"Did you sleep okay?" Leo asks and I pause from picking at my salad.
"I tossed a turned a bit but I finally fell asleep." I say to him and he nods.
"So, uh, what are you reading?" Max asks Jackie.
"Surf reports. Four foot swells tomorrow." Jackie responds.
"Oh, you surf?" Max says and I can already sense Jackie glaring at him.
"So, where are you from, Jackie?" Leo asks.
"Everywhere. I bounced around a lot." She nods at Leo.
"Cool." Leo nods back at her.
"Hey, I don't mean to be nosy, but why were you in handcuffs at the exam?" Emma asks.
"To protect Leo. I mean, did you hear how loud he was playing his guitar?" I say and I can sense Jackie looking at me.
"Ha-ha." Leo says with a smug grin on his face and I chuckle at him.
I then look at Jackie and she immediately breaks eye contact with me.
"Even I would've strangled him." I say and Max and Emma laugh.
"You already threatened to do that last night." Leo scoffs.
"It was a warning, not a threat." I say, pointing my fork at him and Hayley and Max laugh.
"What? My notebook." I hear Jackie say as she looks at her pink journal.
"What about it?" I ask her.
"How did this happen? It was soaking wet. I threw it away." She says, looking at us and I look to see Max's face harden.
"Well, I just remembered I have a lot of homework to do." Max says and grabs his tray, walking off.
"That was weird. I wonder who did it." I mutter, raising my eyebrows at Leo.
"Yeah, me too." Leo says, scoffing.
"Carter, three o'clock." Emma says to me and I turn my head to see Carter walking with his hoodie around his waist.
We glance at each other but I quickly turn back around, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"You guys still didn't make up?" Max says.
"Max!" Hayley says and swats his arm.
"Sorry!" Max says, giving me a sorrowful look.
"It's fine. I just need-"
"Air." Leo says, finishing my sentence and I meet his green eyes.
"Yeah." I nod at him and he nods back as I close the lid of my salad, then grabbing my tray and walking off.
||
"Hey." Leo mouths, standing over me.
"Hi." I say, taking off my headphones.
"You okay?" He asks.
"Yeah." I nod, attempting to put them back but Leo takes them out of my hand.
"Wait. Come on, get up. I wanna show you something." He says.
"What?" I state, trying to snatch my headphones back from him.
"It's something especially for people in your condition." He says.
"My condition?" I ask, crossing my arms.
"Yeah, your sad condition." He says and I chuckle.
"Asshole." I shake my head.
"You're a real downer, Ramirez. Nobody ever told you that?" Leo scoffs.
"Only one person has." I say, raising my eyebrows at him and he chuckles, getting the hint.
"Come on." He says, holding his hand out.
"Leo, I-"
"You can have these back afterwards." He says, holding up my headphones.
"Fine." I groan as I take his hand and we begin to walk.
||
"Leo, I really don't have time for this." I say, changing my mind as he opens the door.
"Trust me, you'll love it." He says and I huff.
"Whoa, what is this place?" I say as he turns on the light to reveal a music studio.
"Well, you said you needed some air, right? This is where I go when I need to blow off steam." He says.
"Thanks, but you don't have to do this. Really. I'm fine." I shrug at him.
Leo chuckles as he walks over to a stool, leaning a red guitar on his lap.
"Okay, I better go." I say as he begins to play.
I stop in my tracks as I hear the soulful chords of his playing and I watch him for a brief moment.
"What is that?" I say with a smug grin.
"That is Bach. The world's first rocker." He informs me.
"Interesting." I nod at him.
"You wanna be the next one?" He asks, getting off the stool.
"I don't play." I lie, brushing his offer off.
"Then what do you have that journal for?" He says to me, looking down at my red notebook.
"Can't a girl just write down her feelings?" I say and he scoffs.
"You don't look like the kind of girl who would do that." He says.
"Maybe I am." I say.
"Sure. C'mon, just try it out." He says and I ponder for a second.
"Fine." I say, taking the guitar from him.
I then sit on the stool and wrap the guitar strap around me.
"Put your fingers here, here and here and wow, you picked that up pretty quickly. That's an A chord." He says, smirking at me.
"Nice to meet you A chord." I chuckle.
"Are you ready to say goodbye to your depression?" He asks, holding out a black guitar pick.
"No. But I can try." I say, taking the pick out of his hand.
I start to play, but not too loud since I don't wanna disturb anyone.
"There you go. The louder you play, the better you'll feel." Leo says.
"You sure it's okay?" I ask him.
"Yeah, no one can hear a thing. Wait, hold on." He says and I nod.
He then turns on the amp, connecting the sound of the guitar to the mic.
I send him a grin as I start to play. My inner musician came out and I started playing some other chords too. Only, on the loudest volume ever.
I finally stop as I catch my breath and I look up to see Leo smirking at me.
"What?" I say, pushing some hair behind my ear.
