Amira's Secret

Chapter 17 |Unedited|

The groups cheer in excitement. I'm thinking this will be an easy game. My borderline stalking of Leo in the past should give me an advantage in the game. 

Cora pulls the first question out of the bucket "What are three of Leo's favorite places to vacation. You have to list all three correctly in order to get the point."

"What do you guys think?" I ask the girls in my group.    

"There are two places we're sure of. He'd vacation there with Cora regularly before you two were mated. The third one we're unsure about, maybe Switzerland? What do you think? Has he mentioned anything to you recently?" 

"Uh no, sorry" I try thinking of times he may have mentioned a place he traveled to, but my thoughts are faintly clouded by hearing Leo vacationed with Cora. I really shouldn't be surprised at this point. 

A group finally raises their hands attempting to guess all three locations. I thought this game would be easy, but even the first question has me stumped. 

"Aspen, London, and the Island of the Virgins " The first group says laughing. Everyone breaks into laughter at their answer. The Island of the Virgins? 

"What's the Island of Virgins?" I ask the other girls in my group, it seems like I'm the only one confused. 

"It's actually called The Virgin Islands, but when we were younger, Leo would always refer to it as the Island of Virgins" they giggle.

"Why?" I ask naively 

"Why do you think?" they laugh again. I think to myself, feeling disappointed even though I know I shouldn't judge Leo for his past behavior. Passing judgments on him was the reason I hid from him for so long and that has turned out to be one of my biggest mistakes. 

Seeing the look on my face, the girls stop giggling "Sorry" One of them says feeling guilty for having laughed at a taunting subject. "Leo's not the same person he was when we were younger" The other girl tells me, trying to smooth things over. I offer a poor attempt at a smile and turn my attention back to the game. 

Leo shakes his head at the first group's answer "Close, but wrong" he says clearing his throat, he's trying not to join in on the laughter while also avoiding eye contact with me.

Other groups including mine give our answers which are all wrong. When no group is able to give an accurate list of all three places Leo loves to visit most, he has to tell us the answer. 

"Monaco, Aspen, and the Virgin Islands." No one gets the point. 

The game continues on like that. I find that I'm not able to answer most of the questions to my surprise. I'd been a fool to think my studying of him for the past two years could compete with the knowledge his friends from childhood have of him. Although my team is losing, I'm enjoying the activity. Hearing Leo's friends tell stories about Leo's childhood and past makes me feel like I was a part of it. I feel as if I know a whole different side of him now, I'm also learning a lot about him.  

The game ends and the winning team is handed their gifts. My eyes grow wide when I see the gifts they receive. Expensive watches and new phones. I would have tried harder if I knew these had been the prizes. 

"Well, you weren't very helpful" One of the girls says to me. Our team had come in second to last. It was embarrassing on my part, this should have been an easy game for me, he is my mate after all. 

"I'm sorry" I say, the two girls on my team were able to get us some points, but I'd earning nothing. 

"She was just teasing you. There are more competitions we have a chance at winning, so don't sweat it."I smile grateful that they're so easy going. The trip was starting off bearable.