Raw Deal (Beauty for Ashes: Book One) (13 page)

I blinked a couple times as my eyes went blurry and the words of the textbook I was reading melded into fuzz. I decided to text Monica:
Am studying bt mind kps wanderin. Wot u up 2?

Her reply was instant:
Wanderin to JW? Am home with mom.

I decided to admit it:
Hope she’s okay. I’m studying Economics, maybe that’s why I’m thinkn bout him.

Just then my phone vibrated, and Jace’s name flashed at me. I couldn’t believe it. I hoped Monica hadn’t prompted him. I’d kill her if she had. “Hello?”

“Hey, Lexi, what’s happening?” Jace’s voice was super hot on the phone.

“Homework,” I said dully.

“What homework are you doing?”

“Economics.”

“Do you need help?”

“I think so. These handouts are rubbish. They don’t explain anything. And I’ve got this book that I’m reading over and over, but none of it is really helping.”

“I can help you out if you want. What topics are you struggling with?”

“Um...” It was actually most of it. “I guess maybe you can look at my last couple of assignments and tell me what I’m doing wrong? I don’t understand why I’m scoring so low. I actually thought they were good.”

“Okay, when do you want me?”

“Anytime, but pretty soon I guess. I don’t have any free periods on Monday. Maybe we can do it during lunch if you’re okay with that?”

“I have basketball.”

“Okay, do you have any free periods on Tuesday?”

“Yes, I’m free last period, but I might be going to help out at church again.”

“How about Wednesday?” I asked.

“How about tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow’s Sunday.”

“Yeah, so we’ll have plenty of time to work through everything.”

The thought of seeing Jace on the weekend was weird. “Okay. Where?”

“Doesn’t matter to me. I can come to your place, or you can come to mine.”

Alarm bells went off in my head. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea. “Do you remember the way to my house?”

“I think so.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I asked.

“Of course not. I’ve been worried about you ever since I saw that 36% on your paper. I haven’t been able to sleep at night since then.”

“Whatever.”

“And that was the easiest paper ever.”

“Ooh, just rub some salt in the wound, why don’t you?”

Jace laughed. “Girl, you know I’m just winding you up.”

“So what are you doing today?”

“I’m going to a twenty-first birthday party.”

“Cool.” Everyone had things going on. Why didn’t I get out there and do something too? “Are you sure you don’t mind coming tomorrow?”

“Of course I don’t. Have a list of the things you want me to help with so that we know what we’re doing. And all the assignments you want me to look at? Have them ready too.”

“Yes, sir.”

“I actually want to help you, Lexi.”

“That’s sweet.”

“You’re the only person that has ever said I’m sweet.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“Maybe you don’t show your sweet side enough. All people know about you is how you jump people when they come out of the gym.”

Jace groaned. “Don’t make me feel guilty for something I didn’t even start. I’ve already got Saint Tanya for that.”

“I’m glad someone is keeping you on the straight and narrow.”

“I’m not a bad guy, Lexi,” Jace said. “I generally stay out of trouble.”

“Well, Tanya seems to know how to keep you in check.”

“More like she knows how to keep me on a guilt trip. But yeah, she’s cool. She prays for me.”

“That’s nice.”

“So, are you doing anything tonight?” Jace asked.

“No.”

“No hot date?”

I giggled. “Who would I be having a hot date with?”

“Carl or maybe even Lewis.”

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

“Well, do you want to come to this party with me?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“I haven’t been invited, and I won’t know anybody there.”

“You’ll know me.”

“No thanks, Jace.”

Jace was quiet for a moment. “I can’t believe you just turned me down like that.”

I laughed at him. “You’ll get over it.”

“Yeah, I guess. They say time’s a healer. Expect me around four tomorrow. Should I bring pizza?”

“No, just bring the brains.”

“Okay, are you ordering pizza?”

“Should I be?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay.”

“Something spicy and with meat with extra cheese.”

“Yes, Mr. Washington.”

When we hung up, Monica’s reply to my text was in my message inbox:
Yeah you just keep telling yourself that. I thought ur crush was pathetic but he’s even worse. Neither of u can admit it. Ur both twisted!

***

“Did I just hear you ordering pizza?” My mom asked coming out of her room, her jacket folded over her arm. She’d been at my grandmother’s all afternoon. Now, she’d been home only half an hour, but she was off somewhere again. “I’ve made your dinner, Lexi. It’s in the kitchen for when you decide to eat.”

I hung up the phone on the wall holder and walked back to my room. If she couldn’t be there for me, I didn’t want her feeding me either. “Jace is coming to help me with schoolwork.”

My mom followed me. “He’s coming here?”

“Yeah.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Has he been here before?”

“Only once to drop me off. He’s never been inside.”

I could tell my mom wasn’t sure whether to believe me. “So he hasn’t been while I’ve been working late?”

“No, I would have told you.”

“And he’s coming to help you with schoolwork?”

“Yes. Economics to be precise.” The clock said quarter to four.

“I wasn’t born yesterday, honey.”

I rolled my eyes. “Mom, none of that is going on. He’s just coming to help me with some stuff!”

“Well, I’m going to pick up some groceries. I’ll be back home soon.”

“Okay.”

She left, and I looked in the mirror. I was wearing a pink velour tracksuit and my fluffy pink flip-flops. I thought I looked casual and relaxed. I really didn’t want to look like I was ‘trying.’ I dabbed on some lipgloss. I was about to squirt on some perfume, but decided against it. Once he got a whiff of perfume he’d think I was making an effort.

