Christobel

Chapter 2

Leo

Leo only had to look at Bel once to decide his sister had been right - her new friend really was like the tabby cat that used to live in their backyard. The buzzcut was bad, but Leo kind of liked the way the boy wore it, the short strands almost seeming to bristle whenever anyone got too close. Even from a distance, Leo could see that his eyes were a piercing green.

Subconsciously, he fixed his bangs over his right eye.

Lei stood out on the lacrosse field with Bel, her hands on her hips as she argued with the coach. Leo didn't have to be there to know she was trying to get justice for her newfound friend. He could tell by the way she leaned heavily to the right, hip thrust out, that she was putting up a nasty fight. He wondered what it was about Bel that made Lei like him so much.

The redhead was standing with his hands shoved deep in his pockets, looking out at the field as if there was something he'd lost inside of it. His expression said he didn't care, but his shoulders were hunched, as if shielding him from whatever was coming. He was defensive, almost beaten.

Like that tabby cat.

Leo placed his elbow on the windowsill, resting his chin on his palm. "What have you lost, kitty cat?"

Bel

Bel was no stranger to detention. In fact, he was pretty sure he'd spent more time serving In School Suspension than actually in class. Detention with Lei though was different. For one, he was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be fun, but it was.

Lei Kao was a tiny, wild, beautiful thing, full of soothing energy that made his nerves rest without feeling threatened. She reminded him of water; like a thunderstorm in the horizon just waiting to happen, a threatening sound with the promise of a soothing shower.

The volcano explosion they'd made apparently "defied safety procedures." Mr. Rogers had not been pleased as he begrudgingly granted them the "A" alongside the detention slip.

Since then, they'd been cursed to clean the furniture in the commons, the washrooms in the library, the dishes in the dining hall. Bel was awful with a broom, even worse with a mop. Lei did not seem to fare any better, as she tripped every couple of steps. They were pretty sure they were making just as many messes as they were "cleaning up."

The shock in Lei's mismatched eyes when he'd blown subsy bubbles into her face was well worth the water fight that had ensued, and the thought of it still tugged a reluctant smile on the edges of his mouth. Two more days added to their sentence did not bother him in the least. Bel could not remember the last time he'd had this much fun, or at the very least, enjoyed having company.

One particular evening, Lei had asked him what he liked. Without thinking, Bel had responded with "Snakes."

Lei had leveled him with a look and repeated the question in the form of school related activities. Truth was, Bel didn't like much of anything. Except lacrosse. His behavior had kept him off the team since his first year of junior high, and it was probably the only thing he'd ever regretted. He was not one for militaristic discipline, but the brutal, vicious, rough drills of lacrosse appealed to him.

Bel thought of how Lei had argued with the coach to try and get him a late tryout. She was defiant, sharp, even political; he was sure she was going to pull rank on the coach somehow. He hated the thought, but sometimes he had a feeling that Lei would really succeed in the military if she were ever to join. There was something so strong in her that sometimes Bel thought, if he'd had a little of her in his life sooner, maybe things wouldn't have been so bad before.