Tutoring the Bad Boy [REWRITTEN]

15. cheap dinners and confrontation

THE RESTAURANT HE ended up driving me too was a Waffle House. Would you even call the place a restaurant? It made me sniffle a laugh that the one and only Archer Everton with maids and money had chosen to come to a place like this. I didn't mind it at all though; I fucking loved Waffle House.

"You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to," the dark haired boy spoke once we were seated and had our drinks ordered, "but I'm here no matter what you're going through."

I felt like I knew so much about him, but I probably only knew a fraction of it. Although that was partially on me because I never asked, but I still felt bad that I knew about his dysfunctional family and he had only vaguely heard about mine. I decided that it was finally time that somebody else other than Ayana might as well know my entire life story.

     "You know how my mom is never sober when I come home?" I asked and received a nod in return a moment later. "I came home to her sober today. She had some man over, acting like dad never existed. She looked so happy, and I've never seen her sober in forever."

As the words slipped off my tongue, I started to progressively get more upset. At myself, at my mom— at whatever I could.

     "What if the man she brought over is helping her become a better person? And a better mother towards you?" he inquired, sipping on his hot chocolate.

     "That's so bullshit," I shook my head with a sigh. "Twelve years without my dad and now she decides to get her act together? Just because some man probably swept her off her feet? She never mentions dad. Ever."

     "You may be right," he pondered for a moment, "but I say give her a chance. She's your mother, after all. And I'm not saying you should instantly forgive her or forgive her at all, but having a mother that cared would be really nice, y'know?"

     "What if she doesn't care?" I let myself overthink and get into the 'what if' questions. "What if she never did?"

I saw a flash of some emotion flash in his eyes and it partially stayed there for a long moment. Then it came to me that Archer mentioned his own biological mom had left at a young age, and I started feeling worse. "I'm sorry. I know that your mom isn't really. . ."

     "It's okay, it doesn't really matter to me. I think that she was just too sad to take of herself, let alone another human being," he replied after a few moments, "if you'd like, I'll meet her with you. The 'new' her."

     I stopped to think for a moment and then let out a sigh. "You are way too good to me."

     "I guess that's what liking someone does to you."

     The ten words sent butterflies erupting in my stomach from every angle and if I were standing, I'd probably have to grip something in order to not fall down. Yeah, him just being himself really did make my knees weak. Not him at school, but this? This was nice. I found myself wondering what would happen if we were in a relationship.

     Would things turn out the way they did with Oliver? I refused to believe it; Archer was so much more than that.

     The food came soon after and holy shit did it smell so good. The smell of freshly made waffles with whipped cream and syrup hit my nose. It was genuinely one of the best foods I have ever smelled. Foods? Scents? I have no idea, but I didn't waste any time to dig into the syrup-covered whip creamed waffles.

"How'd we become so close? I feels like it was only yesterday we met." I asked with a small chuckle, "the more I keep thinking about it, the more the question pops up in my head."