to set it aside on the bleacher next to her, but something stopped her - a bright red 'D' written on the top corner of a blue test booklet.

Evie couldn't help but balk. Jay was smart, he couldn't be doing that poorly, right? She knew it was an invasion of his privacy, but Evie couldn't help but examine his test. It was in Chemistry, her best subject, and judging by what she saw Jay was seriously struggling. He had attempted everything but most things were just a little miscalculated, or he used the wrong formula. Why hadn't he told her he was having trouble?

The back page had his grade again and then a note from the teacher. It said Jay was in danger of failing the course and suggested he seek a tutor. Hmm, a tutor…

"Evie!" A voice shouted from the field below her, startling her from her thought.

The blue haired girl looked up to see her three athlete friends waving at her from the bottom of the stands. Practice had ended and the other players were venturing toward the locker room.

She waved, smiling bright. "I brought your homework!" She yelled back to Jay, a hand cupped around her mouth for volume.

Carlos and Ben laughed at Jay as he responded with a twisted look of disgust. Evie rolled her eyes at his antics and his face changed to his typical grin. She watched as Carlos said something to Jay too quiet for her to hear so far away, and Jay promptly shoved him toward the locker room as he and Ben laughed at him. Altogether Jay looked significantly better than at lunch.

"See you later, Evie!" Carlos called to her as he waved.

She waved back and then saw that Jay was climbing up the bleachers to where she was sitting, sweat and all.

"Whoa, stop right there!" Evie said, threateningly. It seemed to work, Jay froze in a step, eyes looking up to her in confusion.

"I'm not letting you near me smelling the way you do right now!" She was serious, but smiling anyway. She couldn't smell him from where she was sitting just yet, but judging by the way his hair was matted to his neck, his jersey was soaked against his chest, his tanned arms glistened with sweat… Wait, what was her point? She suddenly felt her face flush inexplicably.

Jay was grinning at her with his unique brand of mischief when she reassembled her train of thought. "Why, I don't have any idea what you're talking about," he said, his tone mocking disbelief. "I smell fresh as a daisy."

With each word he made slow, menacing, steps closer to her and her she edged further away from him. "No. You stink. Stop coming closer!"

"What? But I just want to come hug my best friend!" Jay said in the same faux innocent manner. She knew he was going to get her all gross and stinky with his sweat. He was halfway to her and Evie stood on her bleacher to jump one up away from him. He would not ruin her white blouse.

She halted for a moment at his words, the label. Why she really his best friend? He didn't seem to get hung up on the word. The thought made her smile.

"Well, your best friend isn't coming near you until you shower!" She responded, her voice high with laughter and fear.

"Jay! Don't do it! I'm serious!" She tried to shout with warning, but it sounded more like whining. She hopped up another two levels of bleachers as he approached.

Apparently the image of her running up the bleachers away from him in only her tights (she'd ditched the heels when she first walked up the structure) was too much for Jay. He doubled over laughing, hanging on to the railing for support.

"Okay, okay, you win," he conceded, still laughing. "I'll go shower. You just sit down before you hurt yourself."

Evie stuck out her tongue in response and he returned the gesture. Jay's lack of maturity sometimes really rubbed off on her.

As soon as he was a reasonable distance away and she was sure he wasn't going to come bounding back up the stands to smother her, Evie returned to her place. She found herself smiling at Jay's actions, as usual, and she could see his shoulders still shaking with laughter as he jogged toward the locker room. He seemed entirely back to his typical demeanor - not at all angry and annoyed like earlier.

It didn't take long for Jay to shower and in the meantime Evie decided she would offer Jay her services in his Chemistry class. She definitely wouldn't do his work, like she stupidly did for Chad, but she knew she could help him out. She needed to approach this carefully, though. It wasn't really her business and she didn't want him to feel stupid.

"Please don't tell me you're doing homework again." She heard Jay before she saw him. "We seriously need to find you another hobby."

She smiled at him as he made his way to sit beside her. He'd changed into a black t-shirt and jeans and his dark hair was down around his shoulders, wet from the showers.

He leaned in close to her, the dampness from his hair brushing her shoulder. "Do I smell good enough to be near you now?"

She made a point of sniffing him, crinkling her nose. He smelled...manly, for lack of a better word. There was something of a leathery scent, and then something fresh like soap. Evie had to admit he smelled really good...but she didn't have to admit it to him.

"Barely."

He leaned away, laughing at her sassy response. "So what's the damage to my weekend?"

She handed him the homework, keeping the blue test booklet in her lap. Jay flipped through the sheets of assignments, sighing.

"And there's also this," she said quickly, handing it over. "Which I didn't mean to see, but then I did and I was so shocked so I looked through it and your teacher thinks you should have a tutor and I'm pretty good at chemistry so I thought I could help if you want."

Jay went through a cycle of emotions as Evie spoke all of those words out in a single breath. Embarrassment, confusion, and relief all passed through his features.

