"I heard that you got a new girlfriend," said Sam suddenly. We were in the classroom again. I sat in my desk and he stood near me, glancing down at me occasionally in a superior manner that made my blood boil. I looked over at him, trying to remain unfazed.
"Yeah? What about it, Mr. Nishimoto?" I asked him. He smiled at me.
"It must be hard on her to have such a delinquent boyfriend," said Sam. I glared at him over my feet which were resting on the top of the desk.
"That's none of your business, sir," I told him as sarcastically as I could muster. He smiled at me.
"What if I told you that I'm looking out for you in place of your brother?" he asked me. I flinched away from him.
"Don't you dare mention that bastard to me, ever again," I snapped at him. He raised an eyebrow at me.
"I thought you and your brother were really close," he said to me. I glared at him.
"We were. We're not now," I told him angrily. He nodded at me. "Is that so," he said thoughtfully.
"Damn straight. I'll never forgive him!" I said forcefully. Sam frowned at me.
"Just because he left you at the age of eleven—okay...I admit that's pretty bad, but you have to forgive him at some point. What if your brother suddenly comes back for you?" he asked me.
"Then I'll beat the crap out of him," I told him. I turned in my seat to look at him. "No, scratch that—I'll completely ignore him. That will show him how little I think of him now," I told him. Sam glared at me.
"You're being childish. Sure, leaving you behind at such a young age wasn't a smart move, but your brother left to follow his dream. Don't you have any respect for that?" asked Sam. I looked out the window at the fading sunlight.
"All I have respect for now is money," I said to him. Sam sighed, coming over to my desk. He put a hand on my shoe.
"Aren't you ready to grow up?" he asked me. I snorted.
"Personally—grown-ups suck. I'm not in such a hurry to join them as most people are," I said to him. Sam patted my knee.
"Sure you are, Joshua, you're just not ready to embrace the future yet," he said. I shrugged, taking my feet off of the desk and tapping the wood of the desk.
"Have you thought about my offer?" asked Sam. I looked up at him.
"You mean the classes for photography and art?" I asked him. I shrugged. "I don't know. It's not really my scene," I told him casually. He rolled his eyes at me.
"You're the one who told me you liked to draw, so don't tell me that it's not your thing, Joshua," he said, crossing his arms stiffly. I looked away from him in embarrassment, a blush creeping into my cheeks. He smiled at me.
"You should try it. We've got a couple of field trips coming up soon for the art classes, and I was thinking if you went on them you could really get in touch with your inner Van Gogh," urged Sam. I shrugged, just doing it so Sam would shut up.
"I'll think about it," I said to him uneasily. He grinned at me.
"Good, I think you would be an excellent addition to the trip," said Sam cheerfully. I glared at him.
"Are you trying to force me into your little glee club?" I asked him. He smiled at me.
"As long as you don't mind being forced," he taunted back. I blew my bangs out of my face in irritation. "You always did have a way with words, Sam, with that silver tongue of yours," I told him angrily.
YOU ARE READING
In the Classroom
Romance(Rated R for mature themes.) Joshua Brown is a boy with many secrets. Life hasn't exactly been a bowl of cherries for him. His parents are dead. His brother has run off on him. His grades are horrible at school. This is only the tip of the iceberg f...
