Tutoring the Bad Boy [REWRITTEN]

09. sketches and rooftops

WHEN MONDAY ROLLED by, I wasn't ready to face Archer. After the party at his grandparents' house, I felt afraid. Not of him, but of the way he made me feel. The feeling was nostalgic, bringing me back to my first kiss with my ex. When everything was okay and he would sacrifice anything in the world for me. Sometimes I'd like to think that he does still care about me, but it's all in my head. Everything he did tells me otherwise, and for a year I remained ignorant. I was naïve.

     Archer glanced at me with a small smile during lunch, but nobody seemed to notice other than me. I didn't take the gesture to heart considering Amy was sitting on his lap as she talked to others at the round table. They looked like a cult, though I couldn't tell who the leader would be.

     Maybe it'd be Cole Jackson, with his platinum blonde hair and his signature smile that always stayed on his face. Ayana had talked with him a few times, always telling me how easygoing the boy was. Even with the bags underneath his eyes and a pack of cigarettes somewhere in his pocket, he always got his way.

     "Star, I want you to draw me like one of your french girls," Tobias deadpanned. He was completely and utterly serious.

     "I can't draw," I turned him down while shaking my head.

     "No, you can't make that excuse anymore. I saw your sketches," he told me and my heart dropped out of my ass.

     "Those were only for me," I exclaimed while shoving a low quality cafeteria chicken nugget in my mouth.

"You can't keep your talent hidden from the world, Star," he told me, "you have to put yourself out there! Express yourself through your work— your art."

"I'd rather not," I murmured before Ayana chirped in. "It's been a couple years."

"I agree with Tobias. You're amazing, Irene," she complimented me, "it's okay because you're the next Da Vinci."

I let out a huff while continuing to eat the chicken nuggets. They weren't good at all, but at least it filled my appetite. Though I wasn't sure I'd be willing to fill up my amazing stomach with something as low as school cafeteria chicken. To be completely honest, they could be a lot worse.

"So draw me," Tobias demanded, "come on, we have thirty more minutes than normal lunch. Just a quick sketch."

"Fine, but you have to hold still," I gave in as I pulled out a blank sheet of paper. If not, he would've pestered me about it for an extra thirty minutes than normal. Tobias grinned as he held up a rock and roll sign with his hand as his pose for the sketch. I shut my mind off before anything could flood into my mind.

     Ayana talked to us, but mostly Tobias as I nodded along to the conversation about pineapple pizza. I was too busy focusing on the boy's face, analyzing every feature. It was nice— distracting. It was also something I never thought of doing, being too focused on his different colored eyes. The boy had a small freckle on the left side of his nose and a scar near his blue eye. Every part of him seemed to glisten underneath the artificial cafeteria lights. His eyes, his smile, his skin.

"You done yet?" the boy asked me, "I'm tired of smiling and holding my arm up."

"Shhhh, a little longer," I shushed him before putting a finger up to signify for him to be quiet.

Ayana peeked over my shoulder and gasped at the drawing. Or at the marvelous cafeteria table that had a food stain that looked like shit. A wonderful, lovely shit stain. I laughed while I finished up the sketch of Tobias. One long glance later and I was turning it around to show it to him. It was messy considering I haven't drawn in forever, but there wasn't much I could do about that.