"So, you're telling me you went outside to check the mail, slipped on the morning dew, and ended up like that?" Nyra stared sceptically at Natalie's bandaged ankle, her eyes trailing up to her scraped palms.
She'd woken up extra early this morning, before either of her parents were awake, to make her excuse believable. They seemed convinced enough.
When she'd taken off the band-aids, she saw that her palms and knees had scabbed overnight. She'd slept with an ice pack on her ankle to try and reduce her swelling, but it was the pain killers that were really helping her get through the day.
"Would you believe me if I told you that?" Natalie asked.
"Natalie, look into my eyes," her closest friend said. "How long have I known you for, again?"
She laughed, rolling her eyes before sobering again. "Honestly, Nyra, I just don't know if you would believe the truth."
"Try me."
"Okay." She hesitated. "Well. Basically, last night, I got bored studying so I jumped out of my bedroom window and landed wrong."
Nyra blinked. Her blank stare turned resigned and she sighed, beginning to walk towards the front of the school. "Fine, don't tell me."
"Nyra! I'm being honest this time. That's what happened!"
"Okay, Natalie. Let's just say that's the truth," Nyra said as the pair continued walking. "Why exactly would you jump out of your bedroom window? Was your house on fire?"
Natalie's face turned hot. She glanced around, noting the few students that scattered the hall. She dropped her voice to a whisper.
"I wanted to see... you know..."
Nyra halted, turning to stare at Natalie as she processed her words.
"You..." her words seemed to die in her throat. She let out an incredulous laugh. "You jumped out of a window to see—" her voice lowered to a whisper— "Leon Hughes?"
"You make it sound like I'm crazy," Natalie remarked.
"Well, that's because it is absolutely batshit crazy!"
Natalie giggled. "It is, isn't it!"
The pair exploded into laughter and Nyra squeezed Natalie in a short hug.
"I can't believe it. If you told me a year ago that you'd be spending your senior year jumping out of windows to see you know who in the middle of the night—How did we even get to this point?"
"I have no idea," Natalie replied. "It was like, one minute, I was telling him my name, and the next, he's taking me to his secret work location and I'm learning more about him than anyone in this whole school."
"I bet Veronica would be seething," Nyra said, her eyes suddenly far-off, her smile wide on her lips. She turned, squeezing Natalie's arm. "Oh, Nat, I wish you'd just tell her. Rub it in her face, you know?"
Natalie rolled her eyes but smiled at the idea. Veronica would probably have a meltdown in the middle of the carpark if she knew, kicking and screaming and all.
She imagined not being in second place for once. Being the likeable one for once. Take that School Captain. She'd happily take Vice if it meant Veronica accepting defeat.
But... she wouldn't use Leon like that.
Her feelings for him—whatever they might be—were worth more than showing off to Veronica and her little gaggle of friends. She would never betray him for, what? A few minutes of satisfaction?
Besides, there was still the whole unresolved thing with her dad.
"My dad would probably come tearing down from his office and lecture me in front of the whole school," Natalie said. "Anything to get his point across, considering yelling at me in our living room didn't work."
"Oh, believe me, I know how that feels," Nyra said, sighing.
She didn't have to say more for Natalie to understand. She was there when, just over a year ago, Nyra was caught texting a girl by her parents. It had been a rough start, but their relationship was better now. Natalie could only hope for the same. At least, it seemed like her parents were starting to go back to normal. Maybe they'd get over it all on their own.
"Hey, is it just me, or is this hallway suspiciously empty?" Nyra asked suddenly.
Natalie looked around. She was right. She could only spot two other students in the entire corridor, when usually after school, the place was swamped with students leaving class.
"Wait a minute," Natalie said, moving towards the window. A massive crowd seemed to block the school entrance. She could hear the distant shouting of students. Her heart sank. "I think there's a fight."
Nyra regarded her with a nervous stare. "You don't think..."
At once, the pair spun and raced down the stairs towards the school gates. She had heard right. Students were chanting the word 'fight' over and over again.
She dreaded the worst as she elbowed her way to the front.
A part of her hoped that she would see Leon's friend, Lucas, at the end of the sea of students. Or maybe it would be a cat fight between some girls from the school.
When she spotted signature dark hair and golden eyes, she knew she was stupid for expecting anything else.
Of course, it had to be Leon.
