Everything was perfect. My life was perfect. The month had gone amazingly well. Nearly every day after school, I would go over Leo’s and then go home and text him until I fell asleep. Sometimes I would stay the night and tell my parents that I was at Macy’s. My parents were perfectly happy with it. They thought that I was working in the candy shop when I was at his house and when I was at work over the weekends; I would just say that I was at Macy’s house. Macy was an awesome friend. She covered for me all the time without complain.
Macy’s life wasn’t so great. Her parents were getting a divorce and so Macy and James permanently moved in with us. She had also broken up with Dylan but he had now been replaced by Jason.
“Come on.” Leo told me, taking my hand.
We were currently at his house. It was a Monday night and we were curled up on the couch in front of the TV.
“Where are we going?” I asked, getting up.
“On at date.” He told me.
“What?” I frowned. “I’m not dressed for one.”
“Oh well, you’re dressed perfectly.” He said.
I stuck my tongue out. “You’d say that. Where are we going?”
“Not telling but don’t get your hopes up, it’s nothing fancy.”
I laughed. “Fair enough…”
“Come on, let’s go.”
He led me outside and we climbed into his car. The drive was silent. I peered through the window for any clue of where this date was.
“I thought we agreed that our dates wouldn’t be public?” I asked him.
“I’m sure no-one will see us.” He told me soothingly.
We got there within five minutes. He was taking us to the movies.
“Leo! There’ll be tonnes of students here! Especially with that new Harry Potter movie out!” I groaned.
“I’m sure they won’t see us; it’s dark in there, remember?” he told me.
“Leo, this isn’t a good idea…”
“You said you’ve been wanting to watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 for ages!” he whined.
“I did bu-!”
“No buts. Come on.”
I let him drag me inside. I was slightly paranoid and kept glancing around. I saw a couple of people from our school and kept tugging on Leo’s sleeve.
“Let’s buy the tickets separately.” I muttered to him.
He sighed. “Fine but I’m buying.”
He shoved a note into my hand and walked away to get his ticket. I waited for a few minutes before buying my own ticket. I noticed there was some left over money so I bought us both some snacks. I saw him walking into the room and followed him from a safe distance. Once we got inside it was quite dark and we could barely see the people already sitting down. I followed him up to the back of the cinema.
“See, it was fine.” He told me.
“I have a bad feeling about this, Leo.” I whispered.
Suddenly the film started playing and I become silent. The movie was pretty amazing. I loved every moment of it. I even started crying through some of and Leo wrapped his arm around me. He wiped my tears away and held me throughout the whole film. It was one of the best dates we’ve had.
By the end I was shaking and wiping away some more tears. I noticed that I wasn’t the only one. I cleaned myself up and started following Leo.
“I’ll meet you at the car.” I whispered to him before hurrying away from him.
I got to the lobby and was making my way towards the entrance when some-one called my name. I groaned and turned around.
I saw Mike and Jason standing together, holding candy bars.
“Hey, guys.” I told them, walking towards them.
“Hey, Lils. What were you watching?” he asked me.
“Um… Harry Potter.” I told him.
“Ah, no wonder your make-ups running.” Jason said.
I laughed. “Look guys, I have to go. I’ll see you soon.”
“Wait, who did you come with?” Mike asked. “Macy told me she was working tonight.”
“Oh, just an old friend…” I muttered. “I have to go; he’s waiting for me at the car.”
For some reason I felt like if I carried on talking, something bad was going to happen.
“Okay, see you at school, tomorrow.”
“Bye.”
I hurried towards the car and noticed Leo was already sitting inside.
“Sorry, I got held up. Mike and Jason saw me.”
“What did they say?” He looked alarmed.
“Nothing much. They didn’t see you, don’t worry.” I told him. “Look, I have to go home. I should have been back half an hour ago.”
“Okay.”
He started driving and we talked about the movie and a lot of other random stuff. I knew he was trying to keep my mind off of the paranoia. He parked outside my house.
I reached over and gave him a kiss. “Thanks for tonight. I had fun… except for the… you know.”
“I know. Sleep tight, Lils.”
“Goodnight.”
“Night, love you.”
“Love you more.”
***
My alarm clock went off. I groaned and turned it off. I was exhausted. I couldn’t sleep last night; I kept having nightmares about us getting caught. As soon as I awoke I felt a sinking feeling at the pit of my stomach. Something bad was going to happen today.
I hurried to school and told Macy all about the date yesterday. Macy told me that I was silly for letting Leo take me there and that I shouldn’t have given in to it. I told her about how I felt once II woke up but he told me to forget it.
