It was another day at the Academy as Santiago strolled through the winding hallways towards the direction of the library. By now, it was routine to Santiago and had been for a few weeks. It all started when Principal Darrel called him into his office and flat out told Santiago that if he didn't pick up his grades, he would be expelled from the Academy permanently.

That warning frightened Santiago, especially because his ma had so much faith in him about succeeding within the Academy even with the fact that he led a gang. It was a typical Black Hispanic household in the suburbs, his ma wished for him to have a successful life whilst his pa was out of the picture and had been for a while. The gang Santiago led was partly established from middle school and continued until now, that was his way of life and all he knew from the age of 13 years old when his ma was in finical troubles. It pained him to the know the path he took and his friends within the gang had noticed his declining attendance within the group most hours.

Because most hours Santiago was in the library with you, his crush, who was tutoring him and helping him with his grades on the school's computers. It started as a hallway crush, but when you started tutoring Santiago, he knew you were more than just that. He could feel his cheeks heat up as he neared the library's entrance and his palms felt sweaty as if he had been running a marathon to get to his destination. "Damn it." Santiago muttered to himself in a low tone, grunting at his lack of composure as he walked.

Once inside the library and having successfully avoided his gang members, Santiago strolled over to the corner where you tutored him and immediately sat down at a desk with a computer before setting up. It was routine and he was used to it but as he brought up his Word Document that you assigned him to write a week ago, he felt his heart pound faster than before. Especially because you entered the library and because the entire essay he wrote was not so subtly about you in a romantic context involving him, but as different characters in the story.

"Hey." He greeted you with a dimpled smile once you sat down next to him, his brown eyes glancing from the computer screen and back towards you. Part of him hoped you understood his romantic hint and a part of him also hoped that you didn't, to save himself from rejection and embarrassment.

"What do you think? I finished it." He said with a grin and a gesture to the screen, proud of himself for being motivated to actually do something to help himself. He ran one of his hands through his dreadlocks as he stared at you, admiring your features and nearly forgetting that he was in public.