[ CHAPTER 18 : SECRET, LIE & TRUTH : ❝he moved with some uncertainty, as if we didn't know just what he was there for, or where he ought to go. once he reached for something golden, hanging from a tree, and his hand came down empty.❞ ]
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PARKER STANDS BEFORE HER locker, staring inside but not making a move to put her books away. She can't imagine what lunch is going to be like. Will Nico cause a scene in front of Leo? Will Leo hate her? Will he retaliate against Nico and her? What about Liam? Is he seriously going to hurt her just because she's going on a date with Nico? Why does he care anyways? And what exactly is she ruining?
"Hey," Leo pats her shoulder as he comes to stand beside her. Looking somewhere between confused and interested as he watches the way her glassy eyes stays firm on staring at the back of her locker. "Are you alright?" Parker nods, trying to get herself out of her strange thoughts. She places her books in her locker, grabs her lunch, and shuts it closed before facing him. Hesitantly, Leo smiles at her, "Are you sure? You're acting a little strange, well, at least more than usual." He cheekily grins at her, but she doesn't return it.
Her free hand picks at her sweater dress in nervousness as she turns to look at him. "I can't hangout after school, Leo." Thinking about it, Nico would get angry if she continued to connect with Leo. It's better to cut ties and keep a distance, until the end of the week is over and she can end things with Nico. She might as well keep things as peaceful as she can without stirring drama with a boy she's stuck with.
"Oh," The boy, despite still being high off of painkillers, is easily upset and confused by her ending things. "Did something come up?" He turns to face her as the two walk down the busy corridor. She ignores the feeling of his eyes pinning themselves on her face. All she does is nod, and continue to keep quiet. "Well, maybe another time then." Leo's not angry, or upset at her canceling but still acting like his normal, happy self. Only showing small signs of being hurt by the way he's laughing it off and faking a smile.
Halfway to the cafeteria, Leo goes off inside―sending her a smile before he does so―and Parker heads for the outside eating area where Cameron most likely waits for her. She takes it slow, not excited to see the girl who's always so completely angered with her. Not excited to be near someone who hates her to the core. She wishes she could hang around Victoria, just for a day, but that won't happen. Parker wonders if she completely ruined the chances of them becoming friends after this is all over. If Victoria hates her just as much as Cameron does. That thought, it kills her.
"Do you not take me seriously?"
Parker comes to a stop, only a few steps away from the archway leading to her table. To the right of her leaning up against the beige colored wall, is a baseball cap and hoodie wearing Liam. Different from the white t-shirt and no hat wearing outfit from earlier. "Did you change just from me?" Parker asks, as she turns toward him with her arms crossed over her chest.
Liam pulls his cap down further on his head, "Can't be identified by the cameras if I do something stupid," The boy shrugs as he moves himself closer to her. His eyes narrow in on her as she drags herself toward the archway. "I was serious when I said there'd be consequences," Liam leans closer, he brings his fist up to run along her cheeks bone, "Watch your back, Henderson."
"Nicolas and I are dating." Parker firmly states.
Liam's eyebrow lifts up as he takes a step back, "And Leo?"
"What about Leo?"
Liam chuckles as he leans back in his stance and crosses his own arms over his chest. "You mean he doesn't know?" Parker shrugs, she has yet to find a good time to tell him. Maybe later, when things calmed down and they have time to talk privately. "Wow, you're something else. I thought you and Leo were friends? Why would you date Nico? Don't you know how they feel about each other?"
"That they dislike each other?"
Liam shakes his head and Parker stares back confused. "Nico and Leo don't dislike each other. Nico loathes Leo, and Leo hates Nico but for two totally different reasons," Parker's frown deepens as she moves to uncross her arms, and hold her lunch in her other hand. Liam's only smiling at her, like he knows something she painfully wants to know as well but he thinks it's a secret and won't tell her. "They were friends, once―we all were. Nico, Leo, Milk, and I. Then it all happened, and we split up. And now, because you got Leo to like you and you're dating Nico too, you're only going to make things worse than it already is. No chance for them to be friends again, for any of us to be friends again," Liam moves again, this time looking more intimidating as he towers over her, and scowls.
"Dump Nico by the end of the day, and I won't hurt you."
Parker tilts her head to the side, "Why do you care so much?"
"I want my friends back," The boy's lip curls and his nose flares and he pointedly stares at her. "And I'm not letting some dumb boring bitch get in the way of that happening. Get it now, Henderson?"
