Seek {Superhero AU} - Ending 1

18: You Fool

WPOV

Track: Kiss Her You Fool, Kids That Fly

The next day at school, I'm exhausted.

I mean, I was out late with Nico, and we were almost killed on, like, fifty different occasions. Then, even after I got him to my house, our conversation was a lot to handle emotionally. Plus, I'm pretty sure we almost kissed. I had been so close to him—so close—but then I panicked at the last second. The thing is, that would have been my first kiss. If he pushed me away, I'd have to carry that bad memory forever. I would rather take things slow and make sure that he, without a doubt, wants this too. This way, when I look back on my first kiss, it can be a good memory.

By the time Nico's suit finished drying and he left my house, I was set to get a grand total of three hours of sleep before I had to wake up again for school.

I meet Lou Ellen and Cecil at the front of the school like I always do. They look like zombies like they always do.

Cecil raises his eyebrows at me. Probably I look bad. This might be one of the few times that I am not happy that it's morning.

He's too tired to question me about it.

I go about the first half of my day like I'm a zombie. Leo finds me in the halls and looks pretty exhausted, too. But he looked equally exhausted yesterday when I found him, so that's not really a new development. I think he just looks like this all the time. At least the bags under our eyes match.

"Rough night?" he asks me when I escort him to his first-hour class.

"You have no idea," I respond. "The temptation to go home and nap for the rest of eternity is so strong right now."

He laughs and waves at me before disappearing into his class.

I spend the whole day taking him from class to class. At some point, he tries telling me that he can fend for himself, but I wave him off. I like walking to class with him. I like talking to him. He reminds me of...

That's irrelevant.

He joins us at lunch again. He seems lighter around me today. I'm not sure what happened between yesterday and today that made Leo like me more, but he's a lot more engaged in our conversation at lunch, and he's laughing so much more. He reaches out and touches me sometimes for no obvious reason. Just because he wants to, I guess.

Luke is aided by Connor and Travis in his Leo-stalking pastime today. Their eyes follow us in the halls, but they don't bother Leo while I'm with him. I think they're waiting for us to drop our guard, waiting for an opportunity to get to Leo when I won't be there to help out.

Before our final class, Leo is waiting in the hall for me, and I smile as I approach. Out of the corner of my eye, I can see Luke at his locker, though he's not looking in his locker for anything. He's just standing there, locker open, watching us.

"Hey," I greet. I'm starting to feel more awake now, so I've regained some of the pep in my step, and I don't think I look quite so dead. "Ready for your next class, Leo?"

"I'm never ready for any class," he says. "They just started selling tickets for the homecoming dance next Saturday. Do you have someone to go with?"

My cheeks are pink. Is he asking because he's hoping we could go together, or is this just him being polite? Everyone is talking about this right now, so it wouldn't be out of the ordinary for him to ask out of friendliness. But between how he was acting around me yesterday combined with the newfound confidence he has today... I can't help but wonder if this is more than just friendly curiosity.