smile for the paparazzi , open!

[jaz jacobs]

ah the library, a place where one can go if they want to escape from the bullies. what else do students at dayton academy students use it for? certainly not for its' purpose. for most students at dayton, the library is definitely not the coolest of places to hang out, especially with the whiny, bitchy grumpy librarian who looks like she could use a good lay, did not tolerate any noise whatsoever. but for jaz, this place was her home away from home. since there was rarely any one in the library, it was a great place to study, read, write, and do homework.

here jaz was able to bring out her inner nerd. she loved fantasy and science fiction novels, but was forbidden to read them in school in fear of being called a nerd by the other students. jaz had spent the last two years of her life proving that straight a students could be cool, she didn't want there to be any reason to think otherwise. so to make sure, she would always have her math book out and act like she was working on problems she finished days in advance.

she had come here so often, that the grouchy old bat sitting at the librarian desk knew her by name. today jaz was on an adventure while she was awaiting the boy she was supposed to tutor in precalc. apparently, he was in her class, but jaz did not recognize the name of the student. just finishing a book last night, jaz felt the withdraw from reading was killing her, so she had to have another book. jaz wasn't looking for just any book though, she was looking for a book she had never heard before, something that would catch her attention. a romance perhaps? nah, jaz has had about enough of the hooking up and breaking up from the students at dayton as it is to want to read about it.

as she walked up and down the isles of book cases, none of them caught her eye. after the fourth of fifth one, jaz was about to give up on her search, but then something caught her eye. it was at the very top of the bookshelf, cornered by two large books. jaz went onto her tippy toes trying to reach for it, causing her shirt to go up a couple of inches. she brought her arms back down to her side and tugged her shirt back down.

jaz attempted this again, this time reaching a bit higher than she had before. her fingers lightly touched the books' spine and as she forced herself even higher, she felt herself loose balance and started to fall. she desperately grabbed hold of the nearest thing, which was a book out of its' place in the shelf, but it didn't stop her from falling. the book moved with her, causing several other books to be pushed out of their respected spots and to follow suit of jaz. 'i'm a goner' thought jaz as she screamed.

[jerome evans]

So this was where the library was. Jerome ran a hand through his thick hair and looked around at the tall stacks of books. He’d been in here once, as a freshman, when they were learning how to write papers, but not since. He’d almost forgotten where the place was located. In actuality, if Mrs. Kimble hadn’t insisted he get tutoring, he probably would have made it to graduation without walking in this place again. “Damn, that’s a lot of books,” he muttered to himself and ignored the instant glare he felt from the nearby librarian. So where was this girl that was supposed to be his tutor? Jerome looked around at all the different, and very few, kids sitting at the open tables in the library. He vaguely knew what she looked like, at least the back of her head, since he sat in the back of the room during their pre-calculus class. Her name was Jazmine, or something similar. Jerome didn’t pay much attention when Mrs. Kimble told him to write down the girl’s name and school email. So that lead him to being here in the library, standing alone, trying to get a good glimpse at the back of everyone’s head.

Jerome hiked his backpack onto his shoulder, securing it in place, before he started to walk around. Maybe he’d find her sitting at a table doing math problems or whatever it was these kids did on their free time. He glanced down every aisle between the tall stacks of books as he made his way around the library. Every once in a while, he’d stop and take a closer look at someone. Secretly, he was hoping she’d come up to him so he could pretend he actually knew who she was. Jerome was coming close to just sitting down and waiting for the girl to find him. Shoot, maybe she was looking for him right now. He also had the urge to just leave. Who really needed to know something like “pre-calculus” in their life? It wasn’t like he was going to be some businessman in the future. He wasn’t planning on going to college or anything. He just wanted to graduate. Something caught his eye though when he was passing one of the aisles. It was a girl, with medium length brown hair, and she was standing in her tiptoes reaching for a book on the top shelf.

That could’ve been her. Jerome thought the hair seemed the same, but then again, brown hair was pretty generic. He cleared his throat, getting ready to ask if the girl knew anyone named Jazmine, assuming that was the right name, before he witnessed her balance falter. It seemed like everything went slow motion as the girl fell down, bringing a decent amount of books with her. She let out a small scream, and Jerome dropped his backpack and headed over toward her. This wasn’t any movie. There was no superhero save from the impending doom falling upon the damsel in distress. In fact, Jerome barely made it in time to catch her head on his arm, versus the floor. If she had been even a few feet further, he doubted it’d be worth trying to even help her. The books lay around them astray, and a few still fell from the shelves with a loud thud. “Girl, no book’s worth that,” Jerome said, standing up and looking at the spine of a book. Were they supposed to have numbers on the label, not letters? Dewey’s number sequence, or whatever it was called. He shrugged, and set it down in the massively empty section of one of the shelves. “You okay?” he held a hand down to help her up. He doubted she’d be severely hurt, maybe just bruised if anything.

