My phone rings inside of my pocket as I am sitting at my desk. I take it out and I notice that there’s a text from Will. There’s a small smile that starts to form on the corners of my lips as I put my pencil down.

-----------------------------

That British Guy: Hey Ash. I didn’t go to school on Friday (as you would’ve known already😒) because I was terribly sick and I need the homework from classes. I also think that today would be a good tutoring day. Do you want me to come to your house and pick you up? I might forget something if I end up coming to your house and I don’t want that.

Me: Oh no! I hope you feel better soon! And I think today’s a good day as I am free and whatnot. And no, you don’t have to pick me up. I can just walk there as it shouldn’t be far from my house. You need all the rest you can get. Don’t worry about me😄

That British Guy: No. I’m picking you up😛
See you in ten minutes.

-----------------------------

I roll my eyes as I want to argue back, but there’s no point anyway. He probably already left his house already while texting me all of this. Standing up, I pack all of the necessary things in my backpack and glance at myself in the mirror. It’s fine. I don’t need to dress all nice today just to tutor him.

After washing my face and putting on some decent clothing, I walk downstairs to where my parents are. “妈爸，Will现在要接我到他家去啊。要帮他做一点事啊 (Mom, Dad. Will is going to pick me up to go to his house as he needs some help on things),” I say as I walk toward them.

“小心一点。你知道你要干什么。不要再内边做不因该做的事情啊 (Be careful. You know what you’re supposed to do and don’t be fooling around there,” my father teases with a wink.

“Dad!” I scream with a flushed face.

“不要这样了吧。她已经知道了 (Don’t be like this. She already knows what she needs to do),” my mom scolds him. Then before my father can say anything, the doorbell rings and my heart drops slightly. Will must be here. My parents stand up from the couch in the living room. “I want to see how he looks.” My mom winks at me as they walk towards the door.

“妈，不要这样了。他就是一个同学啊 (Mom, stop it. He’s just a classmate),” I complain as I trudge toward the door.

“We’ll see,” my dad says as he puts a hand on the handle on the door and somehow, there’s an intense feeling at the bottom of my stomach. What are my parents going to say when they see him? Are they going to yell at me for being affiliated with a basketball player again? Maybe it was better that I didn’t get to know him.

My father slowly opens the door and the familiar broad figure stands there with a small smile as he lays his green eyes on all of us. “Oh, hello!” my mother greets Will with a warm smile.

“Hello, Mrs. and Mr. Zhao. I’m here to pick up Ashley for a tutoring session,” he says with confidence. His voice sounds a little congested as it’s a little deeper than usual.

“Oh. Of course,” my mom says as she and my dad clear the area near the door for me. I smile at Will and he does at the same.

I then shift my eyes back to my parents. “我会让你们知道我几点回来啊 (I will let you guys know when I will come back),” I say as I walk toward Will and out of the house.

“好 (Ok). Have fun!” My father teases as he waves at both of us. We’re walking down the staircase down to Will’s car and I roll my eyes. Then, my father shuts the door behind us and it’s just Will and me.

“You’re so professional towards my parents,” I tease Will as I wiggle my eyebrows.

“I can’t be rude to them, can I? Now that’ll just give them a bad first impression,” he replies as he opens the passenger door to his car for me to enter.

“Don’t worry. Their first impression of you was already tainted when I told them about you.” I wink at him as I enter his car.

He snorts. “Well, what can you do?” Shutting the door before I could respond, Will walks in front of his car to walk to the driver’s side. As he opens the door, the familiar scent of leather hits my nose and it comforts me. Will shuts the car door behind him and he sits in his seat. “Now, I might seem a little drowsy as I am on cold medicine, but I will try my best to stay alive. Can you just cut me some slack today?”

I raise an eyebrow as I cross my arms in front of my chest. “Cut some slack? What’s that?” I ask sarcastically.

“Something you should do more often.” I roll my eyes and we drive to his house.

About five minutes later, we drive towards a gate and it opens as Will clicks the remote control on the overhead visor. But I can already see his house. “Holy shit,” I whisper under my breath. “You have to be joking.” It’s not any kind of house. It’s literally the size of a mansion.

I glare at Will and he just shrugs. “To be honest, I like your house better. Our house is just way too big and I can’t handle it,” he replies as he parks his car right in front of a humongous driveway.

“What do you mean you like my house better?! You must be insane if you say that..”

“I am not, Ash.” He shifts his eyes over to mine and it makes my heart skip a beat. “I never lie.”

“You’re doing it right now.” I place my hand on the handle of the door to open the car door. I can’t stop looking at his house as there’s a large water fountain in his front yard.

“Come on. We don’t have all day, Ash. It’s already noon and you have a bunch of lessons to teach me.”

“O-Okay,” I reply as I start to walk toward him and up the large stairs to the front of his house.

Turning my head everywhere to take in the scenery, I trip on a step and Will immediately grabs my arm so I don’t hit the ground. “Hey. Pay attention to where you’re going. I need that brain of yours to pass these classes,” he teases as we resume walking up the stairs.

“Wow. I’m just here to help you pass your classes. I see how it is.” I cross my arms in front of my chest as we reach his front door and he turns the doorknob to open the door.

“Mhm. That’s right.” Will waits for me to enter his house and I step right into it. My eyes register the interior beauty of his mansion. “Mum! Dad! I’m home!” Will shouts from behind me.

“Will! We’ve been waiting for you guys to eat lunch,” I hear a feminine British voice coming from the kitchen. “Introduce her to us!”

I hear him sigh behind me as he takes my backpack into his arms. He then places it leaning on the wall. “I’m so sorry, Ash. But they’re very nosy in my business so can you just bear with me for about half an hour and eat lunch with me?” Will whispers from behind me.

Although I just ate lunch half an hour ago, I have to make a good first impression, just like he did. I smile at him. “Of course. I can’t let you down,” I reply as I wink at him.

He breathes out a sigh of relief. “Thank you for being so understanding. I owe you.” I start walking toward the sound of his mom’s voice and he trails me. Poking my head through the doorframe, I see a fair lady at the stove, cooking something delicious as the scent of foreign spices hits my nose.

“Brother!” I hear a small squeaky voice from chairs in front of us. A small figure with long dirty-blonde hair comes running toward Will. She must be his little sister then. I never thought that he had a sibling.

“Hi, Marie,” Will greets as he takes her into his arms and carries her. “Have you been behaving?”

“I have! And mum said that you brought your girlfriend with you!” Marie says enthusiastically.

There’s an awkward silence between all of us and Will clears his throat. I can feel my face is starting to heat up as I turn away from them. “W-Well, she’s not much of a girlfriend. Just a friend of mine. Say hi to her. Her name’s Ashley.” He puts her down onto the ground and she comes running toward me.

“Hi, Ashley! That’s a really pretty name you got there,” she says with a bright smile as her green eyes twinkle with joy.

“Why thank you, Marie!” I say with a bright smile as I bend down to look at her. “You’re just the cutest little bundle of joy, aren’t you?” I use my fingers to squeeze her cheeks and she squeals with joy.

“That tickles!” she yells.

“I guess I have someone to tickle now,” I tease as she starts running away from me and I chase after her. But I can’t run that fast or else Will might notice that I can run fast. But this is a challenge I am willing to risk. Marie’s chubby legs can only take her so far until I scoop my arms into her torso and catch her.

I begin to tickle her on her stomach and she continues to squeal with joy. I later stop as she seems like she needs a breather and I grin at her. Shifting my eyes over to Will, he’s leaning against the wall with his shoulder, watching us with amusement with those captivating green eyes. I really want to know what he’s thinking right now. It would be great to know.