Prehalia's Demons(Completed) I #Wattys2019

30 I CAR RIDE

I blush at the sudden request and even though he says it as if I'm annoying him, I know that if he didn't want me to do it, he wouldn't have even asked. I can't see his face but I bet a million prehalions that his cheeks aren't any less red than mine.

I squeeze his hair in one of my hands, making sure that I get all of it and comb through it with my fingers. He shudders but still holds up the elastic for me to use. When I grab it from his hands, our fingers touch and I'm suddenly reminded of how they felt on my face when he kissed me. I shake my head and tie his hair as perfectly as I can, which is not that great at all. Another stray strand settles on his face seconds after, but he doesn't seem to mind. "Done."

He doesn't say thank you, or show his gratitute in a particular way, but he finally turns around to how he originally sat. All it takes for him not to be angry anymore is something as simple as tying his hair in a sad attempt of a ponytail?

"Oh, by the way, Leonardo?" I begin and a grin makes it's way to my face. "You look better with your hair down."

He lifts a dark eyebrow and uses his hand to once again support himself on the window. His eyes glint mischievously. "You think so?"

"Definitely." I answer and try to keep a straight face, even though it's a lie. He looks as gorgeous this way.

"Then I guess I should tie my hair more often." He replies and I purse my lips in a desperate attempt not to laugh. How can he be this annoying yet so entertaining?

My consciousness once again warns me who I'm talking to and with a little help of an episode in my and Leonardo's history that plays in slo-mo in my brain, my smile drops definitively.

It's lunch break. I grab my sandwich and decide to eat it in the remote park behind the school building. After all that happened with Leonardo I don't feel like myself anymore. I'm in no mood to go to the mall with the girls, or to post photos on the internet, or to talk to anyone for that matter. I've completely isolated myself, especially after not showing up that day at the cafe when Casey messaged me. I've been kicked out of the popular clique and was left alone without anyone to keep my back. Even my sister stopped hanging around with me...she did the complete opposite. She became close with the same girls that isolated me. She even bleached her hair last week so she can be known as herself and not as Keelian's younger sister. I mind it, of course, but what can I say? Stop being friends with my ex-friends? That sounds stupid even in my head. I just keep quiet and watch as the entire school starts talking about Jessica as I continuously try not to be in the center of attention like I used to. I guess after all that went down with Leo, I don't really find the appeal in being known as the main bitch of the school. It used to have its perks, I have to admit: boys all around me, parties every weekend; basically living the teenage dream...but somehow that doesn't seem interesting anymore. I can't look at any other guy without comparing him to Leonardo, I can't go to parties because Leonardo's voice would always pop in my head: "I hate parties. If I want to give myself a hangover that badly, I prefer to do it quietly."

Taking a distracted bite out of my sandwich, I smile at the sky and close my eyes, enjoying the sun on my skin and the way it heats it up. If I try hard enough to persuade myself, I can almost pretend that it's Leonardo's hands that are on my face and not my skin burning. What a godly invention sunscreen is especially for fair faced girls like me. "Oh, I forgot." I gasp and put the sandwich back inside the napkin that I grabbed on my way out of the canteen, and rummage through my backpack. I sigh in relief as I touch the bottle of SPF. I definitely need to reapply.

Just then, when I'm about to squeeze myself some of the cream on my hand, someone appears from behind me and stuffs a cloth in my mouth. I start panicking as the person ties it tightly around my head and muffles my screams before they come out of my mouth. I jump from my place ready to fight back. A sealed mouth doesn't mean I'm useless. I use my hand and grab the fabric of the person's shirt and use the momentum of tugging at it to turn around sharply and push my other elbow in their face. This attack is easily blocked and when I make eye contact and see who the attacker actually is, I freeze in shock. "L-Leo?" I try to say, but his name is almost inaudible with the cloth in my mouth.

"Stand up." He is now grabbing both my hands and using them as if they're the strings of a doll, pulling me up from where I sit and making me turn around so  that I'm staring right at him. He's tall enough to make me balance uncomfortably on my tiptoes, while he's still holding me in the same manner.

"Are you enjoying the loneliness?" He hisses and presses his face right in front of mine. His silver eyes make me shiver with fear for the first time ever. They're not looking at me with adoration but with pure hatred and I shrink to half the size I am, or so it feel.

"I used to be this way and you didn't notice."

I did, I try to say.

"You always left me alone when you didn't need me."

I didn't intend to.

"And then when I came clean to you, you didn't understand me at all. You didn't even try."

You hurt me.

He laughs ironically, "But of course, miss Samuels wouldn't approve of anyone who's poor."

It has nothing to do with you being poor.

"If you tried to understand me at least once, if you saw how much I was hurting, I wouldn't be doing this right now."

You've gone crazy.

"I hate you."

I still love you.

"I wish you'd suffer, so you can know what it's like."

I wish I'd die.

"Next time we meet it will be worse. I'll suffocate you just like you suffocated me. I'll know about your every move and I'll come out of my hideout just when you expect me the least. I'm not the guy you used to know, Keelian. You made me the monster you are witnessing right now."

My eyes water and I try my best to say sorry, but it comes out as a groan. He's enjoying himself way too much, a wicked grin plastered on his usually calm face.

"My name is Leonardo Sanchez. Remember it. You'll hear it often from now on."

And with that, he drops me and I fall on the ground, my legs useless, my toes unable to move after having to endure my entire weight for so long. I let myself sink further. I remove my gag and look at the cloth with blurry vision. It's the same handkerchief I gave him when we first met and blood was rushing from his nose. The day we first sat on the stairs together, after the jocks were done beating him until his entire face was blue and purple.

I come back to reality only to realize that Leonardo is calling my name. When I blink and finally look at his face, I can only see what I saw that first time he appeared to torture me. Even though his new smile seemed friendly to me just minutes ago, now we're back to square one when I was utterly scared of him.

"Keelian? Why are your eyes watering?" He asks and his eyebrows raise in confusion. It doesn't look like a worried expression, it seems to be more of a mockery. As if the tears that I continuously spilled for him are some kind of joke.

I wipe away my face and pretend that nothing's wrong but I don't dare to look at Leonardo again.

"Everything alright?" Kent asks and even his brother Clem turns around to give me a sad look. These two seem to be the only normal people in this car.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks, guys." I look at them both and Clem charms me with a close mouthed dimply smile. Okay, this guy is definitely not a rock statue.

"You're always so quick to judge, Keelian" My mother used to say when I was younger and scarily enough I find myself agreeing with her. After all this time, I still haven't learned my lesson.

"I asked you, too." I hear Leonardo mumble from next to me. "Why didn't I get a thank you?"

I ignore him altogether.

"Bipolarity is an actual condition, Keelian." He continues, "Maybe you should look it up."

For the first time ever I don't answer, matching his sarcasm. I don't even open my mouth again for the entire car ride. I'm done getting reattached to someone like him.

I deserve something better and that something I'll search for, once I save my sister.