[jaz jacobs]

jaz saw her life flash before her eyes. all the good books she'd read, her puppy dog, and her whole high school years and all her future, going down the drain. jaz was very cautious when it came to things like this, she was the only one in her family that hadn't broken any bones or even sprained it. she had tried getting books from the tops of shelves before, sometimes she managed to pull them out far enough to put it back for not appealing to her as much, but she thought she'd at least grown a few inches so she could reach it. damn her short genes she inherited from her mother. if she were as tall as her father, things like this wouldn't be happening to her.

an automatic instinct forced jaz to spread her hands out, hoping to catch her fall, but put herself into more shock than she would've if she didn't brace herself, but what she didn't expect was the ground being so soft on her head. the carpet was so old, it had the same texture as concrete. she opened her eyes up and stayed there for a second, catching her breath and letting her hands recover. she realized immediately something had caught her, because whatever it was was holding her head up so her hands got a break. was it a book? no, books were not this... warm?

she looked up and immediately noticed the boy's distinguishing features. she couldn't help but turn bright red. from this angle, he was rather cute. jaz looked away as suddenly as she realized she'd been staring at the beautiful boy and regained herself, taking him by the hand and hoisting herself up. she tried not to put any pressure on his hands, afraid to hurt him, she finally was back on her feet. afraid to look at him. if her theory was right, he was even more gorgeous from this angle, but the question was, did she want to make even more of a fool of herself than she already had.

okay, so she couldn't resist. she look at his face. oh my god. he was like nothing she'd ever seen before. he was surprisingly cute. and when he talked, jaz slightly recognized his sweet, calm voice. what in the world was he doing in the library? shouldn't he be at his girlfriend's house? if you thought jaz's face was red before, it was even more red than before at the thought of girlfriend. "i, i know." jaz stuttered. "sometimes i don't even know my own height." she said, shaking out her hands a little before she spoke again. "yeah, i'll be fine." she said. "thank you by the way." she flashed a small, flirtacious smile at him while she watched him put the book back on the empty shelf.

then she bent down and started to collect the books. she put them all in one stack neatly before picking them up. a couple fell out of her hands. jaz sighed, what was wrong with her? jaz had carried books this heavy before, and even more heavy. freshman year, she carried all her six books around to each class, every day. she must've lost some strength since then. or was she only acting like this because she was around a cute boy? "i'm jazmine, but my friends call me jaz." she greeted, struggling to push all the books in her hands to one hand so she could hold her hand out to him.

[jerome evans]

Her eyes were big compared to the rest of her face; Jerome noticed when she finally opened them. It almost reminded him of his cousin’s eyes when she was still little, not that he saw the girl as a little kid. Still, she probably was younger than him. Most kids were. Jerome half argued in his head when she finally looked up as to whether or not he should smile. Did he try to lighten the moment or just go with however it played out? There wasn’t much room for answers though because before he had a chance to even say anything, a quick blush covered her face. He couldn’t help but have a smile, closed mouth and very crooked, smile sneak out. He loved when girl’s blushed. Not only did he find it cute, but it was probably the only time he knew girls to be entirely honest with their emotions. No dramatics; no lying. Of course, she’d probably be like all the other girls and pretend she wasn’t blushing. Hell, he’d probably do that too.

When she finally took his hand and pulled herself up, Jerome was able to get a better look at her. She was small, but still had curves, and she was cute. She had the whole innocent look down, unlike other girls at this school, and Jerome liked that. She even had a Monroe like him. Her face was cute, but he couldn’t get much of a look at it since she wouldn’t look up at all. Well, that was at first anyway. She finally faced him, and he cracked a smile when her face got redder. He wanted to tell her it was ok, to not be embarrassed that she fell, but there was a sadistic side to him that really wanted to see her blush. She was just so cute; how’d he luck out in being the guy who got to help her? Jerome never struck oil like this.

Her voice matched how she looked, small and cute, or maybe that was just because she was embarrassed. Jerome let out a small “ha” as she stated that she sometimes didn’t know her own height. She’d clearly mistaken her height by a good four inches or close to it. “Not a problem. I make it an effort to save one person a day,” he said with the most serious face he could manage before a smile broke through, “You can fall again if you like. I’m behind on my monthly quota…” He watched her begin stacking up all the books, wondering which one it was she had wanted in the first place. A few of the books fell back to the ground, and she let out a sigh.

