Northern Lights
seven.
It was midterms week and everyone on The Fighting Sioux was freaking out. More specifically those who failed to study until the last minute, and even more specifically TJ Oshie. For if he didn't pass his English midterm he was sitting out games until he could bring his grades back up.
"I should have studied instead of fucking that girl last night," TJ mumbled as he stared at his English book, hoping it would burst into flames and he would have another excuse to sleep his hangover away.
"I can't believe those words just left your lips Osh," Brad snorted as he flipped through his Chemistry notes.
"I'm serious! I'm so fucked now," he yelled, slamming his hands down on the table and only causing Brad's level of amusement to raise considerably.
"In what sense of the word?" He asked.
"Smart ass," TJ muttered with a shake of his head. "But seriously, what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Ava," Brad said simply.
"Screwing Ava isn't going to help me pass English," TJ told his friend with a roll of his eyes.
"I don't mean that literally moron," Brad said. "I meant to just ask her for help. She's like, the smartest person we know. She helped me pass Calc last semester."
TJ looked at his friend and wondered why he hadn't thought of that before. He texted Ava immediately and she was over at his apartment soon after. She brought her old English notes (she had taken the class TJ was taking last year when they were freshman), and she even brought him lunch.
"A tuna sandwich?" TJ asked as he looked down at the plate in front of him.
"On toast along with some orange wedges," Ava smiled, settling down in the seat next to TJ at the kitchen table that was rarely used. "It's all brain food," she insisted.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"Fish is high in Omega-3, which can build your cell membranes and gray matter in your brain. Fruit is good for you because it has a lot of glucose in it, which is also good for your brain. Basically- eating this stuff will boost your brain activity and help you retain more information," Ava responded, like she was reading straight from a textbook.
"Brad was right," he said dumbly.
"About what?" Ava smiled.
"You are the smartest person we know."
And so Ava spent the next two days with TJ helping him study for his mid-term. She made flash cards, looked up YouTube videos online, explained things in easier ways, and just made things simple for TJ to understand. It wasn't that he was dumb by any means; he just had a harder time in English than Ava did. And Ava was good at teaching him; in fact, if athletic training fell through for her she certainly had a bright future in teaching.
TJ went into his mid-term more prepared than he ever thought possible, and when he got his grade back a week later he was awe-struck at the 93% staring back at him in bright red marker. TJ was so overjoyed in fact that he threw a party at his apartment and decided getting wasted was the best celebration he could have.
By the time Ava arrived at his apartment, TJ was beyond wasted. He had forgotten to invite her and the reason she was there was because Ryan Duncan had told her about it. She found TJ and hugged him upon seeing him. In TJ's drunken state he couldn't even say thank you.
"Ava!" TJ yelled excitedly as she wrapped her small arms around his waist.
"I'm so happy for you Timmy!" She told him.
"Me too!" He exclaimed, holding his drink up in the air and letting out a loud yell. Everyone around him did the same before going back to what they were doing previously. Ava smiled widely and pushed herself to her tip toes to place a kiss on TJ's chubby cheek. Just before her lips landed on his baby fat though, TJ turned his head and pushed his lips to Ava's.
Her eyes went wide with surprise as TJ placed his big hands on her hips and pulled her close to his body. She knew he was drunk- and she had seen him like this before- but he had never tried to make a move on her.
"Teej?" She inquired nervously.
"What?" He asked, leaning down to nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck. "You don't want me?" He asked, pressing his soft lips against the skin on her neck. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away lightly. TJ stumbled backwards and looked down at her incredulously. A girl had never turned him down before. Never.
"You're really drunk," she told him, a small smile finding it's way onto her lips. "Do you need help getting upstairs?"
"What?" TJ yelled over the music that had begun pumping through his apartment. Ava just smiled and shook her head, letting her red bangs fall into her eyes.
"Nothing," she said, though she knew the hockey player could no longer hear her. In fact, he wasn't even paying attention to her anymore. She simply slipped out of the kitchen and went to go hang around Pony and Evan.
Ava didn't really talk to TJ for the rest of the night, but she helped him upstairs and into his bed when he was too drunk to function anymore. She even cleaned up his bathroom when didn’t make it to the toilet in time. She also ended up staying the night in his room, too frightened by the story she had just heard in one of her Health classes about someone choking on their own vomit to leave TJ alone for the night. This was another night all of their
friends thought TJ was getting laid when in reality he was in a drunken comatose state.
Ava took care of TJ and he never acknowledged it. That was how their relationship went. Ava got used to it after the first month of knowing TJ. She never said anything because she was too nice to confront him, and he really was a good friend when he wasn’t taking advantage of her.
And just in case you were wondering-TJ never thanked Ava for helping him pass his English mid-term.
