Mr Popular and The Assassin

Chapter 17

R I O N A

I have never been one to stay quiet. I've always been very vocal with my emotions but for some reason the thought of apologizing to Leonardo made me feel uneasy.

I know it's only right I apologise and thank him for the cupcakes but I felt a pang of shame hit me whenever I remember how I asked him to leave. I also need to know where he got those delicious snacks from, I've never had such amazing cupcakes in my life and I eat a lot of them.

When the lunch bell went off, I visited my locker which was painted the school official colors; Blue and Red.

I dropped my books inside my locker before locking it.

I'll buy just a diet Coke from the vending machine and then go to the garden.

After I finished buying, I noticed a dark shadow behind me. My first instinct was to go into attack mode but I was at school so instead as I picked up my coke, I opened it ready to pour it in someone's eyes.

"Riona," the masculine voice called and I relaxed.

I turned around to see a straight face Leonardo.

"I was just thinking about you." I informed him and he lifted his brown eyes to meet mine.

"Can we talk?" He whispered and I nodded.

"I wanted to a-"

"No, let me talk first." I interrupted then he paused. " First I'd like apologise for yesterday, it was a misunderstanding and also thank you for the cupcakes they were delicious. Then I also want us to get this assignment done quickly so we can go back to how we were before the assignment. Let's go somewhere else today and get the outing two done with." I took a deep breath after explaining.

"Oh.." He muttered with an evident look of dissatisfaction. "Okay then!" He said a second after. His eyes shining with hope.

"We can decide after school, I forgot to mention the most important rule, don't talk to me when people are present, I don't like it." I warned before leaving him in the hallway.

**

L E O N A R D O

Was I disappointed that Riona said she wants us to get done with the assignment so she can stop talking to me again? Yes, but will it stop me from trying my best? No.

Iris told me Riona doesn't do things most teenage girls do and so that's what I'm going to do for her.

After school was over, I told Keith to leave without me and stayed back in the empty classroom.

I took out my pen a piece of paper to make a list of activities I guessed teenage girls enjoyed doing.

Going to the mall, gossipping about boys to other girls, getting manicures and pedicures, taking selfies, tik tok.

I dropped my pen on the desk and lifted the paper up to review what I've written. I have never seen Riona talk to anyone except teachers, her nails are perfect and I don't see her smile often.

"Ugh... Why doesn't she like things other girls do, this is so annoying." I groaned in frustration.

My phone chimed indicating that I have received a new message.

Riona: Dude where the hell are you?! Didn't we agree to get this done today?!

My heart skipped a beat when I saw her name even before I read her message.

Me: I'll be out now.

Riona: I'm not at school, I'm at home, tell me where I should go so I can meet you there

Me: it's a surprise, can I come get you from your house?

Riona: fine

Me: I'll be there in ten

I just finished lying to Riona that where we would go would be a surprise. It's going to be one hell of a surprise to me too cause I don't know where I'm gonna take her.

My phone chimed again with a message but this time from Kara. I rolled my eyes before opening the text.

Kara: do you maybe want to go karaoke with me sometime?

Karaoke! Yes! That's a fun teenage activity!

I closed the text, put my books in my bag and went straight to my car. I asked Siri the closest karaoke place and a location popped up. I used my maps to get the location before going to Riona's house to get her.

After parking my Mercedes, I texted Riona and in about three seconds she walked out the door in a black shirt and blue skinny jeans, her brown hair in her usual ponytail and her glasses.

Are her eyes really that bad? I could ask my dad to fix an appointment with Mr Calder, my father's eye doctor for Riona.

As she entered my car, a sweet smell of Jasmine and lavender engulfed the car.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she tried to fix her seatbelt.

" I told you it's a surprise." I replied.

"I don't li... like surpris-" She groaned out of frustration and I turned to see what happened. "Your damn seatbelt doesn't work!" She groaned again before giving up.

"It does, should I help you do it?" I asked.

"It's your car, go ahead!" She answered with a slight tint of anger in her voice.

I undid my seatbelt and from the driver's seat, I leaned to the passengers seat and I pulled the belt the first time but it didn't come out properly. I tried again and it had the same issue, my eyes darted down to see the seatbelt was in a knot, after I undid it, the seatbelt was able to go through properly.

"See, I-" I stopped talking when I realized our faces were only mere inches away from each other and for the first time ever, I noticed a faint shade of red slowly appear on her cheek causing me to sit back down on my seat.

My chest was beating so fast and loudly that I hoped she wasn't able to hear it.

For the rest of the drive, she avoided looking straight but instead stayed looking out of the window.

**