"For someone who's grounded indefinitely, you seem a little too happy," Mrs. Smith said, keeping all emotion out of her voice.

Leonardo's mother, had picked him up after football practice true to his guess. He guessed he had surprised her when he walked enthusiastically to the car and even threw her a hearty greeting before he had settled comfortably in his seat.

The smile on Leo's face widened a little. "It's nothing, Mom."

Although Leo was facing the car window, he could guess the shock that would have crossed his mother's face. He couldn't blame her for being surprised. Leo never spoke to her so calmly, mere hours after she grounded him.

"Did something particularly good happen in school?"

The curiosity in her voice caused him to glance at her from the corner of his eyes. He closed his eyes for a moment and Davina's figure flashed behind them.

"You can say that," he replied vaguely.

His mother clicked her tongue and remained silent for the rest of the car ride home.

"Leonardo, we're home."

His mother's voice jolted him out of his thoughts. He turned to her with a sincere smile. "Oh. Thanks for the ride, Mom."

She didn't bother masking the concern on her face. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be? I feel great even."

He leaned over to kiss his mother's cheek, the way he did whenever she was about to travel. Regardless of the endless punishments he received from her, he loved her more than anything.

"I'll see you later, Mom."

"Oh...um, sure."

He left the car and went into the house. Soon after, he heard her car drive off. Without stopping, he began to climb the stairs to his room.

"Leo, are you hungry? I made lasagna," his sister asked.

"No, thanks. I'll wait for dinner," he replied, his hands already itching to grab the communication box in his pocket.

"Are you sick?"

Leo turned to Venessa with a confused glance. "N-No, I'm not. Why'd you ask?"

"You never reject lasagna, or food in general."

Right. He never does.

Leo glanced at the top of the stairs where his room was merely steps away- the room he'd have solitude to talk to Davina without interruption.

"Just keep it. I'll be down for dinner," he said and rushed up the stairs, not waiting for his sister to respond.

When Leo slammed his room door behind him, he leaned on it and his smile quickly returned. He immediately pulled his phone out of his pocket and found Davina's contact. Before he clicked the option to message her, he stopped.

What if she didn't respond and found him clingy? They had just seen each other less than two hours ago, after all.

He trudged to his bed after discarding his school bag and slumped on it, gave down.

"I'll just wait for her to reach out," Leo muttered then remembered that Davina didn't have his phone number. She had given him hers and would expect him to do something first.

His hands itched to grab the phone again and froze. He groaned.

When did he start feeling anxious to text a girl?

He remained in his position for a few more seconds before sitting up suddenly. He grabbed his phone and sent her a text, then threw it on the bed.

During the moments of silence that ticked by, he tried to search for the cause of his anxiety. The only thing that called to him was the conversation he and Val had after lunch.

Leo stared at Davina as she walked away with Jaiyana to her next class.

"You know, Leo, I read somewhere that autists have a hard time maintaining relationships," Val said quietly.

Leo glanced at Val. "Why? What'd you mean?"

"She doesn't understand most social cues. You'll have to be extra plain with her-"

Leo interrupted him. "I know that."

Val shrugged. "-To keep the friendship going, you might have to work for it. That's if you want it."

Leo frowned. "I don't see why that's a problem, Val."

Damian snorted.

Leo glared at him. "Something funny?"

"Have you ever worked for a girl's attention in your life?"

Damian was right. Leo hadn't.

As Leo laid on his bed, he replayed that conversation in his head once, twice.

Why was he so scared of losing Davina, when he didn't even have her?

"You know what? Screw it. If she wants anything, she would-"

A ding interrupted Leo. His eyes darted towards the phone, discarded on the bed. He forgot his pep talk and perhaps, his dignity if anyone happened to be watching, and haphazardly reached for the phone.

Davina
Is this Leo?

Leo
Did you give your number to any other guy I'm not aware of?

Davina
No, I don't think so. Unless Jaiyana did.

Leo stopped for a moment to wonder if Davina was teasing him.

Leo
Are you teasing me?

Davina
If I am, I don't intend to.

Leo
Right...So, what are you doing?

When Davina didn't respond within a minute, Leo began to think that he might have overstepped some undefined boundaries.

He began to type out some form of playful apology and before he could sent it, she replied with three pictures.

Davina sending pictures to him didn't feel strange. However, the pictures Davina sent were not the kinds of pictures he was used to receiving from females. They weren't pictures of herself but of a penguin plushie with its foamy guts spilling out.

