Letting Reality Begin

Chapter Seven - The Small Details

“Excuse me!” squealed an all-too familiar voice, in a mock sugary, falsetto tone. Leo looked up from his phone – a Samsung, because there was no damn way on earth he would even have a Blackberry – to see his ‘best friend’ giving him death glares. It was ‘best friend’ because the way he and Chantelle treated each other the majority of the time made them seem like enemies. Reluctantly, Leo shifted slightly to the right so that Chantelle could sit down next to him on the bench. “So who is he then?”

Leo dragged his eyes away from the screen of his phone to give Chantelle a blank look. “What?” he asked, his voice incredulous.

“You’re texting someone,” she said, looking pointedly at his phone. “Who is it?”

Leo looked down at his phone and then looked back up to meet Chantelle’s expectant gaze. “My mum,” he lied effortlessly, shrugging nonchalantly. “She wanted to know how my first day is going.”

Chantelle narrowed her eyes at him, not even trying to hide the doubt in her expression. Leo stared back at her, confidently. He knew that if he faltered even the slightest bit, Chantelle would know he was lying. She was like that – always analysing the small details and finding ways of using them against you.

“Um... Chantelle?” said a masculine voice, which immediately caused Chantelle to break off her doubtful staring to look at the person speaking.

“Yes, Dean,” she responded, her voice tinged with clear annoyance as she shifted across the bench to make room for Dean. Leo discreetly inspected the two of them, as he moved even further down the bench. It was only a matter of time before he was having a rendezvous with the arm rest.

Last year, Chantelle and Dean had seemingly been the picture perfect couple. But now... well, they seemed to be falling apart. Chantelle hadn’t mentioned or even hinted anything about calling it off, but Leo was almost certain it wouldn’t be long until she did.

Dean frowned at his girlfriend’s reaction. “Can’t I just say hello to my girlfriend?” he asked her, defensively, before leaning in for a kiss.

Leo saw Chantelle’s eyes roll ever so slightly. She reached up and gripped Dean’s chin with her hand, holding it a few centimetres away from her face. “Well, say hello then,” she said, seductively. Then she paused and then said, “Actually don’t. I don’t want to hear another word from you. Not when you’re practically breathing smoke.”

Then she jerked Dean’s head away from her, and brushed her hand lightly on Leo’s shoulder as if she was disgusted that she had to touch her boyfriend’s face. Dean just stared at Chantelle with disbelief and humiliation before getting off the bench and storming away.

“Wow, so what’s with the ice queen act today?” asked Leo, raising an eyebrow, once Dean was well out of hearing range. “It’s already cold enough with this fucking weather without you spewing frosty comments.” He gestured towards the dreary sky, where grey clouds were threating to rain. Thank God most of the Popular Area was located underneath the massive, but somehow elegant canopies that spanned over the garden area and a section of the green.

“Hilarious,” said Chantelle, her voice completely dead-pan as she reached into her blazer pocket and pulled out her Blackberry to start texting someone. Chantelle was one of those girls who never kept a mirror on them, just to make sure they looked alright during the day. That was because Chantelle always looked perfect and she knew it. There was no point wasting time making sure of something she already knew for certain. “Would you want to kiss someone whose breath smelt of tar?”

Leo shrugged indefinitely in response, although he was pretty sure he didn’t. Like Chantelle, he despised smoking. He had tried a cigarette once, back in Year Eight and had almost choked before he had even put it in his mouth.“I don’t know. I’ve never kissed someone who smokes,” he replied, simply.