The Study Date

“So when you simplify the expression, it equals 2x to the third power over y to the sixth…get it?” Aiden asked, using the tip of his pencil to point at the equation on the paper. Riley, who was sitting beside him on one of the dining room chairs just stared at the problem before looking back at him, “What?” He asked shifting uncomfortably in his seat,

“I just don’t get how you can understand all this and I can’t!” She said dramatically. A macho look emerged on Aiden’s face as he gave her a smug smile,

“Obviously you and Lucy don’t give me enough credit…I’m not just good with the ladies,” Riley rolled her eyes and poked his arm with her sharp pencil tip, “Ow,” He said as he moved away from her and her lethal pencil. Riley looked down at her page for a second, her eyebrows bunching together in confusion before she gave up and looked at Aiden,

“Can you explain it again,” She asked meekly. Aiden groaned before answering,

“Riley, we’ve gone over this problem five times already, maybe I’m not the right person to be teaching this to you,” He stated as he started to get up, but was stopped when Riley pulled on his arm to bring him back down,

“Please! Just one more time,” She gave him a pleading look and mouthed the word please. She stuck out her bottom lip for added measure, knowing he couldn’t say no to her famous puppy dog pout. He twisted his mouth to the side in thought before he sighed and sat back down,

“Ok, one more time,” He replied picking up his pencil. He started explaining the simplification processes of exponents to her, but everything he said blew right by her. She rested her head on her hand, which was being supported by her elbow and just stared at him. He looked so cute when he was deep in thought, bending over his paper, his hair falling over his eyes. She resisted the urge to push it back for him and instead choose to concentrate on what he was explaining. She tore her gaze from him and onto her paper as she tried to pay attention. He stopped talking and looked at her with an eyebrow raised,

“Get it now?” Riley panicked when she realized that she had no idea what he had just said. She gave him a nod and, what she hoped was, a confident smile, “Ok…” He said skeptically, “Do number 3,” Riley looked down at her paper. The numbers seemed to blend together and swirl around on the page. After staring at her paper for what seemed like forever she threw her pencil down and sighed,

“I don’t get it!” She cried and let her head fall down onto the table on her folded arms,

“Riley!” Aiden cried, jumping up from his seat, “I just explained it to you, for the sixth time now…how can you not get it?”

“I was distracted,” Riley mumbled into her arms. A confused look appeared on Aiden’s face and his eyebrows knitted together,

“Distracted? By what, I’m the only one here…” He trailed off, “Maybe we should take a break,” Riley nodded and lifted her head up,

“Sounds good, are you hungry?” She asked as she headed over to the fridge,

“Like you have to ask…” He said, beating her to the fridge and opening it. He began pulling out different items and setting them onto the island in the middle of the kitchen. Riley laughed as she watched him pull out item after item from her fridge,

“I asked if you were hungry, I didn’t ask if you wanted to clear out my fridge,” He smiled at her as he began to assemble his triple-decker sandwich. Riley walked over to the other side of the counter and sat down on one of the stools, placing her elbows on the island and resting her head in her hands. She watched him concentrate as he put his sandwich together, his tongue poking out from his mouth slightly. Aiden felt eyes on him and he looked up to see Riley staring at him again,

“What?” He asked. Riley shrugged and blushed slightly, looking at everything else in the kitchen but him,

“Nothing,” She said quickly giving him an innocent smile before breaking away from his gaze and looking down at her now entwined hands. They remained in silence for a few minutes until Aiden finished his sandwich and presented it proudly to Riley,

“And done!” He said as he started to gather up all the ingredients and stuff them in the fridge,

“Are you sure you’re gonna finish that?” Riley asked, eyeing the triple-decker sandwich that lay before her,

“The question is not whether I’m gonna finish it Riles,” Aiden said as he picked up half of the sandwich in both of his hands and took a bite out of it, “It’s whether you have enough food for me to make seconds,” He finished with food in his mouth. Riley rolled her eyes as she stood up to grab a can of soda from the fridge. She sat down on her stool again and sighed, tapping her fingers against the counter in boredom. Aiden looked around uncomfortably between bites of his sandwich, “So…” He started, “Where’s Lucy again?”

“I told you Aiden, she’s at the dentist’s office. Something about a loose filling…” She trailed off and glanced at him before looking back down at her hands,

“Right…” He said, finishing off the last of his sandwich, “Ready to start again?” He asked pointing towards their abandoned papers, pencils and math books,

“As ready as I’ll ever be…” She replied as she once again plopped down onto the dinning table seat she had been sitting on previously. Aiden sat down in the seat he had formerly occupied beside Riley and watched her grab her worksheet while bringing it closer. He smiled as she stared down at her paper in obvious confusion. And even though he knew she didn’t understand what she was supposed to do, she was stubborn enough to keep trying, at least until she couldn’t take it anymore. It was one of the things he loved about her,

“Keep going,” He encouraged her as soon as she wrote something down. She looked over at him and beamed. He was so confidant in her, even when she wasn’t; he always pushed her to do her best. It was one of the things she loved about him,

“Done!” She said presenting the finished paper to him after seven minutes of silent working. He took it from her hands and placed it on the table in front of him, checking her answers to see if she had gotten them right. He looked up at her and smiled,

“It’s all correct!” Riley jumped out of her seat,

“Finally!” She stuffed her math homework into her folder and closed her math book, “If I had to do another problem again, I’d scream!” Aiden laughed before checking his watch and standing up,

“I should probably go,” He started cramming stuff into his backpack before throwing it over his shoulder. Riley nodded and led him towards the door, “See you later, Riley,” He said turning to leave,

“Hey Aiden?” She asked before he could go,

“Yeah?”

“Thanks,” She replied shyly biting her lip, “I don’t know what I’d do without you,” Riley leaned up and gave Aiden a kiss on the cheek. They both turned red the minute she pulled away. Aiden cleared his throat awkwardly, adjusting his backpack on his shoulder,

“No problem,” They stood there for a second, both looking at their feet, unsure of what to do next until Riley broke the silence,

“You should probably go…” She said pointing behind him. He followed her gaze and nodded,

“Right…Bye,” He said unsurely before walking out the door,

“Bye,” Riley moved forward to close the door, but Aiden quickly stopped her,

“Um…I forgot something,” Aiden said opening the door wider so he could enter the house again. Riley looked confused, she could’ve sworn he’d taken everything with him. Before she could ask however, Aiden bent down swiftly and planted a soft kiss on her lips. He pulled away just as fast as he had bent down and smiled uncertainly at her. Riley didn’t know what to say so she grinned up at him and pulled him closer for another kiss. Unfortunately they were interrupted by Riley’s cell phone. They jumped apart quickly as Riley fumbled to answer her phone. She paused to look at the caller ID before rolling her eyes,

“Lucy,” She said holding up the phone for him to see. He chuckled,

“She always did have great timing,” He said sarcastically and she laughed, “I’ll see you at school,” He bent down to steal one more quick kiss before hurrying out the door. Riley sighed and stared after him before the ringing of her cell phone brought her down to Earth. She flipped it open,

“Hello…Oh hey Lucy…Yea, you’ll never guess what happened today…”

The End