𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑| 𝐋.𝐂.

17: Honesty

"Oh, you really got that guy!" I hear Aspen tell Jackie.

Did she really have to stay here? And why can't I just read in fucking peace?

"Watch out! There's a bad guy. Behind that tree!" Aspen says as she leans on the edge of the couch.

Jackie and I share a quick look and I roll my eyes, returning to my book.

"Jackie, are going to-"

"Do you mind?" Jackie snaps at her.

"Yeah. Trying to read here." I tell Aspen, motioning my book up to her.

"Alright, then." Aspen nods.

I sense her walk over to me and I'm already mentally slamming my head against the wall.

"So, Valerie. I heard about your little smooch with Alex Woods, captain of the Eagles." She says and everyone goes quiet.

"And who'd you hear that from?" I ask, looking up at her.

"I saw you both." She informs me.

"And why do you fucking care? So what if we did? Mind your damn business." I snap, getting up from couch, ignoring Leo's stare on me.

"Everybody, I need your help!" Max says, running over to us.

"Is everything okay?" Leo asks.

"No, it's a disaster! My warcraft guild is stuck in a cage and the only way to unlock it is to answer this riddle which none of us can answer! I can't even answer it." Max says in a panicking voice.

"Max, it's so much worse than I imagined!" Leo sarcastically says to him.

"I know!" He responds back at him.

"I can help! I love riddles! " Aspen chirps and Jackie and I share another look.

"Great! It goes like this. Who are the three who fell asleep in Amsterdam and wake up in Paris?" Max says to her.

"Alright, so, the Three Musketeers? Oh, but they're French." Aspen says.

I roll my eyes as she takes out her phone.

"Alright, so Paris is about four hundred miles away from Amsterdam, they're both capital cities..." Aspen trails off.

"Emma would've loved this riddle." Max says to Jackie.

"I already hate it." She responds, still focusing on her video game.

"The government in Holland is in the Hague. Which they pronounce as Den Haag! The tulips, the tulips in Holland!" Aspen says as she sets a globe down on the table.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Jackie says.

"At least I'm trying." Aspen snaps at her.

"At least she's not a try hard." I say to Aspen and her face drops as Jackie gives me a fist bump.

"Leo, come on. You're on my team, yeah? C'mon, help me!" Aspen says, walking over to him.

"Let's pitch in, guys. Uh, we're the Ravens, right? We can solve this thing." Leo shrugs as Aspen pulls him out of his seat.

"I can't fucking focus." I mutter as I get off the couch once again and head toward Hayley's bed that she lets me hangout on.

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"We need to talk." Leo says, who has been sitting silently beside me on a chair for the last five minutes.

"Fine. Talk." I say, flipping to the next page of my book.

"This is hard." He breathes.

"You poor thing." I sarcastically sigh, still focusing on my book.

"What I'm trying say is, I wasn't honest with you. I know that. I meant to tell you about her, but there never seemed to be the right time to bring it up. And then things got complicated after you kissed me and-"

"After I kissed you?" I question, finally looking at him.

"After we kissed." He corrects himself and I nod, shifting my eyes back to my book.

"Mmm." I say, wanting him to continue on.

"I guess I was just afraid of telling you cause I thought it would ruin everything, and then, of course-"

"Hang on, Leo. Everything is cool. So we kissed. That happens between friends and it's fine." I say to him.

"Like with you and Alex?" He says, looking at me but ignore his question for now.

"You have a girlfriend from London and she sings and makes you cookies. And it's cool." I shrug at him.

"You're not mad at me?" He says.

"No." I shrug again, raising my eyebrows at him.

"Okay." He confusingly says.

"I mean, I was a bit surprised to find out about it at first, but I got over it. And it's no biggie. Everything's fine." I slightly grin, going back to my book.

"So, we're cool?" Leo says.

"Yeah, we're cool." I nod at him.

He then gets up from the chair and leaves. Once I hear his footsteps fade away, I blink a few times to stop the tears from rolling down my face.

He didn't even fight for us. Now I've seen his true colors.