10

After club activities end, I check my phone. Still no message from Ari. He must be having fun. I shrug it off and head for the library. Tomorrow's the math test and I still don't understand how to use most of the formulas, so I really need this last session.

I walk towards Jerah, who's already sitting at the table. He looks about ten times worse than yesterday. "Are you okay?" I ask him. I hope we can continue our lesson today. And, well, I don't really like seeing him like this. It's different. I've noticed that I don't get annoyed anymore when thinking about him.

He nods. "I'm fine. It's almost time for the break, so I just need to hold on a little longer." Even his voice sounds different, lower than normal and sleepy, as if he just woke up. He's resting his head in his hands, eyes half opened.

"Are you sure you want to continue? There's no need to push yourself," I ask once more, but he nods, ensuring me that he can go on. I shrug, sit down, grab my books, and sigh.

"What do you need help with? I know that this one..." Jerah points to a formula in my book, "...will be a big part of it." He grabs his notebook. "I have prepared some exercises about the most important stuff. If you can get all of these right, you should be able to get a passing grade."

Just one look at the notebook makes me lose all hope. It all looks like an unknown language to me. Meanwhile, Jerah has put his head on the table and closed his eyes. I try my hardest to solve all the questions, taking way more time than I should.

When I finally finish, it's already time to go. However, my tutor still has to check my work, so we cannot go home yet. There's just one problem.

"Jerah?" I softly shake his arm. He doesn't react. Is there any way to wake him up? I shake his arm again, harder this time. He groans softly, but doesn't seem to be waking up. I sigh. I start poking his arm, without any result. I am just about to give up, when one last possibility comes up in my mind.

I poke him in his side, softly. Not even a second later, he's sitting straight up, eyes wide open, confused. "You... You're ticklish?" I ask, also confused. He's the last person I'd expect that from.

"Did I fall asleep? How late is it?" he asks his own questions instead of answering mine. He grabs his phone. "Shit! We should've finished half an hour ago!" he panics. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

I take back what I thought earlier. He still annoys me. "I tried. But you refused to wake up. Can you just check my answers? My parents are probably worried," I reply, making sure he notices my irritation through my voice.

He sighs, grabs his notebook, and quickly goes over my answers. "You've gotten around 70% right. Revise chapters 2 and 5 some more at home," he says as he packs his bag. "Let's go. We both have families waiting for us."

The walk home is as silent as ever. Jerah has his headphones on again. At least he looks better now. Still tired, but not on the edge of falling asleep right here, right now. He should be fine.

Right as I think that, he trips over his own feet, falling forward. Being in a band with Lucian and Noah has made my reaction time real fast, since the idiots trip over our stuff all the time, so I grab his arm quickly before he fully loses his balance. "Are you okay?" I ask for the second time today.

He shakes his head. "I'm sorry," he says. Why? What is he sorry for? I'd like to question it, but we've already arrived at the point where we part ways. "Good luck tomorrow," he yawns.