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Chapter 29 – Surprise, Surprise!

“Be careful. Call me if anything happens, okay?” Mom bent a little to the car’s window, tweaked the fringe of hair from my eyebrows then faced Leon with a trusting smile.

Leon smiled back reassuringly as he revved the engine, purring evenly as it came to life.

“Okay, Mom. Don’t worry too much,” I said once done with the seat belt.

The finals week was dreadful. I had to catch up with the lessons in two days or I would be bound to fail. So much for my A flat aspirations, no thanks to the sick days I had managed to bring upon myself within the last week.

Becky and Matt came over during the weekend. Becky did most of the talking; giving me copies of the lessons I had missed, the possible pointers on the exams, filling me in on the school news, about how much fun she had with Matt’s buddies and how much she wished I was there.

During that visit, Matt sat with Becky, his eyes lingering away from us, alternately giving occasional comments or nodding only when necessary. I should probably be angry at him for his devious plots, but surprisingly, I wasn’t.

Leon’s gaze fixed on me with a curious air to it as he maneuvered the car to a left turn.

“Tell me. Why on earth did you bite Matt?” he said pressing his lips together to curb a smirk.

It was the first time he mentioned Matt in four days. Frankly, I was quite surprised how calmly he took in everything (or at least pretended to) as I explained Matt’s confession, his scheme and what exactly happened that night. But this embarrassing little detail, I left out on purpose.

I cleared my throat feeling the rush of blood to my cheeks. I could have just lied but I swore I would not ever do that again to him.

“H-he called me crustacean… and crabby,” I half-stuttered half-whined. It was embarrassing, not to mention stupid.

His buoyant musical laughter drowned the smooth hum of the engine and it took several moments before he was able to compose himself.

“It sucks to be him…Well, you can be cold-blooded sometimes.” Leon held back a smile, pressing his lips together as the corners pulled up infinitesimally, his blue eyes lucid and cheerful with anticipation. I loved to think that that smile’s mine. My smile.

Every time it would send my heart hurtling above speed limit and leave a warm funny feeling in my stomach. Sometimes I would be so very flustered that I had yet to remember how to breathe again.

Cold-blooded. Matt said that too. I could only wonder.

“Am I really?” I demanded, halfheartedly frowning as I did.

“It depends,” he replied smiling.

“On what?”

“Are you going to bite me if I said yes?” He curbed a smile and fixed his eyes on the road.

I grunted at him despite the garish fluttering inside my chest that all I could do was stare in appreciation of the moment. Without a doubt, I missed his smile that made my heart skip beats, his laugh that made my chest flutter and his eyes that captivated me since the first day I saw him. I missed him. I missed my Leon.

He must’ve noticed the way I looked at him since he met my gaze and held it for a few moments. I withdrew from the staring contest as soon as I was aware of the warmth on my cheeks. I bit my lip.

Leon thumbed through my hair, pushing them back behind my ear. My smile did not leave his lips. I knew he saw me blush.

Finally, he withdrew his hand with a hint of hesitation and placed it firmly on the two o’clock position of the steering wheel and started mumbling in a heavily accented French that “—making me insane…” was all I could make out (how I wished I did better in French). Then he sat back stiffly and took my hand to his face. His cheeks felt warm and smooth like silk.

We made a turn to the right and I could almost see Hopkinton High. It was a Wednesday; the start of the finals exams. People appeared anxious and excited at the same time. Finals week had begun but once it was over, summer break would be something to look forward to.

As soon as the car had settled on Leon’s usual parking space, he sighed in contemplation then faced me with a wry smile.

“Sarah,” he said still not letting go of my hand.

“Yes?”

“Boston…” he started. “Probably, it’s more than thirty miles from here. That would be less than an hour drive. From the airport would be more than two thousand five hundred miles to California and I was thinking—“

“Leon, what exactly are you saying?” I said bewildered but calmly cutting his long-winded talk. As a full-pledged nerd, I perfectly know how far Boston and California are from Hopkinton. What I didn’t get was why he was blabbering so feverishly about it.

His right eye twitched and narrowed through his thick glasses like what most people normally do when they expect something or someone to hit them.

“Well… the concert will be in less than a week and maybe Friday’s going to be hectic but—“

“Wait. Are you saying you’re leaving?” My voice sounded panicky.

He winced again. “Err… Yes. And no.”

I threw him another befuddled look. I was freaking out so instead of speaking, I counted one to ten inside my head and took a few deep breaths.

“So let me get this straight. You’re leaving for L.A.” I tried my very best to sound calm but the apprehension surfaced anyway.

“Very true,” he nodded nonchalantly.

I took another few lungfuls, unsure if my heart could take it. Unquestionably, I would be too young to have a heart attack, but who knows?

“And the no part?”

He sniggered a little; it made my heart stop from all the suspense.

“I’m not leaving without you,” he said the words too fast for my mind to comprehend. Shrugging, he let himself out of the car and ran to get the door for me.

Flabbergasted as I was, I didn’t move an inch. Leon told me about his plans but I hadn’t really thought of it. Only now did these things start to sink in.

I fumbled with the seatbelt and got out. “Friday?” I asked still unable to get over the surprise.

He nodded pensively as though studying my response.

