On autopilot, Leo gravitated to Davina's table the next day at lunch. After all, she was all he had been thinking about since the past time they spoke.

Well, alongside soccer, math homework and his mom's delicious sauce at dinner but mostly Davina.

When he set his lunch tray down, Jaiyana glanced up at him. “Huh, I thought you sitting here was a one time thing.”

Leo shrugged. “Sorry to disappoint you, Jaiyana.”

Jaiyana shook her head. “You misunderstand me. I like you sitting here. Davina seems to enjoy your company.”

Leo's eyes lit up. “Did she tell you that herself?”

Jaiyana's eyes narrowed. When Leo replayed his words in his head, he realized that those were not the right words to say to an overprotective best friend.

“You're not developing some kind of a school crush, are you?” Jaiyana asked.

Before Leo could reply, Damian plopped down beside Leo and slapped his back. “There's our lover boy.”

Jaiyana raised an eyebrow. Leo smiled nervously. “You know Damian belongs in an asylum. You should never believe what he says.”

Jaiyana's glare softened and she turned to Val for confirmation, Val who was staring at her absentmindedly. Leo kicked Val under the table.

Embarrassment colored Val's cheeks. “Right, yes, yes. Damian is an idiot.”

Jaiyana nodded slowly and glanced between three of them, pointing furiously. “No funny business. I trust you, Val but these two, not much.”

Leo glanced at Val. Val's smile threatened to split his face in half. Leo rolled his eyes.

Stupid in love.

“Leo, I've been looking all over for you,” Davina pulled off her headphones and exclaimed.

Leo grinned. “And for what reason?”

Davina bent and rummaged in her bag for a few seconds before pulling out a penguin plushie. His penguin plushie.

She placed her head on the table to look at the stuffed animal from the side. “Do you like it?”

“I love it,” Leo said, staring at Davina. She returned the stare with a smile that made her look like a child showing their favorite toy to their best friend.

As Davina pushed the orange, white and purple plushie in Leo's direction, Damian reached across the table to grab it from her hands.

Davina immediately pulled the penguin to her chest and would have toppled off the chair if Leo hadn't caught her. Jaiyana walked past Val and hit Damian in the head with her school bag.

“Do you exist to be a danger to my friend?” Jaiyana said as she continued hitting him.

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I just wanted to see,” Damian cried.

On the other hand, Leo had dropped Davina to the floor and was looking her over. “Are you okay? Did you break something?”

If she broke anything, Leo would break Damian.

“No, I think I'm al-”

“Okay, I would tolerate once,” a voice interrupted. “but sitting with outcasts twice is a no.”

Leo glanced at the girl who spoke. Dawn Averman, the principal's daughter who thought that anyone who wasn't ‘worthy’ to sit at their table was a peasant.

“Dawn, I'm not in the mood right now,” Leo said. “Davi, can you get up?”

“Stop touching her. You're mine.”
Dawn walked around the table to reach Davina but Val pulled her away by the sleeve of her shirt. “Sorry, Dawn. You're not going anywhere near the lady.”

“Let go of me,” Dawn shrieked. “You don't know what she is, do you? That freak on the floor.”

Davina flinched and grasped for her headphones that had fallen. Leo grabbed it and put it around her ears. He turned back for a brief moment to glare at Dawn.

“They're staring,” Davina whispered. Leo glanced up. A quarter of the school had their phones out. The rest were just looking at their table, particularly at Leo's hands on Davina.

Leo swore. “Let's get out of here.”

As they stood up, Davina cried out in pain and leaned on Leo, balancing her weight on one foot.

“Davi, you'd need to sit so I can take your shoe off,” Leo said. Davina nodded, blinking through tears.
When he took off her left sneaker, Davina muffled a cry of pain.

“Can't you see? There's nothing wrong with her. She's just soaking up the only attention she's probably gotten her whole life. It's what freaks d-”

“Shut up, Dawn.” Leo made sure to hold gently onto Davina's leg with both hands so he wouldn't make the mistake of hitting Dawn. “Shut up and stop being a bitch for once in your life. Why don't go back to your hole of entitlement or go cry to daddy or something, like you always do instead-”

“Language, Leonardo,” Davina whispered through her teeth.

Leo forgot his train of thought and let out a little laugh. “Your ankle is red and purple yet you still have time to think about things like that.”

