"Let me check your work."

Joshua handed me his piece of paper and said, "I don't think I did any of it right."

I smiled as I scanned his paper. He was definitely lost. "I think we need to find a new tactic," I said, setting the paper down.

"It's wrong, isn't it?"

I laughed as Joshua shook his head, a smile playing on his lips. "Yeah. All of it is wrong."

He leaned back in the rickety old chair at my small dining table. All of his papers and our math books made it seem smaller than it was. It usually sat four people, but it barely fit the two of us.

"I told you I don't understand anything that's going on in that class!"

"Don't worry!" I said quickly. "I'm here to help."

"It's not working, Grace." Joshua laid his head down in his arms. His voice came out muffled as he continued, "I'm just gonna have to fail this class."

"Grace, I'm home!"

"Crud," I muttered, jumping up. What was my mother doing home early? I had never brought anyone home besides Fin. I walked into the small living room, trying to stay calm and said, "Hey. What are you doing here?"

Mom laughed. "I got off early. I wanted to spend some time with you." I wanted to grab Joshua's jacket from off the couch and throw it out the window, but Mom beat me to it. "Who's here? This doesn't look like Fin's jacket."

"Hello, ma'am." I turned around in a frenzy to see Joshua leaning on the door frame. He had an easy smile on his face as he said, "Grace is tutoring me in Calc. I suck at it, and she's been trying to help me."

Mom pressed a hand onto my shoulder and said, "She's just something, isn't she?"

I shuddered under my mother's hand and said, "Joshua, you better get home. It's getting pretty late, and I don't want your parents to worry about you."

Joshua laughed. "It's fine. I can stay a little bit longer, right?"

"Of course!" Mom said brightly, nodding. She faced me and added, "Grace, be a little nicer to our guest."

I blinked quickly, counting to ten. I needed to calm my racing heart before I spoke. "Got it, Mom," I muttered, breaking away from her grip. "Come on, Joshua. Let's try to figure out this problem again."

I nearly ran to the kitchen and brushed past Joshua. He chuckled as he followed close behind me, saying, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." I sat back down and so did he. I didn't meet his eyes. "Where were we?"

"Question twelve out of thirty." He chuckled. "I don't think we can do any more tonight, Grace. I'm still not understanding anything. Can we try again in the morning?"

"How? I have to ride the bus."

"I'll just pick you up." The way he said that sent a flutter through my heart. It was so simple, the way he said it. But it wasn't simple to me; it meant so much more than he could realize. "I'll be here by seven, okay?"

"Okay."

He dazzled me with a smile. "I guess you were right. I should head home now because it's nearly past my curfew."

"You have a curfew?" I asked, blinking.

"Of course." Joshua's shoulders stiffened and his jaw clenched, as if the subject of his home was not a good one. "My parents don't trust me. That is crazy, if you didn't know."

I nodded. "I think you can handle yourself."

"Exactly!" He shrugged, defeated. "But you can't tell that to them. They trusted my older brother and sister, but not me. Just because I had a girlfriend in high school they thought I didn't focus on my studies. But it's whatever, right?"

He stood up, roughly grabbing his things. Maybe his world wasn't as good as I thought. "I'll pray for you."

He smiled at me before stuffing the math book in his backpack. "Thank you, Grace. That means a lot."

I nodded again and suddenly wished I wasn't so awkward. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Thank you for doing this."

"Of course."

He walked by me so I followed him to the door. "Be careful."

Joshua nodded, opening the door. He left without another word, leaving me in the living room alone.

I pushed the door shut and leaned against it, sighing. My eyes fluttered shut as I pictured him. His smile was permanently etched into my mind, and I couldn't help but smile.

"Grace."

I opened my eyes to see my mother watching me with a look I didn't know. "Yeah?"

Mom shook her head. "I can't imagine how you're feeling right now."

I laughed. "Definitely confused. But a good confused because he actually knows who I am."

"You better get to bed, my love." Mom walked over to me and pressed a kiss on my forehead.

"I thought you wanted to spend time with me," I asked, frowning.

"It's fine." Mom smiled. "You look exhausted. Besides, I can finally read that book I've been wanting to read!"

I smiled. "Goodnight, Mom."

"Night, sweetheart."

I left my math book untouched as I headed to my room, stifling a yawn. I hoped I would dream of him tonight.

---

I was hustled inside the school as the cold whipped around me. "Gosh, why does it have to be so cold?"

"Because it's winter?" Joshua gave a wry smile.

"Whatever."

I relished in the heat blasting in the school. They kept it really warm during the winter, and I enjoyed that immensely. But I was torn away from it when Joshua grabbed my hand, pulling me toward the library.

