BEASTLY

xxiii. silhouette

Thank you to my best friend Just4Shiggles08 for the ideas in this chapter. I hope you like how I used your ideas, and I hope this makes up for my lack of interest in Hamilton. (:

Mitch Grassi

I sat at my desk, tapping my foot in anticipation while my eyes were locked on my computer screen. I'd called Scott into the room and he excitedly yelled that he'd acknowledged me, and the rough stamping of his excited feet down the hall was enough to make me giggle. I almost wondered if he was wearing socks, and his tall legs would get ahead of him and he'd slide past my door.

He stood in the doorway and knocked. As soon as I turned to face him he cleared his throat, pointing at my hood. I still felt uncomfortable without it on, but he always insisted to taking it of while I was in his presence. So, he tapped his foot while he waited for me to tug it off. Once I did so, he proceeded. "Yes milady?" He smirked. "Sorry, I'm reading the book you won't read. Canterbury Tales is fantastic and you're uncultured." I turned around to see the goofy boy and my heart skipped a beat. There was something about him in a tank top that made me feel different. Thank goodness I kept the house nice and toasty. He gestured to my bed and I delightfully nodded.

"Write my book report for me, then." I smirked and hummed out a little laugh. "I've got something for you... that is, if you want to go. It's tomorrow night." I pointed to my screen and the tall boy leaned forward, putting his hand on my chair as he read.

It took him a moment and with a hint of disbelief in his tone, he spoke. "Phantom?"

I nodded. "On Broadway," I stated with a matter-of-fact tone. His eyes widened and he looked at me, narrowing those hopeful baby blues and smiling. "I got us some pretty good tickets too. They're in the back of orchestra level so we can still see the actors, but not so far that everything looks too tiny."

"I love it," he said breathlessly. "How were you able to afford these tickets, Julian? I'd love to pay you back fo--"

"No no no no! I insist... besides, it's not my money. It's my asshole of a father's money that he gave me in place of his fatherly love." I snorted. "I don't really spend any of it, so I'm more than happy to use it on something like this. That is, if it interests you?"

He touched my wrist. I've quickly found out that he's a very touch oriented person. It's how he connects with someone... but I'm possibly the farthest from liking touch. A part of me likes it, but a part of me is frightened by it. It brings out my insecurity. "It most definitely interests me. In fact, to show you how much it interests you, can I show you the exact outfit I'm going to wear when we go?" He stuck his hand out for me to grab, I'm assuming. It had been a week since I'd been brave and grabbed his hand outside of the Cafe. That one brave moment opened a door for Scott, and he was coming in full force. Then again, a part of me only believed that he was getting closer to me because I was his only contact besides Naomi an Avi. I didn't even know if he still spoke to anyone back at Fulton, or if he even still spoke to his father. But he was getting close to me, and I wasn't even sure if that was a good idea.

But the glimmer of hope in his eyes convinced me enough, seeing as how my hand didn't catch up with the nervousness and went straight to accepting his as he tugged me out of my room and into his bedroom. He patted on the bed and I walked over to the exact spot, sitting down and swinging one leg over the other. I tapped my toe and hummed Christine's high part at the end of the title song as high as my voice would go at a hum and watched him rummage through his closet. I began to panic a little when he started removing clothing right in front of me, but I had to remind myself that we're both boys and it shouldn't make a difference, right? I thought about it while pretending to not stare at the boy removing his clothes... did Scott like boys? If he'd even told me, there's probably a chance of me not remembering, considering he probably confirmed his sexuality back when I was a soulless little bitch. I guess I can find out the old fashioned way.