The Beautiful You

Twenty-eight ~ Lucky Strike

"Apollo, I'm bored. Let's do something else," Amory said, resting his head on my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair and scoffed.

"You asked me to help you with your English homework, and you've read a total of 20 pages in one hour," I said.

He groaned and shoved his book in my face, waving it around. "It's boring, and I can't concentrate."

"Keep reading," I added.

He huffed and crossed his arms, staring off at the ceiling. I shook my head and continued combing through his fluffy hair with my fingers. His gaze wandered towards me, and he reached his hand out to grasp the collar of my shirt. He tugged on the fabric, pulling me down towards his lips.

As our lips were about to meet, he whispered, "I wanna watch a movie." He let go of my collar, and pushed me away from his face. I winced as my back hit the headboard.

"You're not cute," I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"Sorry, did you think I wanted to kiss you?" Amory teased. "Sorry, Mr. Tutor. I'm seeing someone."

I raised my eyebrows, and pushed his bangs back so that I could clearly see his face. There was a tint of pink washing over his cheeks.

"Well, sorry to disappoint, but I'm not interested," I said, nonchalantly.

Amory furrowed his eyebrows and shook his head. "Nah, you totally want me."

"Really?" I asked. "How do you know?"

He shrugged, and a smile crept onto his face. I chuckled and leaned in, giving him a quick peck.

Amory shot up from my lap and glanced at the door as the knob jiggled. I sat up straight in my bed as my dad appeared behind the door.

"Boys..." he trailed off, glancing at Amory, who was sitting by my side. "Uhm." Dad cleared his throat before he continued, "Tu amigo se queda a cenar?"

"Yeah," I replied.

My dad nodded and glanced at Amory, smiling, before shutting the door again. Amory looked up at me and asked, "What did he say?"

"He asked if you were staying over for dinner," I said.

He chuckled and threw his head back, hitting the headboard. "I should learn Spanish," he mumbled.

"It's okay. I'm not very good at it either," I said. Amory turned to me and poked my side.

"How is that?" He laughed.

I shrugged. "I have a C in Spanish," I said.

Amory shook his head and shouted, "I have a D in English, and I've lived in the U.S. all my life, and on top of that, I only know one language. Which is English." He rested his head on my shoulder and sighed. "You're smart, Apollo."

"I'm not at all," I said.

"You're smarter than me," he said. "One of us has to be the smart one." He stared down at his hands, twiddling his thumbs.

These past couple of weeks, I've noticed how insecure Amory is about a lot of things. School was one of them. He often hid his graded tests and papers from me, like he was worried I'd ask to see them.

He struggled a lot with reading, so most of the time he tried to avoid reading aloud, especially in front of me. Surprisingly, he asked me to help tutor him, but now I'm starting to think it was an excuse to make out in my bedroom.

I'm not complaining, but if he really has a D, then I should do my job right.

"Quit it," I murmured.