"You're a quick learner. Where did you learn all those chords from, hm?" He says, raising his eyebrows.
"I took guitar lessons when I was five. Haven't stopped since." I admit.
"So, I was right about the journal?" He says to me.
"No, I never said anything about my journal. And if you even think about touching it, I will hurt you." I say.
"You sure boxing isn't your thing?" He says and I chuckle, rolling my eyes.
"Listen, Leo. Thanks. I really needed this." I nod at him.
"Anytime, Ramirez." He nods back at me.
"Your brother will be fine, you know. It's always hard at first." He says.
"Yeah, it's a little bit more complicated than that with my brother and I." I say, looking down at the guitar.
"I'll never forget that day. We all watched the landing here at the cafeteria. It was the most terrifying silence I ever heard." Leo says to me.
"Well, silence is better than bullshit." I point out.
"Everyone cried. Even Louis. I can't imagine what it was like for you. And Carter." He says, looking me in the eyes.
"The last I time I saw her, I promised her that I would take care of my brother until she came back. Feels like I let her down. I let everyone down anyway, I shouldn't even be surprised." I scoff.
"I think she'd be proud of you." Leo says and I look up at him.
"For what?" I say.
"Are you kidding me? You're only seventeen, getting into an advanced school like this, you take care of your family and you can solve riddles." He says and I laugh.
"I guess you're right. And can I have my headphones back now? I tell him, scratching my head.
||
"Can I have some more?" I ask the worker as he nods, pouring more chocolate syrup into my shake.
I then look up at him again, taking my elbows off the counter.
"Just a bit more." I say and he nods.
He puts one more squirt and my eyes light up at the chocolatey goodness I'm about to devour.
"And that's good. Thank you." I say, stirring my straw into the shake.
"Wait a second." The worker says as he turns back to the counter and hands me a piece of pecan pie on a napkin.
"What?" I say, furrowing my eyebrows together.
The worker nods over me and I turn my head.
"My treat." Carter says, half grinning at me.
"Could I leave this here?" I ask the worker.
"Sure." He nods, grinning at me and I nod back as I walk over to Carter.
"What is this, a bribe?" I say, crossing my arms.
"More like a peace offering." He says, nervously smiling at me.
"Well, if it's chocolate, I'll accept." I chuckle and Carter smiles harder at me.
"I wanted to apologize. I was upset. I took it out on you-"
"It's not your fault, Carter. I should've minded my own business. Instead of slapping you. And you're not a little boy anymore." I say.
"Please, I deserved it. I acted like a dick." He says and I chuckle.
"Can't argue there." I scoff.
"So, we're cool?" He asks.
"Of course we're cool." I say, hugging him and he hugs me back.
||
"Weird. My Louie isn't working." I say to Leo as he opens the door to let me in.
"Been here less than a week and you already broke it?" He chuckles.
I then lightly hit his chest, giving him a smug grin. He gives me one back as I walk over to the couch, putting on my headphones.
"Why are you so obsessed with those headphones?" Max says, before I can even turn on the music.
"Uh, because I like them and they play anything I want?" I scoff at Max's curiosity.
"Interesting." He says, writing something down
"Would you leave poor girl alone, Miller?" I hear Leo say and I laugh as Max mutters an apology and goes back to his chess game.
"I can stand up for myself, Cruz." I tell Leo.
"I know, Ramirez. It's just fun seeing Max all flustered and embarrassed." He says.
"Aw, maybe you should date him." I joke and he chuckles, shaking his head.
"Funny. Don't stay up too late, okay?" He says.
"Or what?" I joke, sitting up.
"I'll scare you again and hide your headphones?" Leo says.
"You wouldn't dare." I fake gasp.
"Only a test will give the results." He shrugs at me and I roll my eyes, throwing a pillow at him.
"You're annoying when you're in genius mode." I say, pushing some hair behind my ear.
"Now I know what ticks you off." He grins.
"Leo, I swear to god." I trail off while laughing.
"Okay, I'm finished." He scoffs, putting his hands up.
"About time." I chuckle.
"Just get some sleep, okay? It really does make a difference." He says.
"Yeah, I will. Night, Leo." I say.
"Goodnight, Ramirez." He says, walking past me and I slowly close my eyes.
||
"The Eagles are gonna pay for this!" I hear someone shout and I jump from the couch.
"What the hell? Did the Eagles do this?" Emma says, rubbing my eyes to wake myself up.
"Oh, no." I laugh, patting Max's arm once I get a clear look of Leo's face.
"What is it? What's wrong?" He tells me.
Becca then hands Leo her mirror and he looks at his reflection with wide eyes.
"Are you kidding me? What is this shit?" Leo says, touching under his eyes.
"Leo." I say as I see Louis walk in.
"What's going on here?" He says to us.
"Daniel has crossed the line. Look at what they did." Leo tells him, pointing at his face and the floor.
"Alright, alright, alright. There's something more important." Louis says, trying to calm us down.
