Chapter five is up! I know, I know, no kidding, Sherlock ;)

Disclaimer: I, Science-Fantasy93, hereby proclaim that I, in no way whatsoever, own Big Time Rush. That good enough for you, Lawyers?

Guest: Yes, wasn't it? ;)

Guest(#2): Thank you so much! I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

JatieLuvr101: Awww, thank you so much! You're so sweet!

Misslittlemaslow: Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoyed it!

THANK YOU to everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited, or read this story! I love you guys!

Enjoy the chapter :)

Chapter Five: The Proposition

James' POV (Cont.)

"Do you know your sister's coach?" I asked Kendall after hockey practice that day.

"Who? Sarah?"

I nodded. "She came into English today to pull Katie out, so that she could train."

"She did?" Kendall frowned. "That woman's a wannabe Nazi. But my parents practically worship her, because she gets Katie through competitions."

"You don't like her?"

Kendall snorted. "Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure Sarah turned Katie into what she is now. She pushes her and pushes her and bullies her and pushes her some more. Last year, she made Katie starve herself."

I inhaled sharply. "What happened?"

"She collapsed."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

I left the locker rooms with Shane, and we headed out to the parking lot, climbing into the car.

"So, we made it through our first week of school here," Shane said in satisfaction as I started up the car.

I nodded in agreement. "We actually did. It kind of feels like a miracle, doesn't it?"

"It does. It definitely does."

Kendall, Logan, and Carlos had invited Shane and me to go to the movies and out to dinner with them on Saturday evening.

We went to see a new action movie, and then headed to a small Mexican restaurant after. As we dug into enchiladas and tacos and burritos, Kendall said,

"It's so nice to get out of my dad's house."

"Why?" Shane asked. "What's your dad like?"

"He's cool, but he's spent too much time with Katie."

"What do you mean?" I said curiously.

"He just doesn't really know how to…I don't know." He sighed. "I don't think he and Katie really talk all that much. He doesn't really talk to me, and whenever I ask him a question about Katie, he just brushes it off. It drives me nuts."

I nodded in understanding. "Does he at least care?"

"I think he does. He's not a jerk or anything. He just doesn't know how to be a father. But he tries, at least. Well, for the most part. He's always come to my hockey games, and he goes to Katie's skating competitions."

"That's good, at least."

He nodded. "It'd just be nice if he could figure out how to be more involved in our lives, you know? I mean, I know pretty much every other teenager out there wants their parents out of their lives, but…I don't know. He's my dad. I want him to know me."

"No, that makes sense," I said quietly, thinking of my own dad. The father who left my mom when I was twelve, who made me quit ice skating and drama and choir, because he perceived them as too feminine. The father who hated me because of my interests. I could never figure that out. He was a maze of intricate tunnels that never seemed to lead anywhere, and every time you thought you'd finally come to the end of one, you discovered you had made a wrong turn way back a few miles.

Kendall nodded in response to what I had just said, and turned back to his burrito. I poked at my shrimp enchilada, wondering if there were any wrong turns I had made that had led my father to treat me like an outcast.

Eventually, we finished our food and paid for dinner, before heading out to Logan's car. We climbed in and he drove us all back to our houses.

Shane and I walked into the house, not saying a word. I vaguely wondered if he was thinking about our dad too, but I didn't ask him. Instead, I just headed up to my room and threw myself onto my bed.

I reached for my iPod, in the mood to make a new playlist. I couldn't think of what songs to put, and I couldn't figure out my mood, so I ended up just setting it aside, and settling in for the night.

The weekend passed by quickly. Shane and I spent Saturday at Carlos' house with Kendall and Logan, playing video games, and on Sunday, they gave us a tour of La Castillo.

Monday morning arrived much too soon.

I hadn't been sleeping well, plagued by dreams of what could have happened in Chem. if Katie's and my experiment hadn't blown up. It was very hard to deny my attraction to her when I kept dreaming about fucking her on our desk.

My mom gave me a smug look every morning when I wordlessly brought her my sheets. On Sunday afternoon, she slapped a book on my bed, titled: Being a Teenage Boy: Understanding Your Thoughts and Hormones. Talk about embarrassing.

