Sorry, Leon (Brawl Stars)

Part 10

Jessie's life was over. An article in Starr Life came out the day after the party, which, unfortunately, was how her mother discovered the whole ordeal. Jessie shuddered whenever she remembered that terrible confrontation.

She had been lying in bed, saddened about her breakup. She still blamed Bibi because who else could have caused it?

Jessie heard the door downstairs open then slam shut.

"Jessie!" Her mother yelled. "Come down here now!"

Jessie had never heard such rage in Pam's voice. Trembling with fear, she managed to get up and slowly trudge downstairs.

Pam did not look happy. She was taking deep shaky breaths in a feeble attempt to pacify herself.

She took a crumpled magazine out of her bag and shoved it in Jessie's face. It was turned and folded to a page in the middle: an ad for Gene's Lamporium.

"Turn it around," Pam ordered.

Jessie obeyed, and, when she saw what the article was about, knew she was toast.

"How... could you?" Pam demanded. "Have you really been doing this for months? Can you imagine how mortified I was when I saw this?"
"Who– who gave it to you?" Jessie managed weakly.

"I was at Super City and stopped by a convenience store. Everyone inside started staring and whispering when they saw me. I was confused and asked the cashier if I had food on my face or somethin'. Then, she gave me this!"

Jessie said nothing. Pam continued to yell at her, saying that she would apologize to Leon before facing a long, long punishment. She would be grounded until she learned her lesson. How could this happen? How did she manage to sneak away from Nani so much? She would be keeping a much closer eye on her now.

Jessie was too terrified to pay attention. All she could think of was herself and how Starr Park would never forget this. Her life was ruined.

Jessie had apologized to Leon a few days ago. She dreaded facing Leon, since he was part of the reason her life was now ruined. She found him walking home from the gift shop one day, flanked by Bruce. His hood was pulled even lower over his face than usual.

She ran up to him. When she was only a few feet behind him, she said, "Leon! Hold up!"

Leon and Bruce both stopped and turned around. Without missing a beat, Bruce swept up Leon and continued walking.

Leon struggled to break free. "It's fine!" he insisted. "Put me down!"

The bear ignored him. Bruce only listened to Nita, and Nita's orders were to keep Jessie away from Leon.

It was time to get it over with. Jessie mustered up her strength and called, "Sorry, Leon!"

Finally, it was done. That was easier than Jessie thought.

Leon turned his head to stare at Jessie. His hood had fallen back, so Jessie could see the entire face that she thought she had fallen in love with. There was something unusual in his expression– he looked angry. His usually meek and submissive face was now possessed by defiance and fury.

"Is that all you have to say? 'Sorry'? You basically drugged me for months just so I could follow you like a pet– you treated me like one too, with all those head pats and cuddles. And I can't believe you saw nothing wrong with it. You know what? At first I felt sorry for you, since I thought you were just desperate and did what you did. Now I feel only pity– all you care about is yourself. You didn't think once about how this whole thing would affect me, did you? How self-centered can you be?"

Leon paused and took a deep breath before continuing.

"Even when we were friends, you acted like you cared about me. I let myself believe you did, but you really didn't mean any of it. Bye, Jessie. I hope you'll one day learn how to feel for others."

Jessie stood dazed, frozen with shock while Leon disappeared into the distance.

That was all two days ago. Jessie sat in her room, bored and disappointed. She was missing out on an epic Heist match with Penny and Carl she was supposed to be a part of. She had been looking forward to meeting the geeky robot. She had nothing to do. She didn't feel like working on her projects.

Suddenly, she felt a chill. What was that? A gust of wind?

"Hey, Jessie."

Jessie sprang up in shock and fear. She whipped around and saw a figure by her door– it was Gus. When did he get here? She hadn't heard him come in at all.

"Gus! You gave me a heart attack. What are you doing here?"

Gus sat down on the floor, and Jessie did the same.

He started, "I figured you must be lonely. I... heard about what happened. I got in without Nani noticing."

Goodness, how did he manage to do that?

"Well," Jessie said, "I guess I could use some company."

"Wanna talk about what happened?" Gus offered.

"There's not much to say. Everyone hates me for what I did, but it really wasn't as bad as it sounded. Everything was perfect– Leon and I were both happy. If only Bibi didn't tell on me."

Gus stared at her, confused. "Bibi? What makes you think Bibi told on you?"
"She's the only one who knew." Jessie hated herself for letting herself get caught at the diner.

Gus awkwardly shifted his pose into a more comfortable position. He took a moment to word what he was about to say.

"Jessie, it wasn't Bibi who told Nita– it was Byron."

"Byron?" Jessie sputtered. "There's no way. No– it had to be Bibi. Byron would never. Where'd you hear that?"

"I hear everything. Apparently, this is what happened..."