Jacob's Tutor | Jacob Day

Chapter 11

"Yo." "Hey, Jacob." "There's an influencer thing happening at the Hype House tomorrow and our scripts are a mess. You think you could come help us?" Yeah, not gonna happen. "Uhh, I don't think so." "Why not?" Lily groaned into the phone. "Because, Jacob. It's not my vibe." She heard him sigh. "I promise they're nice." "Oh, really, so the people who live in the multi-million dollar LA mansion are down to earth and nice?" "Aren't you the one who told me not to judge a book by its cover?" Ugh. Damn him. "You got me there," "Come," he coaxed. "What time..." Lily said exasperatedly, scanning the abundance of tabs on her screen to find her Google Calendar. "Like, 3:00pm?" 8-9am- workout. 9:30-11:30am- Clinical Psych Lecture. 12-1:00pm- Tutoring Emma. "Fine." "It'll be fun." "If it isn't, you know I won't put up with it," Lily said matter-of-factly. "You don't have to tell me twice," was his reply.

Lily stepped tentatively onto an expansive, sand-colored porch and stood inches from a tall blue door. She was currently on the property of the biggest house she'd ever seen. In addition to its size, the Hype House had a distinct regal feel, decorated with what she believed to be ancient Grecian accents. Before she could notice anything, the door swung open, and a tan man with dark brown hair, angel tattoos, and forest green eyes greeted her. "Hey, I'm Thomas," he said good-naturedly. "Hi, I'm Lily." "Come in," he offered, swinging the large door further open. Looking past him and to her left, she saw a huge room filled with just a few gray bean bags. So much floor, so little furniture. On the wall, four large block letters spelled the words "Hype," outlined in electric blue light. "So, I heard you're really good at writing and you've been helping the guys with some projects?" Thomas asked, walking further into the foyer. Lily lagged behind, her eyes unable to catch up with all there was to see. "Well, I try my best," she said, smiling. "I'm a tutor at UCLA." "Cool, cool. They're in here," he said, motioning to the bean-bag room. Thomas was way more formal than any of the Breezy Boys. Was that why was she nervous all of a sudden? Lily swallowed and ran a hand through her hair so it swooped voluminously over her right shoulder and down her back. A guy with curly blonde hair was zooming around on a hoverboard, two girls were stuffing a mystery substance into an Oreo, and a group of guys huddled around a seemingly engrossing video on one of their phones. Unplaceable chatter ran through the room. Lily had no idea if they would even realize she was there. But the second they heard Thomas say hi, everyone stopped and focused their attention on their new guest. The group of guys parted, and Lily saw that one of them was Jacob. As soon as he saw her, his expression changed, and he strode over to the two of them. "What's up, Lily," he said, pulling her into a friendly hug. It was brief and controlled, worlds away from the one they shared at the airport. Lily smiled up at him for a moment before directing her gaze to the rest of the group. "Hi guys, I'm Lily," she said, her eyes lingering on each of their faces for a moment. A pale, slightly built girl with slender lips and dark brown hair. The curly blonde-haired kid. Vinnie Hacker. (She wasn't that out of it.) A guy with the most piercing light-green eyes she'd ever seen. And of course, Kristian and Ace. She recognized most of them– except, why did one of them look so familiar? The tan girl on the end, with the green eyes and dry-looking hair. And then she realized. Oh my god. It's that bitch from the library. When Lily had first met Jacob, she had gotten into a fight with her for being so loud in her favorite college study spot. Why didn't Jacob tell me she'd be here? As Lily held her gaze, the girl's eyes told her that she had made the connection too. Is she going to say anything? I hope she doesn't– "Hey, Lily, I'm Mia," the pale girl said, stepping forward. "Also known as Thomas' girlfriend," someone chimed in. "Hi!" "And I'm Jack," the blonde-haired kid said, extending a hand. "Nice to meet you." "And I'm Jake. You're the smart one, right?" The light-green eyed guy blurted out. "Hey, I'm smart," the tan girl piped up defensively. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Tabitha," he quipped, producing a few bursts of laughter from the group. So that was her name. "Okay, enough, you two. The camera crew is gonna be here in 10, so find your positions, get your scripts, and then we're gonna figure out groups for pictures," Thomas said, shifting the mood. "Shit," Tabitha said, scrambling for something under one of the bean-bag chairs. "I need to find my lip gloss! Mia, help me."

