Things Change

Kat and Leo

Eventually, it was the end of the school day. It had gone pretty well, considering the rough start.

I'd made friends with another girl, Katherine though she insisted I call her Kat. She loved the same things as me, so naturally we bonded well. It turned out she lived only a few streets away. 

"You walking home?" she asked, and I nodded.

"I'll walk with you, my house is just past yours." she said, and we began chatting. Just as we reached the  gates, Leo caught up with us.

"Taylor - I just wanted to say thanks." he said gratefully, before reluctantly heading off on his own.

"Leo? Walk with us." I offered, and he took it happily. We joined together and carried on talking Once Kat had gone off a separate route, it was just me and Leo.

Though he was still quiet, he'd opened up a lot more compared to the first time we met.

"Would you come to mine with me?" Leondre asked, and I looked at him.

"You don't have to stay for long...I just want to show my mom I'm not alone 'cause she's worrying about me." he said shyly. I nodded.

"Sure, I don't have to be home yet anyway." I agreed.

Leo smiled at me gratefully.

He only lived a few houses along so it was easy. As we walked in, his mum looked up and her face lit up immediately.

"Hi! I'm Victoria, Leo's mom." she introduced herself politely.

"Hi, I'm Taylor." I replied with a shy smile.

"Now you can stop worrying about me." Leo muttered, putting down his bag.

"Would you like a drink?" Victoria asked. Leo glanced at me.

"Uh, yes please. Water will be fine." I replied, and she told me to sit down. I carefully took a seat at the table, next to Leo. As she placed the glass down, she looked suspiciously at Leo.

"Leo? Why have you got bruises all over your arms and a cut on your face?" she asked.

I wondered how she'd never noticed this before. I quickly took a long sip to avoid awkwardness.

"I, uh, fell over." he lied. She raised an eyebrow at him, but said no more.

"So, how long have you known my Leo? I've never seen you around before." she asked.

"I actually started at this school today, he gave me a tour around the school on Friday so I kind of knew him then too." I explained.

She nodded with a smile.

"It's nice to see you talking to people. You're always so quiet." Victoria said to Leondre, who blushed slightly.

Then she noticed my shirt sleeves which were stained with blood, clearly visible because my jumper was in my bag. Leo clearly saw this, and he quickly excused us.

"I'm just going outside. Taylor?" he said. I nodded and quickly got up, smiled at Victoria and followed him.

We went out into his back garden which was pretty spacy. A football rolled to my feet, and I looked up to see Leo smirking.

"It's on!" I yelled, running with the ball bouncing between my feet to the other side of the garden where a net stood.

Leo ran after me and kicked the ball out from under my feet, running the opposite way.

"No!" I yelled, chasing after him. He kicked it and it fell into the net. He laughed and we tried again.

I was running towards the net with it until Leo tackled me from behind and I slipped and fell backwards. He fell too, like dominoes. We both ended up laying in the grass, laughing hard.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Victoria watching us out of the window and smiling. I could tell it had been a long time since she saw her son this happy.

"You tackled me!" I complained.

"You fell on me!" he shot back, stealing the ball from my grasp.

"I won!" he decided and I gave him a playful push, sitting up.

"I thought you were some innocent shy kid. Obviously not." I said, faking a cross expression. He tickled me and I broke down laughing.

"You know you love me really!" he yelled over my hysterical laughter. He ended up sitting on my chest.

"Get off me, you little lump." I whined, grabbing his hands.

"I bet you can't carry me." he challenged.

"Oh really?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Determined to prove him wrong, I pushed him off to get up. Then, I wrapped my arms around his waist, and managed to carry him around for a few seconds before he kicked at my legs, causing me to collapse.

Then he threw me over his shoulder while I struggled to get out of his grasp. He just laughed and when he felt me slipping, flipped me over to carry me bridal-style.

"How do you like it, princess?" he joked.

"How the hell are you carrying me right now?" I asked, draping an arm around his neck to steady myself. He carried me inside and practically dropped me on the kitchen floor.

"Hey!" I protested, getting up and punching him lightly in the arm. We both laughed for a few minutes, until Victoria came in. She grinned at us both.

"Come around more often." she mouthed, and I nodded at her while Leo wasn't looking.

"I have to go." I said suddenly, realizing I had like five texts from my mum.

"Already?" Leo asked.

"Leo, I've been here for...two hours." I said, checking the time. Wow.

Even I didn't think time went by that quickly. I guess we were just having fun. As I walked out of the door, I glanced at him quickly.

Leo was like my best friend already. His face was already more lively, his eyes shining. I couldn't understand who would ever want to put him down.

"Seeya tomorrow dude." I laughed, ruffling his head. He flinched slightly as I lifted my hand but I understood. I hated everyone at school for making him that way.

"Bye!" he called, and I made my way home.

"Why are you so late?" my mum asked as soon as I got in.

"I was at a friend's house." I said.

Her expression changed from concerned and slightly disappointed to pleased.

"Already?" she asked. I nodded.

"I've got two new best friends already. Leondre and Kat." I told her, she smiled.

"As long as you're making friends, I'm happy." she said. Just as I was about to go upstairs, she held me back.

"What happened to your shirt?" she asked.

"Uh...long story." I said.

"Is that blood?" she asked.

"No...pen." I lied. She sighed, not buying it.

"Explain." she said, holding up the jumper that was also stained liberally with blood and dirt.

I sat down, and began to tell her about Leo.