CHAPTER FIFTEEN: ATHENA

I really enjoyed hanging out with Leo and Shane at the park on Saturday, and I was looking forward to seeing Leo today. There is no denying that Leo is attractive, but after my last encounter with William, I couldn't let him into my world without extra caution. I can't be certain, but he doesn't seem like that kind of person.

I was on my way to my locker when I found Leo leaning against it. I couldn't stop staring. His hair was packed into its signature bun, and he looked great as usual with his hair packed up. I was about to avert my gaze when he caught me staring at him.

"Take a picture, it will last longer," he said, laughing softly. I blushed at his remark, playful punching him in the arm. As we walked towards homeroom, we talked about Saturday and how much fun he and Shane had. But my happy morning was cut short when Dylan and his friends showed up.

"Well, isn't it the residential freak and her little boy toy," Dylan said as he and his friends approached us,

"He is more of a lap dog while our little mouse is his bitch," James said, I could take their insult but I didn't like them talking to Leo like that, I couldn't say what I wanted to Leo without making them angry, so I signed so only Leo could understand, "They aren't worth it, let us just go."

"Aww, they even have their own secret way of communicating, how cute is that Dylan?" James mocked me as I tried to pull Leo away from them.

"We're not done talking little mouse, walking away from a conversation is rude," Dylan said, glaring at me. I didn't have the courage to face them right now, so I just faced forward and kept walking, pulling Leo along with me, but Leo stopped when we were a few feet away, turned around, and said something in another language that I didn't understand.

"Fermare parlando idiota, tu suoni come una cagna" he said with a smirk on his face, before Dylan and his friends could say anything else, Leo pulled me into the classroom.

"What exactly did you say?" I asked, my face puzzled as I looked up at him.

"I told him to stop talking, you sound like a bitch," he said, and I couldn't help but laugh, which made Leo smile. A few minutes later, the boys walked into class, glaring at Leo and me.

After a while, Mr. Hunter entered the room. After making the announcement, he left us alone to finish our schoolwork. Leo pulled out a book to read, and I pulled out my phone to check my messages.

As I was doing so, I noticed a note being placed on my table. When I opened it, I saw a photoshopped image of my face on a picture of a naked stripper.

Before I could hide the picture, Leo had already taken it. He looked angry when he saw it, he got up from his desk and walked to the front of the class.

"Who was responsible for this?"

"I asked a fucking question, who did this?" Leo asked, raising his voice slightly, and the entire class fell silent.

"I did what is that bitch going to do about it, she already knows she is a whore just like her dead mother, I just wanted to remind her," a guy from the school football team stood up and said.

"So, this is a joke, and we're all supposed to laugh, right?" Leo smiled, but it wasn't the playful one he gave me in the hallway; this smile made him look terrifying.

"We all know the truth: how can an orphan continue to attend school? If she is not selling her body, everyone knows what her mother did" the idiot said, I was used to their insults so it wasn't actually hurting me, but Leo on the other hand looked pissed off.

"Hmm, let me guess, oh maybe she works for tuition, or her dad helps her out, but how will a rich entitled brat like you understand, I'm sure you've never worked a day in your pathetic life," Leo said, if looks could kill, this idiot would be dead by now.

My heart swelled as I watched Leo stand up for me; he had just moved here and didn't know who I was, but he still stood up for me.

"Now listen, the next time you try this shit, just imagine me slamming your head into a table," Leo said as he approached his table, then grabbed him by the collar "Do I make myself clear idiota(idiot)?" Leo growled, still clutching his collar.

"I understand" the guy mumbled out as his scared gaze looked away from Leo's intense one

"I can't hear you cagna(bitch), now apologize, like the good little cagna you are" Leo said, the guy faced me while he held onto him.

"I'm sorry Athena, it was a joke, it won't happen again". He apologized but I didn't care about him or his apology.

All I cared about now was that Leo was okay. When I was about to ask, he picked up his bag and left class without looking at me after letting go of the guy, so I ran after him, taking my bag with me.

"Leo, please slow down, I need to talk to you, please slow down," I yelled, trying to keep up with him; when I thought he wasn't listening, he slowed down so I could catch up; when I met his gaze, I saw fear in his eyes.

"After you saw that, I thought I scared you off, but you can see what happens when I get angry, Athena, I think you're better off not being friends with me." When Leo was talking his eyes were fixed on the ground to avoid my gaze, my body immediately reacted by wrapping my arms around him and hugging him. It had been a while, but hugging him felt natural because I felt safe in his arms.

"Thank you Leo, that was the first time anyone stood up for me, and I will never be afraid of you, you are my friend, my only friend actually, and I wouldn't want to lose you, you were only protecting me," I rushed out, hoping I wasn't making a fool of myself.

