Book boy

Chapter 13

Amara's POV

"Why don't you ask Henry for help with your English assignment?"

I looked up at Brooke and she squinted her eyes at me when I didn't respond "I fucking love you. How didn't I think of that?" I asked standing up "the same reason why you even see Henry out of school. You're fucking stupid." I gasped and hit the back of her head "shut up."

I walked to the abandoned class that Henry is always at to read her books "Hey Henry" I said going towards him. He looked up at me "hey you"

"Whatcha doing tonight?" I asked admiring his beautiful side profile "probably just homework." He said keeping his eyes on the book "can I come over? I need help with my English essay."

He looked up at me and stayed quiet "it's okay if you don't-" she cut me off "you can come over but I won't write the essay for you."

"Fair enough."

———

"Good job, you're using pretty big words" Henry complimented as he watched me type into my computer "thanks. Learned from the best" I said making him laugh "yes you did"

He had his hand resting on the bed behind me which resulted in him being very close to me. I was so nervous, I keep forgetting how to breathe properly.

"You smell nice" he complimented making me smile "thank you" I turned my head to look at him then got surprised at how close our faces were.

We held eye contact for a bit and I looked down at his lips to see him lick them gently but as he noticed me moving my face closer to him so slowly because I was nervous, he turned her head to the side.

Which is why I was going slow.

I don't know why she doesn't want me or at least want to kiss me.

I looked around the room "yeah I bought a new perfume" also put on lotion and oil perfume for the actual perfume to stay for a longer time so you think I smell nice.

"What's that?" I asked pointing to what looked like an instrument at the corner of his room "oh that's my oud" he said with the pronunciation of a new letter?

"It's an Arabic instrument. Kinda like guitar" he stood up and went to get it then sat on the couch in his room "how many strings is there?" I asked curiously as I moved to the edge of the bed to look closer.

"Twelve strings but each two are in a different section or course I guess" he moved it closer to me so I can see it and I nodded understandingly when I noticed what he meant.

He started tuning the strings "you wanna hear me play?" He asked and I nodded with a smile.

He picked out.. I'm guessing a plectrum that people use to play guitar and things but it was in a different shape. It was longer I guess.

He placed it in between his teeth to check how the strings sounded then he held it again.

Henry started playing some type of melody that sounded of so beautiful, peaceful, angelic and so professional. Like he moved his fingers around so quickly and didn't seem to struggle at all.

After a bit, he looked up at me and stopped "I haven't played in a while, it sounds crusty" he said laughing but I shook my head "no l loved it, play more"

A smile formed on his face and he nodded. He played something else, it was a bit slower and sounded like a romantic love song.

I pulled my knees up to my chest and hugged them as I had a smile on my face the whole time while he was playing.

"I wanna play more for you but my fingers are starting to hurt since l haven't played in a while" he said putting it down "I'll play more till I get used to it again then play my favorite songs for you"

"I'd love to hear more. Do you have a playlist of like.. Arabic songs you like listening to? I'd like to hear them"he smiled widely at what I said which made me happy "yeah, I'll send it to you"

"Let's hear one right now" I suggested and he nodded "okay, if you want"

He took his phone and connected it to the speaker he has in his room. He got in bed and laid down so I did the same then heard the song start playing so he turned up the volume from his phone.

"Ooo I like that" I said about the intro making him laugh "yeah me too. It's my favorite Kadim song" he said also saying it with a letter that we don't usually use in English.

I turned my head to look at him to see his lip syncing the lyrics as he looked up at the ceiling while tapping his fingers to the beat on his stomach.

He put one of his arms under his head and kept lip syncing "sing, I wanna hear" I said moving closer to him "no no it's too much for one day" he said making me laugh.

Henry turned his head to look at me and kept lip syncing the lyrics as he moved some hair away from my face.

He could be confessing his love for me in Arabic right now and I would be clueless about it.

"I never knew you were Arab" I said, wanting to know more about him.

"yeah l'm half. My dad is Jordanian Palestinian and my mom is American so I'm just a mix" he said and I smiled "that's like so cool"

"Yeah" he nodded as the smile slowly faded from his lips and he looked up at the ceiling "I'm guessing it's not that cool?" I asked and he laughed, shaking his head "I love being Arab and everything but it was just my dad's family who ruined a lot of things for us"

"They didn't really want my dad to marry someone out of their culture which is understandable, some people are traditional but he kept insisting on marrying my mother so they made peace with that but when I came along.. I was a curse from god for them"

I frowned my eyebrows sadly as I heard him speak. I started rubbing his arm gently to comfort him. "my mom didn't want me to grow up in an environment where I was looked at weirdly or hated for something I couldn't control so we moved here when I was little, hoping we have a new start where no one knows about anything. My dad is more open minded than his family so he was okay with me being.. whatever"

"He should be, it's not your fault" I said and he nodded as he let out a small breathe, rubbing his forehead with his other hand "yeah"

"Anyways did you like the song?" He asked, putting a huge smile on his face "loved it"