The Ninja, The Artist, and a new place *major edits*

Chapter six: Catherine, The closet

When I got to Leo's house, he seemed anxious. He lead me up to his room, shooing Mattie away when she tried to talk to us, saying he needed to show me something important that's she wasn't aloud to see.

"But why can't I?! I want to see the important thing!," she complained.

"This is private Mattie. And if you keep bugging us, I will tell mom about that 'accident' with a certain jar we had. Remember that?" She had nodded and scurried away, clearly there was something she wanted to keep private as well.

When we got to Leo's room, he shut the door and locked it behind us. He looked me straight in the face.

"Can you promise me you won't tell anyone about this?" I nodded. He took a deep breath, and walked towards his closet, opening it slowly as he stepped behind a curtain of coats. After a few seconds of watching the coats writhe around, he stepped out; holding a small stack of canvases he walked towards the bed and sat down next to me.

"What are those Leo?," I asked.

"Here.," he said as he handed me the first one. I flipped it over and gasped in surprise.

"What is it? Do you not like it? I understand if you think this is stupid-"

"It's- it's beautiful." I cut him off, as I gazed at the painting I was holding.

It was in school, on the playground. I saw a smaller looking Leo running away from a group of kids, crying. It was a gray day, it looked like it was going to rain soon, and the kids behind him were holding some kind of plant out ahead of them as they ran after him. Smaller Leo had fear written all over his face as he ran, and some of the kids chasing him had looks of glee on there faces, the same look you would see on a cat as they got ready to pounce on an already injured animal. They were running under a semi-large structure, with a fire pole and a slide. Kids were standing above him, some laughing, some just mildly curious, others slightly frightened or startled. It was painted beautifully, so full of detail and colors. The detail was so great, I could see the expressions on every kids face, and almost every piece of clothing was different. If I had known them, I might have been able to tell who each of the kids were today.

"When did you paint this?," I asked.

"A few years ago, when I was nine.," Leo answered.

"Tell me about what's happening here.," I said, pointing at the Little Leo. He looked hesitant, but then saw I was actually interested and had no intention in making fun of him and started to explain.

"Those are some of the school bullies chasing me, the plant they're holding is a rare type of plant to find here, but I'm really allergic to it. When they found out that I was allergic to it, they immediately went online and found some, then brought it to school and chased me around the playground with it. Those few kids who look worried were in my class, and knew I was allergic."

"That's horrible!," I exclaimed. "Why did none of them do anything?," I asked.

"They were all just as afraid of Caleb and the rest of them as me.," Leo answered. I looked back at the painting and saw that it was indeed a younger Caleb. I set the painting down again, and Leo handed me another one.

This one was in a classroom, on Valentine's Day I guessed. The room was decorated in pink, with lots of little hearts and Cupids strung everywhere. The Leo in this painting looked older than the last by a few years, maybe eleven. He was sitting at his desk, holding a small box which appeared to be empty. It was decorated with hearts as well, and most the other kids had one, except they were all smiling and eating candy. This is on Valentine's Day, I thought. Leo didn't get any Valentine's.