I looked up at the clock and chewed the end of my pen absentmindedly as I watched the seconds tick away. In ten more minutes that bell will ring and I will finally get to stand up from this impossibly hard seat that has my freshly belted behind itching with pins and needles…just ten more minutes.

“Miss Jonas.”

My head shot toward my professor and I pulled the end of my pen from my mouth, “Yes?”

“You agree then?” she questioned a slight smirk tugging at the corners of her lips, she had clearly caught me not paying attention and was making me pay for it.

“I mean…no?” I back peddled unsure of what the topic of discussion was, “I’m sorry Professor Davies, I didn’t hear the question.”

“That’s because you weren’t paying attention Miss Jonas, from now on while in my class I expect you to be IN my class understood?”

“Yes Ma’am.” I agreed sheepishly feeling heat flood my face as all eyes seemed to be on me. Thankfully she then turned her attention to another student lost in counting the seconds.

“Don’t forget to grab a study guide as you exit the room,” Professor Davies instructed as the bell sounded and everyone scrambled to gather their things, “I’ve taken the liberty of simply outlining all the material that will be covered on next week’s final rather than giving you a study guide to complete yourself since I know that the majority of you will never take the time to do so…feel free to thank me later, I am not above receiving chocolate.”

I smiled as I threw my backpack over my shoulder, if only all professors were as cool as Ms. D…I’d have a lot less friggin’ homework to get done tonight and a lot more time to focus on the date part of my upcoming study date.

                                                                                                ***

“I can’t believe your brother agreed to let me come over and help you,” Josh said a smile evident in his voice as we exited Chilton grounds and headed toward Kevin’s house.

“Never underestimate the power of my puppy dog eyes,” I said shooting him a smirk and batting my lashes before readjusting my backpack on my shoulders.

“Oh I wouldn’t dare,” Josh teased. “Here…gimme that,” he said reaching for the strap of my backpack.

“It’s ok I’ve got it,” I lied attempting to decline the kind gesture and nearly falling over as the books shifted inside the bag.

Josh shook his head and grabbed my bag before throwing it over his shoulder, “This bag weighs more than you Jonas.”

“That is the weight of impending doom, my friend,” I said with a sigh, “I am so screwed.”

Josh readjusted my bag on his shoulder, “Surely your brother doesn’t expect you to get all of this done today…”

“Actually he expected me to get it done last night; he gave me an extension until tonight.”

“So what is he going to do if you can’t get it done?" Josh questioned cocking a brow. "I mean he can’t punish you if you are working hard to get it done and there just isn’t enough time…”

I giggled mockingly, “Oh I assure you, he can and will. I’ve had plenty of time to get this work done but I was blowing it off and Nick was letting me because he was all guilt riddled about knocking up Cat. We have finals next week and I am spending all the time I should be studying for them playing catch-up and Kevin is not having it. He will definitely be handing me my ass if I do not have this all done tonight.”

"Well, I could always do half of it for you,” Josh suggested, “I mean I've done most of this already."

Shaking my head, I smiled, "You don't have to do that and besides, you don't have girly handwriting like I do, my brother would never buy it."

"Hey I happen to be very good at mimicking handwriting." He argued as we walked up the driveway.

My eyes went wide before smirking. "Mr. Davis, is there something you would like to confess?"

He shrugged sheepishly, “I may have forged a few letters, signatures, and prescriptions in the past…”

"Mmmmhmmm…discussion on your past deviance to be continued.”  I put the key in the lock before pushing open the front door. "Hello?"

"Hey guys . . . Kevin told me to be expecting you two." Dani said coming into the front room with a dishtowel in her hands.

I smiled . “Dani this is my friend Josh, Josh this is Kevin's wife, Dani."

"Nice to meet you," Josh said giving her a smile.

Dani smiled, "Kevin was right…You do look like trouble." My mouth dropped open in shock over Dani’s blunt remark as I turned to Josh to gage his reaction, he stood unnerved. “Good thing I don’t judge a book by its cover.”

I let out a relieved sigh, "And with that we are going to start on homework," I said leading the way into the kitchen.

Dani followed behind with a knowing smile, "Can I get you guys anything? I have fresh cookies."

"How about something less carby…I haven’t quite mastered bolusing for home baked goods yet." I said with a grin as we took a seat at the table.

Dani laughed. "Alright, carrots?”

“Perfect.”

“Joshua, can I get you anything?" she asked turning her attention to Josh who perked up with a smile as he was addressed.

"A cookie sounds great, thank you." Josh said politely.

I snickered. "Joshua." He merely grinned in my direction.

"Here you go. Enjoy." Dani chimed handing us our respective after school snacks before heading towards the living room. "The girls will be home soon so I suggest getting as much of that work done as possible before they step through that door."

I sighed. "I can’t afford any distractions today, I have way too much work to get done.”

"The girls?" Josh's brows knitted in confusion.

"They have two girls, Ellie and Maddie. I think you have seen Ellie before when you came to the house."