I frowned at my reflection. Maybe Jace’s spell had been broken. I’d chatted to him okay yesterday on the phone, and I’d thought I’d be a bag of nerves about him coming over, but I wasn’t.

Jace arrived a couple minutes before four. I picked up my work and went to let him in. “Hey.”

Jace smiled, and my heart almost stilled. “Hey, Lexi, ready to break some brain sweat?”

“Uh-huh.”

He shut the door and smiled down at me. “You’re short today.”

“Yeah, I don’t wear heels in the house.” I led him to the den, and we sat down on the couch. “Did you find your way here okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m tall for a girl, you know?”

Jace frowned. “How random, Lexi.”

I laughed. “No, you said I’m short. Just letting you know I’m not. It’s you that’s tall.”

“Oh. Thanks for letting me know.”

It felt real weird having Jace sitting there in my den. I’d never brought a guy home before. Not that I’d brought Jace home in
that
sense. “How was the party last night?”

“It was good.”

“Are you able to think straight enough to teach me?”

“Of course. I didn’t drink.”

“I don’t believe you.” All our friends at school were underage drinkers.

“Why not? I’m a good guy, you know.”

“I didn’t say you weren’t.”

Jace looked pointedly at my work.

“Right,” I said, dumping my bundle of papers on the table and pulling it closer. “I mainly want you to look at my assignments and tell me why I’m getting such low scores. And about the notes from Friday’s class? I have no clue what I’m supposed to learn from them. Same for most of the notes he’s given us.” I looked at the short list of topics I’d compiled. “And I’d like us to go over some of these.”

“Cool.” Jace leafed through one of my assignments. “Anything else?”

“I think that should do me for today. I don’t want to keep you too long.”

“Well, if you think of anything else, feel free.”

“Okay.”

Jace leaned forward and looked at my list of topics. “Shall we do inflation first?”

“Sure.” I went through my pile and found my notes on inflation.

“If you’re answering a question about inflation, it’ll probably be about comparing why this country’s rate was higher or lower than another’s, and you’ll need to talk about aggregate demand in comparison to aggregate supply, their productivity levels, fiscal deficit, levels of unemployment in the different countries—”

“Hold up,” I said, scribbling furiously in my notebook. When I finished, I looked at him. “Okay, carry on.”

“Cost push pressures, what the conversion rate is for country x against country y...” Jace paused.

I looked up.

“You could even suggest that they may have different monetary policies and targets.”

I scribbled away. “Yup?”

“And you wouldn’t just throw out these points. You’d have to analyze each one, and say what effect it has on the inflation rate. Then you need to discuss them and say which is most detrimental—things like that.”

“I know about some of that, but I wouldn’t have related all of them to inflation.”

Jace looked at the next item on my list. “Shall we move on, or do you want some more ideas on that?”

“We can move on. By the way, McGee hasn’t covered some of the things you’ve just said.”

“Yeah, well, you need to do some wider reading so that you can demonstrate deeper knowledge. That’s what makes the difference between an okay grade and an excellent grade.” I grinned, and Jace jabbed me in the ribs. “Do you want my help or not?”

I heard my mom come in. She’d returned from her shopping in record time. She obviously didn’t like to leave me home alone with Jace. “My mom’s back.”

“I better go say hi.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want her to walk in here and be like ‘who are you’?”

“I told her you’re coming. She’ll know who you are.”

He stood up. “Just come and introduce me, Lexi.”

I led him to the kitchen. My mom was putting packets of pasta, rice, and cereal in the cupboard. “Mom, this is Jace.”

My mom turned. “Hello, Jace.”

“Hi, Mrs. Dixon. Do you need help with that?”

I couldn’t believe that Jace, heir to Glacier hotels, was offering to help my mom put the groceries away. “Do you put groceries away in your own house?” I asked.

Jace glared at me.

“I’m fine, Jace. It’s nice of you to offer though. Lexi never does.” My mom shut the cupboard. “I hear you play basketball. What else do you do? What are you studying?”

I was mortified. I couldn’t believe my mom was going to try and drill Jace. “I’ll be in the den.”

I went to the den and switched on the TV. I heard Jace and my mom laughing. He came back after a couple minutes.

“Your mom is hot,” he whispered, dropping down beside me on the couch. “She looks really young.”

I pulled a face. “Eww, how can you say my mom is hot?”

“I know, sorry, but she really is.”

“Where were we?” I asked, trying to change the subject. I looked at my notebook.

Jace laughed. “Okay, okay, back to work.”

Jace talked me through the subtopics within each point I’d raised and what I’d need to cover if I was answering an exam question.

We were just about to go over my recent assignments when the doorbell rang.

“That’ll be our pizza,” I said.

“Cool, break time.” Jace stood up and felt in his back pocket. He removed a fifty dollar bill.

“What kind of a person just has fifty dollars in their back pocket?” I teased.

He offered me the bill.

“Don’t be silly, Jace.” I pushed his hand away and walked past him, but he caught me and pulled me back.

“I’m paying for it, Lexi.”

I struggled to break free. “Let go.”

His grip on me tightened. “No.”

“Okay, give me the money,” I conceded.

Jace let me go, and I snatched the money out of his hand and went to get the door. It was Monica.

She scowled. “Where’s your phone? I’ve called you like a zillion times.”