Early the next morning Amadeo walked into the main office and glanced around. Seeing no one except Sharon, the Student Assistant, he squared his shoulders and approached her, put on his best smile and leaned on the counter. "Heya, Sharon, can we rap?"
"Heya 'Deo. Lay it on me." She laid down the stack of papers she'd been collating, flipped her long, straight brown hair back over her shoulders, leaned both elbows on the counter and cupped her chin in her hands.
"I'm looking for a particular student. If I describe him do you think you might recognize him?"
Sharon shrugged. "You can try, but... I'm not sure I'm supposed to give out any information about students to anyone." She said hesitantly. "Why're you lookin' for this cat?"
Amadeo smiled again. "Nothing bad, I promise. I just saw him yesterday and wanted to learn more about him. From what I heard he could use a friend."
Sharon laughed. "Ok, that narrows it down to just about every dude in the school. Wanna give me a little more info?"
Amadeo thought back to the day before and pictured the boy in his mind. "About 5'5"? Dark brown hair almost down around his shoulders. Bangs." Heart shaped face, big brown eyes, looks like an angel.
"Hmmm,” Sharon said, frowning. "That's a great description of at least two hundred guys in this school. Can you think of anything that would make him stand out from the other hundred and ninety-nine?"
Amadeo cleared his throat and tried not to blush. ""Milo says he's really quiet, bit of a loner, reads a lot. He might be a little slow?"
Sharon stood up and clicked her fingers. "Oh yeah! I don't know his name off hand but I know who you're talkin' about now. He's not a discipline case so he never comes in here. Doesn't really say much? Doesn't bother anybody. Keeps to himself. Reminds me a little of my cousin Marty. But uh, like I said, I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to give out information about students to anyone. I mean, I could get bumped, and that'll go on my transcript... I dunno, 'Deo." she said uncertainly. If it was the same kid she was thinking about, he was the target of a lot of pranks and cruel remarks, and she didn't want to cause him any more grief than he already endured on a daily basis.
"Hey, I don't want to get you into any trouble." He said reassuringly, seeing just a hint of suspicion in her hazel eyes. "I just want to get to know him and maybe be his friend, if he needs one. Scouts honor." He said, even though he'd never joined the scouts. "If you can tell me something about him, great, if not, I'll just keep an eye out for him." He had just turned to leave when Sharon came to a decision.
"Hang on, Dae." She said, her young brow furrowed.
She went into the back office and was gone for about fifteen minutes. When she came back out she had a tentative smile on her face. "Well, I won't give you any detailed information on him, but it looks like the two of you have lunch at the same time... I mean, it wouldn't be so weird for you to just kind of run into him there. You know?"
"Cool," Amadeo said, smiling. "Thanks, Share." Once again he turned to leave but before he got more than a few steps she called to him.
"'Dae?" She had known him since first grade and had never known him to be a bully like so many of the other jocks and popular kids, and if anyone needed a friend and a champion it was that poor kid. She wanted so badly to trust Amadeo and give the other boy the chance he deserved, but...
He turned to face her. He couldn't help but to notice her worried expression. Walking the short distance back to the counter he took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. "I promise you, Share. I just want to get to know him, and maybe be a friend to him, like I said. I swear I won't hurt him in any way."
She searched his face for a moment before her eyes locked back onto his. He held her gaze steadily and gently squeezed her hands. She nodded once and released his hands before returning to her forgotten paperwork. "By the way,” she said so softly he almost missed it, "His name is Angelo."
Slang -
can we rap: can we talk
lay it on me: speak, say your piece
cat: guy
dude: geek (yeah, really)
bumped: fired
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