Camila

The next morning I was more than ready to avoid Leo at all costs. I was fully aware that I shared my first two classes with him and I honestly had no idea what I was going to do.

Perhaps I could just skip, but I guessed that my parents wouldn't be too happy to be called by the principal.

I woke up completely oblivious that it was Monday, which meant Bio and the homework I hadn't done. I cursed and did it in a hurry after I was ready to go to breakfast.

By time I was done and almost out the door I realized I put on my uniform shirt backwards and Karla's skirt, not mine. I cursed again and went back inside my dorm to change.

I was out the door fifteen minutes later than I should have. That meant only five minutes to eat and get to class on time. This day was only getting worse.

I ran down the stairs (disadvantages of being on the third floor) as fast as I could to the cafeteria. When I got there they were no longer serving breakfasts. Great.

I walked out the cafeteria and bought a granola bar from the vending machine just outside of it. I sighed and tapped my food slightly too aggressively on the floor as the stupid granola seemed to take an eternity to get out.

Taking a bite from my "breakfast" I turned around and bumped into the one person I didn't want to see.

I tried to go undetected by him, but unfortunately for me he's not stupid. The bell rang and we both cursed and ran to Biology.

To say that Mr. Doyle was mad would be an understatement. The guy was furious times a hundred. I suddenly remembered how Taylor had described him like she saw him get angry every class and I briefly wondered what her class did to make a normal human being turn into a dragon.

I don't have any idea of what he said, but it was along the lines of "stupid, irresponsible teenagers" and "I hate all of you". Knowing him, it was neither of those yet something far more offensive. 

After hearing Mr. Doyle babble about how he doesn't get paid enough to stand "stuck-up brats" I finally sat down on my seat next to Chase.

"Why were you late?" he whispered.

"I forgot to do the homework we had so I did it, then I put my uniform on wrong and when I got down to have breakfast the cafeteria was closed so I bought a granola bar and I took forever and..."

I sighed and lay my head on his shoulder. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. Chase stroked my hair gently and removed his hand when I put my head back up. His hand accidently brushed my hand on its way back to his side of the desk. My skin tingled a little and for a second I wondered what it would be like to hold his hand, for him to stroke my hair every day and how it would feel like to kiss his soft, pink lips...

I shook the thought of out my head. I couldn't be thinking this stuff. He was my best friend, my friend's crush. Where were those weird thoughts coming from?

I started writing what Mr. Doyle had written on the board on my notebook while staring at Chase from the corner of my eye. His eyes weren't on the board, or on his notebook. His look wandered off outside the window.

Chase has always been a daydreamer. There isn't a day where he isn't lost in thought looking deep into things as if he could look through them. I had become used to his thoughts running around his head and him staring at random things. I'd spent so much time looking at him when he did it that I had learned to know the difference between his daydreaming face and his thinking face.

To any normal person it was the same expression, but there were slight differences in his face. For instance, when he was just thinking his brows furrowed a little bit together and I couldn't help but notice that his eyebrows were very, very close, but his face held a soft expression. That only meant one thing, he was thinking and daydreaming at the same time

"Are you okay? You seem lost. Did everything go okay at home?"

Suddenly his face was no longer soft. The anger rising inside of him was obvious and I couldn't do anything but grab his hand. It was warm.

"It's okay. Don't get mad. If you want we can talk at recess, okay?"

Mr. Doyle cleared his throat and looked at us. It felt as if he was burning a hole inside my chest.

"Ms. Smoke and Mr. Harding, the school is a place to learn not talk and hold hands in class. Please be quiet so I can continue my lesson."

Both of our faces became red and until then I realized I was still holding Chase's hand, which only ended in me becoming even more red.

Chase laughed nervously and wrote a note as soon as Mr. Doyle had his back to us.

If you become any more red, I think your head might explode.

Ps: Can we talk at lunch? It's going to be long.

I nodded and smiled at him. He smiled back at me and I felt something move inside my stomach. It wasn't a butterfly, not yet, but it was something that wasn't supposed to be there if I wanted to keep my only two friends.

The class continued longer than it ever had been. The whole time I felt Leonardo's eyes on me and frankly I couldn't feel worse. For such a long time all I wanted was for him to look at me the way he was looking at me and now that he was I was being the kind of girl I've always hated.

I told myself it was in my right because he had hurt me, because he had led me on. But that wasn't right. My dad had always told me that I needed to forgive people no matter what because living with grudges is the worst thing to do. The grudges consume you, change you, and he didn't want me to suffer from that pain.

Right there and then I decided that maybe I could give him the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was actually sorry, maybe he'd made a mistake. I wasn't sure if I would give him a second chance if he asked for it, but I knew that I would have to at least hear his side of the story.

