Chapter Twenty: Marble Floors

"Okay, talk!" I demanded, my arms crossing in front of my chest as I glared at the suspect in question, "What did you do?"

The whistle sat there on my desk, unmoving because you know, it's not sentient.

Great, I have completely lost it. I was interrogating a freaking inanimate object in the middle of my bedroom.

Leon Colten was somebody who hated my guts. Well, I think he did. In my defense, he shot daggers through his eyes whenever I would even go near him so it wasn't my fault that I started to think that way. In fact, I thought he had been actively avoiding me ever since I met him.

When Pat asked me out, I was actually terrified what it would be like since his best friend didn't like me. While Leon did have this permanent face of contempt whenever I was present, he didn't do or say anything bad.

So just imagine my shock at the chain of events that happened since that second Pat broke up with me. Sure, any decent person would pull someone away from jumping off a damn building but he actually stayed with me and became a shoulder to lean on.

I was too busy dwelling on the break up, my fight with Zoey, and figuring out how the hell did I end up in a weird timeline. It on was only this very day did it manage to sink in how differently I looked at Leon right now.

And here I was blaming the whistle as if it was the culprit to this whole mess.

I snatched it and allowed it to dangle right in front of my face, staring at it with all the concentration in the world.

Then I saw it.

I squinted my eyes so hard to identify the extremely tiny engravings just above the hole.

A.B.C.

Yay, the alphabet. Now what?

I would have thought the initials would actually mean something. Or at least prove my theory that the whistle took part in bringing me to the past.

There must be something more to this.

Hold on, mom owns a magnifying glass. I never questioned why because let's be honest, I've got my impulsive shopping habits from her.

Since she wasn't home yet, I could easily sneak into her room, look at the whistle with it, put I back, then pretend like nothing happened.

Sounds like a nice, reasonable plan.

One tiny problem, I haven't been in her room since Pat's birthday. You know, the last straw on our already toxic relationship that finally broke the camel's back. It was the day I learned about what really happened to my dad. It made me miss my own boyfriend's party and it was just downhill from there.

All I wanted was to borrow a nice pair of earrings because I wanted to look good for my boyfriend, but what I found was far worse than what I was expecting. Well, that could have been my punishment for meddling and look into her things without permission.

I wonder if it was still at the same spot in this exact moment.

It's alright, Avery. You had every right to know about it, it wasn't your fault that you found it.

With the whistle still in my hand, I walked out of my room and made my way towards mom's. Slowly opening the door, I cringed slightly when it did a slight creaking noise as if somebody else was inside my house that could catch me.

I was alone.

It was still how I remembered it. A queen bed smacked in the middle, one bedside table on each side. One was obviously mom's and the other used to belong to dad. Mom did a good job of cleaning every part of this house to make sure that I wasn't reminded every five seconds of him. There were little things and trinkets that brought back memories of him, but it wasn't so out in the open. She knew how painful it was for me so constantly think of him so she did what every good mother would.

But she was kind of a hypocrite in that aspect, because their bedroom was one thing she didn't touch. Half of their shared walk-in closet still had his clothes, his bedside table still had his reading glasses next to a novel with a bookmark in between the pages of where he left off, and I know she had refused to sleep on his side of the bed.

It had been years but she still evidently loved him and missed him every waking second of her life.

I walked over her bedside table, staring at the drawer like it was a damned object. If my memory serves me correctly, in there would be a pile of junk like lipsticks, a bunch of cords, and knickknacks she didn't know where to put.

And under all of it was what made me sink to the floor, waiting to be discovered. She found me in a pool of tears and I have never heard my mother cry so hard in years. Every single word that came out of her mouth was an apology.

With my hand shaking, I reached down and dared to pull the drawer open. I swiped away the objects she placed in there until I finally saw it. I felt my heart drop to my chest when I stared at the white envelope, screaming curses my way.

So I was right, it was there. It must have always been there, since I lost my father, waiting for her to give it to me. I could only imagine how many nights she had spent in this room, sobbing away and not even being able to tell her own daughter the truth.

We could have comforted each other.

I slammed the drawer shut and immediately sprinted out of the room, closing the door behind me. Every second that I spent in there made me want to vomit.

The sad thing was, I had to act normal.

