• AMALIA •
I wake up to the sound of voices. I sigh as I roll out of the comfortable bed, grabbing my phone to check the time, but finding texts from Frankie too.
FRANKIE: Did I call you last night?
FRANKIE: I played it back. I'm sorry.
FRANKIE: I was drunk. I didn't mean any of it. You know I didn't.
FRANKIE: Fuck, please answer.
FRANKIE: I'm so sorry.
FRANKIE: Amalia?
I pause when I see I have a text from Archer, too. I click off Frankie's name and move onto his.
ARCHER: Wanna work on the project today?
ARCHER: You can come to my house if you want.
I smile.
ME: I'll ask.
I stand up, forgetting completely about Frankie for a few moments as I walk into the kitchen. Mason is sitting at the counter with Elijah beside him and Jenna flipping pancakes. When one falls on the floor, Mason laughs.
Jenna picks it up, hissing because it's hot, and drops it into the bin. She looks up and smiles at me. Both of my brothers follow her gaze.
"Can I go to my project partners house?" I ask Mason.
"Did you ask dad?" He questions.
"No."
"Message him."
I sigh and open my phone.
ME: Can I go to my project partners house today?
DAD: What did Mason say!
I roll my eyes.
ME: He told me to ask you.
DAD: Okay. You can. But not for too long.
"He said yes." I tell Mason.
"Alright, then." Mason says. "When are you going?"
"I don't know. Let me ask Archer."
"Who's Archer?" Elijah asks.
"The boy I'm doing a project with."
He tilts his head, but I ignore him as I go to the fridge. "Do you have any pop tarts?" I ask.
"No." Mason says. "Jenna's making pancakes."
I peer over my brothers girlfriends shoulder. I grimace; they look clumpy.
"I'm good. I'm not that hungry, actually." I say.
I pull my phone out again.
ME: I'm allowed.
ME: What time?
ARCHER: Twelve?
ME: Okay.
ARCHER: Do you need me to come get you?
I look up. "Will one of you be able to drop me off at twelve?"
"I can." Elijah says stiffly.
"Okay." I reply.
ME: It's okay, my brother can bring me.
ARCHER: Okay.
He sends me his address, and I go back into the bedroom to change. I don't know why, but I put more effort than usual in to my appearance. I even go over my already straight hair with a straightener.
When it's ten to twelve, I leave the room and walk back into the kitchen.
"You look nice." Jenna says.
I smooth my curtain bangs away from my face. My school bag is flung over my shoulder. "Thanks."
Mason looks up at me and scowls. "You trying to get with this kid, too?"
I roll my eyes. "Just because I don't look like I just crawled out of a sewer—like you—it doesn't mean I'm trying to impress anybody."
He glares at me. He's about to talk when Elijah says: "come on, let's go."
•
When I knock on the door, it isn't Archer who answers, but rather Alexandra.
"Amalia!" She exclaims excitedly.
I smile. "Hey, Ally. Is Archer here?"
"He's in his room." She turns around and screams. "Archer!"
My eyebrows raise at how loud she can be, but a second later Archer walks down the stairs. "Stop screaming like that, Ally."
"Nope." She says, skipping past him and into the house. I smile.
"Where do you wanna go?" He asks me, coming up to the door. His dark brown hair is beautifully disheveled, and he's wearing light grey joggers and a white t-shirt, which complements his tanned skin.
Holy mother Mary of God.
"Amalia?" He questions.
"Sorry, what?" Was I staring at his arm? His toned as hell, muscly arm thats about to pop out of his shirt?
Yes. Yes I was.
"Where do you wanna do it?"
"I don't mind." I say, my voice higher than I intended. The corner of his lip ticks up into a baby smirk.
It's suddenly very hot.
"Okay. We can go to my room. Come on."
I follow him into his house, closing the door behind me. I walk behind Archer up the steep stairs, then down the clean hallway, my trainers clicking on the wooden floor.
He glances at me before pushing the door to his bedroom open. My eyes search around it when I step in behind him.
The double bed in the middle of the room is neatly made, and there's a throw on the end of it. Beside it, a few feet away and pressing up against the wall is a desk, topped with a few things they're neatly organised. The dark grey walls are a contrast to the primarily white furniture.
His room is the opposite of what I thought it'd be—clean. With his careless attitude, I expected him to act the same way toward his room. But he doesn't, clearly.
"You can sit on the bed." He mumbles.
I walk over to it tentatively. I've never sat on a boys bed before.
I slide onto it, and when I look up I see him watching me with a strange expression. "Does my bed bite?"
A blush spreads over my cheeks as I set my backpack beside me.
I'm about to ask what he thinks we should do today when a blonde woman appears in the doorway. I hear Archer sigh as she grins at me.
"Hi! You must be Amalia." She says.
I smile. "Yeah. Hello."
Alexandra appears next to her. "Archer cleaned his room for you!" She exclaims.
"I cleaned it because it was messy." Archer replies, eyes narrowing into a glare.
"You haven't cleaned your room in ages before this, though—" She pauses suddenly, a grin on her face. I turn around and see Archer communicating something with his eyes that I'm unable to decipher.
"Do you want anything to eat or drink, honey?" She questions.
"No thank you. I'm alright." I respond.
I wrap my arms around myself.
"Okay." Archers mother says. "Just let me know if you want anything."
I smile. "Thanks."
She takes Alexandra's hand and walks down the hall. A second later I hear them laugh.
