“Like, who’s gonna tutor chem?” Aria asked, already doubtful.
“I dunno,” Mira said with a shrug, then looked at the two guys.
Nick shook his head at this.
“I’m not good with chemistry either,” Adrian muttered under his breath.
Aria sighed.
Goodbye scholarships, and hello life-crippling debts.
“Why didn’t you take regular chemistry?” Adrian asked.
Instead of giving him a direct answer, she merely told him the reason why she was stuck in the honors class.
“The counselors said I would need to get Mr. Faust to sign some stupid paper that said I went to his class after school three times within the week along with my dad’s signature before I could go down a level.”
“Why?” Nick asked.
“I don’t know.” She shrugged.
“Have you talked to Faust?” Mira asked. “Because if you’re struggling this much then it’s not worth it.”
Aria scoffed, “I have, and he said that I just have to apply myself.”
“Real motivational.”
“Wait, hold on. Leila’s good at chem. I can ask her about it, so maybe she can help you?” Nick took out his phone and started to text.
“I thought she was majoring in South African studies?” Aria asked.
“She switched again. This time it’s science,” Nick answered.
“Again?”
“Yeah.” Nick shrugged. “She’s probably still in class right now, so I’ll let you know what she says.”
“Oh my God. Thank you, Nick.” Aria clasped her hands together in relief. “You might’ve just saved me from this hell.”
“Don’t thank me yet.”
Now that the chemistry crisis has been averted, Mira leaned forward and asked, “Hey, so about that Spanish project, where are we going for that?”
“We can go to my house,” Adrian offered. “The tres leches shouldn’t take long.”
“That’s if we don’t burn it,” Mira said.
“That’s if you don’t burn it,” Nick pointed out. “I’m good at cooking, so it’s definitely not my fault if something goes wrong.”
“Wow,” she drawled. “Thanks.”
“Why are you guys making a cake for the class?” Aria asked as she put away her papers.
Mira replied, “Extra credit and I kinda need to make up for that test.”
“The one you failed?”
“Everyone failed it!”
“Who is everyone?” Adrian asked her with a raised brow.
“Fine, most of us regular people.”
“Who are these regular people?” Nick looked at her with a frown.
“Ugh!”
Chapter 7
Adrian
It was supposed to be an easy project with no hassle and no worries.
Unfortunately for him, he was currently cleaning the kitchen as if his life depended on it. Typically, his house was pretty clean as his mom made sure it stays that way with their weekly scrub-downs.
Then again, maybe he was just being paranoid.
Nevertheless, when Leila agreed to tutor Aria, it was understood that his house would be the first meeting point for some unknown reason. Nevertheless, if he had to guess, Adrian suspected it was Nick’s fault.
Just as he was doing his best to make the kitchen look the most immaculate it had ever been since they moved in, he heard the doorbell.
He immediately stopped what he was doing and took long strides towards the door, even sparing a moment to fix his hair before he finally opened it.
It was just Nick with a bag of ingredients.
“Hey.” Nick nodded in greeting. “You look out of breath.”
He was about to retort but another person came through the door.
“Adrian!” It was Leila. “It’s been a while.”
“Hey,” he greeted. “How’s college?”
“University is so fun,” she said convincingly.
Nick moved past them and waltzed his way into the kitchen before he took out everything from the bag. “I think I have everything but the pan.”
“Does Mira have it?” Adrian asked. “I don’t have any tin pans.”
“We could always go to the store if she didn’t bring them.”
“That’s true.”
It wasn’t long until the doorbell rang again, and before he could get to the door, Leila beat him to it.
“Hey!” Mira walked in with Aria.
“Hey, good to see you again,” Leila spoke to both girls.
“Good to see you too, and thanks so much by the way. Chem’s kicking my ass,” Aria replied.
Adrian was confused. How did Leila know Aria?
“Hey, Adrian, Nick.” Aria gave a small wave.
“Hey.” Adrian followed her example.
Nick yelled from the kitchen, “Mira, did you bring the pans?”
“Yep!”
“Hey, let’s go to the kitchen table. There’s way more space over there than the countertop.” Leila gestured Aria to follow as if this was her house.
“Hold on, let me just take off my shoes.” Aria did a little hop until both her sneakers were off.
“You didn’t have to,” Adrian said.
“I insist,” Aria said. “Besides, I wouldn’t want people to walk around my house with their shoes on.”
“So cultured.” Mira clapped before she followed suit.
“Wait, let me just grab a pen real quick,” Leila said as she looked into her bag. “I’ll be right back.”
“No worries,” Aria replied while Mira went into the kitchen.
“So how do you know Leila?” Adrian asked. His curiosity was too strong to ignore now.
Aria adjusted her backpack. “We met at a bakery down the street. It was kinda weird, but in a good way.”
“Small world, huh?”
“It’s a small world after all,” she sang the infamous song.
“Oh God no,” Adrian groaned. “That ride is terrible.”
“I thought it was cool, you know . . . before they sang the same lyrics over and over again”
“The dolls don’t freak you out?” He started to walk towards where everyone else was.
“I mean they do, but I try not to overthink it,” she said before she added, “It’s not exactly something I focus on when I’m in the most magical place on earth.”
“Yeah—”
“Adrian! Mira’s about to mix in the wrong things!” Nick’s voice interrupted.
“You better go.” Aria made a face. “She might burn your house
