Page 55 of Tutoring the Bad Boy
I clear the lump from my throat. “I’m sorry too.”
“Were you out with Ginny?”
“Yeah.” I smile. “She’s…different.”
He returns my smile. “You really like her, don’t you?”
Should I spill my guts? I take the halfway approach. “Yeah, I do. She’s smart and sweet and amazing.”
Dad grins wider. “And totally out of your league.”
“Totally.” My cheeks burn with the admission, but they’d catch on fire if I said what I’m really feeling. That I’ve fallen for her. A couple more dates like the one tonight, and there’ll be no return.
The smile on his face fades. “Just don’t get your heart broken.”
“I won’t,” I say as I stand and walk to the stairs.
“And don’t break hers.” He gives me a pointed look.
Again, the temptation to return to the sofa, sit down, and tell him everything hits, but I don’t want him to be disappointed in me. To know I made a deal to break her heart for the chance to attend MIT. What would he think of me if he knew? We’re just starting to fix things, and I like where we are.
“Not a chance.” I shoot him a smile and charge up the stairs, shutting the door to my room.
Dad’s words swirl in my mind, and I can’t help but wonder about myself. I made a deal with Ginny’s mom. Yeah, I confessed it to Ginny, but it doesn’t change the fact that I shook on it. What kind of person does that? Who sets out to hurt someone?
My thoughts go in a million directions as I shuck out of my wet clothes and into dry ones. From the deal to the new plan and everything in between. Once I’m dressed in dry clothes, I drop onto my bed and close my eyes, shutting down the war going on in my head and my heart. This is going to work out for both of us. I’ll get into MIT, Ginny will make her mom listen, and we’ll both come out the other side just fine.
All I have to do is keep it together for a little longer. Principal Gray isn’t stupid, and in no time, she’ll catch us. I’ll have fulfilled my part of the deal with both her and Ginny. Then it’ll all be over and everything will be back to normal.
Even as I think it, I know I’ve told myself lies. I can feel the burn of the impending heartbreak beginning smack in the middle of my chest. It’s going to be brutal.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Ginny
It’s Tuesday,the end of the school day before Thanksgiving weekend, and I’m waiting for Kaleb just outside Mrs. Yates’s class. When we aren’t sneaking out on the weekends to have dates, we’ve been studying what feels like nonstop. I know this last test was hard for him because it was about poems, which are still a struggle for him.
The bell rings, and I move aside so I’m not in the way as students stampede out of the room. Some look elated, some disappointed, and then there’s Kaleb. His lips are tugged down at the corners, and dread pools in my stomach. That test is a huge portion of his second-six-weeks grade. If he failed it…
He stops in front of me and holds my gaze. I’m desperate to see some sort of clue in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he says, shoving the paper into my hand.
“What? No.” I don’t even look at it. It’s not possible he got a bad grade. He studied too hard. “No.” I push past him, charging into the room. “Mrs. Yates, Kaleb studied hard for that last test. I swear we worked so hard.”
Mrs. Yates blinks at me like I’m speaking a language she can’t understand.
That’s when Kaleb grabs my hand and pulls me back out of the classroom. I protest until he wraps me in his arms, my hands caught between our chests and wrinkling his test.
“You didn’t even look at it.” He leans back, a smile stretched across the entire width of his face.
It slowly hits me, and I let go of the breath I’ve been holding. I take the paper and uncrumple it. The second I see the almost A, I fling my arms around him. “I knew there had to be a mistake.”
As he embraces me, his breath tickles my ear as his lips press against my hair. “I don’t think anyone has ever been so quick to fight for me.”
The sensation gives me goosebumps and sends tingles of delight into my stomach. “You’re worth fighting for. You always have been.”
He leans back, giving me a crooked smile. “At least we get a long weekend.”
I’m glad too. Fall break in October wasn’t nearly as long as I needed it to be. Not with volleyball and college coaches vying for my attention. Although, after having dinner with Coach Williams, there didn’t seem to be many of them calling me anymore. I shove the niggling thought away and smile at Kaleb. This moment is about celebrating his achievement.
