dakota's pov +

jack's tutoring session with me was happening on saturday this week because earlier, we were both pretty busy with school and life in general.

so, i took a few of my textbooks from home and walked across the road to jack's house. i rang the doorbell and his mom immediately answered, letting me in.

she had her bag on her shoulder and keys in her hand, so i assumed that she was about to head out.

"morning dakota, how are you?" she asked with a big smile, shutting the door behind me.

"i'm good, thanks mrs gilinsky" i replied. "how are you?".

"i'm great, love. so, i have to make a quick stop at the grocery store but jack is currently in the living room being incredibly absorbed by a game that won't help him pass maths!".

she called out the last part clearly enough for him to hear.

"don't listen to her!" jack exclaimed back as i laughed at them both.

mrs. gilinsky shook her head, then placed her hand on my shoulder.

"you'll be lucky if you get him off that thing" she told me and i chuckled. "anyways, i'll see you soon, and there's some snacks and drinks in the kitchen".

"thank you, mrs. gilinsky".

she opened up the door again, "please, just call me katherine".

i nodded with a smile, before she gave me one last small wave and left the house.

i walked towards the living room as the sound of jack's video game got louder.

i entered to see him sat forward on the couch, gripping the controller tightly and playing close attention to the fighting animations.

i leant against the doorframe, watching him.

"well, this is no world of warcraft, but a justice league fighting game is still pretty nerd-worthy to me" i spoke.

he glanced over with narrowed eyes.

"ha-ha-ha" he responded with sarcasm, then i came and sat down beside him.

"so when should we start with these quadratics?" i questioned, settling my bag on my lap to start preparing my textbooks.

"i have one more round, then i promise we'll get onto the tutoring" he said with his eyes still focused on the game.

i sighed and put my bag down, "fine".

i watched the game in front of me and how invested jack looked in it, wondering how long he has actually been on this thing.

"have you been playing this all morning?" i asked.

"no, i threw in a little fifa and my speciality world of warcraft in there too" he explained whilst i examined the game cd cover. "why? do you wanna play?".

jack paused the game and handed me the other controller as i looked at him hesitantly.

"come on, when the guys aren't here, i have no one to go up against because my sisters always decline" he gestured the controller closer to me.

"...okay, how hard could it be?" i shrugged and took it from his hands, before the game commenced.

a few seconds in and jack's character was already defeating me, and not allowing my character to stand up and fight back.

"hey, you can't do that!" i yelled at him, but he just happened to find it completely hilarious.

"it's not my fault that you suck" he snickered and i suppressed a smile, placing the controller down in my lap and protesting with my arms folded.

jack eventually took in my reaction and huffed as he paused the game.

"come on, let me teach you" he offered, sliding his arm around my waist.

he edged closer to me and i unwillingly tensed up at his touch.

"sorry" he immediately replied, removing his arm a little.

"no, it's okay" i looked at him with a smile. he responded the same and placed his arm back around me.

he held onto my controller, arms either side of me and worked through all of the buttons to teach me how to get my character to fight back.

jack's head was quite close to mine and every time he spoke, i'd have to force myself to look down at the controller, than stare straight into his eyes with his breath lightly fanning onto my collarbone.

it took him three times to repeat which button did which move until i felt like i got the hang of it. he returned his arms back to his own lap then picked up his controller and restarted the game.

as time passed, jack was still beating me on every single round and i would be lying if i said i didn't like the smirk on his face every time that he did.

his character had just knocked out mine and the next round was counting down to begin.

"you're gonna have to try a lot harder than this if you want us to get on to tutoring" he said to me. "if you win a match, we'll stop the game".

he raised his brow, waiting for me to respond to his bet.

"deal" i held in a smirk and jack confidently straightened himself up just as the new match began.

we were a minute in and suddenly, i tapped a few different buttons on the controller and made my character knock out jack's in the space of 5 seconds.

his jaw dropped as the flashing winner sign stood over my character.

"how the hell did you do that?" he inquired, looking back and forth at the tv and my controller in shock.

"i have nerdy cousins too" i shrugged smugly.

"so you knew how to play this entire time?!" he exclaimed, holding a smile on his lips.

"yes and no - i just needed you to remind me, then i remembered a trick that my cousin taught me and then i won".

jack started to shake his head with chuckle at what just happened.

"you're so fucking sly, dakota richards. i bet you just wanted me to put my arms around you" he teased.

i scoffed, trying to hide my blushing cheeks, "in your dreams, jack gilinsky".