"Don't call me a bitch." The girl mutters.
Liam snickers, "Break-up with Nico, and you'll never have to hear my voice again," Parker moves away from him with a frown plastered on her face. "Don't think, just because you're a girl, I won't beat the living shit out of you. When I'm pissed, I'm pissed and you―Henderson―are pissing me off." Parker tries her best to ignore him. She throws her hair over her shoulder, tightens her grip on her brown lunch bag, and jogs her way toward out past the archway to the spot where Cameron sits.
"You look like you've seen a ghost," The blonde comments. Parker stands still and stays in her spot in front of the table, looking between the figures sitting there. One, is Cameron, the other is Nico. Both oblivious to the way she's looking at them in odd. "Are you going to sit, or keep standing there?" She moves, taking the seat beside Cameron and across from Nico who eats and stares at his food.
The brunette begins pulling her lunch out of her bag, unsure of what to say to either of them. Instead, just focus on eating. She knows what's going to happen. She knows Leo's going to come to the table, see Nico, and ask questions. But who's going to answer? Her, or Nico? Or worse, Cameron? All of those options sound horrible.
"Why are you here, Nico?" Parker asks, her eyes avoiding his.
Nico doesn't move as he speaks, doesn't even change his facial expression. "I want to see Leo." Parker peeks up at him, her eyebrows dipping down as she looks at him puzzled. She doesn't even know what she can say. Why? Why do you want to see Leo? It's obvious, she can feel why, but at the same time she's not sure.
Leo comes, after a minute, hauling a plate of food and not even noticing Nico as he takes a seat beside him and begins eating. "Did you understand anything in Chemistry? I think DuPont was speaking Greek or something―didn't understand a damn thing," The boy looks up towards Parker but, after a second―maybe two―he glances to his left and spots Nico staring back at him. Parker and Cameron keep quiet, and continue to eat as they do so. "Why are you hare?"
"Am I not allowed here?" Nico questions, tilting his head and staring back at him innocently. Leo turns his attention to Parker, looking honest-to-God confused. She says nothing, keeps her eyes pinned on her food and focuses on keeping her breathing steady. "We're dating―Parker and I, didn't you know?"
Leo freezes.
His gaze moving away from Parker to look back at Leo. There's confusion, shock, maybe anger, but pure despondency as he looks back at his former best friend. "You're lying, aren't you?" Nico shakes his head, hiding his smile by lacing his hand over his mouth and laughing. Leo turns toward Parker, but she still avoids him. "Parker?"
"It's true, Leo, we're dating." Nico hisses.
Leo shakes his head, "Shut-up, Nico."
"I'm telling you the truth," Nico reaches to pat Leo on the shoulder, but the latter blows him off. Leo grabs his food, and throws it in the nearest trash bin before heading for the archway leading towards the indoor corridor. "Leo, you knew it would turn out this way, so why are you mad?" Leo flips Nico off, and then disappears.
Parker sighs as she lifts her gaze up from her food to stare at Nico who's now smirking smugly―as if he's done something he's planning for a while. "Why did you do that, Nico?" The boy shrugs as he looks back at her. Trying his best to look innocent but she knows he did it on purpose. To rub it in Leo's face.
Parker leaves her things as she gets up to follow after Leo. "Tell Leo that he should apologize for what he's done, and then I'll make everything go back to the way it was. The way he wants." She frowns as she continues out―ignoring the look Cameron gives her.
It isn't hard for Parker to find Leo. She may not know him that well, but she knows a few things he likes when he wants to cool off. A quiet and outside place. The fountain in the middle of the quad. The only people there are students or teachers passing few to get to the cafeteria or the gym. She finds him there, sitting on the edge of the fountain, breathing heavily and looking down at his hands.
"Leo?" She calls, as she moves closer to him.
He doesn't flinch, move, or talk. He stays still, and keeps staring at his fingers. "Don't talk to me for a minute." His voice is snappy, and she realizes he's trying to calm himself down. A side effect of his ADHD, anger. Anger, but more than a normal person usually shows. It's anger to the comparison of Intermittent Explosive Disorder. At least, in Leo's case it is.
The boy breathes in-and-out for a good five minutes, before an elongated sigh leaves his mouth and he's moving his eyes away from his fingers to the area in front of him. Parker stays still, not sure of what to do or say. She doesn't even know why she came. She should've just stayed where she was, with Nico, and wished for the best. Hoping Leo didn't care as much as he does.
