𝐅𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐄𝐑| 𝐋.𝐂.

35: Replacements

"Don't these guys have anything more important to cover then this school?" I hear Leo say, reading off his Louie screen and I sigh.

"Hey, cheer up." Alex says, feeding me a piece of fruit on a spoon.

"Stop." I chuckle as he keeps moving it toward me and I laugh.

"Hey, Carter. How's Brooke?" Sophie asks as he sits next to her.

"She's been better." Carter tells her and she nods.

"I feel awful." Sophie sighs.

"Well, you should. This is really all your fault. You didn't even fall off that cliff. You just used that I almost died excuse while invincible girl over there, saved you." Becca says, putting some salt on her food.

"No, it's not, Becca. And I wouldn't have been in that situation if you hadn't been petty and stole our iodine pills. I admit, I was wrong for drinking that water but I took one for the team. And Sophie made her choice, and I respect it. Even though I may not agree with it. And I love Louis just as much as anyone, but he made his decision, and now he needs to live with the consequences. It's what he's been teaching us since the day we got here." I say and a Louie goes off.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Guys, my dad just texted. He's on the Greenhouse board of directors. He said they've already come up with a list of potential replacements for Louis." Parker says.

"Now we know how you got into this school." Becca says, swirling her drink around and I clench my jaw.

"Hmm, funny. You wanna hear this or not?" Parker tells her.

"Fine." Becca scoffs at him.

"Alright, so, there's that one guy, Roger..."

"Roger Cupertino?" Max says.

"Yeah." Parker says.

"He's a legend." Max grimaces.

"Who dropped out of high school." Daniel says.

"But, he's a bazillionaire." Emma says.

"That's doesn't make him a good headmaster. Neither does someone who's practically our age and skateboards to work." Leo tells her.

"Face it guys, things are gonna change here." Alex says.

"Yeah, I mean, it's not like the new headmaster is just gonna fall out of the sky or something." I say and Hayley chuckles.

"Right." Daniel says.

"Wait. Valerie, you're a genius." Carter says, looking at me.

"What?" I ask.

"Someone did fall out of the sky. I gotta go talk to Louis." He says, getting up from his seat.

"What are you talking about?" I tell him and he just grabs my shoulders and kisses me on the cheek and I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

||

"I wanna thank you all for being here. I have a few things I wanna say. First, I wanna tell Sophie how proud I am of you, for your brave choice. I know a lot of you were trying to protect me, but Sophie taught us all what a leader does. Most of all, she taught me. Thank you, Sophie. Secondly, I wanna talk about my replacement." Louis says.

"No one can replace you, Lou." Parker says and we chuckle.

"I have to admit, I didn't like the names that were being thrown around out there. But then Carter came up with the perfect solution. I've just offered the job to Valerie and Carter's mom, Stacy Ramirez." Louis says and my face drops.

"What?" I say, jaw dropping.

"Our most famous and esteemed alumnus, and someone I have no doubt will continue the vision I have for you here at the Greenhouse." Louis says.

"That's a great idea." Alex says.

"Yeah. Will the Greenhouse board approve?" Sophie asks.

"I don't see how someone can say no to an American hero, do you?" Louis says and everyone chuckles.

"That's so great. Your mom will make the best headmaster." Sophie says to me.

"Yeah." I slowly trail off, looking down at the floor and I can sense Carter's eyes on me.

"And finally, I wanna end a difficult day with a sense of optimism. Looking forward, not backwards. Parker, would you bring york turntables down here?" Louis asks him.

"Hey, you trying to go out with a bang." Parker tells him and everyone cheers.

"I think we all need a little something to lift our spirits, and I would like a farewell party." Louis grins at us.

"I can't do this." I mutter to Alex as I walk off.

||

"Hey, you're missing the party. Wait...Val?" I hear a voice say and I quickly wipe my eyes.

"What are you doing here, Leo?" I say, looking away from him.

"I just wanted to find some extra stuff in one of the rooms an then I heard sniffling." Leo says.

"Congrats, you found your stuff." I scoff.

"You ran off earlier. What happened?" He asks, walking closer to me.

"Nothing, Cruz. Just go back to the party with Becca." I sniffle.

"I'm gonna find out eventually, Ramirez." He shrugs at me.

"I just spoke to my mom on the phone, she's packing up already."

"So, that's a good thing. Your mom is gonna be a great head master." Leo says, taking a seat next to me on the floor.

"Leo, the last time my mom was a student here, she bursted into flames up in the sky. Then she was hiding in a cave for a full year here. And I didn't know until a month ago that she was alive all this time. I don't want anything like that to happen to her again. I wanna keep her as far away as I can from the Greenhouse." I sniffle.

"Listen to me, nothing like is never gonna happen, okay? She's be sitting in that office, safe and secured with you, Carter and your dad by her side at all times." He says, putting his hand over my knees that are pulled up to my chest.

"Don't make promises you can't keep, Leo. I want her to work and all but, just here. It gives an uneasy feeling in my stomach. It's like I can already tell something is gonna go wrong." I say.

"That's your anxiety, Valerie. You're getting too much in your head. Just see how your mom is doing after the first day and then talk to her if you still feel this way." He says.

"Why do you always know what to say?" I admit, leaning my head back.

"Because I know you, Valerie. You care too much for everyone else. You even drank dirty water for your brother and saved Sophie from falling off that cliff." He says and I chuckle.

"That was heroic. That was just me being me, I guess." I say, fiddling with my hands.

"Hey, don't cry." Leo says, picking my head with a hand under his chin.

"I thought I was a pretty cryer?" I tell him.

"You are, Ramirez. I still live by that statement. But it's the sad kind of pretty." He says and I chuckle.

"Why are you being so nice to me? We're supposed to be hating each other." I say and he scoffs.

"C'mon, let's go back to the party." Leo says, standing up and hold his hand out.

"Okay." I nod, wiping under my eyes.

Maybe Leo is right.