groaned as I got up from the bed.

I didn't hate mornings and I wasn't a morning person either, but I particularly hated Monday mornings. The fact that I had gym first period made me groan louder. I felt like screaming and kicking random objects and wailing, but I decided against it. Mum was a light sleeper and any noise I made could wake her up.

I didn't want to disturb her sleep, only because I wanted to execute my plan of sneaking out of the house. I was trying to avoid confrontations because even if we decided to talk, I knew we were going to end up fighting.

An hour later, I was done with my morning routine and it was time to sneak out. Sneaking out was way easier than I'd thought. Mum was still sleeping in her room so I just tiptoed to the front door while humming the mission impossible theme song. I grinned triumphantly as I drove away. My escape was a success.

When I heard the monster noises from my stomach, I sighed. I had completely forgotten about breakfast when sneaking out. Pulling into Starbucks drive-thru, I ordered a bacon, sausage and egg wrap, and a hot chocolate which I made sure to enjoy in the school's parking lot.

Caelum was the first person I saw when I stepped into the building. He was leaning against the lockers. I assumed he was waiting for somebody because his locker wasn't in this part of the school.

The fact that I could spot Caelum in a room full of people bothered me. I believed the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon or whatever, but this was becoming too much. Caelum appeared wherever I went, and if he wasn't there, there was always someone or something relating to him.

"Hey," I greeted.

He didn't reply but he gave me a simple nod. Talk about awkward.

"So, how are you feeling?" I asked just to make conversation.

He shrugged, not giving me an answer. I knew it was his attempt to ignore whatever happened on Saturday, and I couldn't waste precious time standing aimlessly, so I turned to leave.

I flinched in surprise when I felt his warm hand wrap around my wrist, gently pulling me towards him. I tugged my hand away from his, but he kept it tightly held so I turned to him, frowning. He scanned my face, and if I didn't know better, I would've concluded that he was memorizing my features, wanting to dream of me when he slept. My conclusion made my insides tumble.

Somehow, he let go of me and I found the courage to look away once again but he held me back. Again. He removed his hand from my skin immediately I turned to look at him and stretched out the plastic container I had placed the cupcakes in last week. "Here."

It was surprising seeing Caelum all flustered. He even made sure to avoid any form of eye contact with me so I laughed awkwardly as I collected it and thought of a quick joke to ease the tension. "I thought you were going to eat the container too."

I received a flat look in response and I nodded in affirmation. We were going to pretend that never happened.

"Uh, thanks for the um... cupcakes," he said after a few seconds. It was obvious he rarely appreciated people's efforts, but I couldn't help but grin at his discomfort.

The bell rang almost immediately and Caelum fled towards the direction of his class. Did he really think he could escape? I shook my head as I followed behind. No, I wasn't stalking him, we had gym together.

The highlight of my day was that I didn't go over to the Jensen's to see Emery, I went there to meet Caelum.

After school, I had driven back home and laid down on the couch for some minutes before deciding to return the cupcake container to its position. I honestly had no idea what pushed me to open the container, but I did and I froze.

In the container was a sticky note with Caelum's writing. I couldn't help but envy his handwriting. I mean, how could a boy's writing be this neat? Growing up, I concluded that boys always had messy writings. Don't blame me, the guys in my class didn't try to prove otherwise.

I picked the note out of the container and read it.

Daesyn, come over at 4. I'll tutor you for your Calculus test.

C.

I felt a light tap on my shoulders and I almost died from the shock.

"Jesus Christ!" I clutched my chest, turning around. Of course, it was Emery.

"Your face," she spluttered as she tried to hold in her laughter.

I glared at her. "It's not funny."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," she said still grinning.

"Why did you even come here?" I asked, still annoyed.

She shrugged. "We both know I live here."

I rolled my eyes. "You know what I mean, Em."

She wiggled her eyebrows. "Caelum said you should come upstairs."

My eyes narrowed. "Is there something wrong with your brows?"

"Act like you don't know what I mean."

"I have no idea what you mean," I said, standing. "If you'll excuse me, I have things to do."

"Daesyn?" Emery called when I reached the stairs.

"Yeah?" I stopped and turned to look at her.

She smirked. "Leave Caelum's door open, will you?"

I flipped the middle finger as I flew up the stairs, my cheeks burning in embarrassment. I could still hear her obnoxious laughter as I reached Caelum's door. I stood outside to cool my burning cheeks before raising a fist to knock.