Where Leon went, attention followed. Maybe that was why he'd been such a shadow to begin with. Once eyes were on him, they never strayed. And here, the crowd only grew bigger by the minute.
He didn't even notice her at first. He was too preoccupied with the boy yelling in his face—with Tyler.
"I told you to stay the fuck away," Leon retaliated, his voice eerily quiet when compared with the shouts of Tyler and the crowd. Natalie wouldn't have heard him if she wasn't stood as close as she was.
Tyler grinned, puffing his chest at Leon. Unlike Leon, he relished in the attention of the crowd. He loved knowing that people were watching. It occurred to Natalie that that was probably why he wanted to fight Leon in the first place. In hopes of some of that attention rubbing off onto him.
She had to give it to him, it was working. People whispered, trying to figure out who this boy was.
But Leon, as usual, was the star of the show. Tyler was just the supporting act.
"Did you?" he mocked. "I don't seem to recall that."
He paused, listening to the shouts of the girls around Natalie. With every chant, his smile seemed to grow wider. He gestured vaguely at the students.
"You hear that?" he asked. "Sounds like they're in for a fight. Are you?"
"I'm not about to fight you in front of a random school."
"Random, is it?" Tyler laughed, scanning the crowd.
Natalie knew who he was looking for.
She tried to step back and blend into the crowd of faces, but she was too late. Tyler's eyes landed on her, and a lump stuck in her throat.
Leon's eyes were next, meeting hers and taking in her panicked stare.
"Oh, look who it is—" before Tyler could finish his sentence, Leon shoved him, hard.
Tyler stumbled back, almost losing his footing. The crowd around Natalie gasped. Even she gasped, thinking he was about to slip and crack his head on the concrete.
Tyler recovered, his eyes narrowing at Leon.
"Oh," he said, smiling. "I see. It's a secret, is it?"
A lump stuck into Natalie's throat at his words. She only hoped the crowd was too loud for anyone to hear it—hoped that people were too distracted with the drama of it all to make any sense of his words.
"You don't know what you're talking about," Leon replied.
"I don't, do I? Should I—" he turned towards Natalie, but Leon shoved him again.
This time, Tyler expected it.
He spread his feet apart, stopping himself from stumbling back. He retaliated with a shove of his own.
Leon dodged his hands easily, sweeping to the side. Tyler paused, only for a second, processing Leon's move.
Then, he swung.
Natalie's breath caught in her throat. Screams came from the crowd as Tyler threw his fist at Leon's head, but Leon was focused. He dodged to the side.
She could see him now, arms raised and feet quick, like he was in the Golden Ring. She watched him move swiftly away from Tyler's right hook and expected him to throw out some quick jabs of his own, except he didn't.
Tyler seemed to notice at the same time she did.
"Fight me!" he shouted, throwing another punch.
Leon backed up, his eyes narrowed and dark, his hands raised, palms out. "I told you, I'm not going to—"
His words were cut off by a guttural shout from Tyler as he threw another fist, his punches starting to get sloppy—desperate.
"Tyler," Leon said, glancing at the crowd. His eyes skimmed past Natalie's, stalling for only a fraction of a second, and she felt her heart lodge into her stomach. "Let's not cause a scene, yeah?"
"A scene?" Tyler scoffed, stepping closer, cornering Leon with the crowd and the street. "You think I care about a scene?"
"People are watching."
Natalie frowned. Leon was never one to care much about the whispers that seemed to follow him, but now he looked almost nervous.
He glanced across the crowd once more, his eyes hesitating on Natalie, and then lifting to the school building behind her; the windows that oversaw the front gates.
The weight in her stomach grew heavier as she realised, he was nervous. He was nervous of Natalie's dad seeing.
What had he said to her that time? He cared what her dad thought about him. He wanted to be thought of as someone good. Someone who Natalie could associate herself with.
And now here he was, seemingly in the middle of an after-school fight; the 'meet me in the parking lot' sort.
If her dad found out, this would be it. This would be the nail in the coffin for him. Fatherly approval would be out the window.
Tyler, however, didn't seem to care.
"Let them watch." Tyler threw another fist that Leon easily dodged.
By now, the girls had caught on to the basics of the situation which were essentially: Tyler throws sloppy punches, and Leon can easily dodge them.
Gone were the screams of earlier. Now, the girls cheered and whispered and watched in amazement. This was the most drama St Helena's would get all year.
