what a woman! i.

quinze

It wasn't until history class did Tatum know her scrunchie was missing. She sits in her usual seat next to Keith. Mr. Kate was writing the day's notes that everyone needed to write down. They were continuing the 30's and all the kids knew who'd be answering the questions.

"Holy crap, today has been warmer than usual. I'm actually starting to sweat," Keith whispers to Tatum. She nods with a smirk before reaching for her scrunchie and internally panicking when she doesn't feel it. She feels a tingle of calmness seep from the back of her neck to her whole body.

"Okay, class! Before we start notes. We are going to change our seating chart. I already chose who sits with who, so don't whine," Mr. Kate says, clapping his hands together. Groans and whines come from each corner of the classroom.

"Alright, Richard and Tanya, Isaac and Tana, Gerard and Will, Hanna and Jessica, Keith and Tyler, Porter and Erica, and lastly in the back corner, Tatum and Jasper."

Everyone moves to their seats, the girls complaining about sitting with boys and the boys eyeing up the girls. Mr. Kate smirks when he sees a small amount of blush on Tatum's face. He knew he made a good choice.

Tatum sits down in the back corner desk before Jasper does. She pulls out her notebook and pen before scribbling down the first few lines of what was on the board. She only notices when Jasper sits down because he brushes his hand against hers, on purpose.

"So, how much do you wanna bet that he put us together so we wouldn't yell to each other?" Tatum asks with a smirk, looking between the board, her notebook, and Jasper. He chuckles softly, making her laugh softly.

"How much do you wanna bet that he starts the lesson with a game?" Jasper whispers, leaning towards her. She realizes that no breath reaches her exposed ear. The same thought she had from an earlier time. Was he actually breathing?

"Okay, kiddos!" Mr. Kate announces, grabbing everyone's attention. "We are now doing 30's criminal speed dating!"

"What the hell is that?"

"Language in the classroom, Tyler. You will be given a criminal from the 30's that you will have the whole class to research. Then, you will give a presentation in two days and we will rate your criminal and their work 1-10," Mr. Kate explains very excitedly.

"So mainly, it's a smash or pass for crimes?" Tyler asks boldly. He didn't know he was being immature, he thought he was being funny af.

"Yes, but don't tell anyone I said that."

●○●

"So, who'd you get?" Tatum asks Jasper, who instantly smirks. He knew she would tease him about his criminal. It was a very easy and stereotypical one that literally everyone had at least heard of.

"Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow," Tatum quietly snickers, nudging Jasper's elbow. He tries to hide the smile she put on his face, but goddammit, she was too fucking pretty and adorable not to smile. "Who'd you get?"

"Charles Arthur Floyd. Otherwise known as Pretty Boy Floyd," Tatum smirks, finding a picture of him and showing Jasper. He already knew who he was. Jasper had actually almost fed on him in 1931, but she didn't need to know that.

"He may be Pretty Boy Floyd, but I'm Pretty Boy Hale," Jasper says quietly so that only the two of them could hear it. Tatum snorts throatily, quieting it a lot better than she used to. Jasper smiles very softly towards her, resting his cheek on his fist before straight-up staring at her.

"No, no, noooo. You are Pretty Cowboy Hale!" Tatum says with a slight squeak in her voice. Jasper chuckles quietly before moving a stray piece of wavy hair from being in front of her face. Tatum smiles softly as he tucks the piece of hair behind her ear. God, he gave her butterf- NO.

NO. NO. NO. NO.

"So you agree that I'm pretty?" Jasper asks, raising one eyebrow. Tatum blushes and covers her face with her hair, leaning back in her chair before shaking her head 'no'. She wasn't embarrassed by his remark, but by the flirty comment she was building up the confidence to say.

"We all know you're more than pretty, Hale."