Aid

"Hey, Sam," Carly said as she let herself into the Bensons' house with her twelve-year old daughter, Clarissa, at her heels.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" Sam asked, looking up from her Pearpad.

"Ashton left her purse at my place," Carly replied, holding up the small, purple bag. "Figured she'd want it back."

"Oh sweet, she was going crazy looking for that this morning," Sam said. "I'll make sure to give it to her when she gets back. Freddie took the kids to the Space Needle."

"You didn't want to go?" Carly frowned.
"I've been there before," Sam shrugged. "But how often do I have the house to myself?"

"Nice," Carly grinned.

"Emma and Ashton should be home in a few hours though, Clarissa," Sam told the girl. "If you want you can wait here for them; I don't care."

"I can't," Clarissa sighed moodily. "I don't have time for fun anymore."

"Um…what?" Sam frowned, looking up at Carly.

"Oh, she's just being dramatic," Carly said, rolling her eyes.

"Wonder where she gets that from," Sam chuckled. "What's up, Clarissa?"

"I got a 'C' on my last math test," Clarissa explained. "And a 'C' on the one before that too!"

"Is that all?" Sam asked.

"Is that all? It's huge!" Clarissa exclaimed. "How am I supposed to become a pediatrician with my own fashion line when I grow up if I can't even get A's in seventh grade math?"

"Sweetie, you're being too hard on yourself," Carly said. "A couple of C's doesn't mean anything other than you might just need a little extra help. Why don't you ask your teacher if she can recommend a good tutor?"

"All of the kids who do math tutoring are so…weird," Clarissa cringed. "Besides, Emma said they just make fun of you when make a mistake and treat you like you're dumb."

"Oh yeah, she gave the kid who was supposed to be tutoring her last year a wedgie," Sam smirked proudly.

"Face it, I'm doomed," Clarissa groaned.

"Hey, Clarissa, if you want, I know someone who can tutor you," Sam said thoughtfully.

"Who?" Clarissa asked anxiously.

"Jason!" Sam said. "He loves math; Freddie's genes, obviously. And he's pretty good at explaining stuff. He helps the twins and Tyler out all the time. Heck, he helps me with our taxes."

"That's not a bad idea," Carly said. "Do you think Jason would be willing to help Clarissa? I'd pay him, obviously."

"Sure," Sam said. "He'd help Clarissa out."

"What do you think?" Carly asked her daughter. "You want Jason to help you?"

"Definitely," Clarissa nodded. "He's super smart. If anyone can help my math grade, it's him. Can he start tomorrow?"

"I think so," Sam said. "I'll talk to him tonight and let you know."

"Thanks, Aunt Sam, you're the best," Clarissa beamed.

….

"Mom!" Jason frowned. "Are you serious?"

"What is the problem?" Sam asked, rolling her eyes. "All I'm asking you to do is to tutor Clarissa in math! She's basically family!"

"That's not the point!" Jason said. "You can't just schedule me without even checking with me! What if I had plans? I have a life, you know."

"Well do you have plans tomorrow after school?" Sam asked.

"N-No," Jason answered lamely. "But-"

"Then perfect, there's no issue," Sam said simply.

Jason grumbled under his breath.

"Oh calm down, Carly's gonna pay you," Sam said. "Besides, colleges love when you do this sort of stuff."

"I guess," Jason sighed. "And it is Clarissa; not some total stranger."

"There you go; it will be just like when you tutor the twins," Sam said. "Probably better, in fact. I doubt Clarissa will throw spit balls at you."

"That's a plus," Jason nodded. "Alright, fine. I'll be Clarissa's tutor. Tell her I'll pick her up from school tomorrow and we'll come back here to study."

"Thank you, sweetie," Sam smiled, rustling his blonde hair.

…..

"-So it's really not that difficult, once you memorize the formula," Jason explained to Clarissa the next afternoon. "You just plug in the numbers and…bam! You get the answer."
"Wow, that's really it?" Clarissa said, staring down at her homework. "That's not so bad. Mr. Flaunz made it seem so difficult when he taught it in class."