Jerome picked up the fallen books, still listening to her talk as she introduced herself. He instinctively grabbed a few books from out of her hand as she tried to push them all to one hand, and he tucked them under one arm. Jazmine? She had to be his tutor. It all seemed to fit. There would have been no way he’d find her if this had not happened. Serendipity was at play. “Jaz, huh? You wouldn’t happen to be some math genius or anything, would you?” Jerome asked, taking her hand lightly in his and giving it a quick shake. He put the books in his hand up on the shelf, not caring what order they were supposed to go in. Genius was a light term. Jerome called anyone with a better grade than himself a genius, and this qualified almost the entire school. “Oh,” he looked back down at her, forgetting to introduce himself, “I’m Jerome. Call me whatever you like, I have about five different names.” He took the other books out of her hand and set them on the shelf in front of the other books, still stacked. He didn’t see why he should bother shelving them all. That was the librarians job after all.

[jaz jacobs]

jaz felt like an idiot. she just couldn't stop blushing. what was wrong with her? it couldn't possibly be her falling, jaz did that on a normal basis just about anywhere, only this time she had a valid excuse. what she didn't get was why she was still blushing? was it because she was actually talking to a boy who didn't push up his glasses every five seconds or ask her about some silly question. jaz was fed up being a geek, she had informed just about all the school, but she couldn't change who she was, because things like math came easy to her. it was both a blessing and a curse. but why didn't things that matter come easy to her, like boys and flirting?

maybe her lack of flirting skills prevented her from getting a boyfriend, let a lone even a close guy friend. jaz never really did care too much about relationships until she started her junior year, when all her friends, everyone around her started dating and kissing. jaz was a little left out, because no one finds the geeky one in the group attractive. she smiled at his chuckle at her joke, one of her pathetic attempts of flirting. she wasn't sure if he was actually laughing because he found it funny or he didn't want to be rude, but unlike everyone else, he actually caught it, which was different. jaz had never had many people laugh at her stupid jokes. jaz thought they were stupid, she had no common sense and usually found things not as funny as others might be. just another flaw to add to her lack of girlish skills.

just when jaz finally felt the blush starting to fade, she started to believe his philosphy, already thinking he was like some kind of saint or something, but when he started to smile, jaz's face grew bright red once again and she could tell he would not let her face return to normal. "thanks for the gesture, but i do not want to go to the nurse, at least not today." she playfully pushed him, practicing on her flirting, but she knew it was probably worthless... she just lacked the skill. the only way that she might be able to learn some things was if she followed around marilyn or other high class brats. jaz prefered not to waist her time with them, instead in her home away from home, the library.

she watched him helplessly as he picked up the fallen books from her hand. "thanks," she said as he placed the books back up on the shelf. what a gentlemen, she thought, as she admired him. as much as she wanted to hide checking him out, it was rather hard to do. she was being foolish, she needed to find that kid she was supposed to tutor. "a math genius?" jaz chuckled a bit, "i guess you could say that." she looked at the floor, thinking he probably thought her as some kind of freak. i mean, who hangs out in the library after school hours? some kind of math freak or book lover, and he probably accused her of both. not that it wasn't true, but jaz hated being classified as that. "i'm supposed to be tutoring some idiot in math." she giggled as she felt that she needed to explain why she had been hanging out in some kind of bizarre hang out.

[jerome evans]

That was a lot of books that had fallen, Jerome thought as he looked at the half-assed attempt at shelving them. He felt like he should probably straighten them up, but he didn’t actually care too much. They were books, and someone was bound to read them and put them away where they belonged. He wasn’t going to be that person though. He never was. Books? Unneeded. Of course, he did remember a few from back when he did his homework and actually read a book or two. He loved George Orwell, and that’d be the only books he’d ever willingly read. 1984 and Burmese Days were hidden under his bed, but even his closest friends didn’t know about them. They were his dirty little secrets, among others under his bed that don’t need to be brought up.

Jerome smiled as her blush dissipated and then lightly returned. She was a cute, and he was pretty sure she was flirting with him, if the light nudge weren’t enough of a giveaway. This was pretty rare. Not many girls here flirted with him, he usually had to meet girls who didn’t go to Dayton before they showed interest. He wasn’t exactly the most desired bachelor here. Of course, he didn’t mind one bit that she was flirting with him. Jerome actually liked it. “Whoa! Watch the muscles there!” Jerome teased and rubbed his shoulder as if she actually hurt him. He couldn’t help but to return the flirting; there was no denying he found her to be cuter than some of the girls here, and the fact that she wasn’t a total bitch like the other girls gave her cool points.

“Completely understandable,” Jerome shrugged when she said she didn’t want to go to see the nurse. “I wouldn’t want to fall more than once a day either,” He didn’t say “your welcome” to her when she thanked him for picking up the books. It didn’t seem necessary, and he didn’t feel the need to say anything to that. He was just picking up books. It wasn’t like any great task he’d spent hours completing. Instead he just nodded, sliding the books on the shelf and returning to their conversation. He liked her laugh when she found the math genius comment funny. It seemed to match her appearance, and he hoped she wasn’t one of those girls who fake laughed around guys. That was annoying, and it was also a major let down. He was about to comment on how she had to be close to a genius at least to qualify for tutoring someone, when one word stuck out.

