On the verge of failing his senior year of high school, Armando is set up with a tutor to get his grades back up. His tutor, Brian, happens to be the quiet kid that he never knew existed until now. And as the two begin to form a deep connection with...
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Armando Dominguez
At school, I leaned against a brick wall and smoked a cigarette while next to my friends. Class was starting in a few minutes but I had enough time to crank a few puffs out. Walking through the hall was Brian. As soon as he saw me, his eyes widened and he walked over to me.
"Here's your work from yesterday." He handed me a folder with my paper inside.
"Thanks." I replied, taking the folder at him and giving him a nod.
"I'll see you in first." He continued his walk down the hall. He met up with a girl with brown hair. The two turned to me and giggled with each other.
"You got a pet now?" Ricardo asked me.
"Nah. He's just helping me. I told you already." I said.
"Cause if he's offering to do people's homework, I've got a physics project."
"He's helping me. And I don't think Brian wants to be around you." I teased him.
I chuckled and put out my cigarette and walked to class. I took my seat in the back of the class. Brian sat in the second row, next to his friend. He waved at me as I held up my hand at him. His smile was... endearing.
When literature class came, I handed in my work. My teacher accepted it, though her eyes did bulge out when I walked to her desk and placed it on the pile. Brian winked at me when I returned to my seat. I mouthed a 'Thank you' to him.
One thing that I've felt myself doing is watching Brian a lot more in classes. Before we were assigned together, that boy was invisible to me. He was nonexistent to me. Now, in the classes that we have together, he's the one I spot quickly. And he's the one I can find in a crowd.
"Yo! Mando! You listening?!" Raul Gomez said.
"Yeah yeah, I heard. We're going to 7th Street later. I gotta go." I said, standing up from where I sat during lunch.
"Where're you going?" Raul asked.
"I have a question." Is all I said. I grabbed my apple and walked towards Brian's table on the other end of the cafeteria.
As soon as I approached, the entire table, which was all reading a book or writing something, all looked up at me. Brian looked at me with a wondering look.
"Armando?" He asked.
"Can we talk?" I asked him. He turned to his friend from earlier. She nodded at him. Everyone else was speechless and just kept their eyes on me. One of them gripped his fork tightly in his hands. My pocket knife could do more damage than that.
"Okay." Brian said. He stood up and left his things behind. I escorted him to one of the secluded walls of the cafeteria. I leaned against the wall and stared down at the little guy.
