The Reason Winter is My Favorite...

Chapter 2- Leo and Co.

My Mother had just dropped me off at Leo's place. There the dork was, in the doorway, waving happily to me. Entering the doorway revealed to me 3 new faces in the living room, each standing in a polite manner and looking glad to see me. "Welcome, Ray Ray," Leo greeted me "to Leo and Co!" Confused by this, I waved shyly. He first gestured to an innocent-looking girl with short, dark brown, straightened hair. She was roughly shorter than me. Her blue eyes smiled beneath her gray beanie while she tried to hide herself in her red sweater. "That there is Gury, she's obviously the most shy thing you'll ever see" Leo said with a laugh. I gave her a nervous "hi" before Leo continued, "she's a foster child with the mind of a parent, pretty socially awkward unless she's speaking virtually if you ask me!"
"Socially awkward is better than socially unintelligent, dorkus" Gury responded, making a pouty face. Knowing Leo, I didn't blame her words. Her saying it aloud just made me burst into laughter.

"Anywayyyyy!!" Leo proceeds. "Now that we got Shyness McShyskins down, that leaves us with the brother and sister of the group." Leo points to a man wearing rather emo-like clothing, his sister as well. Despite the appearance, neither had piercings, spikes, or really any stereotypical emo wear. Trust me, there's a point for this later. "That's Brandon, and beside him would be his younger sister, Nicole! Brother and sister of the year, seriously. They grew up having to love each other, living in a neighborhood of hatred until 6 years ago, so they're real sympathetic to people who care and are real frikken nice to their friends. Which reminds me..." Leo turns to then face me. "Reno, this is Leo and Co! For three years we've had this group going on. What started as a few friends screwing around in physics turned into a group of 4 people who got close together. Now 5, counting you! As said when you walked in, welcome, Ray!"

I'd have responded... But my eyes were focused on Nicole. Her eye makeup wasn't what made her beautiful, though it was a nice touch. What made her beautiful was everything she had to offer, her face was beautiful, her brown eyes were beautiful, her blue-dyed, short, emo hair was beautiful... I could go on for hours on end explaining how she looked gorgeous. Her brother looked as harmless as she did, though, his emo hair was such a dark shade of black that I could have sworn I just saw Lucifer himself descending from it just a minute ago, as if immersing himself into a soulless mind. Though despite my hell of an imagination, Brandon's smile proved me wrong on the soulless part. The way he looked at you just kinda makes you know he has heart, it's strange, yet, real comforting

"... Earth to Reno?" Said Leo in a confused way. I quickly shook my head to wake myself up from imagination land. "You alright ther-..." I notice him tracing the direction of my eyes, causing Nicole to blush nervously when she finds out as well. "SO," Gury calls. Thank god, Gury. You saved us from a year-long awkward silence. "Now that introductions are done, tell us your story, Reno! We've heard so much about you!"
"Pft. Thanks, Leo. What didja tell them? That I choked on a piece of toast back in 8th grade?" I mock. "Close, I told them you're a helpless romantic."
"And you're one to talk!" I joke. We laugh and sit down, where I begin introducing myself. I know Leo enough to know his friends are dependable, so I even tell them my past, why I'm here, and my time here. They listened, entertained and interested in what I had to say. It made me real happy, knowing that the people you roughly know could be the friendliest of people. I wasn't really expecting to meet these guys, Leo brought them up by surprise but I didn't question a thing about it that night because they made me forget about my recent relapse. They were happy to see me, they wanted to see me, they wanted to help me, you could just tell by their reactions when I told them my past,

I found out the group was going to stay at Leo's for the night as well. Knowing that felt great, I'd get to meet everyone! I've roughly had a conversation with any of them and yet I wanted to know them. I wanted to know Gury, Brandon, and Nicole. This night was the night I met "her". This was the night I'd remember forever. This was the night I'd get to call myself part of Leo and Co... And this was the night to start where I'd eventually experience the time of my life.