Idiot? Did she really just say that? This nice girl, who was small and cute, and wasn’t a total bitch like the other girls, had just referred to who he was pretty sure was himself as an idiot. Jerome arched his eyebrow at her. That was one thing he hated to be called because he knew he wasn’t an idiot. He just didn’t care about some things, like math. Still, she obviously didn’t realize yet that he was the guy she was tutoring, and he felt like maybe he’d let her slide for that, but did she refer to everyone she tutored as an idiot? He picked up his backpack and hiked it up back over his shoulder, “Funny, I think I’m here for math tutoring…” He said with a small shrug, “You’re not in Kimble’s class, are you?”

[jaz jacobs]

his act to flirt back seemed to be working, jaz was quite surprised things were heating up, though she didn't want to get her hopes up too high. she hated assuming things, it tended to end up making her sad in the end. as she laughed at his joke, she swore she had felt a little muscle on him when she had poked him. he had a nice frame after all. c'mon jaz, focus, this guy is way out of your league. he's actually cute, funny, and cool, unlike you. jaz could hear herself fight back, but attempted to ignore it. couldn't it be just fun pretending he was interested in her? jaz seemed to like that idea and went with it.

jaz had a habit of speaking before thinking. it didn't occur to her about asking him why he had asked such a bizarre, random question. as far as she knew, she wasn't holding any math book or had any sort of calculator on her, so what brought him to that question. it wasn't until after he had replied, did she realize she had just made a huge mistake. idiot, what was i thinking? she asked herself. her facial muscles fought back the sadness that was hidden in her eyes. her cheeks turned back to her natural, paleness. what a fool she had just looked. he was the boy ms kimble wanted her to tutor, obviously. now looking at him, he didn't look like the type of boy who would want people to see his face in a library. in fact, he was the complete opposite.

from what jaz had been oblivious to before, she could clearly see now. it wasn't hard to tell this boy didn't belong here, that he would probably rather be dead than be caught in the library at school. and yet, here he was. that should tell her he at least was going to give learning a try, unlike the other guys who never showed up in the first place. she felt bad for insulting him, and the fact that she had no idea how to save herself from mortal embarrassment, aside from an apology. "i'm sorry. it's just..." jaz hesitated, thinking first about what she wanted to say before speaking any further. "the normal guys i tutor usually are a lot more stubborn." eh, not exactly what she wanted to say, but it was close.

"c'mon, let's go find someplace to sit." jaz said, trying to change the subject at hand so that she wouldn't insult him even further. she guided them to a vacant table and took a seat, pulling out a math packet that ms kimble handed to her months ago for teaching purposes. jaz felt foolish about it, because it was stuff they had went over months ago and to jaz, it was all relatively simple, but she needed to know where he was at in math. maybe he was different then the other assholes ms kimble set her up with. jerome had showed up, that was at least a good sign, though something in his reply made her think that maybe he didn't like his pride hurt. jaz could respect that, after all, she was struggling with the same problems, trying to keep her book loving self incognito.

[jerome evans]

Jerome shook his head in an attempt not to hear her apologize. He never understood that. Well, okay, he did a little. People said things without thinking sometimes, and he was almost always willing to forgive them, but he knew that they had to feel that way in the first place to say something. It didn’t make sense to apologize for how you felt. That’s who you were, and if she figured everyone she tutored was an idiot, then so be it. It wasn’t like he was going to try very hard, just enough to get that nice little C on his report card at the end of the semester. Otherwise, his pops wouldn’t be so happy [especially after he took a gander at T’s straight A’s!] So that was it. Be here enough to pass, but luckily for him it didn’t seem like she really expected much out of him. That was a major plus to his “only do the bare minimum” school routine.

There were a few words Jerome picked up as he half listened to her explain the reason she referred to him as an idiot. “Stubborn,” popped out the most and he held back a smirk. She obviously didn’t know who he was if she called the others that. Mama Clar had told him since his family moved to Newark that his attitude was about as stubborn as his hair. Speaking of which, he wondered for a minute as to what it looked like right now. He didn’t do anything to it this morning, so he imagined it was pretty frizzy and a complete mess of a fro everywhere. He pulled his hair tie, on of the two he owned, off of his wrist and worked on pulling his hair back into a pony tail that would end up looking more like a giant ball of fluff on the crown of his head when he was done.