"Wait - you'll tutor me?"

Evie cocked her head to the side, giving him an incredulous expression. "Of course, I will."

Then all the sudden Jay had flung his arms around her and hugged her tight to his chest. "You're amazing! Thank you!"

His hair was wet and tickled her face as he squeezed her close against him. She laughed at the feeling and his overzealous reaction. With her laugh she unintentionally got a breath full of whatever that boy put in his hair - it was like heaven. Her head started spinning, surrounded by the scent of him and oh goodness, what was happening?!

She tried to pull away as a knee jerk reaction, but he had her arms locked in his embrace. Thankfully he understood what her leaning back meant and released her immediately. She quickly inhaled and felt her thoughts straighten with her literal breath of fresh air.

What the heck just happened? Was that how he got all those admirers? His amazing smell? Surely not, but...

When she looked back at Jay he didn't seem to notice her odd behavior. She tried to remember what they were talking about to pull herself together.

"Um, but… I don't understand. Why didn't you just ask me to help you in the first place?" Good, okay, get your head on straight.

He looked away, embarrassed. Evie marveled at how rarely she saw that look on him. "Well, pretty much failing a class isn't something I'm very proud of. I was going to ask you the next time we were alone because I don't want anyone else knowing, but the timing was just never right."

Evie nodded, understanding him not wanting people to know. He was a pretty proud person.

"I'm so glad you saw this. Just today Coach told me I need to get the grade up quick or he's going to bench me." His brow furrowed in worry, and she suddenly realized that she hadn't seen him wear that expression recently either.

"Don't worry. You can do this. I'll make sure of it." She smiled brightly at him, her contagious smile spreading to him. "Also, just so you know you had to miss class today because your dad needed to speak with you."

Jay chuckled, and Evie then noticed his arm was still slung over her shoulders casually. Had that always been there? "Thanks. Ah, good old pops. He's doing me better behind the barrier than he ever did when I lived with him."

"I think we could all say that," Evie agreed.

They sat in silence for a moment, thinking of how different life was now. Evie felt content, peaceful, sitting with Jay and watching the sun set across the tourney field. Happiness filled her with a warmth - or was that just Jay so close to her?

Evie noticed the weight of his touch now, across her shoulders, down her side - she felt her head start to twirl again. Doug never got this close to her. He never broke personal boundaries. Lately, Jay seemed to forget they even existed.

Evie felt the sudden need to interrupt the moment. She cleared her throat and sat up taller. Her movement let Jay's arm fall and her brain registered the loss of contact. "So, I'm getting that you feel better? Did your headache go away?"

He ducked his head to the left, away from her eyes. "Uh, yeah. I went for a run. That helped. I just needed to clear my head."

"Wow, a run and then tourney practice? You must be beat," she said in awe. She couldn't remember the last time she went on a run. But if it made Jay feel better then it must be nice.

"Not yet. Just really hungry. You ready to go meet the others?" Jay grinned. The thought of food literally made him ecstatic. Evie giggled, but then remembered her original plan.

"Yes, but first, um…" she breathed, looking up into his dark eyes. "I just want to make sure you're really okay. Earlier today… That seemed like more than a headache, Jay. You seemed...angry. Did something happen? Did I do something to upset you or-"

"No, no, no," Jay shook his head, his brow scrunched up. He leaned toward her and touched her arm, she flickered her eyes to his hand, but didn't pull away. "It's nothing that you did. You're right. I was upset, but I got over it. I always do, you know me. Today was just a bad day is all. I'm fine. Really."

"Okay," Evie said, not entirely convinced. "But what upset you? I don't want it to happen again."

He broke their gaze this time, looking down at where he was touching her arm. He moved his hand away. "It's not important. It can't be helped. Let's just go eat, okay?"

She frowned, and she wasn't sure if it was because she knew he wasn't being completely honest or because she didn't like that he had pulled away from her. "Jay."

"Evie." He mocked her frown with one that was exaggerated, getting her to roll her eyes and laugh a little.

She sighed, searching his face for what she didn't know. "What's going on, Jay?"

"Nothing, honest! Don't worry about me, okay? You'll get wrinkles in your pretty little face," he spoke in his light hearted tone and pressed his fingertip to the center of her forehead where her worried expression had crinkled her skin. He was joking with her, but she could see something heavy behind his smile. Evie had never wished so much that she could read his mind.

She didn't feel better about the situation. Not one bit. But knowing Jay, and knowing his behavior, this was something he wanted to hold tight to, a burden he felt only he could carry. Pressing him for information would only make him lash out.

Evie rolled her eyes at him and shook his hand from her head, playing along with his silly joke. She conceded and gave a small smile in return for his efforts to lighten the mood. Eventually she would figure this all out, but not tonight. "Okay, okay. Let's go eat."

R&R, folks.

- m.g.