I chatted with Macy all the way to homeroom and we took our seats.
“Miss Worthington. The principal asked to see you in his office.” Mr Willow told me.
I frowned and looked at Macy. She sent me a confused look. I could feel the eyes of others on my back. I got up and started to walk out of the room.
I felt sick. Something bad was going to happen, I felt it. I hurried to principal’s room.
“Can I go through?” I asked Ms Larringer, the school secretary.
“Yeah, go ahead.” She told me.
I took a deep breath before hurrying through.
Oh no, oh no, oh no. Oh my gosh! We’re screwed!
Leo was standing in front of the Principle’s desk and Mr Claxton was pacing behind the desk. I stepped into the room. Both of them turned to acknowledge my presence.
“Ah, Miss Worthington, come inside.” he told me.
His tone was stern and he looked worried. It was weird to see as usually he was laid back.
I shot Leo a terrified look and stepped into the room. Leo’s face was completely emotionless. He didn’t say anything. I could see in his eyes that he was worried and alarmed.
“Mr Willow told me to come here.” I told him.
He nodded.
I stepped inside and stood beside Leo. We both faced him as he resumed his pacing.
“You see, yesterday, I took my wife and my kids to see a movie.”
I groaned internally. He had seen us at the movies! Crap, crap, crap!
“We watched the new Harry Potter movie.” He said, looking up at us. “And do you know what I saw there?”
We both shook our heads.
“I saw you two. Together. You were sitting the back side by side.” He told us. “At first I thought it was merely a coincidence but then I saw you sharing a bucket of popcorn and then drinking off of the same straw. I didn’t know what to make of it. I spent the whole night thinking about it and it didn’t make sense. Miss Worthington, you’re a bright student, you get straight As and you have done since you started here. Mr Hudson, you have told us and shown that being a teacher means the world to you. You made many of our young ladies swoon but constantly complained. It didn’t make sense to see a straight A student with a teacher which values his career so much. So please explain what you were both doing at the movies yesterday because to be honest, it seemed like a date.”
He was staring at us with his piercing gaze. I didn’t dare sneak a glance at Leo. I couldn’t let him lose his job over this; I definitely could not have him go to jail! What was I going to do?!
“Well you see…” Leo started.
“Well, it goes back to our childhood, Mr Claxton.” I said, cutting in, letting my instincts control my mouth. “Mr Hudson and I used to be family friends when I lived in New York.”
“That’s right; our Moms went to college together.” Leo said, following my lead.
“Yeah, we spent a lot of time together. We were like siblings. But around seven years ago, I moved to L.A. We hadn’t seen each other since.”
“At first we didn’t recognize each other.” Leo said.
“But then Mom heard about Mr Hudson’s first name and then she remembered who he is.” I explained.
“And so we went over for dinner.” Leo said.
“Yeah and that’s when we sort of hit it off. Everything went back to how used to be like. Leo used to be a lot like my big brother and that’s what it’s like now.” I said, begging myself not to cringe.
“And so yesterday, Lily had come over to have dinner and so we decided to go and watch a movie.”
“We’re both massive Harry Potter fans.” I told him.
I saw Leo roll his eyes from the corner of my eye.
“You do know that I will be checking with both of your parents.” He said.
“My parents wouldn’t know, they were out last night.” I told him truthfully.
“Yes well, I’ll check about your relationships. This would have been a very serious matter.” He said. “I will have teachers keep an eye on you both.”
I nodded.
“If you like, we could transfer you into another English class if it is too strange having a friend for a teacher.” He said, looking at me.
I shook my head. “No, it’s fine.”
“Okay, well off you go.” Mr Claxton dismissed us.
I walked out of the room, not even glancing at Leo. I didn’t talk to him; instead I went off to my lesson.
I didn’t have English today so it was easy to avoid him. I told Macy and the boys about everything and they looked rather worried. They kept telling me to end it with him, or at least take a break. Macy was the most understanding. She knew how torn up I felt. I was scared and pretty shaken up. I didn’t know what to do. I knew that they were right and that I should break up with him but I couldn’t bring myself to even think about it. My life mostly revolved around Leo. He kept me from getting too stressed or worried. He made everything seem alright. How was I supposed to live without him? My life would be consumed with anger and stress.
I decided not to wait for him today like I usually did. I walked home with Macy for the first time in about a couple of months. She was more than happy. She talked all the way home letting me stay silent and ponder in my thoughts.
Once I got home, I realized that no-one was home, including Melanie and George. I walked to the fridge to get some juice. I noticed the note stuck on the front.
Lily,
You father has come home for today. We have all gone out to dinner. I knew you had work and I tried to contact you but your phone was turned off. We should be home around ten o’clock. Don’t wait up.