As promised, the camera crew was there in 10 minutes on the dot. Thomas was even more professional when they showed up, talking to each one about the setup and asking if there's anything he could get them. So this is what it's like to be rich. Before Lily knew it, the room had been transformed into a makeshift professional-looking studio, draped in an abundance of white sheets. While everyone else prepared for photos, Lily lounged in the corner on one of the beanbags, looking over some of their scripts. "Okay, can we get Combination 1?" One of the cameramen asked. "Yup. It's you and Jake, Tab," Thomas said, nodding his head at her. Lily watched the first set, but after that, her curiosity had faded, and she was more interested in getting the scripts edited. "Who is that?" Someone said in the background, pointing at Lily. "Is she on the roster?" Whoever asked the question didn't wait for an answer. "We want to get some with her, if that's okay." "That's just a tutor," Tabitha exclaimed, green eyes fueled with intensity. "I don't much care who she is, doll," one of the cameramen said coolly. "A good fit is a good fit." Before she knew it, the cameraman was plucking at Lily, scrutinizing the way her hair fell down her back and every unintentional wrinkle in her clothes. She was pulled towards Kristian, and the three cameramen backed up to evaluate them together. "Nope," two of them said in unison, and she was moved once again. "Jacob, come stand next to her." Jacob, who was over in the opposite corner of the room practicing his lines, stopped and strode over to the group of them, long-legged as ever. All eyes were on Lily by now; Tabitha had stopped brushing her hair and Mia had forgotten all about her chips. "Yep, right there," Cameraman 1 said, as Jacob met Lily's side. A chill went down her spine. Something about his presence made her unmistakably aware in a way that standing next to Kristian didn't. "Do pose 4 for me." Wordlessly, Jacob slid his hand across her right side and drew her closer. His touch was gentle, yet firm, and the second he touched her skin, memories flooded her mind. The library, the thunderstorm, the day at the airport... "That's what we've been looking for." "What is?" Lily asked, laughing nervously. "A match for Jacob. Aesthetically, you fit the bill to a T." Lily reddened, unsure how to handle the sudden focus on her, especially when she thought she was just here to proofread. "What socials do you have?" "Myspace," Kristian answered for her. "Shut up, Kristian." "No, I just have Instagram. I mean, unless Pinterest counts..." "Have you ever thought about building a following?" "Um, no. It's not really my thing." "Maybe it should be, if making money is your thing." Lily felt Jacob's hand on her waist tense for a second, and then he ran it up and down her back in a supportive motion. "Hey, hey. Lily is amazing at what she does and she's gonna make a lot of money doing it." "Yeah, she's a psychology smartie who's already teaching kids," Kristian piped up, which Lily noticed Jacob didn't seem all that happy about. "I didn't mean it like that," the cameraman said quickly. "I just mean that you are way too pretty to be absent on social media. If you posted, people would eat it up. I mean, it could be an additional source of income for you. You wouldn't have to give up your current passions." At that clarification, Lily felt Jacob relax a little. Tabitha, on the other hand, looked absolutely livid. "Think about it," another cameraman said, prompting Lily to nod. What was happening?

Lily didn't get any more script editing done after that. For the rest of the afternoon, the camera crew had Lily and Jacob front and center of the backdrop, constantly adjusting them as needed. Most of the other Hype House members had finished up their shoots by now, so they were standing around watching. "Who were you originally supposed to be paired with?" Lily whispered to Jacob mid-pose. "No one, actually," he said deeply. "They haven't been able to find someone they wanted with me." "Oh, well, lucky I showed up, aren't you?" "Sure am." He looked serious when he said it. "So, I guess we can just keep lengthening the list of things you owe me," she said coyly. "I would be nothing without you," he said solemnly, and Lily knew him well enough by now to know that he was joking. She watched as he broke out into that mischievous grin that she had grown to love. Snap. "That was the shot of the day," one of the cameramen exclaimed heartily, interrupting their conversation. Lily had forgotten for a moment that they were still being photographed. "Oh, glad you got a good one," she said happily. "Oh, we got a lot of good ones," he replied, thumbing through the pictures on his camera. "You're a natural, Lily." Instinctively, she looked up at Jacob, who beamed down at her proudly. "What can't you do? Huh? Huh?" 

A/N: Hi guys, thank you for your patience with this next chapter! I hope you enjoyed, and if you did, please remember to vote and comment :)