Someday

Chapter Three

Leah's Perspective

Leon pulled up in the garage before I went out of the car. He signalled me to go ahead while he looked for something in his car's compartment. Nodding, I went in.

There in the living room, I saw dad sleeping. Around him are a bunch of papers and in front of him sits a laptop. I don't know what he does for a living because I never really bothered to ask. Seeing him like this makes me wonder what his work is.

I stood there examining the living room until I heard the door leading to the garage open then close.

"Ah... Dad usually does this." Leon sighed. "You can eat dinner first. I'll take care of him." He said before going in the room beneath the staircase. Looking at dad one last time, I went in the dining room.

I stared at the food set on the table. Taking in a deep breath, I took one of the apples sitting at the end of the table before going to my room. The food was great, but the fact that he cooked them made me not want to eat.

On my way there, I bumped into Leon who raised an eyebrow at me. "Where are you going? Have you finished eating?" He asked while adjusting the position of the pillow and blanket in his arms.

"I don't feel hungry." I said.

"You just had coffee. How would that fill you up?" He asked, furrowing his eyebrows in concern.

"A classmate of mine gave me something to eat." I said.

"Look," he started, "I know you and dad aren't on good terms right now, but he's doing his best. He even prepared the spaghetti you liked so much when we were kids." He said.

"And I've grown tired of it. Excuse me." I said before walking pass him.
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Lying on my bed, I scrolled through my feed. As soon as I took a bite off of the apple I brought with me, my phone chimed.

'Ivan Alwyn has sent you a friend request'

He's quick to find my account. I thought about it for a moment before accepting his request. It won't do me any harm if I did. After doing so, I continued to scroll through my feed. A lot of my classmates at my previous school are posting about the event that took place today. I wonder if my friends there miss me...

Then again, it's not like I can visit them. With the current situation, I doubt I can go back to France without worrying mom. As I thought about this, I heard my door creak.

"Oh! Uh-I um..." I stared at Leon as moved about at the entrance. "I thought you-I mean...Milk?" He held up a glass of milk.

I stood up then took the glass from him. "Thanks." I said before drinking the beverage. I was about to go back to bed when I heard him say something. It was audible, but incomprehensible. "Hmm?"

"Huh? What?...Ah right! Good night!" With that, he rushed out of my room, closing the door in the process. He looked comfortable around me earlier. Why did he suddenly go back to being awkward? It makes me feel awkward as well.

"Maybe I did something..." I mumbled to myself, wiping the milk mustache that was on my face.
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"I want to thank you for the food yesterday and for giving me my wallet." I said, standing in front of Ivan who looks like he just woke up.

He sat up then said, "Good that you got it! I was worried that you found the school uncomfortable." Is that a problem? He must love the school so much if he wants every student to feel at ease.

"I didn't find it uncomfortable. I just needed some time to get used with the area so, I apologize if I made you think that I ignored you." I explained.

"There's nothing to apologize for." He said. As I went to my seat, he continued to speak, "Thanks for accepting my friend request." He grinned.

"Well, we did agree on being friends yesterday." I stated.

"You make it sound like a contract." He frowned before looking away. Did I word it wrong? "Anyway!" He looked at me, again. "Let's eat together for lunch."

"Why?" I asked.

"Do I need a reason before I invite you?" He does have a point. Thinking about it, I agreed on eating with him. "Don't leave the room before me. You did that yesterday and I had a hard time looking for you." He did? He found me minutes after I left the classroom and didn't leave until lunchtime was over. How did he have a hard time?

"May I ask why you looked for me?" I asked.

"Because I thought you'd feel out of place." I did, but it was natural since I'm new.

"In that case, thank you." We continued to talk for a while. After minutes in the topic of movies, a girl entered the room. She had a lot of bags on her and she seemed to be struggling.

"Seems like they've found a target..." Ivan whispered. The girl looks worn out! And class hasn't even started yet. Will she be okay?

"You managed to carry everything. Impressive." A girl with brown hair said as soon as she entered the room. Two more girls followed her, whispering amongst themselves. "Put my bag on my desk and place my gym bag in the locker room. After, run to the cafe across town and get me a latte." I don't feel good... There are a lot of students in the room, but none of them seem to care.

"Don't even think about defending her. It may look awful to you, but you'll get treated worse if you do something." He said. The look in his eyes are different from earlier. Is this really normal? If that girl runs to the cafe now, she'll be late and our adviser isn't one to forgive late comers.

She'll be dead once it comes to our report cards... How would her parents react?

"This is what members of the first group do. The outsiders are worse since they prefer physical bullying." He said while motioning for me to look outside. When I did, I saw a group of students circling around a guy. "They start their deeds as soon as school starts. Yesterday was an exemption because of the program that took place."

"..." I watched silently. If I'm going to survive this year and the next, I-

"Hey. Don't panic. I'm here." Ivan assured me. He made me turn away from the scene below, showing a warm smile. Now that he brought the topic up...Is my bother alright?

...Is Leon being bullied? Is that why the students left the room yesterday? Is that the reason why he's uneasy around me? Has his confidence deteriorated?

"The worst people you'll meet will be the dictators. I doubt you will, though. They're a year above us." I'm not worrying about myself. What about Leon? He's in the same year level as them.