He walks over to the door and shuts it. "Sorry about them." He mutters as he comes to sit across from me.
I'm sitting on a boys bed. With a boy.
Ohmygod.
My phone dings with a text, and I glance at it to see Frankie's name. I ignore it, a frown forming on my lips. Suddenly my excitement, my motivation, my everything is gone.
"You good?" Archer questions.
"Yeah." I say. "How was the game yesterday?"
He snaps his head up towards me, and his dark, thick eyebrows knit together.
"Good." He says after a moment. "We won."
I smile. "That's great!"
His eyes roam toward my phone when it begins to ring. I let it, and he says: "you gonna answer that?"
"No."
He glances at the name and huffs out a laugh. "Trouble in paradise already?"
"None of your business." I say. "Let's just do the project."
His eyebrows raise in something like surprise. "Okay."
I pull my notebook out and begin talking about what I've researched. He watches me, head tilted a little bit. When I ask him a question and he doesn't answer, I say his name.
"Hm?"
"When will we start taking pictures?"
"Pictures of what?"
I sigh. "Did you hear a single word I just said?"
"No."
I loose another heavy breath. My phone starts to ring once more, and I frown. I turn it back over and read Frankie's name again.
This time I answer it, right in front of Archer.
"Amalia?" Frankie says.
"Obviously." I reply.
"I'm so sorry." He tells me, voice trembling a little. Is he about to cry?
Suddenly pity swarms within me. I don't wanna make anyone cry. "It's fine, Frankie. I just can't talk right now. I'll call you later."
"Promise?" He questions.
"Mhm. Bye."
"Bye." He replies right as I cut the phone off.
My eyes fill with tears, but I don't know why. Suddenly Archer's jaw hardens, probably in discomfort or annoyance or something.
"What's wrong?" He asks.
"Nothing." I say softly. "I'm just tired."
He glances at the pillow, then back at me. "You can take a nap for a few minutes, if you want. I can finish this."
My heart warms. "No, it's fine. I'll be okay."
"Just go to sleep, Amalia." He says. He stands up and walks over to his desk, sitting down in the seat.
I want to say no, that I'm fine, but I'm so tired. I don't think I've ever been this tired before. I nod, even though he can't see me, and slowly lay down.
• ARCHER •
She's sleeping in my bed.
Amalia Romano is sleeping in my bed.
I stand up from my desk and walk out of the room, feeling like I'm invading her privacy somehow, even though it's my bedroom. I walk downstairs and into the kitchen, where my mother and Alexandra are sitting.
Alexandra looks behind me, as though waiting for Amalia to be with me. She frowns. "Where's your girlfriend."
"Shut up." I say, walking over to the fridge. I grab out a bottle of water, then decide to grab another for Amalia.
"She seems really sweet." My mother tells me.
"She's a pretty dancer." Ally adds.
The image of her eyes watering and the frown on her face flashes through my mind suddenly, and I squeeze the cold bottle in my hand tighter. Why did she seem so nervous when she had to take Frankie's call, and why had she decided to ignore it in the first place?
Why is she even with that dickhead anyway? He's ugly, snobby and fucking rude. Not to mention the fact that he's spread around the whole school that he's with Amalia, as though she's some kind of trophy. She's probably the best thing that's ever happened to him in his miserable, pathetic life.
If I was with Amalia, I'd respect her privacy. I'd treat every moment with her with her like I was paying millions for it, even though it'd be worth much, much more.
Not that I like her or anything. It's just hypothetical.
I walk back upstairs, ignoring my baby sisters taunts, and back to my bedroom. Amalia is still sleeping when I get there.
• AMALIA •
I wake up, immediately looking toward the window. It's getting dark outside. Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Archer turns around in his desk chair. "You're awake."
"What time is it?" I ask.
"Four. You've been asleep for a while."
"Why didn't you wake me up?" I ask.
"You looked peaceful." He replies as I stand, throwing my notebooks that have spilled across his bed into my bag.
I grab my phone and see three messages from Mason and one from Elijah.
MASON: When do you want picking up?
MASON: You've got to come home soon, kid.
MASON: Amalia?
I sigh and click onto Elijah's name.
ELIJAH: I'm on my way to get you.
Sent seven minutes ago.
"My brother's on his way." I explain. "I've got to go."
"Okay." He replies. "I'll walk you down."
I fling my bag over my shoulder and begin to walk out of his room, Archer on my heels. We make our way downstairs. Archers mother walks out of a room and smiles.
I pause. "Thank you for letting me into your home. It's really pretty."
She grins. "It's okay, honey. Is someone coming to pick you up?"
I nod. "My older brother."
"Alright. I'll see you soon, then."
"Bye!" I exclaim as Archer unlocks the front door.
I let out a sigh of relief when I don't see Elijah's car. Archer looks at me like I've grown two heads.
"You don't have to wait if you don't want to." I say.
"I finished the research to send to the teacher." He tells me, changing the subject.
"Thanks. I'm sorry I left you to do it all on your own."
"It's fine." He says. "You were tired."
"Also, thanks for letting me stay in your bed."
He shrugs just as my brothers car comes around. I smile at Archer. "Bye."
"Bye." He replies, opening his door again. I walk over to my brother car and climb into the passengers seat. When I look back, Archer is still standing there. But then he steps inside and closes the door.
"How'd it go?" Elijah asks.
"Great."