treacherous || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 1: Ava

It was the first day of high school, and I was beyond nervous. None of my friends had been transferred to the same building, so I was on my own. I was naturally a quiet person, which just made the situation worse. I made an effort though as I put on my dandelion yellow sweater that complimented me, tucking it into my blue jeans. I then pulled on my navy blue sneakers, before straightening my wavy, dark auburn hair. I parted it directly in the middle before going on to applying my makeup. I puffed out my cheeks before sighing enough that it made a loose strand of my hair move. I hated how my face was full of freckles, just grateful that I was able to mask it with makeup. I used my thick foundation to hide every single one, only adding a black coat of mascara along with natural looking pink lipstick after. I grabbed my light pink backpack with little flowers in a darker shade all over it before heading out the door. I always walked to school, since I lived in L.A., the weather nice most of the time. The new institution seemed intimidating as I stared up at its looming walls, deciding to just bravely enter to find my locker. After a slow and painful morning, it was finally time for my favorite class, English. I aspired to be a writer one day, already crafting dozens of poems.

I mostly tried to avoid anyone's gaze as my social anxiety gnawed at me, but then a voice spoke up, and I realized they were talking to me.

"Is this seat taken?" I lifted my eyes to see a boy with blonde brown hair parted in the middle, and a pair of striking blue eyes.

"No," I answered quietly, already mentally screaming at myself for not knowing how to act natural around people. I was already clawing at the inside of my palm with my opposite hand, almost using my hair as a shield.

"I'm Leo. I just moved here from New York." He kept looking at me expectedly as it dawned on me what he wanted.

"Oh! I'm Avery."

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Avery," he half smiled, stealing my already nonexistent breath.

"You too," I shot out before the teacher started class. The entire time I had to fight not to look over at the gorgeous boy beside me, relieved when the bell rang.

I gathered my things, but he seemed to be waiting for me.

"What class you have next," he wondered.

"Science. Chemistry actually." I blushed from the subject, and how it was what I hoped would happen between me and Leo.

"Me too," he positively replied, his eyes lighting up. "That's actually my favorite class. I love doing the experiments." His entire demeanor changed as he passionately talked.

"English is my favorite class. I write a lot..."

"That's cool. Hey, you want to sit together in science too?"

"Sure." I already felt the corners of my mouth twitching upwards with no warning. Leo was kind and adorable and sweet, and already had my stomach feeling like mush in the best way.

When the end of the day arrived, I couldn't help but smile the entire walk home, just thinking about the new boy I met. I was in such a good mood that I decided to go down to the beach that evening to watch the sunset. It was one of my favorite places to witness the vibrant colors that would splash across the sky. I pulled my hair up into a ballerina bun, pulling out a few wispy strands of hair to frame my face. After that I went ahead and left the house, going over to the metal fence that was by the special sidewalk for skateboards and rollerblades. I guess someone else had the same idea, because I saw a shadowy figure, smoke flying from where they stood, leaning back on the fence. I was wary at first, not wanting to be running into a dangerous person, but then my eyes widened when I realized it was Leo.

"Hey," I greeted, ignoring my fast paced heart.

"Hey," he casually responded, taking another puff. "You want one?" He held out the package, but I shook my head, politely declining his offer.

"No thanks. I don't smoke."

"That's cool," he shrugged, shoving the small box back into his pants' pocket.

"No offense, but I didn't think you seemed like the type that smoked."

"Yeah, well I'm not usually into that preppy shit either, but I promised my mom I would act different if we moved here."

"What was life like in New York," I quietly wondered.

"I was always getting in trouble in school. That principal was total bullshit. He always had it in for me, so I just stopped trying." He squinted in concentration as he stared into a memory in the distance, blowing out more smoke. "I used to be on the basketball team, but I got kicked off of that too. I beat up some kid who insulted my mom. He deserved it."

A chill ran down my spine from this new information, except it just made me more intrigued with how Leo could handle fights.

"You probably shouldn't be hanging out with me. This new act probably won't last long," he claimed, his cigarette almost a stub at this point.

"I don't mind. It's not like I have any friends at school anymore."

"What happened," he inquired, looking over at me. He genuinely seemed interested, which warmed my heart.

"They just didn't move on to the high school with me, and we fell out of touch. I'm not sure how great of friends they were to begin with, to be honest."

"That sucks."

"Tell me about it. Did you have any friends back home?"

He snorted before discarding his cigarette, stomping it out on the ground. "None that I would consider real friends. They all wanted something from me, but then would turn around and betray me behind my back."

"I'm sorry," I genuinely told him.

"It's okay. It just made me realize you can't trust anyone, only yourself." He sounded a bit bitter as he said that, causing me to grow sad, especially since I could relate to that in a way.

"I better be going. My mom's making dinner," Leo shared, hopping off the fence.

"Yeah, same here," I reacted, turning to leave, but then he spoke up again.

"Ava? Can I call you, Ava?"

I smiled faintly since rarely anyone called me that, hiding how joyful I was as I turned to face him. "Yeah."

He smiled a little himself before we both went our separate ways, my heart still soaring.

A/N: Hey guys, this is my first Leonardo DiCaprio book. I hope you enjoyed this first chapter. Please remember to comment, vote, and follow if you did. Thanks! <3 Also the title of this book and quote are from Taylor Swift's song, "Treacherous."  And this story is set in the 1990s. <3