Mom.
I frowned at the note and sighed. Great. I was stuck at home to sit and worry over everything. Suddenly I heard my phone ringing loudly. I hurried to the living room where I had dumped my bag. I dug inside for a few second and answered.
“Hello?” I answered.
“Um, Lily, I was wondering if you could come over today.”
It was Leo. I wondered why he wanted me to come over. He didn’t sound very happy.
“Sure, I’ll just change and I’ll be over in ten or twenty minutes.” I told him.
“Are you walking?” he asked.
“Yeah, my parents have gone out.” I told him.
“How about I come over?” he asked, sounding uncomfortable.
“Sure.”
He hung up without saying goodbye. I felt a sinking feeling in stomach again. Something bad was definitely going to happen. He was going to break up with me. I could feel it.
I quickly called Macy.
“Hey Mace. “
“Lily, what’s wrong?” she asked, obviously noticing my depressed tone.
“Leo’s coming over.” I told her. “I think he’s going to break up with me.”
She sighed. “There’s no easy way to say this but he probably is, Lily. I’m sorry.”
“What should I do?” I whispered.
“Go along with it, break up with him on a mutual note.” She advised me.
“I guess you’re right.” I sighed.
“It’s for the best, Lily.” She told me. “Look, call me after he leaves, okay? I’ll sleep over.”
“Okay, thanks, Mace.”
“Bye, Lily.”
“Bye.”
I hung up and dragged myself to my room, clutching my phone tightly. If he was going to break up with me, I was going to make it look like I was alright with it. I put on another layer of make-up and changed into a nice pair of designer jeans and a top that was designed by Mom.
I sat on my bed and waited, bracing myself for his words. Would it be the stereotypical ‘it’s not you, it’s me’? Probably not, Leo wasn’t a stereotypical guy…
I jumped at the sound of the doorbell. I got up and walked to the door. I felt hollow and numb when I saw him on the doorstep. The rain had drenched him, his hair was plastered to his forehead, his shirt was slowly turning see through and his exposed skin glistened in the streetlights. I wanted to kiss him. But of course now wasn’t the time.
He sighed when he saw me. It brought me back to the present.
“Oh! Come in!” I said hastily, ushering him in.
He stepped inside and watched as I closed the door. He took his dripping shoes off and waited for me to lead him somewhere. Although there was no-one in the house, I wanted to do I it in my room. No-one would have to see me after they came back from their fancy dinner.
Once we got into my room, I closed the door and sat on the bed. He sat opposite me. To my surprise, he held his arms out, gesturing for me to come and hug him. I didn’t move. Hadn’t I already decided that us breaking up was for the best? What if he didn’t actually want to break up?
Suddenly he was pulling me into his arms. I did nothing to resist. I hugged his chest and breathed in the scent that I knew so well. I melted into him and I really didn’t wasn’t to leg go but I heard Leo sigh before he pulled me away. He moved away from me and sat on the bed. He didn’t say anything but pat the space opposite him.
I took a seat and he stared at me in silence. It was though he was trying to memorise my face.
“Say something, Leo.” I whispered.
He frowned. “I-Lily, what happened today was… so dangerous. You were amazing; covering up for us and everything but… Lily, what if it happens again? What if we get caught?”
I looked up into his eyes and I could see the pain and defeat hanging there.
“Lily, I really don’t want to do this but… I think we have to. At least until you graduate.” He said it gently but I felt like breaking down into tears.
I nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
“I love you, Lils.”
“I love you too.”
I started to cry.
“No, Lily please don’t cry.” He whispered. “I don’t want us to end like this. We’re just taking a break, okay?”
I nodded, swallowing the remaining tears. They were there, I could feel it. I decided that I wouldn’t cry in front of him. I reached up and pulled him into a gentle kiss. I could have stayed like that forever but I pulled away. I could hear Macy’s voice in my head.
“It’s for the best.”
I pulled away and pecked his cheek.
“I should go. Let’s not make it harder than it needs to be.” He told me.
It hurt me that his face was completely emotionless. He didn’t look hurt, annoyed, anything. I know I should think that’s a good thing but I was slightly offended by it.
“Yeah, you should go.” I whispered.
He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him.
I got off the bed to follow him to the front door but my knees gave away.
No more Leo. No more dates, no more evening after school together. No more of his touch, scent and kisses. No more…
I cried for hours. Even when my family came home, I kept myself locked in my room, screaming for them to leave me be. No-one bothered me the whole night as I lay in bed, sobbing to myself as I saw his emotionless face leaving me behind.