He kept his eyes on Jazmine that entire time though, not wanting to give her any sign that he really didn’t care what she had to say, at the moment as she was apologizing anyway. He finally secured the mess of curls back in the hair tie, not being able to wrap it around at all due to the amount of hair he had. It made his head look slightly larger [guaranteed to make his friends make puns about his ego] because it was impossible to lay the hair flat against his head unless Mama Clar did it for him in the morning. “Let’s go find some place to sit,” the words finally left Jazmine’s mouth and Jerome gave his hair a quick tug before nodding in agreement and dropping his hands into his pocket. “Sounds like a plan,” he responded. The sooner they got started, the sooner they’d be done. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend the next hour or whatever with Jaz, he just didn’t want to be here and certainly didn’t want to be doing math.

It seemed like a smart idea to comment on what little he had heard her say before. In eighteen years it was one of the few things he learned about girls: listen, or be really good at pretending to listen. And that meant responding was a necessary action. “You don’t need to apologize,” he said truthfully, “If you want all honesty, I doubt I’m going to be to these things every time. I’m only fighting for a C, don’t need nothing better.” Then he got an idea. Jerome pulled his phone out of his pocket and flipped it open. “If you want, give me your number and I’ll call you when I don’t feel like showing up. That way you don’t have to wait here expecting me or nothing.” If that worked, not only would he not have to wonder if she thought he was a complete asshole or not when he didn’t feel like going to tutoring that day, but he’d also have her number. Who said you couldn’t kill two birds with one stone?

[jaz jacobs]

jaz had a feeling that he wasn't listening. as her mother would say, 'going in one ear and out the other.' this grew very annoying to her, but jaz was used to being ignored anyways. half the kids at school and even her roommate at times when jaz asks her to not eat her food and she does anyways. the other reason jaz didn't do anything about it, she just didn't want to take out her anger on some random stranger. well, he wasn't entirely random, ms kimble had picked him out specifically, and he wasn't really a stranger because jaz had sat behind him for the first couple of days in the beginning of the semester. she slowly began to recognize a bit better as the boy's face as he pulled his hair back into a pony tail.

she could tell he didn't want to be here. neither did she, but if being here meant one less failing grade in calculus, jaz knew it was the right thing. she was always about doing the right thing. growing up and being the only child with both parents constantly being out of the house, quickened jaz's already rapid maturity level. by the time she was nine years old she was able to do her parents' taxes for them. jaz didn't have much time to goof off, she was too busy setting out for her future. she barely had enough time to tutor kids on the side, and if it didn't look good on her resume for college, jaz would rather be spending her time in the library for her own benefit, not for others. sometimes jaz wished she would get to experience her first kiss, first boyfriend, and other pointless, but essential key moments in a teenager's life.

before jaz could jump into her lesson, he finally replied to her. she was a bit shocked herself, thinking that he had totally spaced her out, in which he didn't. there i go again, assuming things about him that i don't even know. jaz smiled at his first comment. she was glad he had even brought it back up. it made her feel a little better about what he had said, even just a little bit. "don't need anything better." jaz corrected him unintentionally. when she had noticed what she had done, she lit up like rudolph's nose on christmas eve. she wanted to say sorry again, but he had told her not to. sure he let her slide once, but he was certainly not going to do it again. jaz really needed to watch what she said around him.

so she tried to change the subject, like that helped the last time. she was a bit offended by his poor goals, how could anyone possibly settle for a C when they could easily get an A with the help of jaz. but this time, she bit her tongue and refused herself to argue or say another offending thing. "well, it's good you're going to be honest with me. if you want we can possibly work around your schedule. i don't even think we need to meet regularly, just on days right before a big test or quiz. if we meet any other times before that, it's just a waist of my time and yours." jaz wasn't entirely sure if he was still listening to her, but hopefully she got the point across somehow.

jaz knew she was behind on all the romantic stuff herself, but she'd seen enough movies to know why he wanted her number. jaz had to give him props for his smooth way of doing it. it was very clever, something that jaz didn't think someone of his standards would think. "my cell phone number is 554 - 5875." she said casually. "please call me only for emergencies. i don't want any strange phone calls during the night." jaz didn't want to seem so eager to give her phone number away, so she had to come up with this restriction, otherwise it would make her look too easy, if that's what he was insisting like she thought he was.

[jerome evans]

English wasn’t Jerome’s top subject, and that seemed painfully obvious when you looked at his report card. Pre-Calculus was the only subject he had a lower grade in. Of course his music classes had A’s in them, but then again you just had to show up and you passed the class. The fact that he loved music, whether it was listening, performing, or even writing it, seemed irrelevant to what his grade could possibly be. Regardless, English, Math, and Science just weren’t at the top of priority list. He just didn’t care, but he wouldn’t say that to Jazmine. She’d probably think he was crazy; she seemed like one of those busy valedictorians who had no social life.