"Yeah, I remember him from when I was in the seventh grade," Jason nodded. "He's kind of a terrible teacher. Plus he looks like a frog."

Clarissa laughed. "That's true!"

"Anyway, I think that's it for your homework," Jason said to Clarissa. "Do you have anything else you want to work on today?"

"Oh, um, no I don't think so," Clarissa replied. "But I will tomorrow, that's for sure. I took a look at what we're going to be going over in class and I'm already confused. Can you help me again after school?"

"Hmm, well after school I have a robotics meeting, but I'm free after dinner," Jason replied. "Why don't you come over then?"

"Okay!" Clarissa said at once. "Thanks, Jason. You're a really good teacher."

"Yeah, well," Jason smiled modestly. "You're a pretty good student, too. Much better than the twins. Emma usually just calls me a nerd and Ashton rolls her eyes at everything I say."

"I would never roll my eyes at you," Clarissa said. "Or call you a nerd."

"Good to know, kid," Jason chuckled. "So, you want me to give you a ride home?"

"Yes!" Clarissa said instantly. "That'd be-"

"Hi Clarissa," Carly said suddenly, coming into the house.

"Oh, well, there you go," Jason said. "Your mom can take you home."

"Oh yay," Clarissa replied dryly.

"So how'd the tutoring go?" Carly asked.

"Jason is so smart," Clarissa told her mom. "He helped me with all my homework and I completely understand everything now. He's going to help me tomorrow too."

"Wow, good to hear," Carly smiled. "Thanks a lot, Jason. And this is for you."

"Sweet," Jason grinned as Carly handed him a few bills.

"I guess we'll see you tomorrow then," Carly said. "Come on, Clarissa. We have to stop by your Uncle Spencer's on the way home. He got his foot stuck in a chicken again."

"Gross," Jason cringed.

"Yup…" Carly sighed.

"Bye, Jason!" Clarissa said. "Can't wait until tomorrow!"

…..

"You think if we beg our moms hard enough, they'll say we're mature enough to go see a rated R movie on our own?" Emma asked two weeks later as her, Ashton, and Clarissa sat in the twins' bedroom.

"What movie do you want to see?" Ashton asked.

"Rise of the Diseased Raccoons," Emma said.

"Gross, that sounds like it would be terrible!" Ashton cringed.

"That cute actor from the toothpaste commercial is in it," Emma grinned.

"No way! Okay, we have to go," Ashton exclaimed. "Our mom should be pretty easy to convince; she's always loved those types of movies. But your mom might be a little harder, right Clarissa? Clarissa?"

"Hmm?" Clarissa said, snapping out of her daze. She slammed her notebook, which she had been doodling in, closed.

"You okay?" Emma asked. "You seem kind of spacy."

"I'm fine," Clarissa said. "Um, hey Ashton, do you think I could borrow that blue dress of yours? The one with the stripes?"

"Sure," Ashton shrugged. "Why? You going somewhere fancy?"

"No, I thought would just wear it for my tutoring session later," Clarissa replied.
"Why do you need to dress up for tutoring?" Emma scoffed. "You're going to be with Jason. He's nobody special."

"Yeah," Ashton chuckled. "Why are you still getting tutored by him anyway? You aced the math test we took yesterday."

"Well I think I could still use a little extra help," Clarissa mumbled, her face turning a dark shade of red.

"Are you blushing?" Emma frowned. "Why are you-"

"Oh my God!" Ashton exclaimed. "Clarissa has a crush on Jason!"

"What? I do not!" Clarissa defended at once.

"You so do!" Ashton grinned at her best friend.

"Hey, she's right!" Emma laughed. "That's why you're still having him tutor you even though you don't need it anymore!"

"Any why you want to get all dressed up for him!" Ashton added.

"N-No it's not!" Clarissa sputtered.

"I can't believe you like my brother," Ashton said.

"You can do so much better, Clarissa," Emma nodded. "Jason's a mega dork."

"I don't like Jason!" Clarissa cried.

"Look! She even drew his name with little hearts around it in her notebook!" Ashton said, glancing at the cover of Clarissa's notebook.

