[@Flightless_Soul]

Natalia stepped into the collaborative study room and placed her handbag on the table in front of the large computer monitor. 

[img]https://library.law.uiowa.edu/sites/library.law.uiowa.edu/files/wysiwyg_uploads/DSC_0018.jpg[/img]

The blond-haired girl listened to her friend with attention as she turned the monitor on. 

"Of course!", said the petite girl with kindness. "I would love to help you, Harley..." She paused for a moment, her voice becoming softer. "And you are not dumb...you are smart!" The blue-eyed girl continued as she walked to the other side of the room. "...it is just you have not had the right Math and Science teachers yet..."

Standing in front of a closed wooden cabinet, Natalia turned around and looked at the cowgirl with a sweet smile on her face. "I will show you that you can be as smart as a whip!" 

[img]https://prolocker.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Team-locker-room-whiteboard-cabinet-LR.jpg[/img]


She opened the upper cabinet doors. Inside was a smart TV and two whiteboards on the sides of the doors. Kneeling down on the floor, the petite girl opened the lower cabinet doors. "I guess you won't be needing one since you have your laptop with you." 

[img]https://prolocker.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/locker-room-dry-erase-board-cabinet-LR.jpg[/img] 

The blue-eyed girl took out a red leather case and a small plastic toolbox. Carrying the leather case with one hand, while the other hand was holding the box, she strolled back to the table where she had left her handbag.

[img]http://cdn.wonderfulengineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/best-toolboxes-5.jpg[/img]

Placing the toolbox on the table, Natalia unfastened the leather case. Inside of it, there was a 12.9-inch iPad Pro with a mini keyboard. She turned on the iPad and left the device next to the toolbox.

[img]http://www.gadgetreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/ipad_mini_whtred-06-m.jpg[/img]

The blonde-haired girl rapidly connected some cables and pressed some buttons so that the iPad was connected to the monitor. In a matter of seconds, the images on the iPad screen were projected on the large monitor as well. 

Once that was taken care of, the petite girl opened the toolbox. Inside the box were a variety of stationery items: index cars, colored pencils, colored markers, post-Its, whiteboard markers, whiteboard erasers, etc.

The studious girl took a blue marker and wrote their Chemistry assignment on the whiteboard. Finally sitting down, she placed the iPad in front of her. 

"Okay...now we are ready to begin", the blue-eyed girl expressed as she looked at her study buddy.

[hr]
After P.E., Jason went to his private gym locker room to freshen up. The brown-haired boy was taking a quick shower when he heard his cell phone ringing.  

[img]https://st.hzcdn.com/simgs/9961d7950eb83654_4-2336/contemporary-home-gym.jpg[/img]

"It must be Madison...", he said softly. "She can't live without me..."

Stepping out of the shower with a towel around his waist, he took his cell phone and checked the missed call. 

"Lena!", said the basketball boy with a shocked look on his visage. It was extremely rare for Lena to call him on his cell phone. 

Even though they were not as close as before, Jason still cared deeply for Helena...for his Lena. 

He had been there at the cemetery when Helena's mom was buried. From the top of a nearby hill, Jason had observed how the red-haired girl was breaking up in front of him. He had wanted to run by Helena's side and consoled her, but he had never been good at this kind of situations. He did not know what was the right thing to say or the right thing to do. But...it had been his sheer fear of hurting Helena even more what had prevented him to be by Helena's side when his dear friend needed him the most. 

[img]http://romegeorgia.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Need-for-Speed-Myrtle-Hill-funeral-screenshot.jpg[/img]

He did not sleep a wink on the night after Helena's mom funeral. The brown-haired boy had spent all night cursing himself because of his impuissance and had made the solemn promise to always look after Lena from the shadows like a guardian angel would do it.
 
Knowing how proud Helena was, Jason knew the red-haired would never accept his help if he were to offer it to her just like that. So he cautiously acted behind the curtains. 

When Helena's father lost his job because of his drinking habit, Jason got extremely worried that Helena would stop going to school. The tall boy knew of the dire financial situation Helena's father had put him and his daughter in and he also knew what that meant. Without a job and with the little money that they had, Helena's father was not going to be able to afford such an expensive private school.


He immediately talked with his parents and arranged a way for Helena to stay at the school...even if that meant getting further away from Lena.  


[color=ed1c24][i]"Hey...Jason?  It's me...  Could...could you meet me at the skatepark today?  I...we need to chat... See ya..."[/i][/color]

He stood with the phone on his hand and a thoughtful expression on his visage after hearing the red-haired girl's message. Taking a deep breath, Jason put his clean clothes as fast as he could. 

Throwing his backpack over his shoulder, he strode out of the room and headed to the skatepark.