Jacob's Tutor | Jacob Day

Chapter 7

Lily woke up pressed against something warm and hard. She nuzzled close to it in a half-slumber. Fresh laundry and sandalwood. Correction, someone warm and hard. Her eyes flung open. Gray sweatshirt, black jeans, very long legs, butterfly chains... Jacob. She sat up quickly in shock and embarrassment. "Morning, Flower," he grunted softly. Oh god, he was awake. Somehow, his morning voice was even lower than his normal voice. "Sorry," she said mindlessly. She didn't know if she was apologizing for snuggling up to him like a baby or for begging him to come over last night during her panic. "For what?" "For being so dramatic last night," she decided to say. Her mind fought to recall the events of the night before. She remembered eating popcorn, watching some anime movie he had picked, and liking how cool the animations on it were. She must've gotten tired–super tired– to let someone she didn't know that well sleep on her couch. To sleep with him on her couch, no less. This was so out of character for her. Jacob stretched his arms overhead, muscles rippling. "You're not as tough as you pretend to be," he said lightly. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?" "It means you're afraid of the rain." "Am not," Lily protested, pushing his side. To her surprise, Jacob jabbed her back, causing her to squeal reflexively. "Stop!" They were both laughing by now, Lily more reluctantly than he. She could still not get the image of herself tearing up in front of him out of her mind. How pathetic she must have looked. How he comforted her. How good the warmth of his hands felt sliding down her bare back– enough, Lily. "I'm just kidding, Lil." She looked up at him. "I've had panic attacks before too. They're not fun." "I shouldn't have called you. It was silly of me," she blurted out. Jacob arched a brow and sat up straighter. "Lily, you don't always have to be the teacher in every situation. I was glad to help. Really." She didn't say anything. "Okay?" "Kay," she said quietly. He outstretched his hands, she took them and they stood up together. "As long as you don't get afraid of sunny days, cause then we're gonna have a problem." He said it solemnly at first before breaking into that cloying smile of his. "Yeah, I'll just have to leave California then," Lily laughed.

Jacob opened the door to the content house wearily. He had just hit legs, and they were numb with weakness. Stepping inside, he heard the usual rap playlist on, along with the distant narration of a basketball game. But why did something feel different? He shook his damp hair out and kept walking. No, no, he was right. A girl's voice. He reached the entrance and peered into the kitchen. Someone with very long, shiny brown hair was sitting with Kristian. He didn't know anyone with hair that long– except for– no, it couldn't be– Lily? He threw his sweat-soaked shirt on the counter, keys clanging against the granite. The two of them turned around in their chairs. So it was her. "Lily?" "Hey, Jacob!" "What are you doing here?" "She's helping me with my shit, man," Kristian said plainly. "Girl's got an English dictionary in her head or something," he added, prodding Lily's head with his finger playfully. "Something like that," she laughed back. A fiery feeling  rose in Jacob's core. He was probably just hungry. "So you stole my tutor? Why would you do something like that?" Jacob strode towards Kristian in mock anger, exaggerating seriousness for effect. "Yes, that's exactly what I did," Kristian retorted. "You're a monster." "I am the incredible Hulk." "HULK!" "Hulkkkkk." Lily looked back and forth between the two of them until they broke out laughing. "Such weirdos." "Show me what you're helping with," Jacob said, pulling up a chair next to her. Lily flipped through a few pages before showing him the edits she made to Kristian's biography. "Finding hobbies for Kristian was one of the hardest things I've ever done," she said, bursting out laughing. Kristian shook his head, grinning. "Look at the way I'm treated, Jacob." Jacob smiled, but on the inside he was surprised at how comfortable Lily and Kristian had gotten with each other already. He thought he was the only one of the boys who knew her. Lily's phone started ringing, interrupting his thoughts. "Hey, Tess. No, it has to be peer-reviewed. He said so. How do you– oh, come on, T, we've talked about this! Go through the database. Okay, sounds good. Talk later." Lily rolled her eyes as she hung up. "Who was that?" "One of the girls I'm working with in my Abnormal Psych class." "She sounds like she doesn't know what she's doing," Kristian observed, reading Jacob's thoughts. "Yeah, well neither do you," Lily teased. Jacob's eyes alternated between the two of them. Why did their conversation sound so much like theirs? Was Lily just good at talking to everyone?

Later that night, after the other boys had gone up to bed, Jacob ran into Kristian in the living room. "Spideyyy," they said in unison, dabbing each other up. Only the light from one lamp remained, so it was hard for Jacob to read Kristian's emotions. He decided to just say what had been on his mind all day. "I was surprised to see Lily here today. How did you find out about her, anyway?" Kristian shot him an obvious glance. "I don't know if you know this, but she's like the top student tutor at UCLA. Everyone who needs writing help goes to her." "I guess, I just didn't know any of the guys knew her. And I didn't know you were friends." "I'm friends with everyone I meet. C'mon, now. It's part of the Ramey charm." Kristian winked. Jacob ran a hand through his hair and shook his head, chuckling softly. As he was turning away, Kristian added, "You're the one that said she was super smart, Jacob. And you're right, she is. I mean, damn, I've never seen someone write paragraphs so easily in my life." Jacob thought about that for a second. What Kristian was saying was true. She was an amazing writer, and she had been able to fix all of his mistakes with ease. Had he been taking Lily's help for granted? "Yeah, I know, Kristian. She's smooth with it. But just don't be asking too much of her. She's been stressed lately and I don't wanna put any more pressure on her." "What do you mean she's been stressed?" Kristian raised a brow. "I just mean exactly what I said. Let's leave it at that," Jacob said sternly. He was known to be the sweet one of the group, but when he was firm about something, he wasn't messing around. "Woah, easy, easy," Kristian said, surprised at Jacob's tone. "Is there something you're not telling me?" "What are you talking about?" Jacob's heart started to beat faster, and he didn't know why. "I don't know, Jacob, I mean, the girl is gorgeous. If you like her, just say so, buddy." Jacob sneered at him and began pacing around the kitchen, taking strides that both impressed and scared Kristian. "You're ridiculous," he finally said. "I just don't want you to steal my tutoring help, that's all," Jacob added, unsure of what he was feeling but sure that he didn't like it. "Whatever you say, bud," Kristian said, holding his hands up in a surrender as he walked away. For the next few minutes, Jacob stood dumbly in the living room, unable to remember the original reason why he went there.

A/N: This chapter was so fun to write, I hope you enjoyed it! If you did, please remember to vote and comment :)