Leo
What did that penguin ever do to you?

Davina
Nothing. It can't move. Don't you know that, Leo?

Leo winced. Why did she make it sound like he was a stupid preschooler?

Leo
Then why are its guts spilling out?

Davina
You misunderstand. The foam is being stuffed in. I should have explained when I sent the picture. I am making a penguin plushie to give you at school tomorrow .

The last sentence made Leo smile wider than he should have.

Leo
Why give it to me?

Davina
I saw the design pattern on your sneakers. I felt that you should have a penguin to match.

Leo immediately sat up to see his sneakers, almost hitting himself in the face with his slightly raised knee. He glanced at the picture. She had even gotten the purple swirls right.

Leo
That's neat. If you need more inspiration, I have a lot more sneakers where these came from.

Davina
You would wear another one tomorrow?

Leo stood up and went to his closet and took a picture of the wall that had his different colors of sneakers on it.

Davina
Wear the blue and red one tomorrow. I want to see it.

Leo
Would you like to pick my clothes too?

Leo had been joking when he said it. He hadn't expected his phone to ring the next second.

"Davina?" he asked like he didn't see the caller ID.

"Leonardo, it's a video call. I want to see your closet," her monotonous voice said from the other end of the line.

He pulled the phone from his ear. There was the hint of a small smile on her face.

"Are you smiling?" he asked.

"She can smile, Leonardo. Stop being offensive," Jaiyana said as she passed behind Davina and went through a door.

Leo apologized and Davina nodded, trying to dismiss the subject. The smile in her face became more visible. Leo liked it. He liked her smile more than any girl's that he'd seen in the past few months. He knew he probably shouldn't compare her to his previous partners but there was a certain solace in knowing her smile was sincere and not just to look more attractive or flirtatious.

He had stood in his position too long that he jumped when she reminded him about why she called. "Your closet, Leo. I want to see your closet."

"Right," he said and turned the camera away from his sneakers wall to the larger part of the closet.

Davina remained silent for a few minutes that Leo had to check more than once if she was still on the call.

"The colors are all wrong," she said.

"What?"

"Your sneakers are arranged properly according to color. Why are your clothes not?"

He looked at his closet. His clothes were all up on hangers, yes, but if he looked at it properly, it did look a bit all over the place because of the colors.

"I never really mind the colors," Leo said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.

"I want to come over and arrange it."

Twenty four hours before, Leo wouldn't have hesitated to sneak Davina into his house but Davina didn't seem like a rule breaker. Also, he wasn't ready to have it out with his mom so soon if he was caught.

Being a good kid was hard.

Leo sighed heavily. "Davina, I'd really like for you to come over but I'm grounded."

"Grounded? What did you do?"

"My mom caught me in bed with Paulina," Leo said and watched for Davina's reaction.

Girls had thrown stuff at him one too many times for saying stuff like that so he was expecting a mild look of contempt at least. The indifferent expression on Davina's face threw him off.

"When does your punishment end?" Davina asked.

Leo cocked his head, a smile growing slowly on his face. "You don't seem disgusted in the slightest."

"Disgusted? What for?"

"Lots of girls that I've told similar things hurled profanities and occasionally, large textbooks at me."

"Told what?"

Leo suddenly remembered that he had to spell out his words. "When I casually tell girls that I was in bed with other girls, they tend to get very pissed."

Davina softly glared at her table for a few seconds. When she looked up, curiousity was swimming in her dark eyes. "It's none of their business. Why should they care?"

Leo threw his head back and sucked in a sharp breath.

Whenever Val and Damian told him that it wasn't solely his fault that girls came onto him, Leo always took their words with a grain of salt. However, Davina saying it felt different, better. He didn't mind keeping Davina around to validate his vices once in a while.

"Davina, I like you a lot."

Davina gave Leo a small smile. Twice in the last fifteen minutes. For some reason, he felt like a champion.

"Jaiyana said that if you ever told me that. I should tell you to put a sock in it."

Leo laughed and Davina's smile widened. Leo gazed at her face.

She looked approachable, serene and...beautiful.

"Davi," someone called in the distance.

Davina turned around for a brief moment. "That's my mom. I'll see you at school tomorrow. Bye."

Without waiting for him to reply, she ended the call.

Leo clutched his phone to his chest and sank in a chair that had a pile of clothes on it.

It had been a long time since he felt such pure affection for a person who wasn't a family member, much less a female.