His Guilty Pleasure (FIRST DRAFT)

The Hamptons (2)

GABBY

The next day Leo is at home again. Bianca, Haley, and Kurt went surfing but I can't even stay up on my own two feet on land most of the time, so I don't want to take my chances in water. Especially with the threat of sharks. Janice and Mrs. Hamilton went shopping, so I thought I was home alone, but here is Leo in all his glory sitting on the olive green couch in front of me.

"Sit." Leo commands once he spots me. I've tried to turn and leave the room as quietly as possible, but Leo must have a sixth sense or something because he speaks up before I can take even two steps.

"You can't tell me what to do." I whirl around, but I find myself walking to the couch and sitting.

"I'm sorry, Gabby. For how I've been treating you these last few years. I only say that kind of shit because that's how you get popular."

"Stop." I hold up my hand. "Do you even hear yourself? You put me, someone who had never done anything to you, down so you could propel up to the top of the food chain. You can't apologize for something like that. You just can't, Leo."

He sits there for a while, just staring at me. He searches my eyes, his brow furrowed, biting his bottom lip. I memorize every feature of his face because as much as I hate him for being an asshole to me, he is a very gorgeous asshole.

"I was fat." He finally speaks up, like this revelation will make me all of the sudden kneel and kiss his feet. "In junior high. Not really fat, only a little, but people teased me. The eighth graders used to push me in lockers, only, I wouldn't fit. They called me Fat Leo. Eighth graders aren't very creative. Once I got hot freshman year the girls started noticing me but the guys...anyways, sophomore year, when I moved from Cali to New York and I switched schools, no one knew me as a fat kid. I'd gotten fit, I was hot. But panic set in when I got here. I still had that fat kid in me, and he was scared of being at the bottom again. So I figured if I found a different target for everyone to focus on, it'd never be me again."

I'm silent. I'm stupified. No way was Leo Hamilton, sex on legs, ever fat. It couldn't be. It doesn't make me hate him any less, bullied or not he can't just be mean to people, but at least now we have common ground. Maybe I could work towards forgiving him. Maybe.

"That sucks." I finally say. "It's no excuse, though."

"I know." He frowns. "I just wanted you to know that I didn't do it because I think you're lesser or anything. It was me or you and I was a dumb sophomore and I picked me."

"It wasn't me or you, though! As soon as you walked in you were the hottest guy in school! You had girls falling at your feet! Guys inviting you to parties! No one would have picked on you! You didn't have to throw me under the bus."

"I didn't think, Gabby. I felt like I still was that fat seventh grader. I still thought like that fat seventh grader. And you were the only remotely chubby person I knew of, so I threw you under the bus. I'm sorry."

"I am so goddamned tired of sorry." I whisper, before bolting out of the room.

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That night Mrs. Hamilton decides we should go out to town and get dinner. Janice halfheartedly agrees. She's been extra grumpy lately. I think she misses dad.

Everyone goes to their rooms to change. I pick out a yellow sundress and try it on. Then I take it off. It makes my arms look even more massive than they already are. I try a white blouse and jeans and then take that outfit off too. The blouse makes me look like a marshmallow and the jeans show off my lack of a thigh gap. I settle for a pink minidress that might be a little too revealing for a night in the Hamptons, but it's what I feel the best in. It's tight in the chest and some of my waist area and then poofs out a bit. I get some white flats and then decide to curl my hair in loose waves. I put on fake eyelashes and light pink lipstick. Usually, my best friend, Camille, does my makeup because she's so much better at it, but I actually do pretty well on my own tonight. I look sweet but sultry. So far I've lost five pounds this summer simply by going outside more, so I look a little better. Not skinny by any means though. Still Flabby Gabby.

Janice knocks on the door and yells that it's time to go. I roll my eyes and apply a few touch-ups before rushing down the large imperial staircase that was designed for luxurious extravaganzas. I feel like Cinderella, running down the stairs, only I luckily don't lose a shoe in my descent.

We split up into two cars, me and the girls in Janice's Range Rover and Leo drives Kurt in his Porsche.

"Where are we going?" Bianca questions, but Janice and Mrs. Hamilton only share a secretive smile in response. The drive there isn't too long, and soon enough we reach our apparent destination.

"What?" Haley questions when we pull up in front of a ginormous yacht.

"This is Leo's." Mrs. Hamilton grins. "He got it for his sweet sixteen, right when we moved to New York. We thought it would be fun to put the kitchen to use for once."

Simultaneously, all six of us turn to look at the handsome, tan boy smiling sheepishly. Of course he has a yacht. Of freaking course. He is a living, breathing cliche. Rich, handsome, athletic, smart, total asshole...

Janice claps her hands together enthusiastically. "Who likes seafood?!"

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After dinner, the Captain sets sail. Slowly the boat begins to move. Bianca and Haley go downstairs into one of the boat's bedrooms because they get "seasick." I think they're just avoiding Leo after he broke their hearts. Kurt follows the two of them. Janice and Mrs. Hamilton sip on some expensive wine at the front of the yacht on the lower deck so I go up to the very top. The view is breathtaking, all white and shiny and there are beach chairs set up to look out at the ocean. I sit in one of the very front ones so I can watch the boat cut through the water gracefully and maybe spot a dolphin or two. I'm so immersed in my search for sea creatures that I don't hear someone sneak up from behind me. Two hands are pressed into my eyes and a large finger accidentally pokes my iris.

"Ow!" I howl, jerking away from the mystery hands. I rub my eye furiously, forgetting I wore makeup. "Oh, God!" I moan when I pull my hand away and see the black mascara stains.

"Peek-a-boo!" Leo smiles but his eyes widen when I turn to face him. Then he doubles over in howling laughter.

"You sound like a hyena." I pout, rolling my eyes. When he still doesn't let up from his cackles, I give him a gentle kick. He stands at his full six five height and smiles. I don't think I've ever seen him smile before. I've seen mean smirks when he gives a particularly clever insult, or seductive smirks for the ladies, but never a real smile. It's beautiful.

I shouldn't be thinking about it.

"You look like a raccoon." Leo beams.

"Thanks to you." I roll my eye good eye, keeping the poked one shut and give in to the itching feeling, rubbing it some more. Leo plops down in the chair next to me.

"Have you ever been on a boy's yacht?" Leo questions, leaning so close I can smell his minty breath. "Or am I your first?"

"You're my first." I say and then, once he starts laughing, my eyes widen when I realize what I just said. "Obviously I didn't mean it in a dirty way, Leo, so it's not even that funny."

"It is, though." He wipes a stray tear away from laughing so hard. His perfect, bright, white teeth are in full display.

"You're twelve."

"I'm eighteen in August, darling."

"You could just say in two months."

"I could."

"Why am I talking to you? I still hate you." I frown and then his face falls.

"You look beautiful tonight, Gabrielle. I've wanted to say that all night. You look absolutely ravishing." He stands and walks towards the stairs. Before he descends them, he turns back and winks. "Even with your raccoon eyes."

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