At least, drama that didn't involve gossip about who slept with whose boyfriend, or which girl had the ugliest school shoes.
"See, his fighting technique is all off." A voice came from beside Natalie.
She glanced over her shoulder to see Veronica standing just behind her, her eyes focused on the fight ahead.
Natalie rolled her eyes. Here Veronica was again, pretending she knew everything like she always did. If there was one person in the school that could be labelled a know-it-all, it would be her. Well, her and Natalie, but at least Natalie wasn't vocal about it.
"See, watch here," Veronica began with that knowing tone she always used, like she was teaching her little friend group a lesson. "See how he punches? He's focusing too hard on moving fast. There's no point being fast if you're sloppy."
Natalie frowned. Those words sounded familiar.
"He needs to slow down," Veronica continued, "and then his punches will land better. See, Leon has him now."
She was right. Tyler had missed yet another punch, and Leon had swept behind him, grabbing his arm, and pinning it at his back in what was definitely not a boxing move. It occurred to Natalie for a moment that maybe Leon had learned other styles of fighting too, but she let the thought slide from her mind.
She was too preoccupied with Veronica's words.
Words that she had heard before.
The lump in her throat grew larger, tighter. She tried to swallow, only to realise her mouth had turned dry.
That was Leon's technique.
What had he called it, when he brought Natalie to the Golden Ring for the first time—his secret technique?
It didn't seem so secret now.
She tried to rationalise it.
Boxing was a sport. Maybe a regular person knew more about boxing than Natalie did. Maybe Veronica was a boxing fan. Maybe Leon had been teasing and it wasn't so much a secret technique as it was general knowledge. It was just logic after all, wasn't it?
Except, those had been his exact words. He had said those exact words to Natalie, that night, when they'd escaped out of her window for the first time, when he had settled her on his motorbike for the first time.
She thought it had all been a first for the both of them. Now she wasn't so sure.
Vaguely, she was aware of Leon muttering some words into Tyler's ear, his arm still pinned behind him.
She couldn't concentrate on anything but Veronica.
Veronica, the one who always won. She had beaten Natalie for school captain. She had stolen their friend group from her, turned Natalie's heritage against her. And now, she'd taken Leon too.
"That's crazy, Ronnie. How did you know all that? I didn't know you were into boxing," one of her friends said.
She could hear Veronica's smirk in her voice as she said, "Someone from Sierra Grammar taught me how to fight. No big deal. It's his secret technique."
If Natalie had any doubts before, she didn't now.
How could she be so stupid?
She knew that Veronica and Leon had a history together. What had he said? They did swim classes together as kids?
She wanted to laugh. Or maybe cry. Probably both.
Swim classes. And she'd just believed that's all it was. Veronica had said it herself, hadn't she? That she texted Leon. That she thought he was hot. She even knew Lucas Morton. And yet, Natalie had been in denial.
She wanted to believe that Veronica was a childhood friend, nothing as special as what Natalie was to Leon.
She had been wrong.
She had never been special. Natalie had just been an obsessed girl who happened to be in the nurse's office that day. A naïve idiot who was ready to believe any word that came out of his mouth.
She watched, numb and speechless as Leon tossed Tyler away. She watched, as Tyler scowled but turned nonetheless, stomping his way down the street.
She watched as Leon waved at the crowd and shouted, "Show's over! Go home!"
She watched as Leon's eyes finally locked onto hers.
Natalie had always been bad at hiding her emotions. She was an open book. If she was sad, she would cry. If she was happy, she would smile. It was that simple for her. Really, she wished everyone else was that simple too.
And now, she felt her eyes water.
She wasn't just sad. She was embarrassed. She felt humiliated. Played with. Her face felt hot as flashes of what they'd been through replayed in her mind.
What had Leon been thinking in all those moments? Was he laughing at her, for the way she followed his every word? Like his personal, loyal puppy. What had he thought, when she appeared at the Golden Ring, searching for him?
Leon opened his mouth, as if he was going to say something, right here, in front of everyone.
She didn't need to add that to her list of problems.
Tears still in her eyes, Natalie brushed past him, and walked straight home.
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AUTHOR'S NOTE
Poor Natalie hehe next chapter is a big one!!! Comment your thoughts, predictions, everything now! Thank you so much for reading AND for 30k reads! WHAT!! I seriously appreciate it all so much! Your comments make the 12am chapter edits so worth it. See you guys in the next one! <3