Bossy Bitch
Left a sticky note on your door
Babysitter Luca
Fucking a, Lil!
Class is starting, BYYYYEEEEEE!
We put our phones on silent, and off to class we go. Luca slips into the room about ten minutes later. I see him in the mirrors as he leans against the back wall. Between him watching, and Lil and I almost crashing into each other every couple of minutes, I’m pretty distracted. But we’re laughing our asses off like normalwhen we mess up, and more than once, I see Luca’s mask slip. He even kind of smiles a couple of times and actually looks like he’s enjoying himself a little.
Crack.
Every week, while we go to dance class, Mom and Dad have a date night, and Becca takes the night off.
“How did you get here?” Lil asks Luca as we leave the studio.
“Your parents dropped me off on their way to… well, wherever they went tonight. A sticky note on my door, Lil?”
“What? Didn’t you see it?” She’s good at the innocent act, opening her big blue eyes wide, but Luca isn’t buying it.
“Marco’s not happy with any of us about this.”
Lil shrugs. “He’ll forgive us. Can’t promise he’ll forgive you, though.”
“Not cool.”
When we get home, there’s homemade pizza crust and toppings waiting for us. Becca’s awesome like that.
“Luca, come pick your toppings!” Lil yells at him like he’s not ten feet away.
“Has she always been this bossy?” He starts tossing pepperoni, sausage, and green peppers haphazardly onto his pizza. Gross. I load mine up with pineapple and jalapeños, making sure it’s all pretty even, eating black olives as I go.
“Pretty much. She’s in my phone as Bossy Bitch right now.”
Luca smirks. “What’s my name in your phone?”
“Babysitter Luca,” I say, a huge grin on my face. “Let me guess, I’m in yours as Ariana. You haven’t changed anything since Parker set it up.” I wink at him.
His eyes darken, and he holds his breath for a moment before responding. Huh… maybe I’ll wink at him more often. “I should change you two to Pain in the Ass 1 and Pain in the Ass 2.”
“That would be better than plain old Lil andAriana.” I shrug.
He picks up his phone and fiddles with it for a few minutes, a smirk on his lips.
Two cracks in one day.
Every time I see a tiny crack in Luca’s armor, it gives me a sliver of hope that he’ll rid himself of that armor. That he can be happy one day.
And sometimes, I let myself believe that I could be a part of that happiness. There’s a connection between us. I don’t understand it yet, but I feel it. It’s undeniable. And I see him feel it when he doesn’t think I’m paying attention.
He usually ends up hanging out in our living room with us after dinner, watching whatever show we throw on, and sometimes messing around on his phone. It makes me wonder if he’s messaging a girlfriend back home, but he never talks about one. Not that he talks a lot in general. He doesn’t have anything set as his background picture on his phone, his social media accounts are basically empty, and he never seems to talk to anyone. I know he spends a lot of his free time in the gym at the house, but we haven’t harassed him there. Yet. Maybe we will soon, but we hate the gym. Like really hate the gym.
Chapter 16
Hydration is important
Luca