Then again, it was almost tempting to flaunt his free-wheeling lifestyle. Perchance he could make her jealous, and convince her to hold off the studying for one night. After all, she lived at school like everyone else. She virtually had the whole day to study. That was beyond persuasion enough for him, but he doubted it for being nearly enough for someone like Jaz. In his head he was debating if it was even worth it, asking her out at all. Even if it was just to go out to eat, which would only take like an hour or two, she’d probably say she didn’t have enough time. Then there was the dilemma that she would most likely never go out with him anyway. Even if she was flirting before, now that she knew who he was he figured his chances were shot.

“Yeah, yeah,” He rolled his eyes, not really minding that she corrected him. His own dad did the same thing, so he was used to it. “Does it really matter how I say? I mean, you still picked up what I meant.” That’s how he figured it anyway. As long as someone new what he was saying, and he wasn’t writing a paper, then why should he really care what words he says. After all, they were just words. It was more the meanings behind them people should worry about. That was what music taught him anyway. Words were nothing until they had a purpose. They’re order and tense didn’t really mean much.

Jerome had a moment where he felt like a star athlete. He was up at bat in a big baseball game, and the pitch being thrown at him was Jazmine’s number. Nailed it. Jerome’s confidence rose as he typed her number into his phone, but just like in a game, that single moment of victory can be distilled in just a few seconds. Sure he’d gotten her number, but the Jazmine in his mind (the baseball playing one out in left field) nabbed a victory catch, outing him. He had her number, but she apparently didn’t want him to call. Figures, Jerome thought wrinkling his nose quickly and slipping the phone back in his pocket again. He should’ve known she wasn’t as interested in him once she found out he wasn’t like the nerdy, always studying, boys she probably usually hung out with. “Well, what do you consider an emergency?” Jerome asked interested. He wanted to know all her restrictions on calls before he assumed anything more. Maybe her term for “emergency” than his. His usually included skipping the calls to friends and going straight to his dad or Mama Clar.

[jaz jacobs]

jaz soon realized she would be teaching him a lot more than just mathematics. sighing to no one in particular, she ignored him as he rolled his eyes at her. was he trying to get on her bitchy side? jaz hated being a bitch to people, but some people just keep nipping at her until she cracks. she also found it very embarrassing, sometimes she can resort to saying things that she didn't particularly mean, like tell him about how much of a fag he looked with his outfit, when the truth was she liked his outfit, it was the icing on the cake in a way. not that jaz thought of jerome as a cake that she would eat. oh no, she shook her head as if she were shaking the image that infiltrated her mind as well as the all the lingering thoughts she had. not only was it wrong, it was unjaz like.

"yes it does because two negatives make a positive, so you would've just contradicted yourself there." why was she even trying to explain this to him? not that she minded talking to him, just she was just saying all the wrong things. 'only for emergencies', jaz needed someone, any one to just punch her in the face for saying that. what girl gives a guy their number and says to call only for emergencies? not many. unlike everyone else, jaz was behind on the curve. she giggled when he asked her what she considered an emergency, but then stopped and thought about it for a couple minutes. what did she think was an emergency to have a cute guy call her? this was her chance to say something flirtatious and flash her little smile along with a little blushing in the cheeks, but this is where jaz lacked on the flirting skills.

"hm, when you're in your dorm alone, bored, and want someone's company" jaz finally replied. it took a couple seconds to realize what she had just said and then her face looked sun burnt. "i didn't mean it like that!" she covered her face with her hands to hide from him. oh boy, jaz really needed to work on her flirting skills, majorly. he probably thought she was some kind of slut or something for saying that, when she really wasn't. oh god, talk about embarrassing! she was probably some kind of freak in his eyes, she wouldn't blame him if he wanted to get another tutor, how could she even teach him when she wasn't even in controll of what she was saying when she was with him. is what they they say when they talk about babbling like an idiot? jaz had never before had any problem saying anything before she thought about it. this was the first, and hopefully the final time it would happen.

ooc: sooo short im sorry

[jerome evans]

The vibes quickly changed to a slightly more tense feeling when Jaz sighed. Jerome hated when girls sighed; he knew from experience it never did mean anything good. She was probably getting annoyed with her, so he didn’t say anything. If she were just some random girl, he wouldn’t care. If people did not like him, considered it his loss, but he needed Jaz. She was pretty much his only hope to not becoming a “super senior” next year. He distracted himself instead with attempting to find a pencil hidden in the front pocket of his black and white checkered backpack. It wasn’t entirely black and white anymore though. It was the only backpack to last him for more than two years, and over time his friends had colored and written in all the small squares. It certainly looked a lot more used than it really was.
Two negatives equal a positive? Was this math class? Oh yeah. Jerome was let down at the thought. This was pretty much math class. It had a much better looking teacher though than Ms. Kimble. That was a plus, but then again he didn’t understand why she had to correct his grammar. This wasn’t English tutoring. “Ok, you win,” Jerome shrugged, finally pulling out a pencil, “I do need anything better, but that itself is a contradiction because I really don’t. I just need to graduate.” What a horrible habit. Jerome rarely missed the opportunity to make a snaky comment. He had a habit of pretending he took things literally, and when he was younger it got his mouth smacked a few times. Anymore, it just got him into fights more than anything.

