The Kings IV II

19

Hero

"She a rockstar, she a sex symbol," I sang, "the way she do that shit, she make it look simple."

Fran looked over at me, a concerned look on her face.

I lifted one side of my headphones, smiling. "What's up?"

"You're singing, loud," she softly said.

"Oh, sorry," I said, looking back down at my laptop.

I pulled my headphones off and placed them around my neck, focusing more on my essay than the music.

"What are you working on?" She asked.

"Scholarship essay," I said.

"Oh, well, that's a lot of pressure."

"Yeah, tell me about it," I muttered.

"You know, I don't think you give yourself enough credit," she said.

I chuckled, nodding. "Okay."

"Seriously," she said, "I mean, you have to keep your grades up. Between football, soccer, baseball, you have to be smart."

"Well, if Dylan can stay on the team, then the bar really isn't too high."

I noticed the obvious shift in her entire being. Her body tensed up, her eyes became glassy.

"Let's just not bring him up," she softly said, wrapping her blanket around herself.

"Finally realize what a douche-"

"Drop it, Hero," she said.

I bit down on my lip and nodded, holding up my hands. "No problem."

We sat in silence until she stood up, dropping her blanket. "I'm gonna go to bed, okay?"

"Okay," I said, "sleep well, love you, kiddo."

She smiled what looked like a broken smile, walking upstairs.

I closed my laptop, sighing as I leaned my head back. I folded my arms behind my head and got comfortable, but was rudely interrupted by the doorbell.

"It's eleven fucking o'clock," I muttered, throwing my blanket off of my lap.

I grabbed my crutches and walked to the door, opening it. I knitted my eyebrows together at the sight of Amelia.

"Oh, hey," I greeted, a little confused.

"Hey," she said, biting down on her lip.

I tilted my head over. "It's eleven o'clock."

"I know," she softly said, "I-I can leave-"

"No, that's okay," I said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Aren't you going to ask why I'm here?"

I shook my head. I knew why she was here, but Amelia was shy. She wouldn't have blatantly admitted it to me, and would want to work up to it.

I moved aside, watching as she walked in. She awkwardly stood in the foyer, waiting on me to close the door and catch up to her.

"I'm actually working on this scholarship essay," I said, "maybe you can give me some pointers."

"Y-yeah," she said, looking up at me.

I sat down on the couch and she sat next to me. I grabbed my laptop and opened it up, placing it in her lap.

She quickly scanned over it, a surprised look on her face the entire time.

"That's really good, Hero."