Josh nodded his head before smiling big. "Oh yea, I remember, she was a cutie.”

 I looked at my pile of books before groaning. "Yes, they both are and they can be a huge distraction; I have a very hard time telling them no, it seems I am powerless against their cuteness."

Josh shot me a devilish smirk, “and yet my cuteness seems to have no effect on you.”

I rolled my eyes before tossing a baby carrot into my mouth, “You are supposed to be here helping me with work, not trying to distract me.”

“So you DO think I’m cute,” Josh teased, a large grin spreading across his lips. I let out a frustrated growl and he quickly threw up his hands in mock surrender. “Alright, sorry, what do you want to start with?”

Sliding the large history book from the stack I plopped it on the table in front of Josh, “I have a massive study guide for next week’s final that I have to complete and I suck at history.”

“You know these study guides are just a formality right,” Josh questioned grabbing a pen from his bag. “You aren’t actually required to fill these out.”

“Unless of course you are me,” I corrected, “it has to be completed and correct.” Josh nodded deciding not to argue and started to fill out the study guide without even cracking the book. “What are you doing? I told you this has to be correct or he will consider it incomplete and if he sees that you filled this out for me I am dead.”

“Relax Jonas, He won’t know, just keep a look out for the fuzz,” Josh teased as he continued to fill out the packet at lightning speed.

Letting out a frustrated sigh I grabbed the packet. “He knows my handwriting Josh!” looking at the work he had done my anxiety quickly faded, “Hey…that’s actually really good…it looks just like my handwriting.”

“Like I said, relax.” Josh repeated grabbing the packet back and quickly filling out the answers.

“Don’t you need to look up the answers?” I questioned grabbing my math book from the stack and starting in on the assignment. “I can’t just BS this stuff…he will check it.”

“I know the answers, don’t worry about it, start on something else.” he said confidently as he flipped to the next page in the packet, he had just finished filling it out and had turned his attention to helping me with my math when the kitchen door flew open and both girls ran inside.

"Your distractions have arrived," He whispered under his breath as I smirked in his direction.

I looked up and smiled. "Hi girls, how was your day at school?"

"Good” . . . “Bad."

 I cocked a brow in Ellie’s direction. "Why was it bad?" She shrugged as I traded glances with Josh. "Talk to me, what happened?"

"Mrs. Johnson doesn't like me," she said her lip jutting out in a pout.

 I threw down my pencil with a sigh and motioned her over, she quickly dropped her backpack and crawled into my lap. "Why would you say Mrs. Johnson didn’t like you?"

“'Cause she doesn’t,” Ellie said adamantly, “she made me sit with my head down at afternoon recess.”

“Why did she do that?”

Ellie twisted the hem of her dress nervously, “I punched Bobby Stevens.”

My eyes grew wide, “You punched someone?” I questioned appalled.

“He started it,” she defended, “he pushed me down and said I was stupid.”

“Did you tell Mrs. Johnson? Did Bobby have to sit out for his recess too?” I questioned suddenly finding Ellie’s actions totally justified.

She shook her head, “She didn’t believe me because Bobby said he didn’t do it, but he did.”

“He shouldn’t have pushed you and called you stupid, that wasn’t nice…but you shouldn’t have punched him either.”

Ellie scoffed, “But he ALWAYS picks on me and he never gets in trouble, I hit him one time and I miss my recess, it’s not fair.”

“Hi girls!” Dani chimed as she walked into the kitchen, “How was your day?”

“Ellie got in trouble” Maddie chimed, “My day was good.”

“SHUT UP MADDIE!” Ellie screamed bursting into tears before jumping from my lap and running upstairs.

Dani stood there for a moment processing the information, “Madeline, you shouldn’t tattle on your sister, go get started on your homework please.”

“Is she gunna get in trouble?” Maddie asked almost amused.

“Go start your homework before you get in trouble.” Dani warned pointing toward the stairs, Maddie obeyed without another word slinging her backpack over her shoulder and hurrying up the stairs. “Did Ellie mention what happened at school?”

I nodded picking up my pencil and continuing with my homework, "She got recess taken away for punching Bobby Stevens."

Dani's eyes went wide. "She did what?" she shrieked grabbing Ellie’s backpack from the floor and removing a folder, pulling a slip from the pocket she quickly read over a note before slamming it to the counter in frustration, “According to Mrs. Johnson, Ellie punched Bobby and busted his lip.” I couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pride. “This is not funny Cecelia, why are you smiling?”

“In her defense she told me that this Bobby kid pushed her down and called her stupid and that’s why she punched him, she says he picks on her all the time.”

Dani stared unamused, “Well that is a problem that we will have to address but NOT an excuse…where did she even learn to punch someone?”

I shrugged, “Probably the boys…that’s where I learned.”

Dani let out a sigh of frustration, “I am gunna KILL your brothers.”

“Works for me, it would save me from having to get all this homework done.”

