LOVE, LEIA (letters to tom) • Tom Holland au •

FOUR

“remind me again why we're hiding behind the bleachers?” Tom asks with an unsatisfied look. But then again, if you were hiding behind the bleachers in the most uncomfortable position, satisfaction would definitely not be one of your emotions.

“I told you a thousand times, Tom. She's in the pep squad and were gonna surprise her once they come out here to practice.” Leia shook her head at Tom, quickly crouching down when she heard the pep team exit the changing room.

Much to Leia's dismay, she and Tom have been at their school since five in the morning to set the surprise up. Not to mention they've been talking on the phone til four in the morning to plan it. Meaning, Leia hadn't had her much deserved rest yet.

Come to think of the situation, Leia should somehow be a little happy. Considering that she got to spend a lot of time with Tom. But she wasn't necessarily happy about the fact that they were spending time together planning a surprise for his girlfriend, which wasn't her by the way, so she wasn't too fond of the situation anyway.

“okay girls! Let's stretch for ten, then we'll start the routine!” they hear the pep team captain say before the members started counting to eight, then back to one.

Leia turned to look over at Tom, giving him the 'go' signal that they had planned, causing Tom to panic. Admittedly, Leia tried her best to convince Tom that a simple greeting card and flowers were enough. ‘it is what it is, Tom. Big or not, it's still a surprise ’ she claimed bitterly. But Tom was completely oblivious to Leia's disappointment.

Tom quickly got up from where he was hiding, hands shaking and forehead sweating, he chanted;

“relationships last long not because they are destined to. Instead, it lasts long because two people make a choice to fight for it”

Cringe

“oh my God. I am so uncomfortable ” Leia muttered, holding a confetti popper and approximately twenty pink balloons.

“h-happy second monthsary, babe” Tom stuttered, barely above a whisper. Throughout the whole time that they were planning this, Tom had said nothing but complain about how nervous he was and how he felt like he was going to mess up and ruin everything. To which Leia simply replied with a ‘then let's cancel the surprise’ only earning a chuckle from Tom telling her how silly she was.

Leia did try, she tried to tell him that this surprise was cheesy and cliché, in hopes that Tom would just agree with the simple greeting card. But no, he wanted it engrande

The girls from the pep squad started squealing and jumping exaggeratedly. Leia rolled her eyes at the sight. People who knew Leia very well would know that she rarely rolls her eyes. Only ever doing it when she is at the verge of breaking down due to irritation. And at that moment, she was so close to screaming.

But still, she managed to fake a smile and pop the confetti at a very ‘surprised’ looking Samantha. To which Leia had once again, rolled her eyes. If anything, she knew that Samantha probably expected Tom to do something like this. That is if she actually remembered the date of their monthsary.

The girls cheered and nudged Samantha as Tom made his way down towards them, leaving a very uncomfortable Leia at the bleachers.

The couple hugged, causing the pep squad to chant and urge them to kiss. Typical cute couple scene. God knows how annoyed Leia was at the moment. Usually, Leia would think this whole event would be cute and romantic. But since it was Tom and Samantha in front of her, she was completely bitter. Heartbroken even. Because she knew that after all this hard work and effort that Tom put into planning this, Samantha wouldn't appreciate it half as much as how Leia did. And Tom did not deserve that. He deserves someone who knows how amazing he is. And how loving he is towards people.

The couple pecked before Leia's eyes, making her force a smile only because she wanted to leave and cry in her room all day. She watched as everyone witnessing the whole 'romantic scene' unfold jump and clap in happiness.

She made her way down the bleachers, handing the balloons to Samantha, greeting her a quick ‘happy birthday’ even though she knew that wasn't what they were celebrating. She turned to Tom and gave him two thumbs up before walking away with a frown.

“why did I even agree to this? What's the point?” she asked herself, rubbing the bridge of her nose as she made her way to her first class.

Fifteen minutes later and she was sat in her usual seat at the back of the classroom, slouching in her chair, ignoring Carmen when she mouthed a 'where were you?' to her.

She rested her head against her palm, closing her eyes hoping that she would drift away from everything around her.

“good morning Mr. Campbell. I'm sorry I'm late” her head snapped up so fast that it hurt her neck afterwards.

“there's no good in the morning Mr. Holland. Take your seat”

Leia put her book up against her face once Tom made his way next to her, hiding her face.

“hey” Tom greeted, taking his seat.

Leia then started reading a paragraph loud enough so only Tom would hear, making it seem like she was too busy reading to notice that Tom had greeted her.

“psst. Hey” He called for her attention once again.

“sir! Can I go to the bathroom?” Leia raised her hand, still ignoring Tom's voice as he called her.

“I don't know. Can you?” the teacher retorted causing Leia to groan loudly

“god damn it, I'm going to the bathroom” she cursed before storming out of the classroom, receiving a lot of stares from her classmates

“stupid school. Stupid teacher. Stupid boy. Stupid Leia!” she pulls at her own hair, making a turn to her right and entering the girl's restroom

Just as she entered, her phone rang. Causing her to stomp her feet like a child and letting out an inhumane squeal

“yes mom?” she answered, unable to hide the hint of annoyance in her voice.

“don't ride the bus on your way home, sweetie! Your sister is picking you up!” her mom exclaimed in excitement, making her pull the phone away from her ear and without a word, ending the call

“shit”