Still, he barely knew this girl, and he honestly knew he needed her help. Jerome figured it would be wise to apologize, but he didn’t do that. He never apologized for who he was. “My bad,” he mumbled, half wondering if she’d get it as a apology or take it another way. She wasn’t going to get anything better, and he hoped she didn’t want anything else.

Jerome didn’t have much time to think about other reasons why he shouldn’t apologize because Jazmine was already answering his other question. His eyes got wide, and it was no surprise she already had her face buried in her hands before he had a chance to fully register what she said. Jerome busted out laughing his loud, throaty series of “ha’s.” She said that. She really just said that. ”You aren’t hitting on me, are you?” Jerome couldn’t help but tease her for the comment. It was priceless. It was almost worthy of writing down so he never forgot it. ”Damn, girl,” Jerome chuckled and drug his hands down the side of his face as if he were thinking really hard or were super tired, ”You’re a lot different than I thought you were.”

[jaz jacobs]

jaz knew she was going to regret this entire lifestyle. growing up, her grandmother was a former english professor, who just loved english more than she loved her kids. so naturally jaz picked up on it. it was a blessing and a curse, just like her mathematics skills and her flirting skills. it was sometimes good being the nerdy, not the normal kind of bate sex crazed guys looked for. for one, she was able to focus more on her studies and the future, and for another, she has never experienced true love or the breaking of a heart. but she also missed out on a lot of stuff as well, for instance her first kiss, her first boyfriend, and the list just keeps going. typical jaz thought that the good about being a nerd outweighed the bad, but right now she felt a little regret on what she had missed out on.

though she was making an utter fool of herself, she was having a lot more fun that figuring out a math problem or a rubix cube. sure those things were tough once, but they got easy and it was always the same though process. jaz easily grasped those thought processes, and they got bored and she would move on to bigger and harder stuff. but this flirting thing is much more difficult. jaz just didn't know what she was babbling on about. she couldn't believe the words were even escaping her mouth, all jumbled up, it made her sound like she was desperate to make up for lost times. unfortunately, she had been, though never in a million years did jaz think she was going to be this obvious. it was as though she was letting her subconscious do all the talking.

this was a bad thing, a very bad thing. not only did it make jaz sound like a sex crazed addict, but it made her sound desperate. those were the two things jaz never thought she would ever get the chance to feel it, and now that she did, how in the world was she able to pull it off and putting her back into her comfort zone? jaz was very good at sticking to her comfort zone, i mean if it weren't for math tutoring, she would probably go through the rest of the year without even saying a word to jerome, the cute, yet underachiever. "is it that obvious?" she heard herself mutter under her breath, but it was so quiet in here, he was able to hear her anyways.

jaz felt like she was going to puke. you know when you get that sudden urge you're going to puke, you know something bad is about to happen. as much as jaz tried to ignore that uncertainty she felt in the pit of her stomach, she couldn't help but feel queasy. trying to cover up her uncomfortableness, jaz replied, "what kind of person did you think i was?" she smirked, hoping to get some kind of smart ass answer in reply, which she wouldn't blame him if he was dead on. she wasn't sure how she would take it, because to be honest, she didn't have a very high self esteem, but she was curious what he thought about her.

[jerome evans]

There comes a time in a man’s life when he must dig deep inside all his thoughts and weed out what shouldn’t be there. Only eloquence could save him, and still, it never seemed to follow through as planned. Jerome put a hand to his forehand, looked down at the ground and began playing with his Monroe with his tongue as he thought. This simple enough tutoring session was beginning to grow into a big mess. He was tempted to just suggest they get to work before either of them dug themselves into a hole way over their heads. Jerome was in a corner now though, and she wasn’t going to let him out. She really wanted to know what he had previously assumed about her. Where was that rewind button on life, or even the mute button would be nice.

Jerome looked up at her finally, noticing that smirk that seemed to mock him. He had no idea what to say to get out of this alive. Jazmine Jacobs was a new girl to him, and he didn’t have the slightest clue as to what her reactions could be depending on what he said. “Well, first off,” he sighed, scratching the side of his nose and glancing around the library. It was practically empty aside form the library and maybe three other students. It must’ve been getting late, “I was joking on the whole ‘hitting on me’ thing,” He was honest. He had meant it all lightheartedly. He never in a million years expected her to admit that she was flirting with him, even if it was barely audible and he wouldn’t have heard if they had been anywhere else. ”But I thank you for the ego boost,” he smiled, ”It was nice. I could use them more often.”