"Come in," I heard Caelum's faint reply.

"Uh, hi," I greeted, standing awkwardly beside the door.

"You learn easily when standing?" Caelum glanced at me from his chair while I glared at the back of his head.

"Why didn't we study in the living room?"

He snickered. "Beggar with a choice."

I laid my bag on the ground, sucking my teeth as I did so. "I'm going to pretend like I didn't hear that."

"Just sit down and bring out your books," he said, standing and stretching his arms. "I'm going to look for something to eat. Are you hungry?"

I grinned sheepishly and nodded, while he curtly mirrored my action and left the room. Minutes later, Caelum walked into the room with two plates of sandwich. I assumed one was for me so I grinned at him.

"I can't believe you actually made a sandwich for me, C," I teased, collecting a plate from him.

"I'll remember not to make one for you next time," he said, sitting beside me on the floor.

I wiggled my brows before digging in. "There's even a next time."

He stared at me for a moment longer and shook his head.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," he casually replied and I attempted to raise a brow. That stuff was way harder than people made it out to be. "You're weird."

"I am not weird," I countered.

"You are," he said. "Your mood changes like a girl on her—"

I cut him off with a glare. "Do not complete that—"

"Period." He smirked while my cheeks burnt in embarrassment.

In an attempt to change the subject, I slammed my textbook on the space between us. "Teach me."

"I am the teacher." He shot a glare my way. "Do not command me."

I snorted. "Somebody's PMS'ing"

"Shut up," he barked and I giggled. He was just talking about my mood swings when his was way worse.

I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry." I really needed to focus.

"So, what do you not understand?" he asked me while flipping through the textbook.

"Everything," I said, honestly. I didn't see any use in lying. "Well, everything you can remember."

"I see." He sighed, turning to the first page of one of my notebooks. The topic was differentiation and integration and I glared at the page. I couldn't even recall copying that note.

Caelum started explaining the notes to me and I listened intently, set on passing my test tomorrow. We took breaks in between studying and before I knew it, we were almost done with the notebook.

I stylishly checked the time and my eyes widened when I saw we'd spent three hours studying. Caelum was a really good tutor, and if Mr. Bob taught like that, I knew I would be one of the top students. Besides, all the questions I couldn't ask in class, I made sure to ask him.

"One second," he said, bringing me out of my thoughts. He came back with a notebook, stretching it out to me. "Here."

It was his Calculus note of last year and I flipped through the pages. The notes contained the topics we were currently doing in class. "How did you do all these things last year?"

He shrugged. "I'm in the AP calculus class."

Oh, that explained a lot. "You're such a nerd," I teased.

"No," he said. "Nerds don't say 1/3>((-1^1/5)/27U) ^1/2."

"Wow." I frowned. "That's exactly what a nerd would say."

"Whatever, dumbo. Use that note to revise."

My frown deepened. "I'm not dumb."

"Yeah," he said. "That's exactly what a dumbo would say."

I said nothing.

"So, use that note to revise."

I didn't reply.

"Daesyn," he said, amusement shining in his eyes. "Use that note to revise, okay?"

I nodded and thanked him. "You know, I think I'm going to pass this test." I grinned.

"I spent almost four hours teaching you and you still say think?" He glared at me, stretching his limbs.

I winced at his bluntness. "Well, don't jinx my test."

"Oh please." He snorted. "If you fail this test, it means you can't be helped."

"Shut up."

"Make me," he countered.

I smirked knowingly. "Just say you want a kiss from me."

"Get out of here!" he barked, lying down on his bed.

I cackled as I put my things back in my bag and hung it on my back. "Caelum?"

"I told you to get out of here." He groaned, throwing a pillow at me.

"A little birdie told me I was your first kiss."

He didn't reply but I saw the tips of his ear turn red. I grinned at his cuteness and called a "bye C" as I left his room. That was the most conversation I'd ever had with Caelum and he wasn't as rude as he normally was. I knew it was a one-time thing but I couldn't help but smile as the smell of progress filled the air.

-

Author's note:

This chapter wasn't as good as the others, but it was just a filler chapter. I couldn't continue the story without adding this chapter.

Forgive me ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

Finally, for the beautiful people who care about me and my life, your comments really made my day and I love you all❤️