Unnoticed | Leon x Jessie

Chapter Three- New Kid

Well, it turns out Leon didn't have to wait very long to see the mysterious red-head again.

"Pay attention class!" The teacher clapped their hands, "We have a new student today!! Come on up, Jessie."

Leon heard someone sigh and then Jessie practically appeared from nowhere, aka, the seat behind him. 

'Waa? How did I not notice her??'  He thought, but then his attention turned to Jessie, who looked really nervous standing at the front of the class.

"Go ahead, tell them your name and why you've decided to join us this lovely school year." The teacher urged.

"I'm Jessie.  And I am here against my will." She walked to her seat. Leon's eyes followed her as he sat back down. 

The teacher frowned, but went on and started the lesson. 

Leon wanted to turn around, say hi to Jessie.

Laugh about what she said and ask if she was okay or being serious.

Tell her he'd give her a tour and offer to sit with her at lunch.

And maybe they'd be friends.

He started turning to face her,

Then his anxiety and shyness kicked in and he quickly faced the teacher again.

'Or... maybe not.'

(Time skip)

Now at his last class, Leon now knew that Jessie was in three classes with him. Including this one.

"We already know everyone's name so this is utterly useless. But the principle INSISTED to do a role call before every class. Might as well get on with it." Mr. Byron muttered angrily before calling out names. "Ah, a new kid I see. Jessie Junker?"

"Here."

"Now that we're done, finally..." Mr. Byron said the last part under his breath, he continue "This is somethi----"

And Leon spaced out. Again, a teacher had forgotten him. How do you forget to say a name that's right in front of your face on a piece of paper? He slumped in his chair.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Jessie eyeing him curiously. A little flustered that someone was staring at him, he tried to act cool and pretend to be interested in the lesson. No one had really looked at him before. That was weird, but also kinda... nice? That someone was actually paying attention to him, that is.

But it didn't last for long when he saw Jessie draw her attention away from him.

At long last, the class ended.

He watched people approach Jessie, then walk away a few moments afterwards looking rejected. Sneaking close enough to hear her conversation, he leaned in and heard her say to a girl who was in the same class as them say, "So... you're the new girl, huh?"

Jessie replied without looking at her, "Yeah, I guess."

"People are saying that you said you were brought here by a kidnapper who forced you to go to school for some reason."

It took Leon a moment to realize the girl was talking about when Jessie said she was at school against her will. Of course Leon knew that it was because her mom had made her move, (For what reason, he didn't know.) but other people didn't.

"No." Jessie said a little forcibly.

"Oh, well... okay then. Sooo, need a tour or something? I know the best place for getting away with," the girl winked, "stuff."

Shutting her locked, Jessie-who still wasn't looking at the girl- just said, "No thank you. I need to go now." She said in an end-of-the-conversation kind of way, and quickly walked away, leaving the other girl to stand there in silence.

Nita appeared beside him. "Leon!" she said, "I been looking for you. C'mon."  She tugged at Leon's arm. "Oh, yeah, sorry Nita, let's go." With one more glance in Jessie's direction, he and Nita went home.

(At Rumble Jungle)

"Kids, time for dinner!" Bo yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Nita and Leon came racing down, sliding onto the dinner mat on the floor. After giving thanks, they hastily dug in. 

"Alright kids, what's been going on at school?" Bo asked after swallowing.

Nita started telling him every detail about her day, and Leon promptly zoned out three lunch stories later. 

'I wonder if Jessie and her mom are getting along... and what is Nani to them?? Why did Jessie pretty much ignore everyone who tried to talk to her? Maybe-'

"LEON." Bo said with his voice raised, Nita snickering in the background. 

"Huh?" Leon asked, disoriented from being yanked from his thoughts so abruptly. 

"I've been saying your name four times, I want to know about your day."

"Oh," Nita must finally be done, "Well, not much... there's this new kid...yeah." Leon ended lamely. "A new kid?" Bo and Nita simultaneously questioned. 

Leon faced Nita, "She was in one of our classes Nita. Her name is Jessie." "Oh." Was all Nita said.

'How did Nita not see her? She was at the table beside us. ...I guess Jessie goes unnoticed too...' 

After dinner, Leon was up in his tree house doing homework. But he couldn't focus. 'Why is the Jessie girl taking up so much of my thoughts??' He glanced at the sun. Probably had three hours before it went down...

He ditched his homework and walked to the Junker's place. He heard a loud sizzling sound and turned the corner to see Jessie wielding a blowtorch. She was kneeling on the ground (Which was a large patch of dry dirt) in front of a piece of machinery, wearing a welding helmet. 

"Aaand... done." Jessie said satisfied, wiping her brow after standing and removing the visor. The machinery she was in front of looked like a... dog themed gun turret? Then, as if she could feel his eyes, she turned around. "Ah! Who are you?" She yelped, looking him straight in the eye. 

"What? Wait you can see me-" Leon said aloud, then realizing that she could indeed see him, he dove behind a bush. Quickly turning invisible, he darted home. 'Crap, darn it, stupid,'  Was all that he was thinking. How could he have been so dull to forget to turn invisible beforehand?

Well, it sure is going to be awkward at school. He started laughing. Awkward at school, as if! If the entire school population never noticed him, why would Jessie? No weird conversations trying to explain himself for him! 

He had nothing to worry about.