"What?" I say.
"We're here for Jackie Sanders. Does anyone know where she is?" Louis asks.
"Who's asking?" I say.
"That's information I cannot release. Do you know where she is?"
"No, I don't." I say, shaking my head.
"I've looked all over. Can't find her." The same guy at Carter's basketball game says.
"Does anyone know where Jackie might be?" Louis announces.
"Well, wherever she went, she obviously didn't shut the door behind her." Leo says.
"Wow. Is this how you kids maintain your rooms?" A deep voice says, walking in with a suit on.
"Eric? What are you doing here?" I say to him.
"We're actually here investigating a case." He says to me.
"What case?" I ask.
"A park ranger's missing. We caught a signal off his taser. Has anyone here maybe seen anything or-"
"Yeah. That's enough for now." Louis says, waving a hand in front of Eric.
"Okay." Eric says.
"So if you hear from Jackie, let us know. And clean this up." Louis says and we all nod as he walks out with Eric
"I look like a ninja turtle." Leo says and we all laugh at the picture of him sleeping on his Louie.
||
"I hope you're all thinking of ways to get back at the Eagles." Leo announces.
"How can you think about revenge when Jackie is missing?" I tell Leo, leaning my arms on the table.
"She must be running away from those FBI agents." Max says and I quickly turn to him.
"Let's say she did. Doesn't it make sense for someone like her?" Hayley speaks up.
"Hayley." I say, giving her a look.
"What? It doesn't mean she did anything wrong." She shrugs.
"Max, didn't you say something about Jackie's sketchbook?" Leo asks him.
"You mean her drawings of hi-tech weapons?" He quickly responds.
"Were there tasers?" Emma says.
Max's eyes slowly shift to Jackie's bag on the table and Emma gets up.
"No, no, no, no, no, no! Don't go in her bag! That's her personal stuff, c'mon!" Max pleads to her.
Emma ignores his warning and instead opens her bag and finds her journal.
"These sketches look suspicious." Emma comments, stopping at a page.
"Hang on, let's not jump to conclusions." I tell her.
"Well, she did come here in handcuff the first day." She says, handing Leo the book.
"That's true." Leo nods.
"You're our captain. Don't you believe that everyone is innocent until proven guilty?" I say and he meets my blue eyes.
"I don't know. You gotta admit, the timing is a bit suspicious." He says to me.
"Hey, guys. Whoa. You Ravens sure know how to party." I hear Jackie say and she walks in with a surfboard in her hand.
"Where were you?" Leo asks her.
She then shrugs and signals her board to him.
"You went surfing before dawn?" He questions Jackie.
"Best time to surf." She says.
"Why did you leave our door open?" Leo asks.
"What's with the all questions?" She asks, tapping against her board.
She doesn't get an answer as Leo crosses his arms.
"You think I did this?" She asks and Leo just stares at her.
||
"Where are you taking her?" Leo asks as I spot two guys holding Jackie in handcuffs.
"Back to headquarters." Eric says.
"What? Why?" I ask, speeding down the stairs with everyone else behind me.
"I refused to take the lie detector test." Jackie says, turning to us.
"It's not too late, Jackie." Louis says to her.
"It is. What's the use? To them, I'm already guilty." Jackie says, looking at Eric.
"Okay, that's enough guys." Someone says as they turn on their heels.
"Wait, Eric. If you wanna give her the lie detector test, you have to give it to me first." I say.
"What?" He says, stopping in his tracks and everyone looks at me in shock.
"Valerie, you don't have to do that." Jackie says.
"Who says I'm not the criminal? It's kinda careless not to check all the students, right?" I raise my eyebrows at them and Louis sends me a grin.
"That's it. All of you back to your clubhouse, now." The same guy in the plaid shirt orders us.
"I wanna take the test too." Leo blurts out.
"Me too." Hayley says.
"Right, there should be a control group for this experiment. I'll take the test, too." Emma says.
"Me too. It's not dangerous, it it?" Max asks and I quickly shake my head.
"You heard them, Eric." Louis says to him and I smirk at them.
||
"Your dad would kill me if he knew I was interrogating you right now." Eric chuckles as he sits in a chair.
"Can we begin now?" I say and Eric nods.
"Have you come in contact with any suspicious devices in the past few months?" He asks me.
"No." I simply say.
"Do you know anything about the missing taster?" He says.
"No." I say again.
"We're good." Eric says as the laptop beeps.
"That's it?" I ask.
"Yep." He says, taking the velcro off of me and the pad in the middle of my arm.
"So, talk to your dad often?" He asks.
"Yeah, why?" I say.
"I visited him a few days ago. You know I love him, right?" He says.
"Yeah, I know." I huff, putting, wire on the table.
"Yeah, we miss your dad at the bureau." Eric smiles at his worker.
"Well, too bad you didn't think about that before you kicked him out." I state, getting up from my seat, then heading out.
Just another group of fake pricks.