She Was Ugly

Chapter 18: The Answer

I looked from Leo to Via to Leo to Via and back to Leo. What am I supposed to say? That I was in a car crash 4 years ago and my brother's dead and it's all my fault? I can't tell him the truth.

If I tell him the truth, then he will look at me with pity and I've had enough of that look. Back when the accident first happened, the news kept blaming my brother. Saying stuff like he was intoxicated, high, or both and purposefully drove into the other lane, killing a mother.

The media got so crazy that I couldn't even leave my house. I hated it. Whenever I did leave they followed me everywhere, trying to get me to admit that my brother was drunk or high. But I knew the truth. He wasn't.

When the autopsy report came back on cause of death it was blunt force injury to the head and there was no drugs or alcohol in his system, but the media never learned the truth.

If I tell Leo he would start doing research to find out how exactly it happened and then he would blame me for asking my brother to pick me up and causing the accident.

"I was in a car crash 4 years ago."

That's all I said. I grabbed Via's arm and pulled her away from Leo and towards our locker. "That was the worst thing ever," I whispered. Leo was still watching us and I didn't want him to hear our conversation. "How does he even know about your scar?" Via asked.

"Last night my window was open and I got up to stretch and my shirt came up a little bit. I guess he happened to be looking at me right at that moment."

After that, we both dropped the subject.

Talking about the scar was bringing back painful memories that I wanted to keep locked away for forever.

As we walked to class, Teddy approached us. "Hey Athena I was wondering if you wanted to go get coffee or something this weekend and talk about the decorations for Homecoming?" he asked. Teddy rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Sorry, I can't this weekend. Via and I are going shopping for our Homecoming outfits. Maybe some other time," I replied. I felt bad that I couldn't hang out with him, but I still haven't found a costume and Homecoming is in a week and a half. I like Teddy and I want to hang out with him but I'm just too busy. I also have to work on my Anatomy project this weekend too.

"Well maybe we can text our ideas because Homecoming is really soon." He sounded really eager and I figured why not. I still kind of like him so maybe this could lead somewhere.

We exchanged numbers and then Via and I went to class.

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The rest of the week was completely uneventful and before I knew it, it was Saturday and Leo was coming over.

Since we had decided on our topic for the project and done some basic research, now we need to do a little more research and then put the project together. He was coming over any minute so I was just putting everything we will need downstairs. I decided that it would be easiest for us to work in the kitchen that way if we get hungry or thirsty the fridge is right in front of us. Food is very important.

The front door opened a second later and Leo walked in. He was carrying his Anatomy textbook with him.

"Let's get started," he said.

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A couple hours later and we had finished our project. I think that it's pretty good. It's definitely worth an A. We have to present it to the class on Friday, so I'm hoping Leo shows up. He tends to stay up late and sleep in a lot, missing the first part of class. The teacher hasn't told us who will be presenting first, so I'm crossing my fingers he shows up on time.