"Is it Noah? Is he making you do this?" Leo asks, his eyes desperately searching her for some sign of the truth but she keeps deathly silent. Afraid that if she would tell him the truth, he wouldn't like the answer. Even though, she's pretty sure he already knows.
Leo shakes his head as he stands up, "You like him?" Slowly, Parker nods, and takes another step back to watch as his face completely cools down. "Do you know why I hate him?" Parker shakes her head no, as Leo takes a seat once again. A sigh leaves his mouth, and she wonders if he's ever talked about what happened between him and Nico. Or how much he's thought about it after whatever happened, happened. "Nico and I met in middle school, we were both trying out for the baseball team, and became quick friends sometime after we both made it. He―Nico was different back then, not like he is now," Leo pauses to rake a hand through his hair and let out another passive aggressive sigh.
"He and his older sister, Sofía, were always really close. He's got seven siblings, and Sofía was the closest in age to him―only a year older. I didn't know her very well because, by the time Nico and I were friends, Sofía was off at college―USM. In our freshman year, Sofía killed herself, and it really hurt Nico. He was just...never the same," Parker frowns, she had heard a few years back about some Arcadia girl committing suicide in her college dorm because she couldn't handle the pressure of having to care her family on her back. Supposedly, she―the fifth child out of seven―was the first in her family to get into and attend college, and that added pressure to her already rigid schedule for pre-law. It wasn't very prominent in the papers or news, because it didn't happen in Arcadia and they also wanted to respect the family.
"When he finally came back to school, after Sofía's body was buried, he turned into this alpha-douche that always wanted to be the leader of our group. At first, it didn't affect me―I knew it was his way of dealing with his grief, and I didn't really care that he wanted to be seen as a leader of us. But, I guess, at some point he felt like I was challenging him and his position―and he wanted to make sure I knew my place," Leo shrugs his shoulders and swallows a breath as he moves to look at her. Parker stays still and continues to keep quiet. Afraid to speak. Afraid that he'll stop speaking.
"I liked this girl in my sophomore year, and Nico knew that. It wasn't a serious crush, so I wasn't upset when they began dating. The only thing that weirded me out, was Nico's insistence on shoving his relationship with her down my throat. And it happened again, later on in our sophomore year with a different girl but the same situation,"
"In our junior year, I went on a few dates with this girl, and it got to the point it was getting serious. I didn't think, what Nico was doing, was going to happen again with this girl. I guess I was stupid? Anyways, I went to her house, greeted her mom―who told me she was upstairs with a friend. Didn't think much of it, and headed up there. I knocked on her door a few times, and she didn't answer, so I just walked in," Leo begins laughing, looking less than pleased with whatever he's going to say. But Parker can put two and two together to figure out what he's talking about. "She was mid-way trying to cover herself up, and Nico was just lying on the bed looking smug,"
"I knew then, what he was doing and I had enough with it, and him. So i told Liam and Milk to either stay with him or come with me. They were too scared, so they stayed by Nico, and I don't blame them. Ever since then, ever since junior year, Nico's tried everything he can to mess with me even more. And, I'm not saying this is the same situation; because, how would he know? How would he know that I liked you when I only figured it out a few days ago, myself?"
Parker wraps her arms around herself, "I didn't know."
"How would you?" The boy shrugs his shoulders as he comes to stand up. "Nico and I don't talk it, not really; and neither do Liam or Milk. We all avoid it, it's not something fun to talk about it." Parker bites her lip and avoids his gaze. She knew what happened between them was bad, but not this bad. She never thought it was as serious as he's making it out to be. That Nico lost somebody and then through his grief in Leo's face by destroying things that could've happened but now wouldn't. And that Leo never gave Nico a chance to fix his mistakes.
"Nico didn't ask me out, Leo," Parker shuffles back―keeping her arms wrapped around herself. He stares at her, looking more than confused. He thought Nico was doing this to hurt him again, and it is probably why he agreed―not because he actually likes her. "I asked Nico out...I like him, Leo."
"Liar." The boy shakes his head.
"No, Leo, I'm not."
Parker hands him one last look, as he stares back―not believing her in any way shape or form―before she's leaving to head back to Nico and Cameron. She may have gotten answers to some of her questions but at the same time, she feels like it doesn't really matter anyways; because, she doesn't feel like she's changed at all. It only makes her look at Leo and Nico differently. She feels bad for both of them. At the same time, she can't stand either of them. Or herself.