"Don't look at that!" Clarissa hissed.

"Clarissa, did you hit your head or something?" Emma asked, trying to hold back her laughter. "Because seriously, Jason?"

"Knock it off!" Clarissa snapped, grabbing her notebook. "You two are being so immature! You shouldn't get to see any rated R movie!"

And with that she spun around and marched out of the twins' bedroom.

"Alright, pizza's are here!" Freddie announced as he came into the kitchen that night carrying three pizza boxes and setting them on the table. "Dig in."

"Sweet, I'm starving," Jason said as he reached for a slice of pepperoni. "I haven't eaten anything since lunch. I've been tutoring Clarissa all afternoon."

"How's that going, by the way?" Sam asked as she passed Tyler a slice of pizza.

"Fine, I guess," Jason shrugged. "Honestly I don't think she even needs my help anymore; she seems to have everything down. But every time I bring that up she says she still needs me so…"

Emma and Ashton exchanged silent smiles.

"Well Clarissa's really concerned about her grades," Sam shrugged. "I'm sure she just wants to make sure she understands everything before she finishes."

"I guess," Jason shrugged. "Or…"

"Or what?" Sam frowned.

"I dunno, I've sort of been getting this…vibe from her, lately," Jason said.

"What sort of vibe?" Freddie asked.

"Well…she always acts super nice around me," Jason said slowly. "Nicer than she usually does. And she compliments me like, thirty times an hour, she laughs at everything I say, and lately she's sort of been getting all dressed up for our sessions like they're...like she thinks it's a date or something."

"Sounds like Clarissa may have a little crush on you," Freddie chuckled. "How cute."

"It's not cute!" Jason exclaimed. "It's…weird! She's Clarissa; my little sisters' best friend! Besides, she's just a kid."

"Hey, be nice to Clarissa!" Ashton snapped.

"Yeah!" Emma nodded loyally.

"Okay, okay, no fighting on pizza night," Sam said. She turned to Jason. "Look, Clarissa's twelve; twelve-year old girls get crushes all the time. This really isn't a big deal."

"Easy for you to say," Jason mumbled. "So what am I supposed to do?"

"Let her down easy," Sam said. "Just tell her she's a great girl and all, but there's nothing between you."

"You better not be a jerk to her," Ashton warned.

"I'm not going to be a jerk," Jason said, rolling his eyes. "I don't want to hurt her feelings or anything; she's practically another sister to me!"

"I'm sure it will be fine," Freddie said. "Clarissa's a reasonable girl."

"Still can't believe she actually has a crush on Jason," Emma snickered. "Of all the guys out there…"

"Hey!" Jason snapped. "Plenty of girls have crushes on me!"

"Yeah, okay," Ashton laughed. "Maybe in your dreams…"

"Mom!"

"Guys, it's pizza night," Sam sighed. "I'm off the clock."

…..

"Hi, Jason!" Clarissa said brightly the next day as she stepped into the Bensons' home for her tutoring session. She was wearing a bright pink dress and she had clearly borrowed some of her mother's make-up.

"Er, hey Clarissa," Jason said as the girl sat down on the couch right next to him. He slowly scooted a bit more to the left.

"We're doing quadratics in math now," Clarissa said. "They seem pretty easy-I mean…hard. Anyway, I could really-"

"Actually, Clarissa, there's something we need to talk about first," Jason said quickly. "If that's okay."

"Oh, of course," Clarissa nodded.

"Okay," Jason said, taking a deep breath. "Um…so you know I've known you like, your whole life, right?"
"Yeah," Clarissa smiled.

"And you know I care about you and I would never do anything to make you upset on purpose, right?" Jason continued.

"I know," Clarissa beamed.

"Okay," Jason said. "Good. Because the thing is…and I may be totally wrong, but I think you've somehow developed a little bit of a crush on me."

Clarissa's face instantly dropped and she looked absolutely mortified.

"And-And that's…understandable," Jason said. "I mean I did start growing facial hair two months ago. But, um, I-I just don't really think of you that way. You're a kid! And I don't-"

Clarissa jumped to her feet and ran out of the room, but not before Jason could hear a soft sob coming from the girl.

