As Told By Nerdy

Chapter 29 - Surprise, Surprise!

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Chapter 29 – Surprise, Surprise!

“Be careful. Call me if anything happens, okay?” Mom bent a little to the car’s window, tweaked the fringe of hair from my eyebrows then faced Leon with a trusting smile.

Leon smiled back reassuringly as he revved the engine, purring evenly as it came to life.

“Okay, Mom. Don’t worry too much,” I said once done with the seat belt.

The finals week was dreadful. I had to catch up with the lessons in two days or I would be bound to fail. So much for my A flat aspirations, no thanks to the sick days I had managed to bring upon myself within the last week.

Becky and Matt came over during the weekend. Becky did most of the talking; giving me copies of the lessons I had missed, the possible pointers on the exams, filling me in on the school news, about how much fun she had with Matt’s buddies and how much she wished I was there.

During that visit, Matt sat with Becky, his eyes lingering away from us, alternately giving occasional comments or nodding only when necessary. I should probably be angry at him for his devious plots, but surprisingly, I wasn’t.

Leon’s gaze fixed on me with a curious air to it as he maneuvered the car to a left turn.

“Tell me. Why on earth did you bite Matt?” he said pressing his lips together to curb a smirk.

It was the first time he mentioned Matt in four days. Frankly, I was quite surprised how calmly he took in everything (or at least pretended to) as I explained Matt’s confession, his scheme and what exactly happened that night. But this embarrassing little detail, I left out on purpose.

I cleared my throat feeling the rush of blood to my cheeks. I could have just lied but I swore I would not ever do that again to him.

“H-he called me crustacean… and crabby,” I half-stuttered half-whined. It was embarrassing, not to mention stupid.

His buoyant musical laughter drowned the smooth hum of the engine and it took several moments before he was able to compose himself.

“It sucks to be him…Well, you can be cold-blooded sometimes.” Leon held back a smile, pressing his lips together as the corners pulled up infinitesimally, his blue eyes lucid and cheerful with anticipation. I loved to think that that smile’s mine. My smile.

Every time it would send my heart hurtling above speed limit and leave a warm funny feeling in my stomach. Sometimes I would be so very flustered that I had yet to remember how to breathe again.

Cold-blooded. Matt said that too. I could only wonder.

“Am I really?” I demanded, halfheartedly frowning as I did.

“It depends,” he replied smiling.

“On what?”

“Are you going to bite me if I said yes?” He curbed a smile and fixed his eyes on the road.

I grunted at him despite the garish fluttering inside my chest that all I could do was stare in appreciation of the moment. Without a doubt, I missed his smile that made my heart skip beats, his laugh that made my chest flutter and his eyes that captivated me since the first day I saw him. I missed him. I missed my Leon.

He must’ve noticed the way I looked at him since he met my gaze and held it for a few moments. I withdrew from the staring contest as soon as I was aware of the warmth on my cheeks. I bit my lip.