A Troubled Family || Newsies Soulmates AU

Chapter 11 - Spot

Anthony laughs in a sarcastic tone of voice. "Ha, ha. No, I've been speaking Italian since I could talk. I missed a test when I missed a few days of school."

Spot nods. "Why did you start learning Italian?"

"In school or at home?"

"Both."

"I started learning it at school because I knew it would just be a review for me, so easy." Albert and Spot laugh. "At home, my mom taught it to me, before she passed away. It was her first language."

Anthony smiles fondly. "She'd annoy my dad when she'd speak it cause he couldn't, but he still loved it, though he was a bit annoyed when I said my first word and he couldn't understand it. She'd do it when she was cooking and would mumble the ingredients under her breath in Italian. My father liked it when she'd get angry and mumble stuff in Italian, he thought it was cute."

"She sounds like she was nice" Albert responds. He could see that Anthony was holding back tears now.

Anthony nods, hugging his books tighter against his chest. "Yeah, she was amazing."

Spot puts his hand on Anthony's shoulder, causing Anthony to flinch. "It's okay, she's in a better place now."

Anthony weakly laughs. "You don't seem like the type who would go to church and be a good, Catholic school boy."

Albert laughs and Spot rolls his eyes. "Just be quiet and listen to my helpful advice."

"And he says he's not getting more cocky" Albert mumbles. Spot rolls his eyes.

"Anyway, she's always gonna be with you, and she's not hurt anymore" Spot tells Anthony, who nods, still trying to hold back tears.

"It's okay to cry, Anthony. It's a natural, human thing" Albert tells Anthony, who shakes his head.

It makes you weak, and just makes people think you're more of a burden, Anthony reminds himself, as he wipes his eyes. He refused to let tears out of them.

Albert and Spot share a look, as Anthony began to distance himself from them again.

"Do you play any sports, Anthony?" Spot questions, changing the topic, which he could tell Anthony was grateful for.

Anthony shrugs. "I like track, but I doubt I'll sign up for any sports or anything this year."

"Why not?"

Anthony shrugs again. "I just- just don't want to."

Albert's eyebrows furrow. That's a lie. He definitely wants to, but he's worried he won't be here long enough to do much. Albert frowns at his realization.

Albert looks at Spot, and sees that Spot realized the same thing, plus Spot was frowning, too.

"Do you play any sports?" Anthony asks the two boys when he realized they probably could see right through him.

"I play American football, baseball, and soccer" Spot answers. Anthony nods.

"I do certain types of dance, plus I play soccer" Albert informs Anthony, who looks at him, curious.

"What kind of dance?" Anthony asks.

Albert and Spot look at him, a little surprised that he was so interested.

"Mainly tap, tumbling, and jazz, but sometimes I'll do other kinds like ballet, hip hop, or something" Albert answers.

Anthony nods, a smile fighting to appear on his lips.

"Tap makes some cool sounds" Anthony whispers. Albert smiles.

"You seem to like sounds like that. I've seen you just listen to Smalls when she taps and listen to your fidget cube" Albert points out. Anthony blushes a bit, nodding.

"Do you like dancing Spot?" Anthony questions.

The question caught Spot off guard. "Uh, not really. I like watching it, it's an art/it's beautiful. I mean, occasionally Al or someone will drag me into a tap number that I don't want to do, but I like watching him dance. He's really good, though he sells himself short a lot."

"I do not."

"Yes, you do."

"No, I don't, Spot. I'm telling the truth."

"No, it's all lies."

Anthony cuts in; he hated arguing. "Spot's probably right, Albert. You tend to sell yourself short on a lot of other things, like your smarts. You don't need to have good grades to show that you're smart, you've shown me that. I think Spot's probably right about your dancing too."

Albert and Spot smile.

Albert swore he felt his heart melt a little bit, and he blushed, which was a bit weird for him. He never blushed, especially if it wasn't Spot flirting.

Noticing their silence, Anthony starts to panic. "Oh, no. I'm sorry. Did I say too much?"

"No, no. You're good, Anth. I'm just- thank you. That was really kind of you" Albert responds, a bit flustered.

Anthony blushes, clutching his books closer to his chest. "No problem." He whispers.

They finally had made it to the house, so Anthony quickly went inside after that.

"This kid is confusing" Spot mumbles. Albert nods.

"Confusing, but a bit cute."

"Ain't that the truth."

Both boys laugh.

1242 Words
Andy Richardson is wonderful.