I nodded back. I wasn’t sure how to react at all. First and foremost, there was the issue of Mom. There would be a ninety percent probability that she would not agree to this. Secondly, I was perplexingly scared of something I couldn’t quite put my finger on. I guessed I should at least be excited. I was. A little. But mostly nervous.

Geometry was the first examination for the day. I wasn’t able to answer all the problems and the whole time, my thought sauntered on Leon’s proposition to take me with him to L.A. It was still a proposition since I clearly had no idea if I could come with him. I was well aware that the Leon Walden in Hollywood is the same Leon who sat beside me in Geometry class and every other class for that matter, but then I had never really gone the miles of fathoming the kind of life he lived as a pop star.

When finally, my head started to hurt, I totally gave up and handed my paper to Mr. Collins. Surely, it would give me a C at the very least, so let’s go with that.

I brushed an illusionary tear from my cheek as I said my miserable bye byes to my precious straight As.

“Are you okay?” Leon asked during the ten-minute break.

With a shrug, I looked around and made sure no one was within eaves drop. “I wasn’t sure how to break it gently to Mom,” I replied.

A grin trailed on his lips. “Don’t worry, I’ve already thought of the possibilities. I got it covered.”

I finished Government and Biology without so much as breaking a sweat but I was not expecting A pluses. Great. Now, I had just become the A flat nerd which was an all-time-low for my academic reputation. On the upside, my boyfriend’s a Greek god in nerdy glasses. That was like… the greatest thing in all Nerdom! (Nerdom—a noun pertaining to the make-believe society of nerds, by nerds and for nerds; nerd kingdom)

Becky took off before I could talk to her. How odd. I couldn’t find her anywhere near the popular table during lunch, so I asked Matt since Leon didn’t mind (or at least pretended not to) but I wasn’t at all that convinced about their unexpected civility.

Matt scratched the back of his head. “Err… she had to do some preparations for your — for the tests tomorrow so she left early,” he stammered.

Matt never stammers. He was be the most arrogant, self-assured, conceited person I had known and he would not act so frantic if he wasn’t hiding something.

I spun away and I thought I saw him and Leon exchange meaningful glances.

“How’s the arm, Matt?” Leon said holding back a smirk but with no hint of mockery at all.

Matt smiled back with the same expression and shook his head with a Tsk. “Had some rabies shots. It seems like I’ll live.”

Only then did I realize that they were having a private joke about me.

“Too bad,” Leon said.

“The bite or the I’ll-live part?” replied Matt, his eyes narrowing for a fraction of a second, still with the grin still plastered on his face.

Leon sniggered with a shrug. “I’m not sure.”

Crossing my arms in front of me, I glowered fiercely at both of them. “Very funny, guys,” I muttered.

I only saw Becky after electives and when I tried to interrogate her, the alibi was considerably congruent with Matt’s so I just let it drop.

The rest of the final exams would not commence until the next day so the teachers gave us pointers on the scope and the possible topics at hand. After Gym Class (which I pretty much flunked, since I tripped on my own feet during the third lap on Track) Leon insisted that we stroll at the nearby park before going home which was odd since he was more worried than me about having to cover the lessons I had missed.

I had to admit the walk relaxed me a bit and there was something special about this particular walk because I was hand in hand with Leon. All the while, my heart was racing and there was that warm fluttering feeling again.

“Let’s play a game,” he said. “I’ll mention something about me and you’ll tell me something back.”

I smiled back wondering what made him do it.

“I like it when you blush,” Leon said brushing his delicate fingers on my cheeks which must’ve been all red in an instant. He leaned to give a momentary kiss which left me dazed and woozy then gestured for my turn with a lingering smile.

“I… like it when you smile.” I looked down, a little embarrassed.

The talk continued as we sat on a bench under the blossoming trees, his hand still entwined with mine. His favorite color was blue, he was born in Lambeth, London, he wasn’t really a blond, he started piano at the age of six, he learned guitar at seven, he had never been to school before he came here, and he hates olives and ketchup. Every trivial thing about him was important and special. I secretly wished we could stay together like this forever; blithe and almost euphoric.

It was dark when we got home. He insisted to come by. I agreed. Someone had to explain to Mom why I got home late during a school day and in the Finals week too.

When we got to the front porch, I hesitated. It was ten past six and the whole house was still dark inside. That was weird. Emma didn’t usually stay at work this late during the weekdays.

“Anything wrong?” said Leon from behind sensing my anxiety.

I shook my head. “Mom must be running late.” Bending down, I fished the spare key from the secret flap under the door mat.

I opened the door. It was dark inside and I thought I heard an insignificant rustling from the living room as my hand searched blindly for the light switch on my left. “Ah, found it,” I said flicking it.

“SURPRISE!!!” A chorus of familiar cheerful voices and popping confetti left me dumbfounded as the light flickered to life.

Leon stepped beside me and gave me a quick kiss on the cheek that made me weak on the knees. Then he smiled at me with that same smile that I have always loved and whispered to my ear.

“Happy Birthday, Sarah.”

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If you are reading this, *big hug and smooches!* thank you so so much... So tell me what goes in your mind and hit that vote button for me, will you? :) If you see any errors in this chapter, kindly tell me. ~shim