At the end of the schoolday, I waited for my mom since I refused to ride the bus. As I was waiting, I saw Leo. He was on the other side of the school grounds and going around the corner of the building.
"He's strange," I said to myself. "I like that."
My mom pulled up and I got in the car.
"So Ally, did you make any new friends today?" she asked.
I told my mom, "yeah," just to make her happy, and it wasn't entirely false.
After a long and awkward car ride through the heart of Los Angeles, we arrived home.
I helped my mom bring in some groceries and then went up to my room to do some homework. That's weird. I couldn't find my sweatshirt anywhere. I looked and looked, then gave up.
About 15 minutes after that, my mom called me downstairs.
"Ally, someone left your sweatshirt at the door."
I walked over to it and looked at a small note attached to it. "Found your sweatshirt in Algebra. Thought I'd return it." I smiled. It was Leo. I was positive.
***
The next day I walked into school a little more confident. I went to my locker and found Leo standing by it.
"Hey," he said. "Just warning you, don't mess with those guys who bullied you yesterday."
"I wasn't planning on it," I said.
"They're Frank and Ty and they have their minions. They're the meanest kids in school."
"Ya, I noticed. Hey, thanks for bringing by my sweatshirt yesterday."
"What? I don't even know your name."
"I'm Ally," I said. "Ally Jackson."
"Nice to meet you. I've got to go. I'll see you at lunch. Meet me on the front steps."
"O-ok," I said as he turned and headed to class.
"Then who gave me my sweatshirt?" I wondered. "Nobody else here even knows me." I closed my locker and headed to class. A jumble of thoughts ran through my mind.
