Delayed Reaction || Leonardo DiCaprio

Chapter 8: Sunflowers

My parents dropped me off at Leo's house the day that we were going to the public pool. Penelope, Tobey, and me were all meeting up there, so we could walk to the place together. When I arrived I was already in my white, one piece swimsuit with sunflowers all over it. I went up to Leo's front door, since no one was outside at the moment. The house looked like it had two floors, but it was small and narrow. Before I even knocked a blonde woman answered with a warm smile, and somehow I knew right away it was Leo's mom.

"Hi, you must be, McKenna. Come on in. Leo's still getting ready and no one else has gotten here yet," she kindly explained as she moved so that I could step over the threshold.

I just silently went into the living room, all of a sudden not sure what to say as I joined my hands together. I was admiring the pictures on the wall, mostly of Leo, or him and his mom together. I think there might have been a lone one of them with his dad.

"You want a drink or anything," his mom offered.

"No, I'm okay, thank you." I tried to be polite as I kept standing there, unsure of what to do.

I almost jumped when I heard a door suddenly open, seeing Leo stepping from the bathroom in a pair of dark blue swimming trunks.

"Hey," he beamed the moment he saw me, making my anxieties start to ease. "Isn't she great, Mom?" He was already proudly draping his arm over my shoulders, and I could feel my face turn a little red.

"Yeah, she seems really nice. You two can watch tv if Tobey and Penelope will be awhile," she suggested.

"Alright, is there anything you're interested in watching, McKenna? We get cable," Leo shared as we went over to the couch. His mom had already disappeared into the kitchen as I gazed at a painted, glass mosaic woodpecker attached to their window. "I made that when I was a kid and my mom puts it out every summer," Leo lowly chuckled as he followed my line of sight. "I'm not really much of an artist, but I did well on that."

"It looks really pretty. I like how you made the feathers on top of his head red," I observed.

"Thanks. I was trying to make it look like a certain species of it. I think it's called the Red-headed Woodpecker."

I nodded slightly as I gazed at the piece of art again, crossing my arms.

"You like Nickelodeon? SpongeBob or something might be on," Leo brought up.

"Yeah, I like that show." I gave him a small smile as he turned the television on. It did seem like they constantly had a marathon of SpongeBob episodes whenever I went to someone else's house, and this time wasn't any different. It was nice to just get absorbed in the easy going plots, not worrying about anything as I naturally leaned against Leo's shoulder.

Eventually Tobey and Penelope were coming through the main door, already decked out in their swimming gear as well.

"Hey, are you watching SpongeBob?" The first words out of Penelope's mouth were a question.

"Yeah, I think it's a marathon," I admitted.

"I love that show! Do you care if we watch it with you before we go?"

"No, that's fine," Leo casually shrugged, us scooting over, so that we could all fit on the sofa.

It was more fun to watch the show with them, especially since Tobey and Penelope would crack up on certain jokes. Hearing them laugh would help me to see the humor in it too. A lot of times I would be so focused on the plot, I wouldn't catch on to all of the jokes.

"Oops, I didn't realize we had been here a whole hour already," Penelope slightly laughed. "I hope the pool won't be more crowded now."

"We can always find something else to do if we don't want to stay long," Leo pointed out as we all started to stand. His mom offered us lemonade before heading out the door, and we drank a little before officially leaving.