The following day, the hall of the studio was crowded with students, and the reason for this was Federico who just came back from his tour.
The guy liked the way he was welcomed. Surrounded by his fans.
And most importantly, his friends.
He had wanted to make his return a surprise so he hadn't tell any of them but it seemed they already knew about it.
He had missed them.
As they exchanged a few welcoming words, hugs and shakehands, his eyes wandered around, looking for the one he had missed most, the one who had always been on his mind. But the girl with golden locks was nowhere to be seen.
Later that day, Leon was walking towards the recording room where Violetta was waiting for him, with Diego by his side.
"Still going to the motocross track tommorow?" his best friend asked him.
"Yeah. You want to come?"
They had reached the recording room so they stopped in their tracks. It took a moment for Diego to answer. "Yeah," he finally said. "Want to see if you're still good at it. Meet you later."
Or rather see the girl working on the machines, Leon thought as he watched his best friend walk away. He had a feeling that was what Diego meant when he'd said it would not have worked between him and Violetta, yesterday.
Leon took the few steps that separated him from the recording room and when he reached the threshold, he stopped. Leaning on the doorjamb with his hands in his jeans pockets, he watched Violetta who was oblivious of his presence, playing the melody of "Habla Si Puedes" on the piano and thought back at yesterday's conversation.
Diego was right. Violetta was a nice girl and Leon was pretty sure that every guy at the studio had noticed it. If he kept on waiting, someone else was going to take his place at her side. He had to do something about it.
"Violetta." He waited for her to look up to go on. "Do you like ice cream?"
"Do you like ice cream?"
Violetta still couldn't believe that Leon had asked her that.
But apparently he had, she thought as she looked around the ice cream parlour they were in right now.
After she had played the last note, she had heard him say her name and she had smiled to herself, loving it when her name came out of his lips, before looking up.
And her breath had caught in her chest.
Leon had looked so handsome, a shoulder leant against the doorjamb and both hands in his jeans pockets with his slightly tousled brown hair and his hazel eyes staring right at her, that she had been fascinated.
Still fascinated, he had asked his question. It had taken a little time for her brain to understand the question and then to formulate an answer. And when it had, this was what it had came up with: "What?"
Leon had sighed, straightened and walked to her. "I asked you if you liked ice cream."
Violetta shook her head at her response back then. Had she really just nodded, without saying a word, like an idiot?
Yeah, she had.
But then, it was forgotten when she thought back at Leon's reaction at her answer. He had grinned and said, "Cool."
Now, in the ice cream parlour, as Violetta looked at Leon talking with the man behind the counter, she realised that she would do anything to always see him smiling.
Violetta looked away. Where did that thought come from?
When she looked back at him, he was crossing the distance between her and the counter, and in his hands were two cups full of ice cream with a spoon sticking out.
"Don't you think we should be working on the assignment Angie gave us?" she asked once he'd met with her.
Leon frowned, confused. He handed her a cup and said, "I thought you told me you liked ice cream."
"I did," she said, taking the cup. "I just think that we should work on Angie's assignment rather than wasting time here."
He arched an eyebrow. "So being here with me is a waste of time, huh?"
"NO! It's..." She closed her eyes and then opened them. "That's not what I meant."
She looked down. Great! Leon thought that she thought he was a waste of time when in truth, she thought of a totally different thing of him!
"Hey," he said and she looked up. His face had a tender look. "Chill. I know."
As they stared into each other's eyes, Violetta felt it was the perfect moment to tell Leon what she felt for him. That was what Francesca and Camila had told her yesterday: use Angie's assignment as an excuse to be alone with him and then confess her feeelings.
But the thought that there was a chance he didn't feel the same way was what stopped her.
She made the choice to tell him at the end of the day.
"Why don't we walk?" she asked him with a smile.
As answer, Leon flashed her a smile of his.
The rest of the day went by quickly. Leon and Violetta enjoyed each other's company so much that they hadn't realised that time had flown by, and evening came.
Leon walked Violetta home. Both were thinking about the day that had just gone by. They had talked about all kinds of possible stuff:movies, songs, books, favourite food, flowers, Violetta's happiness about her dad and Angie, her aunt, being together, teachers and friends at the studio, family, their passion for singing and dancing, Leon's passion for the motocross, his allergy to strawberries, childhood moments, future careers, favourite colours, among other things. They had sat and walked in the square. They had even sung a few songs.
Now, as they reached Violetta's home, they didn't want to leave each other. As they stood in front of her house, staring into each other's eyes and basking in the orange glow of the setting sun, identical thoughts were on their minds.
She was so beautiful.
He was so handsome.
And then it hit them. Just like that. They didn't only like each other, they loved each other.
When Violetta realised that, she knew she was in deep trouble. While Leon...
Absently, he took a step back, then another. And walked away. But after a few steps, he stopped but did not turn around, like he was making up his mind about something. Then, his mind made, he turned on his heels and walked back to Violetta with determination.
"Violetta. I have to tell you something. But not here. Tomorrow. At the studio. Meet me there, ok?" And on that, he turned on his heels and walked away and Violetta could only stare at him.
Leon and Violetta knew that they were in love with each other. But they didn't know that this day-the day their love story started-spent together had strengthened the connection they had between them-a connection that was created when Leon had saved Violetta, but strengthened with their love for each other.
A connection that can never ever be broken.
A connection neither of the two had an inkling about.
Well...not yet atleast.
Standing by the lake, hands in his jeans pocket, the boy looks down at the reflection in the water. But it is not his reflection he sees. It is the reflection of a girl.
The girl standing at the other side of the lake.
They have been standing like this, waiting and gazing at the reflections, for heaven knows how long.
Neither of the two coming forwards.
They are standing far way from each other but they have always felt each other's presence. And for the first time, they raise their heads and their gazes meet.
A melody starts playing.
Like an unspoken agreement between them, both take a step towards each other and the water before the two starts to freeze.
The boy starts to sing, never once tearing his eyes from hers:
No soy ave para volar
Y en un cuadro no se pintar
No soy poeta, escultor
Tan solo soy lo que soy
Las estrellas no se leer
Y la luna no bajare
No soy el cielo, ni el sol
Tan solo soy
Pero hay cosas que si se
Ven aqui y te mostrare
En tus ojos puedo ver
Lo puedes lograr, prueba imaginar
With each step the boy and the girl take, the water freezes, creating a bridge between them. And as they draw close, he pulls out a hand into which the girl, with a smile, slides a hand and joins him in the song:
Podemos pintar colores al alma
Podemos gritar "yeeh"
Podemos volar sin tener alas
Ser la letra en mi cancion
Y tallarme en tu voz
He pulls her closer to him, their hands still joined, with his other hand resting on her waist and hers lying on his chest. Standing so close to each other, they can feel each other's breath. And just when their lips were about to touch-
In different rooms and on different beds, Leon and Violetta both woke up abruptly.