"So, I was thinking last night," Joshua said, glancing back at me, "maybe we should not study today."

"What? What would we do?"

"Let's play 'Never Have I Ever' or something like that."

I pulled my hand out of his, frowning. "Don't you want to learn?"

He smiled at me. "Can I get to know my teacher better before we learn?"

I really wanted to say no. Seriously. But I just nodded, and he gripped my hand again. We walked to the library in silence. No one was in the library at that time of morning so Joshua took me to a table in the corner, where most people would never go. He pulled out a chair for me, and I sat down, feeling my heart start to race.

"Are you going to start?" I asked, my fingers trailing along the edge of the desk.

"Sure." He tapped his chin in thought. Then a smile drifted onto his face and he said, "Never have I ever broken a bone."

"Man." I dropped one of my fingers.

"What did you break?"

I laughed. "I was climbing a tree at Fin's house -"

"And she lost her footing, so she fell out of the tree and broke her left arm," someone else finished for me.

I turned around to see my best friend behind me. I asked, "What are you doing here?"

"I saw you guys come here together so I wanted to see what's up," Finlay said, sitting down next to me. "Can I join?"

I looked at Joshua and he shrugged. "Why not?"

"Good."

I thought for a second and said, "Never have I ever thought a cartoon character was hot."

Finlay gasped. "Are you serious? Just because I thought Zuko was hot does not mean anything!"

"Oh, yes it does," I said, smirking. "You had a crush on him for the longest time!"

"Who's Zuko?" Joshua asked, frowning.

Fin and I looked at each other before laughing. "He's from a Nickelodeon show," I said, giggling. "A cartoon -"

"Technically, it was anime!" Finlay defended, pointing her finger at Joshua. "And it was awesome!"

I smiled, shaking my head. I loved how I could just laugh with Finlay.

Finlay shook her head too, but a smile was on her face. "Never have I ever broken a piece of furniture by just sitting down."

It was Joshua's turn to bring one of his fingers down. "How in the world could you do that?" I asked him.

"These muscles!" Joshua flexed and laughed, shaking his head. "Nah. My mom always told me not to plop down hard on the couch. I did it all the time and one day, it just broke. I never told my parents about it and it's still like that today."

"Did it wobble? I can't remember," I asked him.

"Yeah." He laughed again. "Alrighty. Never have I ever had a crush on my friends' siblings."

"Oh come on!" Finlay said, dropping another finger.

I turned to her and said, "You liked my brother?"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't help it!" Finlay said, her face going slightly red. "Once, when you were doing something, he kissed me because -"

"Woah. What?"

Finlay's face was full on red by now. "We kissed! But it didn't mean anything because his friends had all had their first kisses, and he wanted to have his too. But it meant something to me. Obviously."

"When did this happen?"

"It was right before he moved away," Finlay said, nodding. "I don't think I could ever forget about it because it was the most awkward thing I've ever done."

I stared at my best friend before I burst out laughing. "I can't believe you liked my brother! And you kissed him, too!"

"I didn't know you had any siblings, Grace," Joshua said, a slight frown creasing his face.

I turned back to him. "Yeah. But he moved out of state with my dad."

"Why?"

I stared down at my hands. "I'd rather not say, Joshua."

"That's okay." I looked up to see him smiling. "I don't want to push you."

I nodded, suddenly not wanting to play the game anymore. My father was not a good subject for me. At all.

"Are you gonna ask a question?" Finlay asked, resting a hand on my arm.

That touch made my heart stop speeding. "Yeah. Never have I ever been in love."

Both Joshua and Finlay dropped a finger. "That's what I thought," I said sadly. "Most everybody here has dated or been in love. But not me."

"Well, I did ask you out."

I held back a groan as Drew also joined us at the table. He sat in the chair next to Joshua, directly in front of Fin. He acted like he owned the place. The corners of his mouth turned up. He had an easy look on his face, as if he didn't want to be anywhere else.

"I want to date someone who doesn't get on my nerves," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Finlay let out a laugh and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, man. Don't you get that she doesn't like you? Like, at all?"

"Now, I don't think that's true. Is it, Rebecca?" A full smile appeared on his face. "I think you're enjoying the attention."

I wished he was wrong. How could he understand me like that? He had just met me, yet he hit on the only reason I still talk to him.

"I was right." A triumphant look passed through his face before settling back onto his smile.

"I have to get to class," I said. I quickly stood up and grabbed my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder. "I'll see you later, Joshua."

I hurriedly left the library, hoping the person following me was Finlay. What in the world was happening to me? Right when I could spend time with my crush, a different cute boy would pop up and ruin it for me. I just didn't understand why he affected me so much. And that scared me.