Living With My Crush - Leonetta

[18]

With much excitement, Leon enters his criminal law course. It's still early, almost twenty minutes before class actually starts. He spies Lara already sitting inside with her notebook open. He skips his way over, a huge grin on his face.

"Guess what?" He chirps, tapping his hand on the desk. She looks up at him with unimpressed eyes, shrugging as she returns to her notes. "Oh come on, guess." Another shrug. "Party pooper." A laugh escapes and she throws a hand over her mouth to cover it up. Leon waits expectantly until she's rolling her eyes and closing the notebook.

"Fine, I give. What is it?"

"I told you to guess." She feigns thought, rubbing her chin as if she were deeply struggling.

"Bet it has something to do with Violetta." Leon nods.

"You would be right." Her face hardens. Still, she manages a small smile; one Leon has suddenly been accustomed to.

"Ah." She goes to open her notebook again, but second guesses herself and closes it shut. Her entire body faces away from Leon as she stares him in the eye. "I suppose you two are dating?" Leon nods uneasily, not sure why her behavior is so cold. She huffs. Leaning back in her chair, she presses her lips together in a frown. "What she admitted to liking you now? Whoop-de-do." She throws her hand in mock lasso and Leon inclines away in shock.

"Did I say something wrong?" She begins to shake her head before abruptly stopping.

"No- it's just-" The professor interrupts them from saying anything else. Lara whispers to him, "Let's talk after class."

Time could not go fast enough. Leon was constantly shaking his leg as he waited for class to end. The minute it did, Leon was standing up, having to wait for Lara as she collected her things. Once her last notebook was in her hand, she leads a very much awaiting Leon down to the mess hall.

"So what was it you wanted to tell me?" Leon probes, dropping his bag behind him as he pulls up a chair. Lara doesn't sit which is odd, but Leon doesn't comment.

"I- have to confess something... I wasn't being entirely honest the other day." Leon's eyebrows furrow in bewilderment.

"About what?" She fists her hands, seemingly frustrated.

"Liking you!" She shouts. She visibly deflates. Realizing where they are, she lowers her voice. "I lied when I said I didn't like you. The truth is... I fell for you the very first day. But then you mentioned Violetta and I realized how in love with her you still were so I stayed out of it. I shouldn't have because now you're dating her and I don't like it." She's panting and Leon can see tears building in her eyes. This was the exact thing he wanted to avoid. "I have to go." Leon watches as she rushes out of the room and he doesn't even try to go after her. He's overwhelmed. Very overwhelmed.

He sits in the mess hall for much longer than he should, probably missing a class because of it. It's not like he would have paid attention anyway. His mind was on Lara's confession. After all this time, it turned out Andres had been right all along. She had been into him. Still is into him. He shakes his head because this cannot be happening, not when things were finally going right.

When he finally manages to leave, the sky is dark and Leon is only realizing now how late it must be. He doesn't want to go back to his dorm yet, worried what he might say to Violetta. He doesn't think it'll sit well with her that someone else has her sights set on him.

"Leon!" Thankful for a distraction, Leon turns around to be faced with Federico who is smiling wide at him. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"It's been kind of a crazy day." He admits, walking alongside Federico.

"Crazy huh? What happened?" Leon considers not answering, however, his mind is changed when he realizes talking to Federico might actually be of some use.

"I don't think you've ever met her, but I have this friend. Her name is Lara. She told me she- uh- liked me today and I don't really know what to do about it. Violetta and I are just starting out and this has to go and happen." He sighs; sitting on the small wall surrounded a tree. "Why did this have to happen?" Federico made his way around him, sitting on his right.

"Sounds like you're in a pickle." Leon scoffs and Federico apologizes. "Seriously though, I think the best thing to do is tell Violetta what happened. She might be able to help, at least more than I could. My ultimate advice would be to talk to Lara, but Violetta would probably tell you how you should go about it, just so you don't hurt Lara's feelings." Federico pats him on the back and excuses himself, telling him he's off for the day.

"I thought you just got here?"

"No, I was actually leaving when I caught you. I was visiting Violetta earlier." He waves, heading away from the dorms. "See you later." Leon remains on the wall for a while longer, continuously thinking about how he's going to talk Violetta and Lara. His head starts to hurt because of it.

The starry sky reminds Leon that it is late and he should get back, so he stands from his perch, giving one last deep breath before he's going to face the music.

"Can we talk?" Violetta glances up from her computer. She nods and Leon heads over to her bed. "Something happened today." When Violetta only stares, Leon carries on. "Do you remember that girl you met, the one in the library?" She shuts her laptop as she thinks about it.

"The one that came up to you when you were helping me? Yeah, I remember her."

"She told me something today and I think you might feel weird about it. I know I feel weird about it." She seems confused as she tucks her knees into her chest, gazing up at Leon as she waits for him to tell her. "She admitted to liking me."