Needless to say, on Monday morning, I pretty much dragged Shane out of the house before Mom could ask me if I had read the book, or how I had slept, or anything else with the potential to embarrass me.

"Dude, you're going crazy," Shane said to me as I parked the car in front of the school. "You seriously need to relieve this sexual frustration."

What did he think I'd been doing every night?!

"I am," I said miserably. "But it isn't working. I don't get it. It's only been a week! How could she have this kind of effect on me? I don't even like her!"

"But your body does."

"It makes no sense."

"Do these things ever make sense?"

"Stop sounding so wise. You're too young for that crap."

"Aye, aye, Commander."

"Shut up."

He grinned as we got out of the car and headed towards the school. We passed Katie and her figure skating friends in the hall. We got a sneer from Katie, Stephanie, Jo, and Jett, but friendly smiles and waves from Camille and Kyle.

Shane blushed a little when Kyle smiled and waved at him, and I just barely managed to hide my smirk. It was nice to see Shane like this. He'd never ever really gotten the chance to really explore his sexuality. I mean, he's only fifteen, but he'd once told me that he had known he was gay since he was around eleven, when all the other boys were noticing girls, and he was enraptured by the boys. So he'd had a while to come to terms with it, and he'd always been fine with it. It's just, some people weren't.

What can I say? Kids are cruel.

I flipped the snotty figure skaters off and smiled at the nice ones, and then Kyle and I headed for our lockers.

Homeroom and geometry went by quickly. I admit, I was a little nervous about PE, considering that during the last class Carlos and I had had to go to the nurse's office. And yeah, okay, I was almost excited for Chemistry. Not that I wanted Katie's hands on me. Not in the least. Just…I wouldn't object to it.

However, when Carlos and I stepped out into the gymnasium, Stephanie was the only figure skater in sight. She was chatting with a couple of the football players, but I could tell by the way she was standing that she was tense.

"I wonder where Katie is," I mumbled to Carlos.

"Bathroom? Maybe she's on her you-know-what?"

"Her what?"

"You know…her TOTM?"

"What?"

"Her period!"

"Oh! You could've just said it."

"I'm shy."

I chuckled and shook my head, just as Mr. Langly walked in. There was no Katie in sight.

She didn't show up for the rest of PE, and when I walked into Chemistry, our table was empty. Stephanie and Jo were talking at their table, both looking a little worried.

"Mr. Diamond," Ms. Straumner said to me when she saw me, "Miss Knight has been temporarily pulled from her classes by her figure skating coach. You will be working with Mr. Knight and Mr. Garcia now."

I frowned a little. I knew I should have been happy for the reprieve from Katie, but I wasn't. As much as I hated to admit it, I kind of liked our fighting. Not the part where she launched balls at my head, but the part where we bickered and argued and got on each other's nerves and pushed each other's buttons. I liked that part. No, scratch that. I didn't just like it. I thrived on it.

But I wasn't going to admit it. Not here in Chemistry class. Not here, not now, not ever.

So I gave her a cheerful smile, said, "Okay, thanks," and sat down with Kendall and Carlos.

"Sarah pulled Katie from her classes?" Carlos whispered to Kendall as we began our lab. "Can she do that?"

"She had to get my parents' permission. She called them down to the office on Friday afternoon."

"You didn't say anything about it though."

"I didn't think my mom would go through with it. She and my dad were arguing about it all weekend." He sighed. "She finally gave in."

"So…Katie's not going to be going to any more classes?"

"Not until Sarah deems her where she needs to be in her skating."

"But this is school. I mean, if she was home schooled I could see how it would work. But we have a curriculum," I frowned. "A set curriculum with set due dates and set tests. How is that going to work?"

"As long as Katie turns in the homework with a B average and passes all the tests, she'll be okay."

"Ah."

Kendall grimaced. "I love my sister, but she's not a straight-A student. She's smart, she's very smart, but she has difficulty in some subjects. I think it's mainly because she didn't have time to learn them. I mean, she struggles in both math and English. Most people are good at one, or the other. Or halfway decent at one, you know?"

