Page 13 of The Substitute
Do I agree if he’s not asking?
Maybe I should tell him fucking no, just to send a message.
But as my thumbs hover over the buttons, I don’t want to.
Tobi: What if I’m busy?
Mr. Pre-Med: you’re not anymore.
I fight a smile. Fuck, I’m being an idiot. Some guy telling me what to do shouldn’t be hot.
Tobi: I guess we’ll see.
Mr. Pre-Med:
“Why are you smiling at your phone?” Ambrose is back, this time with a protein shake.
“I thought you were going to dinner.”
“I decided to stay here.”
“Why?”
He shoves off the doorway, venturing further into our room, taking a seat on the floor to lean against my bed frame. “Because I’d rather be here. Want to watch a movie or something?”
Why does he have to be so nice?
“If you want to…”Maybe I should be nice.
“Great. Where’s your laptop?”
I shove off the bed, digging through the pile of stuff on my desk, finding it. I grab the plug too, because I’m sure it’s dead, before sliding down to sit next to Ambrose. “What do you want to watch?”
“What kind of movies do you like?”
“Anything but action movies.” I stick my tongue out.
“What? Because I’m a “jock”, you think I can’t have any other likes?” He eyes me and bumps his shoulder into mine.
“I never said that! I just don’t want to watch action.” I log into my streaming service and start flipping through movies aimlessly.
“How about The Golden Finch? It’s gay and no action in sight.”
I side-eye him but nod after reading the description. “Sure, that sounds good.” I hit play.
“Wait!” he says, and I hit pause. “Let me grab some snacks.” He gets up and goes to his closet, turning around a minute later with popcorn, Twizzlers, and gummy bears.
I go for the Twizzlers and look at him with suspicion. “How did you know what my favorite snacks were?”
“I pay attention.”
My chest gets all warm, and I put on the movie so he doesn’t notice.
Later I find more texts from Mr. Pre-Med:
Mr. Pre-Med: Don’t think not answering me will detour me.
Mr. Pre-Med: We can study. How can you turn that down?
