Boy Like You -Spainxfem!Romano- ch 1

Spanish. Everything horrible, annoying and stupid in her life stemmed from that God-awful class. It was supposed to be easy, by its similarity to her native tongue, but, in truth, it only sounded like a garbled mess of Italian, and she hardly bothered to make sense of it.

There was one redeeming quality, however. She wouldn't admit how much she looked forward to- no, desperately needed- his presence. Antonio Fernandez Carriedo- the teacher's helper, always in a nauseatingly sunny mood, but there was something about the assistant that drew Lovina's eyes to him. Well, that something was rather obvious- he was eye candy, no doubt about it. A glowing tan, vibrant green eyes, dark curls of hair and a perfect athletic build… he was fawned over by so many people, so Lovina made a point to violently reject him.

Of course, this only made him intrigued by her.

xxxx

"[Lovina, do you need any help?]" Antonio was back at her side for the third time in five minutes.

"Tch! I've told you already, I'm fine!" Lovina shifted to cover up her answers to the worksheet with her forearms- she was fairly sure that she'd gotten a lot wrong, but she didn't want to show him.

"You're hiding something," he observed, walking around to the front of Lovina's desk and bending his knees so that he was at eye level with her- not that she'd make contact with him, very pointedly looking away from the green trap she knew she'd get caught in.

"No I'm not," she insisted, breaking away from her averted glance to glare at his forehead- it was a neutral enough feature that she couldn't get distracted, and she'd heard in a study that staring at another person's forehead makes the object feel retarded.

"Then let me see your paper," Antonio seized the opportunity to catch her amber eyes, which frustratedly tried to pull away from his.

"Fine. You win this one," Lovina grumbled, sliding the paper to Antonio. She leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms while Antonio scanned the worksheet, making his corrections with a red pen. She winced, seeing the number of marks.

Seeing this, Antonio looked up with assurance. "Don't worry- these are common mistakes for a beginner." Lovina's expression immediately turned sour at the words 'beginner' and 'common'. "Ah! Lo siento, I meant, um… it's easy to make these mistakes, even if you're fluent!" he apologized with a nervous laugh.

"That's better." She took back her paper and looked it over, but she couldn't focus with Antonio watching her. Lovina looked up, as if to ask what he was still doing there.

"I'm sorry, you're just so lovely. I can't take my eyes off of you." With that, Antonio reached out to touch her face, running a finger from her ear, down along her jawline to catch a loose strand of hair and tuck it behind her ear. It was the first time he'd touched her, and Lovina's brain was screaming to slap his hand away- but she didn't. She just sat there stiffly with burning cheeks, unable to make any of her muscles operate.

Finally, she managed to make her mouth work just enough to barely audibly stammer, "D-don't do that."

Antonio tilted his head to the side. "You'll have to speak up, Lovina, I couldn't hear you."

"Nevermind, just buzz off already," Lovina huffed, shaking her bangs into her eyes so that Antonio couldn't see the odd mix of emotions mingling in them. She usually had a more colorful choice in language, but his presence was throwing her off.

With that, the bell rang. "Let me say I'm sorry. Can I walk you to your next class?" Antonio pleaded.

"No," Lovina answered simply.

"Then I'll follow you… please?"

Antonio's powers of persuasion were impossible to resist, and Lovina gave in. "Fine. But you can't say a word or touch me."

"OK, but one question… what word can't I say?" Antonio furrowed his brow, confused.

Lovina smacked her forehead. "It means you can't say anything, you dork. Now come on and hurry, it's a long walk to the art wing, and I need to stop at my locker." She figured it was useless to argue with him- after all, she really didn't want to be late to her next class.

Antonio nodded vigorously, picking up his books and following Lovina out of the classroom. He stood as close as he could to her without touching her. When they reached her locker- which wasn't very far away- she hurriedly put out her combination after making sure that Antonio wasn't looking, and opened it up. Inside, it was littered with pictures of her family- Felicia her younger sister, Gianluca her kid brother, and her grandfather lovingly addressed as 'Nonno'. Antonio studied the photos adoringly, trying to suppress a squeal. As soon as her books were exchanged, Lovina slammed the locker closed. "Stop staring."

He held his hands up in defense, continuing along with her to her class. People gave them odd looks- mostly ones that read 'What are you doing with her?' to Antonio.

"Well. I'm here. You can go now." Lovina looked at her feet as she shooed him off.

Antonio gave a dejected look, understanding. He suddenly brightened with an idea. He kissed his palm, blowing the gesture to Lovina.

She swatted it out of the air.