There was a shuddering sigh, and then…
“I forgive you,” Jonathan said as he dropped down on the lab stool across from him.
“For wrapping you up in duct tape and shoving you under your bed and leaving you there or for ignoring you for the past week?” Sebastian drawled absently as he made another note on the file that Mrs. Blaine sent him last week.
“That didn’t really bother me,” Jonathan said as he reached over and turned the iPad around so that he could see what Sebastian was working on.
“Then, what exactly am I forgiven for?” Sebastian drawled as he turned the iPad back around so that he could double-check the numbers, wondering what he was missing.
“For not admitting that you need me,” Jonathan said with a long-suffering sigh that had Sebastian wondering if it was too late to switch out of this class.
“What exactly do I need you for?” Sebastian murmured absently as he frowned down at the sum he got and-
It wasn’t adding up.
“Double-check this for me,” Sebastian said as he pushed the notepad towards his brother.
“Everything,” Jonathan said as he pulled the notepad closer. “What am I looking at?”
“Blaine Industries’ latest acquisition,” Sebastian said as he turned his iPad back around for his brother.
Nodding absently, Jonathan quickly went through the numbers, adding them in his head as he went before glancing at the file opened on Sebastian’s iPad and-
“They’re off by seven million eight-hundred seventy-four thousand nine hundred eleven dollars,” Jonathan said, pushing the file back. “Now, where were we?”
“You were taking a moment to rethink your decision to piss me off,” Sebastian said, making a quick note on the file before swiping to the next page.
“That really doesn’t sound like me,” Jonathan said as he pulled out his notebook.
After making one last note, Sebastian put the notepad back into his backpack and pulled out his science notebook, all while hoping that his brother would take the hint and-
“I have a plan.”
“No,” Sebastian said as he did his best to ignore his brother, hoping beyond hope that his brother would let this go.
“You’re overthinking this,” Jonathan announced with a sad shake of his head, only to add, “But don’t worry. I have this all figured out.”
“There’s nothing to figure out,” Sebastian drawled as he looked over the notes that he took yesterday.
“You need a plan, a good one, and I just happen to have one,” Jonathan said as he reached over and helped himself to Sebastian’s iPad.
“What I need is for you to let this go,” Sebastian said as he reached for the iPad, only to have his brother pull it out of his reach.
“Shhh, not while I’m helping you,” Jonathan said, quickly typing something while Sebastian sat there, debating reaching over the lab table and-
“Voilà,” Jonathan said with flourish as he handed the iPad back to him.
“What’s this?” Sebastian asked, frowning down at the royal blue, gold and silver-themed website announcing Latin Scribe High School’s end-of-the-year gala.
“Your game plan,” Jonathan said with a satisfied sigh as Sebastian reluctantly scrolled down the page, reading through what promised to be a night to remember, noting that it was being held at the most expensive hotel in the city with a five-course meal being served, two ballrooms, a dining hall, and a candlelit patio to end the night for five hundred dollars a ticket.
Swallowing hard, Sebastian noted the dress code was formal, with the boys required to wear a tux and the girls required to wear a gown, before continuing to scroll down and looked through the photo gallery of past galas, noting the limousines dropping partygoers off, the expensive corsages the girls wore, the images of everyone dining, dancing and-
“Never going to happen,” Sebastian said, placing his iPad back on the table and focused on his notes.
“Why not?” Jonathan asked as he picked the iPad back up. “It’s perfect. It’s not until June, which gives you plenty of time to save up for the tickets and the tux and grow some balls so that you can ask Mikey out.”
“Drop it,” Sebastian said in absolutely no mood to play this game.