Living With My Crush - Leonetta

[12]

It's been a quiet sort of week for Leon. Hours turned to days as Leon was solely focused on school work. His classes would all mesh together in his head as they days passed, mind everywhere as the school year progresses. He'd chat with Violetta for a minute or two in passing, as he was grabbing a book or notes from the room, then leaving to the library. He would sit in there for some hours, a water bottle at his side to keep hydrated. Reading and studying, a routine for pretty much the whole week. A quiet week indeed.

His quiet week ended the following Monday, when instead of avoiding the situation, Lara confronted it head on. She appeared before Leon on his way to his afternoon class, completely ambushing him in the hall. She tugged his arm, him complaining that he would be late to class because of whatever it is she was doing. She assured him it would be quick and led him outside, to a mildly deserted walkway. There was a beat where she simply stood there, tapping her foot and holding her hands in front of her.

"I think we should talk." She says, not bothering to look at him. Her behavior is odd for Leon, not used to seeing her so shy or vulnerable. It's almost like she's in pain, like she can't stand the idea of talking this out, though she knows she has to.

"Okay." It's his best response. Lara is the one who wants to talk and he's going to let her take the lead.

"First of all, sorry for ignoring you. I had some things I needed to figure out. " Her hands fumble in front of her before she clasps them behind her, away from Leon's prying eyes. Leon isn't sure where this conversation will go, what it could possibly lead to, but he hopes it doesn't go bad.

"It's fine." She finally glances up at that, her eyes wild for some reason, almost angry. Leon can't understand what is going through her head. Her moods are changing a mile a minute.

"It's not fine, Leon. I was rude. I didn't consider your feelings at all. I shouldn't have left you like that without an explanation." Leon thinks she might be overreacting just a bit, but considering how she left him without a word, it's possible she has a tendency of such. Leon smiles gently at her, telling her it's not that big of a deal, yet her head falls in regret. "I really should explain myself."

"Go ahead." The minutes are ticking down and the invisible timer in his head is reminding him they only have so long. He waits though, not wanting to rush whatever it is she has to say, for fear of causing her to ignore him again.

"When you said that I had feelings for you, it caught me off guard, which is why I ran. Things just got a bit awkward and I didn't know what else to say, so I left, and somehow decided not talking to you was going to help ease the awkwardness. It didn't."

"I knew I made things awkward!" Leon exclaims, covering his eyes in embarrassment. "I shouldn't have assumed things like that because my friend said some stuff. I mean we've only really known each other for like a week, you couldn't possibly like me." The more he speaks, the more her expression seems to fall, her eyes going to that blank state. No emotions shine through and it has Leon a little on edge about their current situation. He didn't mess up again, did he?

"No, you're right. I mean it's too soon for me to have caught feelings for you, not like I did. I didn't- there's no feelings here." Her smile is false, Leon can tell because she gives that smile to the teacher all the time and she's never her true self in class. It's unsettling and he's not sure why she's like this.

"That's good then or else it would have probably hurt you if I told you I came to the conclusion that I'm still pretty much in love with Violetta." Silence. The words register in her brain and she does it again, she fake smiles.

"So you still like your roommate, that's- uh- great, good that you realized that." She crosses her arms, nodding along a little too enthusiastically. Every action makes Leon want to stop talking or maybe ask what's bothering her, but it's too soon, He doubts he'll get an honest answer anyway.

"Yeah, I almost thought I didn't have a chance to until her cousin told me I should just go for it." She nods again, breaking whatever eye contact they had before. Her leg starts to bounce as she glances at her phone, lips in a tight smile.

"We should get to class." Not even bothering to wait for him, Lara jogs off, Leon wanting to go after her. Again, she's done it again. She just left. At least it wasn't as bad as the last time.

The way she was acting was different to Leon, nothing like the Lara he once knew. It's almost as if she's a completely different person and Leon did not like it. He misses her loud storytelling and quiet giggles. He misses her real smile and her confident attitude. The Lara he just spoke to was like a different version of her, a version Leon has never had the chance of fully meeting because that was the character she used with everyone else. She had always been herself around him, what changed? He wished He knew.

He makes it just on time, falling into the seat beside Lara as it is the closest one to the door. Leon hopes that this is okay, that this isn't something that somehow crosses the line that Lara had apparently put between them before. Lara graces him with a small smile, much more than she did the last time and Leon thinks that this time around, things might just be fine.