~*~

It was Sunday, which meant that my dreaded final exams had been over for a few days, and my professors had until 11:59pm tonight to post final grades.

Jimmy had insisted on me coming over to his house to celebrate being done with finals and to give me the new car as soon as the grades were posted.

They were filming as I kept refreshing the page on my college's website, so they would at least have the real reaction on film when the final grade was posted.

Three of my professors had posted final grades so far: I had gotten either an A or A- in those classes, which I was really excited about... but of course the only professor that hadn't posted grades yet was my chemistry professor, and I knew that I had bombed that final.

For the entire semester, my chemistry class had been an uphill battle of me barely scraping by. The professor had said that he would curve our grade at the end, but how much? I had no idea.

Chemistry was the only thing that could possibly hold me back from getting that Honda Civic. In order to "pass" the class, I needed a C or better.

"Check it again," Jimmy said, sounding way too excited about my grades.

"Nothing yet."

"What if we go egg your professor's house? Do you think it'll make him grade faster?" Chandler wondered.

I laughed. "He still has a few more hours to post final grades."

"How about now?" It was Garrett asking this time.

The guys were way too excited about my grades. I knew it wasn't actually about the grades, and they were just hoping that I'd get the car.

The fact that Jimmy had already bought the car definitely made me study a lot harder, but it also put a lot of pressure on me. They were doing this for a video: imagine how humiliating it would be if they had to go return the car because I failed?

"Oh, shit!" I exclaimed, which made the guys perk up. I chuckled. "It's still not up yet."

"That was rude," Chris joked.

Jimmy was sitting right next to me on the couch while all of us were talking. Every so often, our legs would brush against each other whenever we moved slightly.

His touch felt so comforting, but I tried not to make it too obvious that I was brushing against him on purpose.

We were just sitting there and talking about random stuff for the next few hours. I was laughing at something that Chris said, but when I went to set my hand down on the couch, it brushed against Jimmy's upper thigh--okay, that one was actually an accident. I quickly jerked my hand away, but not before I heard Jimmy's breath catch in his throat.

Immediately, I started blushing. Thank God that the couch we were on was far enough away from the guys that they didn't catch that exchange.

To take my mind off of what had just happened, I went to check my grades to see if my chemistry final grade was posted yet. "Okay, let's try checking the grades again now."

Tareq had stopped filming while we were talking, but he started filming again when I said that.

To my surprise, the grade was finally posted:

Chemistry 121: B-

"Holy shit! I got a B-!" I exclaimed.

Jimmy peeked over my shoulder to look at it, and he smiled.

Considering I thought I was going to fail the class, a B- looked amazing to me.

The guys started screaming, "Congrats!"

Jimmy reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a key. He grabbed my hand and held it out, palm up, and dropped the key in my palm. He was smiling a cheeky, genuine smile. "It's all yours. You deserve it."

We all went outside to where Jimmy had parked the car in his driveway.

When Jimmy had brought the car to my apartment, it was dark outside, but now, being able to see it in the light, I was able to fully appreciate just how nice it looked.

To my embarrassment (story of my life), I started to cry. Jimmy looked so confused, but I laughed and hugged him tightly. "Thank you so much. You have no idea--I love it."

He chuckled. "I'm just glad you're not crying because you thought it was ugly."

I laughed. "No, it's amazing! I want to take it for a drive!"

Of course everyone piled into the car. There were only five seats, and there were definitely more than five of us.

I laughed. "I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have this many people in the car."

"This is nothing!" Chandler shouted from the back seat; Chris was sitting on his lap.

Chris made a face. "Chandler, your lap is so uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry that my lap doesn't meet your standards," Chandler retorted.

"It needs more cushion! Let's go to McDonald's and get him a cheeseburger."

I laughed. "Okay, McDonald's, here we come."

I drove to the McDonald's, which was just a few blocks away. As we approached the drive-thru and went to pay for our order, the cashier looked so confused from all the people in the car, but didn't say anything.

I loved these guys.

~*~

After a bit, it was time to go home. I was ready to drive home in my new car, but Jimmy insisted on following behind me in his car "just to make sure you get home okay and don't have any issues with the new car" (his words).

I said that I'd be fine driving home, but he insisted and said that it could be a liability since he just gave me the car. He said he wanted to be there just in case I didn't know how the car worked (I'm pretty sure I know how to drive).

I swear he was just doing this to spend more time with me because it made no sense.

I was driving back home, and I could see Jimmy through my mirror. He was driving behind me in his Tesla; he noticed me looking at him and he waved at me, smiling.

He was such a dork.

Eventually, we pulled up to my apartment complex, and we both got out of our cars.

"How'd it drive?" Jimmy asked.

"It was amazing! It's the best car I've ever driven. How can I ever repay you?"

"No need to ever repay me."

"Come on," I argued. "You've spent so much money on me... there has to be something."

He seemed to be thinking for a while, and then suddenly, a crooked grin spread across his face.

Uh-oh. I hoped that I didn't sound flirty when I said that. While I would love to be with Jimmy, I wasn't a prostitute, so I wasn't about to do any sexual favors for this car. I stopped myself: why would I even think that?

He would never ask something like that, and I was shocked that the thought had even crossed my mind. I started blushing.

"What are you doing for your winter break?" he asked.

I was stunned. "What?" I blurted out. His question caught me off guard, so it took me a minute to reply. "Working, mostly. I don't really have family down here, so I was probably just going to work the holidays to get some extra money."

"That sounds terrible. Do you have a Christmas tree or decorations?"

I shook my head 'no'. I didn't really have the money to buy a lot of decorations. It was sad, honestly, but that was part of moving away from all my family almost six months ago with no money.

"I have a better idea: come stay with me for your winter break. I have guest bedrooms, and we'll make sure to have an awesome Christmas and New Year's together," he said. "We can even go to my mom's house for Christmas. My family's pretty awesome."

I just stared at him in silence. "What?" My mind was spinning, and my brain was having a hard time comprehending what he had just said.

His cheeks were starting to get a pink tint to them. "If you really want to pay me back for the car--and there's no pressure because I already said that you don't have to--that's the way. I'd feel awful if you were spending all that time alone in your apartment, especially on the holidays. It would make me feel better if you were with me."

I was going to argue that I had my roommate, Jenna, but then I realized that he hadn't even met her because she was there so infrequently. I was planning on maybe going to my aunt and uncle's house for Christmas since they lived nearby, but I barely even knew them, so it would have been awkward anyway.

Staying at Jimmy's house sounded amazing, but I felt a bit awkward about taking him up on the offer.

"Is that really what you want?" I'm sure I sounded really confused.

It wasn't even really me paying him back: somehow, him doing me a favor was me doing him a favor.

He never made sense, which I've mostly just learned to accept.

He grinned. "Yeah, that's what I want. Are you in?"

I still felt so confused. "Sure."

He smiled. "Great. I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon, so get packing."

"Okay."

He was so freaking weird and confusing.

Did I really just agree to spend the next three weeks at Jimmy's house?

~*~