He gave me a warm smile and left the room.
I was alone in the biology classroom with Jacob Matthews. This was something that I'd dreamed of but never dared even think it might actually happen. He was the hot bad boy. I was the geeky good girl.
I took a deep breath and tried to steady my nerves. I stood up and walked over to the lab table, frantically trying to remember exactly what was in this lab. Five minutes ago I knew, but that was before I had to explain it to Jacob.
“Okay. Um, I guess we should get started. We'll start with orienting you to the microscope,” I said, hoping that I sounded more confident than I felt.
“What makes you qualified?” Jacob asked, his blue eyes looking me up and down. I felt exposed and far too big for the room when he looked at me.
“Other than Mr. Elway putt
ing me in charge?” I asked, crossing my arms. “I passed this class two years ago. I passed AP Bio last year. I've spent the past semester helping teach this course to sophomores. You're a senior. How come you have to take bio?”
He watched me for a moment, his expression blank as he evaluated me. Then he shrugged. “I need one more science class to graduate. Mr. Elway didn't pass me, so I have to retake it.”
I nodded. “Okay. That makes sense.”
“Can you just pass me? Tell Elway that I did an okay job?” He put his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket. “I'll pay you if you want.”
I frowned. “You can't buy me. You're gonna learn this.”
His eyebrows raised. “And you're gonna teach me?”
“Yeah. It's not like Brock the Jock is gonna walk in here and teach you about mitochondria.”
He rolled his eyes. “This is so stupid.”
“It is not,” I replied. He looked up surprised at the force in my voice. I was rather passionate about biology and learning. I loved biology. “It's not stupid.”
“Says you.”
“Biology is basically the study of sex,” I told him, remembering something I'd read online. I had no idea where I was getting the courage to be sassy from, but I wasn't going to back down now. “I thought you'd be better at it than that.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Jacob held up his hands. “The nerd has some fire.”
I crossed my arms and glared at him.”I'm not going to lie to Mr. Elway.”
He leaned back in his seat. “You said it was about sex? How is a microscope like sex?”
I was just glad he didn't ask me how someone like me would know about sex.
“How about you look in it and find out,” I replied. “This lab is all about plant spores. You get to watch plant sex.”
“You into that voyeurism, nerd?” Jacob asked. My face heated. I was sure that I was going to be a vibrant shade of red for the rest of my life.
“Just look in the microscope,” I replied.
He chuckled and rose gracefully from his chair and sauntered over to the lab area. “Show me what to do.”
He flashed me a wink that somehow made me turn even more red, but I wasn't about to let him get the best of me.
“You have to say that to women a lot?” I asked, plugging in the microscope and handing him the first slide.
Jacob laughed, the sound making my heart flutter. Good lord, how was I going to survive teaching him everyday?
“I like you, nerd,” he said. “Show me your sex stuff.”
I grinned, finally feeling like I might actually be okay with this arrangement. There was no way he would ever be my friend, our social circles were far too different, but for this hour, I thought we might get along.