Chapter Twenty Five: Stressed Out by Twenty One Pilots

"Tell me what happened during the Cuban Missile Crisis," said Rose, fanning the index card in her hand. They were sitting on the floor in her room studying.

"It was a… missile crisis… in Cuba?" Jack said.

Rose hit him with the index card. "Jack!"

"You know I never studied before you came along," said Jack.

"Well, there's a first time for everything," said Rose. "This is your junior year history midterm. It's going to be impossible."

"What about you? You're in AP History," said Jack.

"I've been studying for weeks," said Rose. "I'm more worried about you." She ate a piece of her sushi roll and looked at the index card. "So the Cuban Missile Crisis happened during the Cold War, and the United States was trying to overthrow the communist Cuban government. The Soviet Union stepped in, trying to help maintain the communist government. They sent missiles to Cuba, and the United States tried to intercept all trade with Cuba, which is an act of war. After thirteen days, they both retreated."

"Wow," said Jack. "That's fascinating."

"Okay, no need for the 'tude," said Rose. "I'm doing this for you."

Jack smiled. "You know what you could do for me?"

"If you suggest we make out…" Rose began.

"What would you say?" Jack asked.

Rose shrugged. "Okay."

Jack smiled and met her in a kiss. "Just so you know, you're going to fail your midterm."

"That's okay," said Jack.

They kissed lovingly for a few minutes, and Rose pulled away. "Okay, here's the deal," she said. "Every time you get a question right, I'll give you a kiss."

"You really want me to study that much?" Jack asked.

Rose nodded. "But every time you get it wrong… you have to watch an episode of The Bachelor with me."

"Oh, I hate that show," said Jack.

"Do you accept these terms?" Rose asked.

"Yes," said Jack. He stretched, as if warming up. "I'm ready."

"Okay," said Rose. "Who was Mussolini?"

"He was the leader of the fascists in Italy, and he started out as a socialist but switched to fascist," said Jack.

"That's correct," said Rose. She grabbed his shirt and gave him a quick peck.

"That's the kiss?" Jack asked.

"The first one? Yes," said Rose. "Every time you increase your streak, I'll give you a hotter kiss."

"My god," said Jack. "No tutor has ever done this before."

Rose smiled. "I would hope not."

"Okay, next question," said Jack, rubbing his hands.

"How did President Hoover respond to the stock market crash?" Rose asked.

"Are these in order?" Jack asked

"I shuffled the index cards," said Rose. "Answer the question."

"President Hoover treated the crash like any other gold standard spiral. He cut jobs and raised wages," said Jack.

"Correct," said Rose. "But before the kiss, did this work?"

"No, America sunk further into the depression," said Jack.

"Correct," said Rose, and this time she gave her a slightly deeper kiss.

They went back and forth for a while. Jack had broken his streak a few times, but he got most of the questions right. Finally, Rose was on the last index card.

"Okay, million dollar question," said Rose. "This one's for the boob."

"Oooh," said Jack.

"Tell me about the Cold War," said Jack.

"Hostilities between the United States and the Soviet Union," said Jack. "It's called the Cold War because all of the fighting was through proxy wars."

Rose smiled. "You're ready for this test."

"Where's my kiss?" Jack asked with a smile.

Rose took Jack's hand and they walked over to the bed. She pulled him on top of her and kissed him. He put his hand on her waist and slid it up until he met her breast.

•••

It was a few days later. Jack had taken all of his midterms, and Rose had taken all of hers, except for one. He knew how stressed she was about her math final.

Rose was sitting in her room, studying. All of a sudden, she felt something. She felt Jack kissing her neck. Rose spun around in her chair and smiled. She grabbed him and pulled him closer, kissing him passionately.

"How stressed are you, scale of one to ten?" Jack asked.

"Ten," said Rose. Jack kissed her again, running his hands through her hair. "Nine," said Rose, and she got swept up in another kiss. "Eight." He traced her jawline with light kisses. "Seven." Jack kissed her neck and her shoulder blade. "Six." Rose lifted her arms and Jack pulled her shirt over her head. "Five." Jack put his hands on her waist, sliding them up to her breasts. "Four." He kissed the corner of her lips, then her neck, and her shoulder. "Three." Jack kissed the skin between her breasts, moving downward. "Two." He kissed her hip, her stomach, and her other hip. "One."

Jack kissed her one more time before touching her cheek. "So, level one stress? That's pretty good."

"Thanks to you," said Rose. She kissed him again. "I love you."

"I love you," said Jack. "Do you need to study more?"

Rose smiled. "I can do that a little later."

"Great," said Jack.

They were laying on Rose's bed, kissing, when Jack heard something. "Horizontal asymptotes… logarithmic functions… sinusoidal applications…"

Jack pulled away. "Are you going over your math stuff right now?"

"Was I?" Rose asked, and Jack nodded. "Oops."

"Do you want to study?" Jack asked.

Rose smiled. "Can I?" She jumped up and got her review sheet, and went back to the bed.

"I'm sure you're ready for this to be over," said Jack.

"I'm really good at studying," said Rose. "I've always been good at school."

"I know," said Jack. "You're brilliant."

Rose smiled. "Thank you," she whispered. "So are you."

"Not like you are," said Jack, and he kissed her again. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course you can."

"What do you want to do?" Jack asked. "You want to go to college, do you have any idea what you want to study or do?"

Rose sighed, and looked down. She looked back up and met Jack's gaze. "I want to be a doctor," said Rose. "Specifically… oncologist."

"Really?" Jack asked, and Rose nodded. "You're brilliant. You can do it."

"Thanks," said Rose. She went back to studying, and Jack watched her. She had this intense concentration; her eyes fixated on the material and wouldn't move.

She put her head on Jack's chest. He read a book while she studied, but later he looked down and realized she was asleep. He slowly took the review sheet from her hands.

"Five minutes, then I'm going to study," Rose murmured.

"Shhh, go to sleep, baby," Jack whispered. "You're ready for the test."

He took the review sheet out of her hands and put the blanket over her. "What time do you want to wake up?"

"Seven," Rose murmured. "Goodnight."

"I love you," Jack whispered, and he kissed the top of her head.