In Love With An Angel (a. butler)

Ten.

Going to school the next day, I felt a weight on my chest; I knew how awkward it would be to face Luca after I had stood him up. He still didn't message me back, and neither did Ellie. I saw her in the hallway by the water fountain. She wiped the few drops that rolled down the side of her mouth.

"Uh.. Hey," I said

"Sup?"

"What were you going on about yesterday? You didn't text back."

Ellie sighed. "Oh..never mind that I was being nosey."

"Nosey about what? What's going on?"

She scratched the back of her head and stared at me.

"Luca, he said that he planned to ask you to the dance, and I wanted to know how it went."

I paused. Luca? Why on earth would he want to go with me?

"Oh. I-I wasn't with Luca yesterday."

Ellie started walking towards her locker, and I followed slowly behind. She glanced back at me with a curious expression.

"You weren't? I thought you guys were. I mean, he wouldn't stop talking about it in class."

I bit my lip, feeling sorta of guilty. I stood him up, and he was so excited. Instead, I had lunch with Austin. I wonder what she would say if I told her. I remained silent.

"So where did you go?" she asked, eyes glued onto my face. She waited for my response, which seemed never to come out. "Is there something I should know? Did something happen?"

"No, I.." I sighed. "Fine, I was with Austin"

"Austin... Austin Blake?"

"Yes."

"What? Why?"

"Ms. Dubois paired me with him as his tutor."

Ellie blinked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I know how you guys feel about him.."

"He's not a good guy Rose. You need to stop meeting with him."

Ellie turned around, but I pulled her back to face me before she got too far away.

"Why? Tell me what's so bad about him."

Before she could respond, Luca and the others came around the corner, carrying out loud conversations. I swallowed my spit after seeing Luca. I was sure he was mad or something.

"Just stay away from him," Ellie whispered, but it wasn't as discreet as she wanted it to be, considering Sabrina heard her.

"Stay away from whom?" she asked.

I looked away. I couldn't argue with Ellie, so I moved down the hall to my locker, leaving them behind. I felt a hand touch my shoulder. I turned to see who it belonged to, and standing there was Austin. He wore his hair in a man bun and flashed his shiny white teeth with a smile. Today, he looked more handsome than before; his presence took me aback.

"Austin?" I said

"Hey, I wanted to thank you again for yesterday. Not most people would be willing to tutor others, especially me," he said softly.

"What do you mean especially?"

He paused. I sensed hesitation in him like he didn't want to elaborate. I stared into his eyes, waiting for a response.

"Haha, nothing, just not too social with others," he guffawed, trying to avoid the rest of the conversation. I nodded.

"Oh, I mean... I do get hours for this, so it's mostly benefiting myself," I said