"in my dreams? okay, fine. i was just going easy on you anyways, so let's see how good you play now that i know your secret".

jack purposely commenced the game without waiting for me to prepare.

i tried my best to catch up with his character that was currently kicking me to a close concussion, but when i did, jack began to hold his arm out to restrict my view.

i nudged him to the side, "jack! stop!".

he ignored my words and laughed, continuing to hold his arm out.

to get him back, i snatched the controller out of his other hand and put it on my side of the couch, before starting to attack his animation.

"now that's definitely cheating!" jack complained, trying to reach for the controller back.

i wasn't moving from my spot, so he suddenly grabbed onto my waist and pulled me away from my seat whilst i laughed hysterically.

"you're gonna make me lose!" i pulled him back by his shirt.

"you would have lost anyways!" he retorted whilst i tried to get hold of his controller again.

he held my smaller body, stopping me from moving any further until we both somewhat wrestled on the couch in fits of laughter.

jack soon managed to nudge me onto the floor. i pulled his shirt back so that he couldn't reach his controller, but he lost his balance on the couch and fell directly on top of me.

our laughter gradually died down whilst jack hovered over me. he licked his lips as his chest breathlessly rose up and down.

i could hardly believe how close our faces were right now. butterflies filled my stomach and if i had the guts to, i would gently pull his neck down to attach his lips to mine.

but before any of us could make any sudden movement, jack suddenly broke our eye contact with an awkward chuckle.

"um," he began, lifting himself off me. "sorry".

once he was on his feet, he held out his hand for me to take so that i could stand back up too.

he scratched the back of his neck as i fixed my wrinkled clothing and we both struggled to find our words.

"maybe we should do tutoring another time?" jack suggested and handed me my backpack.

i nodded, "uh, sure. on monday?".

"yeah, sounds good" he told, walking me towards the door in a small rush.

once i got outside, i turned to face him on the doorstep.

"bye" i said, breaking out a small smile to make what just happened any less awkward.

jack briefly nodded and waved, "yep, bye".

the door was soon closed in my face and my light smile faded at his blunt reaction.

it was nowhere near what i expected. of course i wanted him to make a move, or i at least wanted myself to man up and do it first.

but the way he just reacted just made me think that our relationship growing was probably all just in my head. maybe i overestimated it.

when i got home, i went straight upstairs to my room and collapsed onto my bed. i sighed deeply and closed my eyes for a while to take a breather, but a text from my phone interrupted me.

i creased my brows at my blank phone screen then checked my other phone for olivia, and saw a message from jack.

ever since olivia was supposed to meet him at sammy's party, he hasn't tried to contact her as much.

but for a while, i didn't mind because i felt like there no use hiding behind olivia when jack and i were getting along so well.

although now i'm not so sure.

jack:

hey

olivia:

hi x

jack:

i feel like we haven't spoken in ages

olivia:

i know. how comes?

jack:

i could ask you the same question

jack:

i've just been caught up with school and tutoring and football

olivia:

me too, but minus the football or the tutoring. just school and life in general

jack:

and it's also because i was questioning us

olivia:

really?

jack:

we get along really well and i like you a lot, but we've never met and i've never even heard your voice

jack:

i just don't want to waste my time on something that's never going to happen

olivia:

i know and i'm sorry

i tapped the phone against my chest, wondering what to say next. wondering whether i should drag this on or just allow him to move on.

it doesn't feel as good as it did when i first started - now i'm just constantly paranoid about jack finding out.

but then again, the way he is with olivia and how he talks to her or about her is everything that i've ever wanted from him.

and i still do.

olivia:

how about we try again on friday?

jack:

to meet? yeah sure, where?

jack:

i'm sure that sammy will be having another party this weekend 😂

olivia:

idk we'll discuss it later but right now i have a ton of homework to do 😩

jack:

it's okay i better get on with some math now too my tutoring session kind of flopped today

olivia:

why? 😂

jack:

it just got awkward that's all

olivia:

i'm pretty great at math maybe i should be your tutor 😉

jack:

nah there's plenty of other things i'd rather be doing with you than equations and algebraic fractions

olivia:

wow fuckboy alert 🚨

jack:

babe you know i'm right though

olivia:

whatever 😌 any ways i need you to let me go and get this homework done and you need to go and study some math

jack:

okay okay fine 😞

jack:

don't miss me too much

olivia:

i'll try 😂 💗

-

probably one of my favourite chapters to write in this story so far

sammy's upcoming party may contain some pretty interesting events 

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