Undercover Star

♪ Thirty-Four ♪

Leo asked Summer and I to hang out after we decorated on Tuesday. I suggested he let me hear his guitar skills, so he invited us to his house.

The hours spent in the barn were becoming too much for me. I was getting real tired of Harley's death glares. I hated the fact that he could keep me guessing who he told. I still wasn't sure if Ty knew, but I'm pretty sure that if both of them did, the whole town would too. They were the dynamic duo.

What made the whole ordeal worse was the fact that Summer and I were spending a lot more time close to each other. Harley must have assumed I hadn't told her yet. He most likely expected her to never want to see me again. I was half expecting him to confront me, but I never allowed myself to be alone in his presence.

Ty and Harley were not happy that the three of us were leaving together. I was tempted to turn around and wave, but I didn't need to give Harley another reason to ruin my life.

"I can't wait until Ty turns eighteen and moves out," Leo voiced as we left the barn. "Then I'll probably never see him again."

I couldn't tell how he felt about that, but he sure didn't seem all that upset. His bother was pretty awful; I'd probably be indifferent as well.

"He was never this bad before," Summer said gently. "Neither of them were."

"Not until he showed up," Leo replied, pointing his thumb at me and smirking.

I laughed, shaking my head slowly. "I just cause trouble everywhere."

"Don't worry," Leo said, shrugging. "Those guys go looking for trouble."

Leo led us on to a street I've never been on.

Summer smiled wistfully. "Remember we used to hold kickball games on this street?"

Leo grinned. "Those were the days. My personal favorite was when Ty got hit in the face after he was yelling about how amazing he was at the game. He was ten, and thought he'd be a kickball legend."

They laughed, and I smiled awkwardly next to them. It was one of those moments when people are talking about a memory you weren't a part of, and you had to act like you thought it was awesome. I just felt disappointed that I didn't have any childhood memories like that. Instead of kick balls, and I had to deal with paparazzi coming at me.

"Ty shouldn't be home," Leo said after they stopped laughing. He started turning into a driveway that led up to a little white house, like many of the others in town. "Harley and him probably went somewhere to vent about us. Luckily, it's just me drifting away from the group."

"Just you?" I blurted out. "They'll fall apart without you. You're the only sane one."

He waved his hand. "They don't care about sane. They're leaders, and they're intimidating."

I didn't have an argument for that. The group was creepy to say the least when I first met them. Later, they seemed just obnoxious and ruthless.

We walked up to the porch of Leo's home. He opened the door and let us inside.

While we removed our shoes, Leo rounded the corner into what looked like a living room.

"Hi Mom," I overheard him say gently as a rocking chair squealed in the background.

A soft reply came that I couldn't hear. I looked to Summer, worried we were intruding something, but she gave me a reassuring smile.

"I brought some friends over," Leo said again, before reappearing in front of us, and waving for us to follow.

We walked into a room, as I guessed, a living room. Very old fashioned furniture adorned the room. A red love seat sat in the center, and on a small coffee table sat a picture. I could barely make out the small image, but it looked like a photo of the brothers and both of their parents. A small TV sat in the corner, and to its right, a frail woman sat in her rocking chair. I faintly recognized her from church.