Leo drew back a little, looked into my eyes, and said, "mi stupisci Athena" (you amaze me Athena)

"I'm sorry, I didn't understand what you just said; I hope it was a compliment." I tried to lighten the mood, and Leo laughed into my eyes, caressing my cheeks before leaning in and kissing me on the forehead. I blushed at the intimate gesture; he simply smiled and let go, but he held on to my hand as we returned to class.

When we returned to class, everyone was staring at us, "what are you idiota looking at, mind your fucking business," Leo yelled before they all looked away, whispering like gossiping housewives, it got annoying at one point, but Leo noticed my expression, so he brought out his iPod and placed the earphones in my ears, blocking out the voices.

He kept reading while playing with a strand of my hair that had fallen out of my ponytail; everyone stared at him as if he had grown two heads, but Leo didn't seem to notice. I went to get something from my bag when I noticed Dylan and his friends staring at us with a frown on their faces. 'That's not good', I thought.

During home-room, I looked at Leo's schedule and noticed that he and I had similar timetables on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday, with the exception of Wednesday and Friday. The bell rang, signaling the end of

home-room, he escorted me to my locker, and as we walked to our next class, I noticed he was carrying only his bag and no books.

"Don't you need to go to your locker, Leo? What if you need something? I can accompany you if you don't want to be the only one late to class"

"Ah, it's okay, I already have everything I need in my backpack, thank you for offering," he said with a small smile.

"Okay if you say so," I said hesitantly, but he smiled reassuringly, 'maybe I could give him my notes after class' I thought

I was pulled out of my thoughts when Leo grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the next class. It was fun having someone to walk with and sit with in class, another thing I noticed about him was that he was very observant.

When the lunch bell rang, I didn't know how to tell Leo that I didn't want to eat in the cafeteria without him interrogating me. So I decided to face my fears just for today and go with him, because what could go wrong?

When Leo and I entered the cafeteria, Dylan and his group were staring at us. That was bad; things weren't going to turn out well. After getting our food, Leo and I were making our way to our seats when I was tripped by someone and I fell to the ground, feeling something on my face. I touched my nose and noticed that it was bleeding. Fortunately, when I touched it wasn't broken, then I felt a pair of arms touch my shoulder.

"Fuck are you okay, Principessa?" Leo asked softly as he helped me to my feet, taking a couple of tissues from his tray and mine to stop the bleeding, he held my head back waiting for the bleeding to stop, which it did a few minutes later.

Diana was looking at me with a smile, and from the way she was smiling, I knew she was to blame for my fall.

"You should be more careful, freak, you might get hurt," Diana laughed, and her friends joined in.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch Diana? Is your life so pathetic that you have to make other people feel miserable?" Leo growled angrily, with the same expression he had in the living room. He was clearly irritated.

"Why are you protecting that freak, she doesn't belong in our circle, she doesn't deserve you, she is just a whore like her mother, sleeping around to get everything she wants." Diana said, humiliating me further than I already was.

"You really think I'm with her because she slept with me? You should look in the mirror first, Diana, before you call someone a whore." Leo scoffed.

"You can't talk to me like that, do you know who I am, I can ruin your life, don't cross me because of this freak," Diana yelled angrily.

We needed to get out of here before things got out of hand; I didn't want him to get in trouble because of me.

"Diana You are all bark and no bite; if it weren't for your wealthy father, you wouldn't be here; you are nothing but a bully, and everyone knows it. I despise bullies, that's why nothing will ever happen between us."

"Leo, please let it go; we can eat elsewhere." I tried to reason with him, but he was very stubborn when he wanted to prove a point, which was another characteristic I noticed about him.

"People like you think it's okay to mess with defenseless people because they don't fight back; you think it's fun, but you don't care what your actions cause."

"We really don't care, people like her need to know where they belong, and that's at the bottom of a ditch," Dylan said as Leo turned to face him, flipping him off.

"If that's the case, people like you should be locked up and the key thrown away," Leo sneered.

"You should know who you're protecting, who she really is; did you know your little friend over there was sleeping with a teacher, and we even caught it on video?"

When Diana said those words, the blood drained from my face; that video was about the worst experience of my life. I couldn't stay to see his reaction. Diana took out her phone to show Leo the video that had been haunting me since it was taken without my consent.

I dashed out of the cafeteria, my bag in hand, not looking back as I overheard Dylan and his friends laughing. Diana wanted me to go through that horrible experience all over again so I won't give her the satisfaction of seeing me break down.

I went straight home without bothering to get a pass, and I cried myself to sleep that afternoon, knowing that the only person I had ever cared about would see that video and hate me just like the others; life wasn't fucking fair.