"Well, some people just can't get school," I pointed out. "It's not for them, but they do really well at other stuff."

"I guess…" he sighed. "I just don't like that Sarah's taking her education away from her, too."

"Oh, no, you're starting to sound like Logan," Carlos groaned. "I've never figured out why we have to learn all these different subjects. I mean, a simple knowledge of all the subjects I can understand, but when are we ever going to use allegories and symbols or whatever?"

I inadvertently glanced over at Katie's and my table, where the explosion had occurred. I could see the scorch marks from the boiling liquid on the table. The explosion had kind of felt like a symbol, in a way – a symbol of our whatever-the-hell-this-was blowing up in our faces.

After Chem. we headed to the cafeteria.

"Hey, Katie's here!" Carlos cried, and we all turned to look over at the figure skater's table.

Sure enough, Katie was sitting there, eating a yogurt and a salad, looking a little tired and, in all honesty, a little limp, like a wilted piece of lettuce in her salad.

But I was still disgustingly happy to see her. And I was craving a good argument with her. A good Kat fight.

I chuckled to myself at the pun. I was so lame, but I couldn't even come up with the self-will to change the first letter of Kat in my mind.

We got our food and headed over to our table. As I took my seat, I glanced quickly over at the figure skater's table. I saw Katie looking over at us, and for a split, heart-stopping, breathtaking second, our eyes locked.

And then Jett said something to her, and she looked away, focusing her attention on him.

Whatever. I was only attracted to her. It wasn't like I had a crush on her. I didn't want to go out with her or anything. I was just lusting after her, and I was sure that wouldn't last for very long. These things never did, right?

Katie didn't show up in any of our classes until Thursday, when we had a chapter test in English. I was very happy to see her. I was getting tired of having My Darkest Days' song Can't Forget You stuck in my head. For some reason, that song popped up in my mind whenever I thought of her. Well, that one and Eve 6's Situation Infatuation…But that was it. Sort of.

"Diamond," she snipped as she passed by me, her skirt brushing against my desk.

"Knight," I shot back.

She sneered at me, and I curled my lip back at her.

It was a simple exchange, but suddenly I was breathing easier than I had in days. This was fantastic! I felt…alive! It was like a mini adrenaline rush, enough to get me pumped. It was like getting into a cool shower on a boiling hot summer day. Refreshing. Amazing. Invigorating.

Mrs. Wattburgon passed out our tests, set the timer on her desk, and said, "Begin."

The test was very easy, just asking questions about the stories we had read in the chapter, and about the symbols in the stories. I was one of the first to finish the test, and I grinned as I handed her the test and packed up my backpack. I glanced over at Katie. I wasn't sure, but it looked like she wasn't very far along on the test. She was gripping her pencil tightly and her tongue was poking out, her back hunched, a stressed look on her face.

I walked out of the classroom, trying not to think of her, or how much it had looked like she was struggling on the test.

Katie didn't appear in any of my morning classes on Friday, but she was in the English classroom when I arrived, talking to Mrs. Wattburgon, looking a little panicky.

"You don't understand! I need at least a 3.0 GPA! If I don't get it, I'm not allowed to ice skate, because it's an extracurricular activity, as well as a sport! I need a passing grade on the test!"

Mrs. Wattburgon nodded at me as I passed by them and took my seat. "I'm sorry, Katie, I really, truly am, but the test doesn't lie."

"Well, what about extra credit?"

"Any extra credit assignments I give you will be pointless, because they will be on material we will be covering in the upcoming chapters, and I can't be sure that you'll understand the topics."

Katie slumped. "But – but – "

"Will you be joining us in class today?"

She nodded, looking like all the fight in her had drained out. "Yeah…"

"Good. Take your seat. We will discuss extra credit assignments after class. Maybe we can work something out." Mrs. Wattburgon gave Katie a small smile, before shuffling a stack of papers on her desk.

Katie sat down at her desk, folding her arms on the surface, and resting her head on them. She looked exhausted, like she could fall asleep at any second.

A few minutes later, class began, and Mrs. Wattburgon got to her feet to start passing out the tests. "I was quite pleased with your tests, for the most part," she said as she handed them out. "You did much better than I expected."