“If Dawn doesn't get out of here, she'd have a broken bone real soon,” Davina whispered, looking at Jaiyana who was being restrained by Val and Damian and still putting up one hell of a fight.

“Good.” Leo leaned down. “Climb on my back; we need to get you to the school nurse.”

As they walked, Davina talked on and on about the creation process of plushies and about her stuffed animal closet. If anyone looked at them, they would think he was giving her a casual piggyback ride.

“You're adorable, you know that?” Leo said, struggling to keep his silly smile off his face.

“Thank you.” She stayed silent for a few seconds. Leo turned his head to look at her face. She was looking at something behind her. Suddenly, she pointed. “That's the nurse's office. We walked past it a minute ago.”

Nurse's office? Oh. Right. Davina was injured.

“What were you thinking about?” Davina said, tapping the right side of his head gently in a pace that was oddly soothing.

The feel of your body on my back.

Leo shrugged as best as he could with Davina on his back, trying to play off his indecent thoughts about her. “Nothing.”

She clicked her tongue. “You're a terrible liar.”

“How are you perceptive and not at the same time?” Leo asked without thinking.

As soon as it slipped out, he chided himself. He could feel Davina withdrawing from the conversation at his question, like she was shrinking into a shell of her own—the shell that didn't let him notice her earlier.

Maybe it was his imagination but she even felt lighter on his back.

The silence that ensued after was oppressive because Leo knew that it was his fault. She would have loved to keep talking but he shut her up with his lack of tact.

He sat on one of the chairs near the entrance and watched as the nurse bandaged Davina's foot. Davina's face contorted in pain at intervals. Leo's frown deepened.

Had their conversation been a way for her to distract herself?

“Now, I feel like shit,” he muttered.
Davina looked up at his words. They maintained eye contact, Davina's eyes scrutinizing him. Then, she beckoned for him to come to her.

He sat on the bed beside her. “Are you okay?” She glared at her bandage, trying to wiggle her foot. He held her leg to stop her. “Don't do that.”

“It hurts,” she grumbled. “It's going to make me slow. I don't like disruptions.”

“Oh…um…”

“I'm not very perceptive. I have just gotten very good at telling when people lie to me. I've been lied to too many times than necessary, especially when they find me weird and don't want to be around me. They make up silly excuses,” she said slowly.

This was the strongest emotion she'd shown in the short while they'd known each other. What was bad was that Leo didn't know how to console her.

Could he pull out his phone and quickly ask Google ‘what to do when your female friend is upset?’

He glanced at her again. She was picking at the bandage on her leg with an annoyed frown on her face. Leo laughed and held both her hands in his lap. “That's enough. Do you want to go back to the cafeteria or–”

“No,” she said. “No need. Jaiyana would bring my school bag here.”

Almost immediately, the door flew open and Jaiyana stomped angrily into the room with Val behind her. Damian remained near the door, trying to blend with the wall. Seeing him so soon rekindled Leo's anger. He marched towards him with fiery intent and held his collar. Damian shrunk away from him with an apologetic look on his face.

“Congratulations. You've injured her,” Leo spat. “Do you feel better about yourself? Maybe we should–”

“Damian,” Davina said, making all the eyes in the room turn to her. Her eyes were fixed on my penguin plushie. “Damian. Come here.”

When Damian hesitated, Leo pulled him by his collar to Davina. She stared down at his shoes. Upon seeing the completely white pair, she looked back up almost immediately. “Did you want a plushie too? I can't make one from your shoes since it's all white but I could give you one from my closet.”

Damian looked up confused at her gentle tone. Jaiyana shook her head. “No. No. No. No. He doesn't deserve it.”

Davina's head whipped to Jaiyana. “So how will everyone become happy again?”

“Hit Damian over the head and make him grovel for your forgiveness,” Leo suggested. Damian winced and then nodded.

“Violence is bad.” Suddenly, she held her stomach, the conversation temporarily forgotten. “I'm hungry.”

The four of them immediately dug into their bags to check if there was food. Only Jaiyana was able to pull out a bag of chips and a water bottle from her bag.

Leo grabbed his two friends by the back of their shirts to steer them out of the room. “Davi, we'll return with better food.”

As soon as they stepped out the door, Leo saw Davina hold Jaiyana's hand in his peripheral vision. “Jaiyana,” she said. “You said that Leo wasn't allowed to like me but what if I like him?”

It was safe to say that Leo's heart stopped working.