Chapter 11

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"There are far, far better things ahead
than any we leave behind."

-C. S. Lewis

"I finished it

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"I finished it." She says, placing the book on the table. I'm currently in my Chemistry class, ready for the next lesson. Leona stands in front of me, her arms crossed over her chest. "I read it over the weekend."

I raise my eyebrow. "What was it about?"

"You don't believe me?" She asks, crossing her arm over her chest. She raises her eyebrow, and I find myself smiling.

"Of course I don't."

"Hmm. Well, you'll just have to take my word for it then, won't you?"

"Or..." I say, standing up and shrugging my shoulders. "You could just tell me." I cross my arms over my chest.

Leona huffs. "Fine." She grumbles. Then, she proceeds to tell me about everything that happened in the book. And, I sat and listened.

"Right." She says, putting her hands on her hips. "The football game."

Now, it's my turn to grumble. "You were serious about that?"

"Deadly. I booked a ticket for tonight's game, so we need to be ready about... three hours before that? No, four."

I stare at her. "Why four?"

"We need to go shopping as well. To buy snacks." She says, her fingers playing with the edge of the book. She repeatedly flicks through the pages, start to finish.

"Oh, God." I groan, dropping my head back. "Shopping with you is going to be unbearable."

"That is correct. Besides, my agenda for today is making your life miserable." She grins, just as the teacher walks in, followed by one of my ex-friends. Shit. I forgot he was in this class. Leona's eyes follow my gaze and land on Nathaniel. She then looks back at me, and scowls.

"What?" I ask her, but my eyes flicker between her and the boy who stood by and did nothing whilst my life was ripped to shreds.

"Why are you glaring at Nate? Didn't you used to be friends with him?" She asks, a hint of suspicion in her voice.

"Yeah. Used to." I mumble, rubbing my hands over my face. "He's not a very good friend. He's a bit of a dick."

"Hmm." Leona says, unconvinced. Instead of elaborating, she turns away and walks over to her seat.

***

I'm currently standing outside of a supermarket with Leona next to me, a shit eating grin on her face. She leads me in, running around and grabbing snacks. At one point, I got distracted by a stack of books, and Leona had run off without me. By the time I found her, she was on her tiptoes, trying to reach something on a higher shelf. Her waist was exposed from where her football shirt had lifted.

I circle around her, slowly tracing my fingers over her skin. "Need some help?" I ask her, as a shiver ran through my body. Leona shakes her head, looking around for assistance.

"No, I'll just ask a worker-"

Instead, I grip her hips and pick her up. Leona gasps, holding onto the shelf in front of her. "What are you doing?" She shouts-whispers, trying to kick my knee.

"I'm helping you. Look, you can reach it now." I laugh. Leona huffs and reaches up, quickly grabbing the snack from the top shelf. I put her down, but I don't let go of her. I could swear she stops breathing. Pulling her closer to me, her body rests against mine and before I can do anything, Leona pushes me away. Then, she turns and places the packet in the basket that I left on the ground.

"Let's go." She says, turning and grabbing my arms before dragging me to the check-out.

"For God's sake- Alana, you don't have to drag me around. I can walk, you know." I grumble, trying to pull away from her grip. But, damn, she's strong. Leona holds onto me tighter, until we reach the back of the queue.

She stays silent as we stand behind an elderly couple, holding each other's hands.

A weird sadness takes over me. Maybe I'll never get that type of love. Maybe I'll never feel that way about someone, not again. Not after Meredith. And who knows, maybe I'll end up old and lonely with a bunch of cats to keep me company. I'll end up being submitted into a nursing home and I'll die a peaceful death. The only downfall is, I'll have no one by my side. No friends. No lover. No pretty, blonde girl who needs help with chemistry. I'm sure that as soon as Leona aces the shit out of her exam, she'll forget me as well. She'll move on, not having to see me three times a week for two hours. I know one thing, and it's that Leona will be extremely glad about seeing the back of me. And, knowing her, she'll probably throw me a farewell party. Whoopee.

"Preece. Are you listening?" Leona says, poking the side of my arm.

"What?" I say, looking down at her. "Did you forget something? You're not leaving me in the queue by myself. I've had enough trauma from my mum-"

"Huh? No, Prick. I was just going to ask whether you wanted any gum. Damn, I don't know where your brain travels off to, sometimes." She grumbles, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't be mardy, Alana." I say, nudging her with my shoulder. "Brighten up, we're going to watch live football." She looks up at me, fighting the smile that's struggling to stay off of her face. "Ah- I see that smile. Go on, just smile, Alana." I tease, poking the side of her cheek. She swats my hand away before her mouth breaks out into a wide grin. Her cheeks tint slightly, and she looks away, her blonde hair falling over her face like curtains. "I knew it." I mumble, taking the basket from her and placing the items we bought on the till.

Just as Leona takes out her money, I quickly pull out my card, shoving in front of her.

"Hey!" She says, trying to get in front of me. The shopkeeper stares at the both of us, a small smile on her face. "I'm paying for it, Preece!"

"Not anymore, it seems." I say, paying for the snacks and shoving them in the bags. "Sucks to suck, I guess."

"I could have paid for it. I had the money." She says, taking a bag from me and walking out of the shop with me. I follow after her, unlocking my car and throwing the bags into the backseats.

"Save it for a rainy day." I tell her, getting into the car. Leona follows after me. "You see, Alana, you didn't get to it quick enough. That's your weakness."

"You know..." Leona says, leaning her head against the window as I reverse out of the car park. "For someone so smart, you really say the dumbest shit." Leona crosses her arms over her chest, and looks out of the window. I find myself smiling at her side profile.

For someone so smart. I find it weird how Leona tends to casually point out that I'm smart. I've noticed that she does it quite a lot, as well. At any given moment, she could just say the randomest things, but it would make sense coming out of her mouth. I guess that's what I like about her. She's stubborn and arrogant and harsh and moody and pretty and unintentionally funny and sarcastic. One of a kind.

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