"I should have studied instead of fucking that girl last night," TJ mumbled as he stared at his English book, hoping it would burst into flames and he would have another excuse to sleep his hangover away.
"I can't believe those words just left your lips Osh," Brad snorted as he flipped through his Chemistry notes.
"I'm serious! I'm so fucked now," he yelled, slamming his hands down on the table and only causing Brad's level of amusement to raise considerably.
"In what sense of the word?" He asked.
"Smart ass," TJ muttered with a shake of his head. "But seriously, what the hell am I supposed to do?"
"Ava," Brad said simply.
"Screwing Ava isn't going to help me pass English," TJ told his friend with a roll of his eyes.
"I don't mean that literally moron," Brad said. "I meant to just ask her for help. She's like, the smartest person we know. She helped me pass Calc last semester."
TJ looked at his friend and wondered why he hadn't thought of that before. He texted Ava immediately and she was over at his apartment soon after. She brought her old English notes (she had taken the class TJ was taking last year when they were freshman), and she even brought him lunch.
"A tuna sandwich?" TJ asked as he looked down at the plate in front of him.
"On toast along with some orange wedges," Ava smiled, settling down in the seat next to TJ at the kitchen table that was rarely used. "It's all brain food," she insisted.
"What?" He asked, confused.
"Fish is high in Omega-3, which can build your cell membranes and gray matter in your brain. Fruit is good for you because it has a lot of glucose in it, which is also good for your brain. Basically- eating this stuff will boost your brain activity and help you retain more information," Ava responded, like she was reading straight from a textbook.
"Brad was right," he said dumbly.
"About what?" Ava smiled.
"You are the smartest person we know."
And so Ava spent the next two days with TJ helping him study for his mid-term. She made flash cards, looked up YouTube videos online, explained things in easier ways, and just made things simple for TJ to understand. It wasn't that he was dumb by any means; he just had a harder time in English than Ava did. And Ava was good at teaching him; in fact, if athletic training fell through for her she certainly had a bright future in teaching.
TJ went into his mid-term more prepared than he ever thought possible, and when he got his grade back a week later he was awe-struck at the 93% staring back at him in bright red marker. TJ was so overjoyed in fact that he threw a party at his apartment and decided getting wasted was the best celebration he could have.
By the time Ava arrived at his apartment, TJ was beyond wasted. He had forgotten to invite her and the reason she was there was because Ryan Duncan had told her about it. She found TJ and hugged him upon seeing him. In TJ's drunken state he couldn't even say thank you.
"Ava!" TJ yelled excitedly as she wrapped her small arms around his waist.
"I'm so happy for you Timmy!" She told him.
"Me too!" He exclaimed, holding his drink up in the air and letting out a loud yell. Everyone around him did the same before going back to what they were doing previously. Ava smiled widely and pushed herself to her tip toes to place a kiss on TJ's chubby cheek. Just before her lips landed on his baby fat though, TJ turned his head and pushed his lips to Ava's.
Her eyes went wide with surprise as TJ placed his big hands on her hips and pulled her close to his body. She knew he was drunk- and she had seen him like this before- but he had never tried to make a move on her.
"Teej?" She inquired nervously.
"What?" He asked, leaning down to nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck. "You don't want me?" He asked, pressing his soft lips against the skin on her neck. She put her hands on his chest and pushed him away lightly. TJ stumbled backwards and looked down at her incredulously. A girl had never turned him down before. Never.
"You're really drunk," she told him, a small smile finding it's way onto her lips. "Do you need help getting upstairs?"
"What?" TJ yelled over the music that had begun pumping through his apartment. Ava just smiled and shook her head, letting her red bangs fall into her eyes.
"Nothing," she said, though she knew the hockey player could no longer hear her. In fact, he wasn't even paying attention to her anymore. She simply slipped out of the kitchen and went to go hang around Pony and Evan.
Ava didn't really talk to TJ for the rest of the night, but she helped him upstairs and into his bed when he was too drunk to function anymore. She even cleaned up his bathroom when didn’t make it to the toilet in time. She also ended up staying the night in his room, too frightened by the story she had just heard in one of her Health classes about someone choking on their own vomit to leave TJ alone for the night. This was another night all of their
friends thought TJ was getting laid when in reality he was in a drunken comatose state.
Ava took care of TJ and he never acknowledged it. That was how their relationship went. Ava got used to it after the first month of knowing TJ. She never said anything because she was too nice to confront him, and he really was a good friend when he wasn’t taking advantage of her.
And just in case you were wondering-TJ never thanked Ava for helping him pass his English mid-term.
♠ ♠ ♠
so even though it's closer to two hours later, i still get points for updating twice, right?i like this chapter because it sums up the relationship between tj and ava. i'm getting re-excited about this story so expect more updates in the next few weeks :)
ps, thanks for your comments! they just make me want to update even more, haha.<3
xoxo.