anyone else || pj duncan

seven

Taylor laid in bed replaying the kiss in her mind over and over again. Her stomach fluttered each time she remembered the feeling of P.J.'s lips on hers. 

She hadn't told Diana about the kiss just yet, she didn't want her friend to spoil the memory by over-analyzing every detail. 

Truth be told, Taylor wasn't so sure she was going to tell Diana at all. What would be the point?

Taylor and P.J. could never be together. Tutors couldn't date students. Simple as that. Sure, Taylor could stop tutoring, but that didn't make any sense. She wouldn't give something so important to her up for a boy. 

"I'll just try to ignore him, maybe he'll find someone else and forget all about me." She decided. 

If only she knew how wrong she was. 

***

P.J. walked to the library ten minutes early to his tutoring session with Taylor. He knew she liked being early, and now he wanted to make her happy. So if that meant he had to start being early to things, so be it. 

"Taylor, look, I'm early." P.J. set his stuff by his chair. 

"Awesome job." Taylor replied, a bit of edge to her voice. 

"So, uh, I have a big book report due. I thought maybe you could help with that?" 

"You should be worrying about midterms, P.J., they're coming up quick." 

P.J. was confused by the lack of enthusiasm coming from the girl across from him. Normally Taylor would have jumped at the chance to read and compose a book report. 

"Yeah, that makes sense. I have stuff to make flash cards." P.J. reached into his bag. 

"No need, um, I actually can't work today so Dylan is going to be filling in for me. He has a ton of study materials for you." Taylor said, packing up her stuff. 

"What? I don't understand." 

"Family stuff, I'll be back to tutor you on Thursday." The girl turned on her heel and walked quickly out of the library. 

Taylor walked down the hall as quick as she could, praying that P.J. wasn't following her. To be safe, she ducked into the girl's bathroom at the end of the hall. 

After a few minutes, she decided it was safe to leave. 

Unfortunately, she was wrong. 

"Family stuff? Taylor I'm not an idiot." P.J.'s voice called out to her. 

"Well your Spanish grade suggests otherwise." She dug at the boy. 

"What's going on with you? Seriously, did I do something wrong?"

"No, you're great." She told him honestly, "It's just that. We can't be together. I can't like you, P.J., and I already do a little too much. I think we just need to be friends. But the thing is, I don't know if we can just be friends." 

P.J. looked at the brunette in front of him, confusion lacing his features. 

"Why can't we? Be together, I mean." 

"Tutors can't date their students, and no offense, but I'm not going to give tutoring up for a boy." 

"I'd never ask you to do that, Taylor." P.J. took a step towards her, grabbing her hand as he spoke, "What if... I didn't need tutoring?" 

Taylor thought about his words. Yes, if P.J. no longer needed tutoring the two could be in a relationship. However, P.J. hadn't signed up for tutoring voluntarily. The only way P.J. could get out of it was if he could manage to pull together a C average in all of his classes. 

Midterms! 

That was it. If Taylor could help him study enough to get great marks on his midterms, maybe P.J. could pull off a C average. The two could be together by Christmas!

"In order to pull that off, you'd have to study, like, crazy hard." She informed him. 

"Well, I think being with you is worth the work."