(Non) Fictional Characters || Leo Valdez

Chapter 1

“And once you finish your test, raise you hand and I will collect it. After that you can start the homework or read. Good luck!” my Spanish teacher said. On that note, pens clicked and uncapped, scribbling on paper. Several minutes had passed and all of the students were on the second page. I was still on the first. Ugh! Why didn't I study?! My Spanish average is dropping like flies. What the heck does “¿Cuando es tu cumpleaños?” even mean? There is a knock on the door and everyone looks up. Not me though. I can't afford for my grades to get any lower. “Back to your tests,” my teacher says. “Good morning,” a voice said. I recognize it a mediately. It's the seventh grade guidance counselor, Ms. Novia. “Sorry to interrupt but I have a new student. He just transferred to here from Houston, Texas.” It's my turn to look up from my test now. I can't see the kid’s face but I do see his dark wavy hair and tanned skin. “Oh you're not interrupting at all. Class, we have a new student to welcome!” My teacher’s voice full of excitement. He steps into the room and I can finally see his face. Funny. He looks exactly like a book character from the Heroes of Olympus series. One of my favorite characters actually. But there's no way it could be him. The series was published almost a decade ago. Plus, he's a fictional character. “Why don't you introduce yourself,” she said. “Uh I'm Leo,” the boy said, “Um Leo Valdez.” I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from screaming. No. There is no way that it's actually him. Just focus Alethia. You have to do good on this test. I hear my teachers voice say something but I don't pay attention. The next thing I know, Leo pulls out a chair and is sitting at the usually empty desk next to me. I can't stop myself from staring at him. I'm terrible at social interaction with normal people, but my favorite book character that I've been in love with for two years, forget it. How long has it been? Thirty seconds? A minute? Five minutes? Snap out it before he notices! “Is there something wrong?” Leo asks. Schist. “Oh um, sorry,” I stamper. I get back to my test and don't look up again.

My best friend, Clara, comes up to me after class is over. “How did you do on the test?” She asked. “Terrible, most likely,” I responded. “Well that does make some sense,” she said sympathetically, “I heard you got a new student in your class. And apparently he’s cute.” “How did you-” “People talk. So, what’s he like?” I debated telling Clara about Leo. She’s obsessed with the PJO and HOO series just as much as I am. Maybe I’ll wait until I actually talk to him. “I don’t know,” I finally said, “I really didn’t talk to him.” “Okay, well is he cute? Like, book character cute?” she asked. I laughed. Clara and I have read so many books that our standards for cute boys are way too high. “Yes, he’s book character cute! Emphasis on book character.” We both laughed at that. “Okay well now it’s my turn to take the Spanish test.” “Good luck,” I yelled to her as she walked into the classroom, “Hopefully you’ll do better than I do!”

I walked into English and, low and behold, there he was. Leo Valdez. Sitting at the desk right next to mine. Because of course he was! I walked over to my seat and sat down avoiding eye contact. I tried to look busy with my stuff, but I don’t know how believable it looked. I decided to scribble the homework down in my agenda while the rest of the class filed in. The bell rung and our teacher turned around to take attendance. “Good morning guys!” He said with his always overly happy attitude. Ugh. It’s so annoying. “First things first. We have a new student to welcome! Everyone say hello to Leo!” “Hi Leo,” the entire class said with boredom. Leo blushed. I would too if my new teacher, who I had just met, made a class of 22 say hi to me. I looked at him for a second, then back at my teacher. “Okay. So today you will be continuing to work on your ‘spotting the difference between ads and articles online’ project. Alethia, since Leo is new, can you show him what we’ve been doing for the past two days?” “Sure,” I said through a fake smile. Why me? Besides Spanish, English is my worst class. I pulled up my project on my laptop and turned to Leo. I told him to do the same, then told him what to do for the project. He just sat there and nodded the whole time. It was so awkward. “And if you have any questions just ask,” I finished with, “My name’s Alethia by the way, but you can call me Ally if you want. Either one is fine.” “Thanks,” he said, “And my name is Leo. You probably already know that though.” I smiled and let out a little laugh. The books were right. He is funny.