Black Angel (BoyXBoy)

Chapter 8: Unexpected

"Hey, um...Gabriel?"

I look up from my desk and into a pair of nervous blue eyes in a heart-shaped face, framed by curls of pale blond. "Tara."

Her cheeks color ever so slightly. She's already a pretty girl, but the blush somehow makes her seem prettier. "Um...I was wondering..." Her eyes lift from my face to somewhere behind me, and I turn just in time to see the last vestiges of frantic hand-waving from two girls. Most assuredly her friends. They too blush at my stare and immediately look away.

Tara's cheeks darken. "Um...I was wondering if you would go with me to homecoming."

For a moment I simply sit there, blinking. Homecoming? Shit, homecoming. This year the girls ask the guys, for reasons unknown to me. I lean back in my seat and try to make my voice sound as kind as possible. "I'm not really a dance kind of guy, Tara. I'm sorry."

She nods a bit, more to herself than to me. "Oh, yeah, sure. Okay. Um...talk to you later." She smiles, then walks past me to join her friends.

Melody saunters over and plops into the empty desk beside me. "Such a heart breaker, Gabriel." She clicks her tongue in a mock-scolding manner, a smirk twisting her lips. "You know there will be more, don't you? I remember everyone asked you last year. The freshmen were so cute." She sniggers.

I cover my face with my hands. "Don't remind me."

"You should go this year." I stare at her like she just started speaking Mandarin Chinese while tap dancing. "Don't give me that. I'm serious. I thought we agreed that you would start to mingle a bit more?"

"No, we didn't," I respond pointedly.

"Damn. Thought I had you there." Melody makes a dramatic display of snapping her fingers in a "drat" persona. But then she grows serious and leans closer, the neckline of her shirt dipping with the motion. Some boys nearby gape openly. "Come oooon, Gabriel! Would you go with me? As my bestest friend in the whole wide world?"

"No."

"Aw! Please? I'll do anything you want." She bats her eyelashes at me, pushing out her lower lip. "Please? Please? Pleeaaase?"

"Mel, no. I don't want to."

"Gabriel Alexander Schiovani, you need to lighten up and live a little. Please, just go with me." She widens her deep red eyes at me beseechingly. "I beg of you. Make a poor girl happy."

I look at her for a few moments. "I'll think about it, okay?"

"Yes!" Melody punches the air, then looks over at Tara, who gives me a look I can only describe as insulted. I shrug helplessly, but she only turns away while her friends shoot me dirty looks. They don't last long, however.

"Goddamn!" Melody suddenly swears. I look at her strangely; in the time that I was focused on Tara and her friends she pulled out her PSP, and is now glaring at it angrily.

"What?"

"I can't beat Xehanort," she whines. "Aqua sucks at defense."

I sigh and hold out my hand. "Give it here."

She obeys, sliding out of her desk to scoot into my seat. It's a tight fit, and I give her a look of reproach. But she just smiles sweetly and watches me play. At one point she rests her chin on my shoulder, long hair tickling my back through my shirt.

"How did you do that?" she exclaims as I hand her back the PSP, epic battle completed. "You're always so good at these things. Pisses me off."

I shrug, still aware of three sets of eyes boring into the back of my head. I become increasingly aware of Melody's body pressed up against me, soft and comforting and...girlish. She scoots her chin forward until we're cheek to cheek. Funny how I never realized how soft her skin was until now. 

"I looooooove you, Gabriel," she sing-songs in my ear, barely a whisper.

I roll my eyes. "Whatever." 

"Well, that's not very nice," she pouts. "Come one, Gabriel. Show some love to your best friend in the whole wide world." And with that she plants a kiss on my cheek and flounces back to her seat, leaving a burning mark on the skin for hours afterward. 

***

"Melody asked you to homecoming?" Mom gushes over the phone.

I sigh, tilt my chair back on two legs. "More like demanded me to go with her. I told her I'd think about it."

"What's to think about? You guys made up, right?" 

"Yeah, but..." I run my free hand through my shower-dampened hair. "I hate these kinds of things, Mom."

She makes a "tsk" noise with her tongue. I can practically picture her face, eyes rolling with a sly little smile. "Nonsense, Gabriel. When I get home this weekend we'll go shopping for tuxedos. I'm thinking maybe a--"

Before she can finish the sentence the doorbell rings, and I quickly interrupt, "Sorry, Mom, someone's at the door. I'll talk to you later, okay?" She barely gets a response out before I end the call and hurry to answer the door. 

"Luca?" I blink. He doesn't look at me, but keeps his eyes trained somewhere around my shoes, messy hair obscuring his face. "What are you doing here?"

"Can I, uh...I'm sorry, but can I please stay here tonight?" Now he lifts his head, and that's when I notice the bruise blossoming across his cheekbone. "I didn't think Melody's parents would appreciate me coming so late, so..." He swallows hard. 

"Uh...sure. Come on in." I back away from the door and allow him to enter. Wait, did I really just say that? I barely even know this kid. But judging by the nasty blotch currently blooming on his skin, I think this calls for a little generosity. 

"Thanks," he murmurs. "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." I turn and take a few steps toward the kitchen; when I realize he's not following me I glance back over my shoulder. "You coming? I've got water boiling for ramen."

"Oh, yeah," he blinks a few times. "Sure." 

Once we're seated at the table I take this chance to study Luca further. The bruise is thrown into even more startling contrast under the bright lights, an ugly stain of black and purple. It looks as if he's been punched. I notice some scratches too, as if done by long nails. Did he get in a fight with someone? I fight the urge to ask. What do I care? What he does is none of my business.

The still-healing wounds on my shoulder suddenly pulsate, and my hand flies to the area almost reflexively. Luca immediately stops eating and looks at me curiously. "You okay?"

"Uh...yeah, fine," I say, shrugging the pain off. I look down at his nails for the second time; they're short, typical boyish nails. No length to them at all. 

Then how the hell did he manage to gouge me? I can't say I imagined it; the marks speak for themselves. And Luca's eyes...when they glowed red beneath the water...something tells me I didn't hallucinate that either.

"Do you want to sleep in my room or somewhere else?" I ask, trying to ignore my turmoiling thoughts. 

To my puzzlement his cheeks redden a bit. "Uh...if it's okay with you, I'd like to sleep in your room...if you have space, of course."

"Dude, look around you." I snort, a bitter sound. "There's plenty of room."

His cheeks darken more, mottling the bruise. "Thanks a lot, Gabriel. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Come one, finish up and I'll show you around this godforsaken place I call home."