Now came the hard part. Obviously he’d meant the latter comment as a joke as well, but it was out there now, and she was expecting an answer. It was a moment before Jerome finally opened his mouth to answer her, and to him it seemed like all the words were jumbled up in his mouth just fighting to get out in whatever order they could. He was tongue-tied. This girl had made him begin to second think everything he thought about saying. No one had ever managed to do that, not even a teacher, his father, or Mama Clar. What was wrong with him? But Jerome being who he was wasn’t going to let it bother him too much. Even if he made no sense, he’d trudge on with wherever his mind was leading his lips to say. He could do damage control later if need be. Besides no matter what happened, she was still his tutor, so he’d always have more chances to make up whatever he said to her.

“Now, considering I was joking on the first part, wouldn’t it not be reasonable that I was joking about the second part too?” He raised an eyebrow, ”Which I believe justifies me to be able to answer your questions with a simply complicated reason. What I thought about you was: One, I just met you. I’m not usually one to judge people off hand, even if they do find books worth dying over. Two, I think you’re smart. You’re at least smarter than me; otherwise, you would not be my tutor. And three, I think you’re just a bit too uptight. You need a Valium or something to calm down before you take everything too literally and wind up overproccessing it in that little head of yours.” That would’ve been enough to say, and it probably would have even been a little too much, but Jerome decided he just had one more thought that had to be put out there. ”I think you just need to not think about things for once.”

With the dread of hoping he didn’t say too much (or even too little so that she’d urge him to continue), Jerome grabbed his pencil from off of the table and began tapping it loudly on the table. He was nervous, though he’d never let it show. He had a habit of getting people pissed off at him, but he really didn’t want Jaz mad at him at all. He was tempted to ask her what she thought of him, but he didn’t want to hear what she thought now. Plus he’d probably just snap some snaky comment back at her, and all of this would be over in less than a minute.

[jaz jacobs]

so once again jaz had spoken without needing to. she was so gullible at times, it nearly killed her. sometimes it was best jaz just continued to stay her quiet, lonely self. it was much safer and easier for her, considering she didn't have many friends anyways. this was probably why. jaz never knew for sure what exactly someone meant when they said something either sarcastic or joking like, but it was so convincing for someone of jaz to actually think he meant it. she tried not to blush when it turns out that in fact he did hear her confess that she had been trying to hit on him, if that's what they call it these days other than flirting. jaz wouldn't know.

she too didn't like hearing someone sigh, it made her feel like she was a child again, where when she didn't know something, she would ask, and her parents usually let out a sigh before answering her. she tried not to be offended, for she had sighed too earlier, and that would just be hypocritical, jaz thought. so she ignored it, trying to listen to him as he explained himself. boy, she was so oblivious to the whole rhetorical statements he gave her, actually thinking she had to confess when she really didn't. just her luck though, jaz was behind the trend, about two decades or so based on her strange hair style you would normally see in seventies or eighties work out videos. "i knew that," she nervously lied.

jaz wasn't used to complimenting people, usually she was complimented on her smarts, and never knew how to compliment back, but this time he seemed to take it as a compliment other than some kind of freaky, stalker like vibe. at least that was a good sign, although she probably already blew her cover by openly confessing. trying to get passed that, she tried listening to what he had thought of her. she tried so hard not to interrupt. all of it sounded just like she would have guessed, except the last part... uptight? he thinks i'm uptight? jaz thought. and was he making fun of me? jaz could feel her temper rising, but she didn't want to completely blow up on him. he was right about one thing - he didn't know her. who was he thinking he could call her uptight and get away with it. jaz had heard people say a lot of things to describe her, but never uptight. maybe studious, but not uptight.

how dare he! jaz looked away, trying to hide the anger in her eyes. she didn't know what to say to him, but she knew she wasn't uptight, she just preferred getting things done before she goofed off. she was no kid who went to school to see friends, she came here to learn and be the best she can be. what's so uptight about that? clearly, this boy had no idea what she had gone through to get to where she was right now. does he think math came easy to her or something? no, as a matter of fact, she used to be struggling really hard, but with a lot of practice and a little bit of fun, she has developed the skill. "well i think you're immature and you don't know what you are talking about." jaz said. "you're just like every other stinking guy." she said as she started packing her things up, biting her lip trying to hold back the yelling. "why don't you call me when you're ready to grow up and start learning math." she said before she stood up and made her way out the library, glancing back ever so often with a look of both aggravation and sadness.