I saw Katie raise her head just long enough to shoot Mrs. Wattburgon a nasty look. Yep, Mrs. Wattburgon had made it onto her shit list. And apparently she was higher up on it then I was, since Katie hadn't even acknowledged my presence.

I wasn't quite sure how I felt about this.

Mrs. Wattburgon placed my test paper on my desk, face down, and I hesitantly picked it up. I mentally cheered – I'd gotten one-hundred percent on it, plus an extra credit point, because I'd answered a question two different ways.

Success!

We had had extra long hockey practices all week, since we had our first game next Friday, and the tension was building. We were all desperate to win this game, and the desperation was increasing by the second.

The weekend passed by too quickly, much like it had the week before, and on Monday morning we were back at school.

The fact that on Friday the hockey team had a game did not escape unnoticed. People began whispering about the hockey players, and suddenly we were all getting attention. Girls were flirting with us, and guys were telling us to kick the other team's ass.

The figure skaters muttered to each other about us, and occasionally threw out an insult. Katie was back in all of our classes together, and upon arriving to Chemistry, she wasted no time in informing me that the hockey team was crap and was never going to win. I decided I hadn't missed her that much.

The entire hockey team ate lunch together on Monday. Usually, Dak hung out with a couple of other friends, but he chose to sit with us. Kendall spent the entire lunch period telling us about the other team in as much detail as he could, considering he knew next to nothing about them, just that they were good.

However, once lunch ended, we didn't get a chance to discuss it further – for the first time, we were all doing different things for Study Hall. Carlos and Kendall both had detention for straying from an experiment in Chemistry, which they said was merely out of curiosity – they hadn't meant to blow up their test tube.

Logan had an extra credit assignment for his advanced biology class, so he headed to the Computer Lab to do research for it. Dak had his friends outside the hockey team to hang out with, so that left me at a table all alone, my iPod blasting in my ears.

I got through my geometry homework without too much pain. It was all pretty much reading, and a couple of practice problems, which was a nice change from the rows of problems the class had been getting assigned lately. I was just about to begin on Chem. when my right earbud was suddenly ripped out of my ear.

I yelped in surprise and looked up to confront the earbud stealer, fumbling to pause my iPod.

Katie stood in front of my, holding the missing earbud, the cord trailing to just below my neck and around to my left ear.

I blinked at her and plucked the other earbud out of my ear. "Can I do something for you, or is this a new hobby? Interrupting people's study time and music."

"Oh, hah, hah, very funny." She sat down across the table from me.

I blinked at her. The only time she had gotten this close to me in the last week was when we were forced to sit together in Chem. lab. "What do you want?"

"You."

"Ex – excuse me?"

"Oh, relax, I don't mean it like that. I need your help. Your brains. Mrs. Wattburgon's love for you."

"Ummm…you can't have my brains?"

She rolled her eyes. "In case you were deaf and blind on Friday while I was having my little spat with Mrs. Wattburgon, my grade in the class has dropped. I'm this close," she held her thumb and index finger a half centimeter apart, "to failing English. And I speak the freaking language!" She slumped back in the chair.

"So…what do you want me to do about it?"

"Well, I can't skate until I raise my GPA. Sarah – my coach – isn't happy. She threatened to quit. My dad finally got her to agree to stay as long as I get my GPA raised by the end of this quarter."

"That's…good…?"

She nodded. "So, I asked Mrs. Wattburgon about extra credit assignments, but she doesn't want to give me anything until she knows I've caught up to where I need to be. She suggested I hire a tutor."

I almost groaned. I suddenly had a very good idea as to the direction this conversation was going…

"And guess who she suggested?" Katie added perkily.

"Oh no…"

"Oh yes…" She smirked at me. "She suggested I have you tutor me."

"But – but – but – I don't like you!"

She reached over and patted my hand. "Don't worry, Jamie, I don't like you either."

I was beginning to get an oddly familiar trapped feeling…I'd had this that day in Chem., when Katie had begun running her hands over my body.

You'd think I'd have a better attitude towards this particular feeling.

