The Broken Girl and The Golden Boy

Confessions at the Lake

Chapter 20: Justin

"Ready for your date, Justin?" Leo taunted me from the doorway of my room. He hadn't stopped messing with me since this morning when I'd told him I was going out with Piper. Yeah, I probably could've worded it better.

"Shut it, Leo!" I groaned. I was nervous enough without him putting in his two cents.

"You said it was a date," he pointed out.

"No, I didn't," I responded, "I said we were going ou-"

"Aha!" he cried triumphantly, "And going out is a synonym for dating, isn't it?"

"Well, yeah... but, no, urgh!" I replied, "Just shut-up, Leo!"

"You're just mad because I'm right," he grinned. I crossed my arms and glared at him, I wasn't about to say anything else that he could twist and use against me.

"Ha!" he crowed, his grin stretching even wider, "So I am right! You're not even denying it!" Shit! He was even using my refusal to answer against me! The evil little bastard.

"No! I never said that!" I exclaimed.

"But you didn't not say it either," he - I kid you not - cackled evilly and added, "So if you're not going on a date with her, you at least want to." I kept my mouth shut for an entirely different reason this time. I really couldn't deny it, because it was kind of true.

"Do you get a kick out of pestering me?" I asked wearily.

"You know, I actually kind of do," he answered with a smirk. I reached behind me for my pillow. Unfortunately, he knew what I was planning so he stuck his tongue out and scrambled away before I could throw it at him. What a shame.

With a sigh, I went downstairs to grab all of the test tubes, labels, the bacteria-sensing serum and a fresh sample of pool water. The truth is, we didn't really need the second set of data, I was positive our results from the initial tests were fine. But I needed to get Piper alone so I could tell her how I felt about her. So in a way, the lake trip was a date. Piper just didn't know that - and Leo definitely didn't need to know. That was why I was bringing one other thing on the trip, that had nothing to do with the project. A picnic basket. I made a bunch of food while Leo wasn't paying attention and stuck it in there. Cheesy, I know.

After I stuck all of the gear and the basket in the back of my car, I hopped in the front seat and pulled out of the driveway. The whole time, Leo watched me from the front window, grinning like a madman.

A little while later, I pulled up in front of the Breen house. Before I got the chance to go up to the door, Piper came tramping out the door. I felt an unexpected surge of happiness knowing that she'd been waiting for me.

"Hey, Justin," she greeted me with a smile as she made her way down the driveway. She was looking a lot better today. The cuts on her face had been gone for a long time - I still don't know how she'd managed that - and the bruise on her face had finally faded enough that she didn't have to wear make-up to cover it up. She was walking easier, too. Not that she ever complained, but I could usually tell when her ribs were bothering her.

"Hi, Piper," I replied, leaning over to open up the passenger door for her. She got in and closed the door behind her with her good hand. Which reminded me...

"So when are they taking the cast off?" I asked as I started the car and backed out of her driveway.

"It's been... a little less than five weeks, right?" she said, "So they'll be taking it off in about a week. It'll be nice to finally go back to work. I'm kind of surprised that they let me keep my job at all, but Jamie apparently put in a good word for me and I rarely take a sick day, so there's that..."