Can You Look My Way?

C-10

That very next day, Leo was not there. 

Lisa looked around and realized that even Merida isn't around. Well, who would be able to after whatever she went through, getting betrayed by the drama club and almost in danger-- Lisa hopes there was not much trauma inflicted. 

Even before, Merida was not the type to go attend the festival but Lisa was not sure about Leo. He was there yesterday but why not today? She wanted to tell him a lot. 

That very same day, Lisa received a slap from Candace. To cover it from his brother, she put makeup on her face and decided to keep it to herself.

"Do you think mom will come home today?" asked Keifer. 

Lisa looked down at her brother, despise twinkling in her eyes but the corners of her mouth curved upwards. "Mother said she'll visit soon. Why? Am I not enough to you anymore?" She pouted.

Immediately, Keifer hugged her arm, cuddling with her. Lisa finds it hard not to get angry at her mother. Her mother would always leave them and come back when she's having a hard time. Their father does not care what their mother does, he does not even pay attention to them. They're like living ghosts to her father and the chill doesn't bother him.

"I wasn't able to tell him your thanks. We barely spoke." Lie. She was supposed to speak to Leo but he was annoying and they end up bickering a little with a kiss. 

"There are plenty of times for that. Don't worry, Lisa, I will tell him myself when I get to see him."

Keifer seems so sure that they'll see each other again so Lisa smiled. Must have been nice to get closer to Leo and get to know him. But the more she is closer to him, the more she's irritated. 

On the last day of the festival, Lisa spent it alone. There was a campfire on the field, then when the evening came, fireworks lit up the sky. Keifer had asked to sleep over at a friend's house and now she's alone. 

"I can't even go home," Lisa whispers, the colors of the fireworks in her eyes.

When the closing of the festival was announced and all presentation was over, she immediately went home before Candace gets the chance to spot her. 

Three days. Lisa spent three days in her room while Keifer is at school. The semestral break is no fun at all. Even the cheerleaders have stopped doing practice since the three-day festival is over. Some of her "friends" invited her but knowing Candace, she better just stay out. 

Deep breathes. Lisa knows she will suffocate in her empty room. So, she makes her way out, shutting doors behind her.

At her favourite spot in the park, Lisa stayed under the tree for shade. The fresh wind caress her face and she smiled. She can wait for Keifer there. 

But it was not long before she spot a happy family and the big smiles on their faces disgusted her. She sighed heavily, standing up and leaving the park. There's no place for her everywhere. 

So she wanders the pavements, feeling so empty and looking down. Not until a stupid palm landed on her forehead making her look up. A frown drew on her face for a moment before her eyes grew large. Those blue eyes were always calm.

"Are you looking for coins?" Leo asked, a charming smirk on his face. He had his hood on which she finds really weird in the hot weather.

It took her some moments to process that he just appeared out of nowhere and she slapped his hand away. Regaining from her shock--excitement rather, she looks at him distastefully. 

"What 'bout you? Is the sun a joke to you?" she snaps back. His eyes were hardly seen when he plastered a cute smile. Creepy but cute.

"I escaped," he uttered.

"What?" she asked. "From where?"

"We're not friends. I don't tell strangers information."

Lisa snorted, rolling her eyes at him. Yes, an opportunity for them to talk about what had happened the last few days but... she can't help but be a bitch to him. How to say it?

"Look I--"

She wasn't able to continue when just in a blink of an eye, Leo grabbed her hand and they started running back to where she came from. It was so sudden, she feels like being dragged and anytime soon, she was going to trip and make fun of herself. But no, when he looked back at her, giggling like a child, everything was just silent, like the way the fireworks were at the festival, all she hears were colors. All she could do was admire him.

"Wh-Why di-did we ne-need to fr-reakin' ru-run?" Lisa was still catching her breath when they stopped inside a store. 

Leo handed her a bottle of water, the annoying smile still on his face. She stare at him blankly and snatched the water bottle, drinking from it. There was a lot left and suddenly he snatched the bottle back and drank from it, leaving Lisa staring at him once more.

"What?" Leo questions her like nothing he just did is questionable. "You're gawking."

"Are you crazy? I drank from that bottle!"

"So?"

"So, you are not supposed to dri--"

"Come on! And let you waste water?" Lisa could not respond. "Why were you looking down like you've lost something?"

"No," Lisa shakes her head, "Why did we have to run?"

"You didn't have to," he said. "But you ran anyway."

He was laughing and she can't help but glare. All of what she thought about him before is replaced by irritation. 

"You grabbed my hand! What was I supposed to do?"

"Pull back?"

No, Lisa thought. This wasn't the Leo she knew from that night Merida was in danger. This guy in front of her is a stranger, someone mean, devious, and confusing. 

"What's wrong with you today? Did Merida reject you or something?" 

Instantly his eyes pierced at Lisa in a way she never thought was possible. His stare was dull but it sent some warning to her. Suddenly she's like faced by a devil.

"Nah." He finally looks away. "She won't reject me... but she won't choose me either."