"But – but – there has to be another English tutor – "

"She says you're one of her best students in this class, and that because you're on the hockey team, your schedule will be similar to mine, so we can work out a routine a little more easily."

"How nice of her."

"Isn't it? She's so helpful."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not tutoring you. No way in hell. You threw volleyballs at me and Carlos."

She waved her hand airily, her bubble-gum pink nails a blur. "All in the past."

"You kept poking at my bruises!"

"Let bygones be bygones."

"You're a bitch to me!"

"Don't flatter yourself, Jamie-Bear, I'm a bitch to a lot of people. You're not that special."

"Jamie-Bear?!"

She nodded, beaming. "Like it?"

"No!"

"Tough luck."

"I'm going to go talk to Mrs. Wattburgon." I gathered my stuff and got to my feet.

"You do that."

I stormed out of the library, seething. I know, I know, I had been going on and on about how much I had missed Katie…but after having to put up with her in PE and Chemistry, I had been reminded of how much I really hated spending more than five minutes with her. Sure, the fighting was exhilarating and kind of hot, but I could only take so much of it. I didn't think I'd survive tutoring Katie. I figured I'd either end of a huge pile of ashes, or a huge pond of semen.

Neither option was particularly appealing.

I reached Mrs. Wattburgon's office. The door was closed, so I knocked.

"Come in," she called, and I opened the door, stepping in.

Her office looked like every other teacher office – blinds over a square window, beige wallpaper, plain carpet, and a wooden desk with an iBook adorning it.

"Ah, James, what can I do for you?"

"I just talked with Katie Knight. You suggested I tutor her?!"

She nodded, apparently not picking up on my rage. "I did. You seem to have a very good grasp on the subject, and because you both do sports, it just made sense to have you tutor her, since – "

"Our schedules would be so similar. Yeah, she mentioned that."

"So, I don't see what the trouble is. You'll get extra credit for it, of course."

"I will?"

She nodded again. "Quite a bit, actually. And it'll look wonderful on college applications. I'll even give you a personal recommendation."

"Oh…"

"And Katie could really use the help. So you would be a good Samaritan for doing this."

"But – but – the thing is – we don't really get along…"

"Oh, yes, the rivalry or feud or whatever it is between hockey players and figure skaters." She shook her head. "Well, I'm afraid you'll just have to get past that if you want the extra credit and college apps accessories."

"I – I guess…"

She beamed. "Good! Then it's settled! I'm sure Katie will be very happy to hear that!"

Oh, I was sure she would…Like a bloodhound, smelling a piece of dead meat.

I exited Mrs. Wattburgon's office, still seething, as I realized what had just happened. I had gotten manipulated into tutoring Katie! A teacher had just manipulated me into being a good Samaritan! Unbelievable. I was going to need therapy for this eventually.

There was only twenty minutes left in this period, but I figured I'd better get things arranged with Katie as quickly as possible, so I headed back to the library.

She was where I had left her, on her phone, fingers flying across the keypad.

I slid into the chair I had been sitting in originally, and folded my arms on the table, looking at her.

She looked up at me. "Well?"

"Well, I'll do it. But only because I'll get extra credit and Mrs. Wattburgon said it'd look good on my college applications and she'd add in a personal recommendation."

"To what, U.H.H? The University of Hockey Heads?"

"Let's lay some ground rules," I growled. "One – we cannot insult the other's sport or team."

"Fine."

"Two – no throwing stuff at me in PE, or doing anything to bodily injure me."

"I can do that."

"Three – when I'm tutoring you, I don't want to hear any insults coming from your mouth, because otherwise, screw the college apps. I won't do it. Got it?"

She nodded.

"Good. When do you want to begin?"

She sighed. "Tomorrow during Study Hall, I guess."

"Okay."

"Okay."

The bell rang at that moment, and we both got to our feet, packing everything up. We left the library, heading to English. As we took our seats in the classroom, I couldn't help but wonder just what exactly I had gotten myself into…

Well, James, good question ;) So, what did you guys think about the chapter? It was more of a filler chapter, but there were some necessary points in there. Anyway, let me know what you guys think! The review button and I will really appreciate it! :)