When Biology ended I practically ran out the door, completely forgotten what I'd decided about forgiving Leo. He however didn't mind at all that I didn't want to talk to him at the moment. He stopped me when I was almost at the auditorium. Chase was nowhere to be seen, which meant I had no way out.

"Can we please talk about what happened on Saturday?"

I got free from his grip on my wrist and glared at him.

"What's there to talk about? You made me believe there was something between us and then kissed another girl. I don't think you can explain what you did, but if you can then please continue because I'm lost right now."

He sighed and moved forward to take my hand, but I took a step back. I was giving the guy a second chance, but that in no way meant that he could go around holding my hand whenever he wanted.

"I do like you Camila and Valery really liked Chase. We both thought we had a chance with you two, but when you and Chase fell asleep together we thought we were done. It's no secret to anyone that you two feel something for each other or will someday so we let you be. Then Valery left to the bathroom and I went too. I saw her crying and tried to comfort her. Before I knew it we were kissing. It was a mistake."

I shook my head, a sarcastic laugh coming out of me without permission.

"And I'm supposed to believe what you're saying just like that?"

He nodded.

"Seriously? And just so you know, there's nothing between us. We're like siblings, nothing more and nothing less so next time don't go assuming things you don't know."

Saying that I realized that what I'd just said sounded more like me trying to convince myself instead of Leo and he noticed it too.

"Camila, not even you believe that. But please, give me another chance. I want to date you more than I've ever wanted to date someone else."

I thought and thought. A date didn't mean anything and I could get to know the boy I had wanted to date for so long, but I couldn't.

"I'll tell you what. Give me some time to think about it, a week. I promise I'll give you an answer, just not yet."

He nodded with a look of hurt in his eyes. It wasn't a wild guess to say that it wasn't every day that someone rejected Leonardo Jensen.

The rest of the day went by in a blur. On my way to Theater I overheard some girls talking about the Top 3 lists. The lists would be out after school, which meant only half a day of stress left.

My stomach growled when I saw Chase and I had trouble identifying if it was because I was hungry for food or my best friend.

We left, trays in hand, to our spot near the track. We sat down under the shadow of our favorite tree.

"So, why are you not okay?"

Chase frowned and shook his head.

"What makes you think I'm not okay? I raised my eyebrow at him and rolled my eyes, the perfect technique to make him talk.

"Fine. You're right, I'm not okay. My dad is an idiot and I'm having trouble figuring my feelings out for a girl who probably doesn't feel anything for me."

I flinched when he used the word "idiot" to describe his dad. I'd known for a while his dad hit him and I hated the man myself, but for years Chase had insisted that he still loved him because even if he did what he did, he was always drunk and didn't really know what he was doing.

"Chase...what happened at home? I swear if he hit you again I will beat him up myself. It's not like I haven't punched anyone before."

I managed to get a small smile out of him before he became all serious again and continued to speak.

"He didn't hit me, he's in the hospital. My mom made me go talk to him. You know what he told me? He told me that I could say whatever I wanted to him because he wouldn't be able to hit me in that state. He called me an idiot, a disappointment. He said I was a mistake. What kind of a father can say that?"

I was speechless. Never in my life had I heard of someone calling their own son that. Roger Harding was a horrible person, there was no doubt in that, and shamefully for Chase that man was his father.

I stood on my knees while Chase still was sitting down. That way I was taller than him and I could hug him better.

We stayed like that for a while and I could feel his tears falling on my shirt. Contrary to popular belief, to me, a guy who cries is more of a man than one who doesn't. Chase had told me before what his dad had said to him about crying when he was younger so I made sure no one was close when I let him ago and wiped his tears. I knew how embarrassed he would be if anyone saw him crying no matter how many times I told him nobody cared.

"Listen to me. He's wrong. You're not a disappointment or an idiot or a mistake. And if you are a mistake well then you're the best damn mistake I've ever seen in my life. If there's an idiot in the Harding family it's him, not you. And he can go suck a... I don't know, he can go suck whatever he wants if he thinks otherwise."

I wiped the last of his tears with my thumb while I held his face in my hands. There was nothing that made me feel worse than knowing the boy in front of me was in so much pain and not being able to do anything to change it.

"I need to tell you something." I blurted. I wasn't planning to tell him about Leo just yet but for some reason my brain decided that I was going to whether I wanted or not.

He smiled and for a moment I forgot all about Leo. What is happening to me?

"Yeah, me too. But you go first."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, yeah. You go first. Mine is less important."

"I don't think that's true."

"Whatever. Just say what you have to say."

I closed my eyes and breathed in. He's a guy. I thought. He'll know what to do.

Okay, here I go.