THE WAY I LOVED YOU - the lost hero

two

The urge to smoke was so bad that Nat had to gnaw on the inside of her cheek as if it were gum.

She was so focused on keeping her hands limp by her side that she completely ignored everything around her. Leo fiddling with pipe cleaners and screws. Jason wandering around like a lost puppy. Coach Hedge's megaphone blaring out random farm animal noises. She was only brought back to reality when the unmistakable voice of Isabel began taunting Piper.

"Hey, Piper, does your tribe run his place? Do you get in free if you do a rain dance?" the other girls laughed, while Dylan suppressed a smile. Nat wasn't sure how a joke was still funny after the hundredth time it was said.

"My dad's Cherokee," Piper replied calmly despite her gritted teeth, "Not Hualapai. Of course, you'd need a few braincells to know the difference, Isabel."

Isabel's eyes widened with mock surprise, "Oh, sorry! Was your mom in this tribe? Oh, that's right. You never knew your mom."

Piper actually charged at her, but before anything exciting could happen, Coach Hedge barked, "Enough back there! Set a good example or I'll break out my baseball bat!"

The group moved on to the next exhibits, but Isabel and her friends kept calling out little comments to Piper.

"Good to be back at the rez?"

"Dad's probably too drunk to work."

"Might be why she turned klepto."

Leo eventually turned to Nat, muttering, "Get your friends in check."

The hurt expression that flashed across her face made him almost feel bad. 

"You really think she would listen to me?" she shot back, before quickly adding, "and they're not my friends."

He scowled in response, shaking his head as if to say "whatever." When Leo turned around to catch the sight of his blonde amnesiac friend with his fist clenched as if he were going to fight someone, he caught his arm.

"Hey, be cool," Leo told Jason, his attitude shifting once again, "Piper doesn't like us fighting her battles. Besides, if those girls found out the truth about her dad, they'd all be bowing down to her and screaming, 'We're not worthy!'"

Jason looked at him, obvious confusion filling his face, "Why? What about her dad?"

The foreign sound of Leo's laugh almost startled Nat. It was full of disbelief, instead of his usual mocking tone.

"You're not kidding?" he asked, "You really don't remember that your girlfriend's dad—"

"Look, I wish I did, but I don't even remember her, much less her dad. "

If the conversation was being held by anybody other than Leo, Nat would let her curiosity get the best of her and ask what was so special about Piper's dad. However, she remained silent as Leo whistled.

"Whatever," he replied nonchalantly, "We have to talk when we get back to the dorm. "

The group had finally reached the far end of the exhibit hall. Nat took in the large glass doors that led to the terrace overlooking the Grand Canyon.

"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge announced. "You are about to see the Grand Canyon. Try not to break it. The skywalk can hold the weight of seventy jumbo jets, so you featherweights should be safe out there. If possible, try to avoid pushing each other over the edge, as that would cause me extra paperwork."

Nat couldn't help glancing over at Leo, making a mental note not to stand too close to him incase he got a little too fed up with her.

Coach Hedge opened the doors, and they all made their way outside. Nat didn't expect the Grand Canyon to be so beautiful. The rocks had stripes that varied in colors ranging from orange to brown to grey. She hadn't seen something so wonderfully untouched and natural in a long time. As she stepped on the horseshoe-shaped walkway, she realized it was made of glass, allowing her to see exactly how high up they were from the ground.

A little too high. Suddenly the floor she was standing on didn't feel as secure as it did before, and a queasy feeling filled her stomach. Nat quickly tore her eyes away, choosing instead to glance around at her classmates who were having more positive reactions to the new environment. She took a deep breath in an attempt to steady herself.

Leo glanced over at her, annoyed, before he quickly did a double take. The irritated expression was quickly replaced with one of something that almost looked like concern.

"Are you okay?" the pity in his voice was enough for Nat to push away her fear of heights purely out of spite.

"I'm fine," she shot back, "Mind your own business."

She pushed past him to join the rest of the crowd. She didn't mean to hit his shoulder as she did so, but it added a nice touch of bitchiness.

Leo decided to ignore how rude Anastasia had been to him, but only because of how obviously fear-stricken being on the glass walkway had made her. As he watched her stalk away from him like a tiger off to find some poor animal to kill, he noticed her bright red hair blow in the wind.

That was weird. It hadn't been windy when they got off the bus. And the wind was too strong to have just appeared out of nowhere.

His attention was brought to his good friend, Jason Grace, who at the moment was hunched over in a strange position.

"You all right?" Leo asked, keeping his voice light in an attempt to help Jason, "you're not going to throw up over the side, are you? 'Cause I should've brought my camera."

Instead of answering, the tall blond grabbed ahold of the railing. He blinked a few times, as if to somehow steady himself.

Oh great, Leo thought, another person with a fear of heights. This trip is going to be swell.

"I'm fine," Jason managed to get out, a lot nicer than the last person Leo had asked that question to, "Just a headache."

The sound of thunder rumbling ahead confirmed Leo's suspicion that there had been a dramatic change in the weather.

"This can't be safe," Leo squinted at the clouds, "storm's right over us, but it's clear all the way around. Weird, huh?"

Jason looked up and seemed surprised, as if he had just noticed.

"All right, cupcakes," Coach Hedge began yelling once again, pausing for a moment to frown up at the sky as if it somehow upset him, "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences! And stay with your partner!" He directed the last statement to a still pale-faced Anastasia, who was standing a bit away from the rest of the school group. The red haired girl rolled her eyes in return, her usual attitude returning as she begrudgingly made her way back over to Leo and Jason.

As Leo glanced over to his friend, he found that Jason had pulled out a whole gold coin, and was fiddling with it. Leo's eyebrows shot up, "Dang, is that gold? You've been holding out on me!"

Jason's eyes flicked over to him, and he seemed just as surprised as Leo was.

"It's nothing," he said, sliding the piece of gold back in his pocket, "Just a coin."

Anastasia had finally appeared beside the two of them with her usual expression of disdain and self righteousness that made Leo fill with rage. He noticed how she kept eyeing the museum, as if hoping to go back inside and be on firm ground once again. An idea popped into his head.

"Let's go further," he suggested, pretending to ignore the way her face dropped. Obliviously, Jason followed after Leo as he began walking to the furthest point from the canyon ground, with Anastasia nervously behind.