“Oh no, you Miss are doing that homework…ALL of it.” she said jutting a finger in my direction before sending a text on her phone, undoubtedly to Kevin.

I held my hands up in mock surrender, “Chill Momma…she punched a boy…she was just sticking up for herself, would you rather her just sit back and be picked on?”

“I would rather her tell the teacher and let the teacher handle it, not take it upon herself to settle the score.”

I shrugged and turned my attention back to my work, “boys are mean and smelly…it’s all I’m sayin.”

“Hey!” Josh defended acting hurt.

I rolled my eyes, “Except for you.”

Dani checked a text before tucking her phone into her pocket, “I’m going to go talk to Ellie, Kevin is on the way home so I suggest you get moving on that homework.” I mock saluted her as she walked out of the kitchen and headed up the stairs.

“Well, I’m fucked.” I groaned pulling the ponytail holder from my hair and raking my fingers through the tangled mess of curls in frustration. Josh simply
smiled. “Why are you smiling?”

 “I like your hair curly, it’s cute,” he said tucking a wild tendril behind my ear. “Why do you straighten it?”

I rolled my eyes before batting his hand away, “Because I don’t want to be seen as ‘cute’…cute is for babies and little kids…Ellie is cute.”

“No, Ellie is a little heartbreaker,” Josh stated surely.

I cocked a brow, “What?”

Josh shook his head and chuckled before standing from the table and making his way into the kitchen and grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge. “That kid she popped in the mouth, Bobby, he likes her.”

“You are delusional; did you not hear what she said?” I argued throwing down my pencil, “He picks on her all the time, he pushed her down and called her stupid...he is a bully.”

 “Boys may be mean and smelly but girls are stupid,” Josh argued as the kitchen door opened and my eldest brother entered the scene.

“Oh really?!”

“So, this is you doing your homework?” Kevin asked cocking a parental brow in my direction. “I would think after your little discussion with Nick today you wouldn’t want to press your luck.”

“You heard about that huh…”

“Yes I did,” Kevin said setting down his bag on the counter and removing his tie “Unless you would like a repeat performance I suggest you get to crackin'.”

I wrinkled my nose in embarrassment over how openly he was discussing my impending punishment in front of Josh “I know I know!”

“Just making sure you understand,” he said picking up the note from the counter and skimming it quickly, “What is the story with your niece?”

“MY niece…when she is in trouble, she is MY niece.”

“Bobby picks on her all the time,” Josh said smirking at my eldest brother, “and today he pushed her and called her stupid so she popped him one.”

“Oh geez,” Kevin said running a hand through his hair, “She is five…what the heck.”

“Kids these days,” Josh joked before taking a seat next to me again with a smile.

I turned my gaze to my older brother “Oh come on, you don’t actually agree with him!”

“He likes her,” Kevin stated surely.

Josh smirked, “Told ya.”

“I have too much work to do,” I said picking up my pencil and turning my attention back to my math, “I don’t have time to argue with you two about how stupid boys are.”

“No argument here,” Kevin said as he turned to leave the kitchen, “I’m glad she popped that little punk.”

I watched Kevin disappear up the stairs before turning my eyes back to Josh who smirked back in my direction. “Boys are stupid, if you like a girl why not just tell her?”

“I like you.” Josh responded not missing a beat.

I sat there for a moment before rolling my eyes and handing him a pencil. “That’s great, now get to work.”

“You know, if you like me back you should just tell me.”

“I don’t have time to like boys, maybe once this work is done,” I said turning my attention back to my math.

Josh cocked a brow in my direction, “that sounds like a ruse Miss Jonas.”

“Is it working?”  I asked sweetly. Josh gave me a sly smile before grabbing my math packet and immediately started to jot down answers. “How did you get so smart when you never went to school?”

Josh looked up from the paper and chuckled “School always came easy to me, I have a pretty good memory for facts and I’m a closet math geek.”

“Is there anything you can’t do?”

“I seriously suck at knitting.” Josh joked shooting me a smile before returning to my math packet.

I rested my chin on my hand and let out a sigh, “Math geek huh?”

“Yup” Josh said not pulling his eyes from my paper, “get to crackin’ Jonas.” Rolling my eyes I pulled my notebook from the pile and flipped to an empty page. “How much do you have left after this math is done?”

“I have to write a rough draft on To Kill A Mockingbird”

“Is that all?” Josh questioned flipping to the last page in my math packet.

“Yep, once I get the rough draft done I am finished.”

“Get to it Miss Jonas,” Josh said finishing the math packet and laying down the pencil with a smirk, “I for one would like to get to the date part of this study date.” I ignored the sudden butterflies in my stomach and played it completely coy shooting Josh a smirk.

Chapter End Notes:

I definitely have the next chapter written...truth be told Ive been on a streak today writing this SO...i could be persuaded to upload it later tonight if there is interest :) In other news...Nicholas Jonas is a sexy beast....OH and Josh is a hottie hottie smartie pants. REVIEW AND VOTE LOVELIES!