Aurelio's Dilemma

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT:

When Aurelio finished therapy and made it to the skatepark, only the girls were there. Leslie stood on a skateboard, holding Blair's hands, barely maintaining balance. They talked for a moment, and after hesitance, Leslie bent her knees a little than jumped and flipped the skateboard and...she landed. Normally. On her feet, on the board. Leslie's mouth hung open, eyebrows raised, disbelieving. Blair clapped.

"Slightly impressive," Aurelio said.

The girls looked at him and smiled. Cheeks flushed with thrill, Leslie stepped off the skateboard.

"Elio!" Blair said, walking over. "Hi." She stood on her tiptoes and curled her arms around Aurelio's neck and pecked his cheek. Aurelio felt his face heat up—maybe because there were a few strangers around the place, or maybe because he knew Leslie was watching them. Still, he mumbled hey and went along.

Blair poked his chest. "Matt hasn't shown up yet."

"No surprise."

As they waited for Matt, Blair went back to skateboarding. Aurelio turned around. Leslie's gaze was already on him, and they maintained eye-contact for a sec. Then her phone buzzed and she got distracted with it.

Matt arrived right then, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie even in the heat. He jogged over with his unkempt morning hair flopping. "Hey," he said and fist-bumped Aurelio. Then he spotted Blair. He raised a brow. "Still up for the challenge?"

"Who said this was a challenge?" Blair said. "It's just for fun." She grabbed a helmet off the bench beside her. "Helmet."

Matt snorted. "Helmet's for losers."

"Yeah," Blair said. "So wear it."

Matt made a face. "Oldest comeback in the book. At least try to be original."

"Um, guys?" Leslie said, looking squirmy. "My boyfriend just texted me. He's gonna come too. Is that okay?"

Blair nodded. "Of course."

"No," Matt said. Inwardly, Aurelio had the same reaction. "It's not okay. Sadly, we can't kick him out of a public place."

A good chunk of Matt's distaste towards Leslie's boyfriend was related to him bringing up the accident in front of Aurelio and nearly making him panic. And the other part...well, it might have something to do with the fact that the guy was more attractive than a perfect version of Aurelio and Matt could ever be.

In other words: they felt like incomparable dog shit around him.

Blair urged Matt over. They stepped onto their skateboards and skated around the place, doing these godly tricks and flips and stuff.

Aurelio turned to Leslie; she'd settled down on a bench, holding her phone, following Matt and Blair with the lens. She always did that, documenting little things. Aurelio stepped in front of her and blocked the view with an innocent smile.

"Elio." Leslie looked up at him, frowning. "Move," she said while trying to tug him aside. When Aurelio finally budged and sat down next to her, Leslie raised a brow. "You happy now that you ruined the video?"