"Clarissa!" Jason called after "Clarissa! Aw jeez…"

"Um, Jason?" Sam frowned, walking into the room. "Why did Clarissa just run out back crying?"

"Because I told her I didn't like her back!" Jason said. "And, well, she didn't take it well."

"What did you say to her?" Sam demanded.

"That she's just a kid," Jason shrugged. "And that-"

"I told you to let her down gently!" Sam snapped.

"I-I did!" Jason stammered. "Do you want me to go talk to her again?"

"No, you've done enough," Sam sighed, shaking her head. "I'll take care of her."

Sam turned and headed out to the backyard where she had seen Clarissa run off. Sure enough, the girl was sitting underneath one of the trees, her face buried in her knees.

"Hey, kid," Sam said, sitting down next to her.

Clarissa didn't even lift her head. "Can you call my mom to pick me up?" she mumbled.

"Aw, sweetie, you know your mom's at work until five," Sam said.

"Well I want to go home," Clarissa sniffed.

Sam gave a small smile. "I bet you're not feeling the greatest right now."

Clarissa shook her head. "I'm humiliated. I'm going to have to find new friends too, because I can never come over here again."
"Aw, Clarissa…listen, you want to know a secret?" Sam asked. "I know exactly how you feel."

Clarissa finally looked up. "You do?"

"Uh-huh," Sam nodded. "When I was younger, I used to have a crush on your Uncle Spencer."

"Uncle Spencer?" Clarissa repeated in surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah," Sam replied. "I thought he was really funny and sweet and I guess that's kind of why I liked him."

"I bet he never found out, though," Clarissa mumbled.

"Oh…he did," Sam said. "Eventually everybody found out. Well, Freddie and your mom did. Your mom was so confused as to why I could possibly have a crush on him."

"Just like Emma and Ashton…" Clarissa said softly.

"Uh-huh," Sam said.

"Well…what happened when Uncle Spencer found out?" Clarissa asked curiously.

Sam smiled. "You know, I've never told anybody about that. Not even your mom..."

"Oh, never-"

"He had known for awhile," Sam said. "I mean I had accidently let it slip to him, plus I guess he put it together some of the other signs that were there…he's not a complete doof, after all. Anyway, one day at his apartment when it was just the two of us, he-he told me that he knew about my feelings for him. And that even though he cared about me a lot, he just didn't feel that way about me. He told me I was like a sister to him, and that he cared about me like a sister."

"That's what Jason told me," Clarissa said.

"Yeah…not exactly the response you want from someone you have a crush on, huh?" Sam said sympathetically.

Clarissa shook her head. "No."

"And I felt embarrassed and upset, just like you," Sam continued. "But then I realized something…yeah, I really liked Spencer. I liked how nice he was to me and that he could always cheer me up when I was bummed out and that he looked out for me…I was attracted to Spencer, but it wasn't in a romantic way like I thought. I was attracted to him as an older brother."

"I don't get it," Clarissa frowned.

"Well, I didn't have an older brother growing up," Sam explained. "So I never had someone like Spencer to give me advice and joke around with me and have my back. That's why I liked Spencer so much…he was the big brother I never had."

"And that's why you liked him?" Clarissa asked.

"That's right," Sam nodded. "And what about you and Jason? Why do you like him?"

"I dunno…he's really nice to me," Clarissa said. "He helps me with my homework and he's cool and he tells funny jokes…"

"Okay," Sam said. "Well, Clarissa, do you think maybe the reason that you like Jason so much is because you-"

"I like him like my brother," Clarissa said slowly. "I like him because he's like the brother I've never had…Whoa."

"Crazy stuff, huh?" Sam grinned.

"Uh-huh…"

"Jason will always be like your older brother," Sam smiled. "Which is what you really want, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Clarissa sighed. "Man…is he ever going to let me live this down, though?"

"Well, he may tease you know and then," Sam said. "Spencer still likes to pull the 'you used to have a crush on me' card every now and then. Big brothers do tend to pick on you. But he'll never hold it against you. Because he does care about you."