I wore the whistle around my neck and clutched onto it for my dear life. Every single day, I had to act like I was perfectly fine. Like I didn't experience an incredibly traumatic experience during what was supposed to be an innocent high school party. Like I didn't find out the real reason why my father was gone and that my mother was hiding that piece of information from me for years. Like my boyfriend who I loved dearly didn't break up with me and was obviously head over heels for my best friend.

All of that happened in a matter of months. Like I said, Avery Barber at the start of the junior year was extremely different compared to who she had become.

She was broken.

I went to my room and with my whole body trembling from this pile of emotions that was threatening to let loose, I grabbed my phone and called the one person I desperately wanted to see right now.

He won't hate me, right? He wouldn't think I was weird even if I told him what happened to me. I could just play it off like a hypothetical scenario, the same way I masked the events as a dream when I told Zoey.

"Avery?" his voice greeted me and instantly, my heartbeat started to calm down and my chest felt like it was unknotting itself.

"Leon," I managed to say though it was obvious that my voice was on the verge of cracking, "Can we meet somewhere? I want to get out of my house."

I heard multiple thuds from his side of the call, like feet hastily running down the stairs, "I'll be right over, wait for me."

Truly, I didn't deserve him.

"Thank you," was all I managed to say.

I looked up at the clock to check the time – it was already five. Mom texted earlier saying that she had to some overtime work so she had to stay for a couple of extra hours. I had no idea what I could possibly accomplish with that time, but anything was better than staying here by myself.

Although I knew I couldn't rely on Leon every time I have a problem. For him, it might be extremely annoying to constantly comfort some girl like me who was on the verge of tears any time there was a slight inconvenience. At some point, he would leave me because to be honest, I offered nothing good that would make him stay.

So I will hold on to these moment. I was eternally grateful for him, that was for sure.

And maybe in the future when he was finally fed up with me, I could fondly look back on these memories.

He texted that he was near and I grabbed nothing but my phone and keys before I got down. I locked the front door and waited until his car made a complete stop before I got inside.

It was literally an hour or so ago since he dropped me off and now we were back.

I could still vividly remember Sasha throwing a full-blow fit in the middle of the parking lot. I tried to play it coolly by lying that I had something I needed to do at home and that I suggested to Leon that we should go immediately when he said he was finished with training.

She was still not happy at all. She rode with Pat instead after oh-so-gracefully snatching her bag from us. Mia decided to become the mediator and went with them, assuring me that she would calm her down.

Though judging from the call I shared with Mia earlier, she wasn't very successful.

But if you wanted something to make you laugh after that whole fiasco, just imagine me sitting stiff as a board on this exact same passenger seat because I was having a full-blow existential crisis about my feelings for Leon. I did not move during the whole drive and since he was never talkative in the first, we were in complete silence.

Yes, it was awkward. Yes, I regretted every second. And yes, I would still want to drive with him every single day despite that.

"Are you okay?" he questioned the second I closed the door. When he turned to look at me, I could see him pause for a quick second. Then again, I could just be seeing things.

I sunk in my seat and shook my head, "No."

He blinked at me multiple times and I could practically hear the gears in his head turning as he tried to think of the right way to approach this. I sighed, reaching out so I could buckle my seatbelt, "I just want to go somewhere... anywhere really."

Heck, he could take me to an abandoned warehouse and I still wouldn't flinch.

"You like gardens?" he threw in.

Well, it wasn't something I ever thought of before, but sure, "I guess."

"Then I know just the place," he stated with his voice filled with certainty. He placed his hands on the wheel and started to drive away.

I sincerely had no idea where we were going or what his plan was. Although, there was something I was extremely thankful for – he didn't pry.

Tomorrow was something I definitely wasn't looking forward to. Sasha was still angry at me and Pat probably hates not only me, but probably his best friend. I never want those two to fight or argue, they had one of those unique friendships that you have no idea how it happened but it just works.

And it terrified me that I might be the cause of a disagreement between them.

Maybe it was a complete mistake to call Leon after I had already done enough damage. My impulsive ass couldn't even think for even a second before I picked up the phone?

But I didn't know who else to turn to. Sasha was out of the picture, Mia already tried her best, and the last thing I wanted was to worry Zoey.

That, and I was scared how she would react.

He stopped in front of these large gates and my surprise doubled when he took out a remote that opened those said gates. He drove inside, parking next to a line-up of extremely expensive looking cars.

"Leon," I muttered, my eyes probably wide as saucers, "Where are we?"

I almost fainted when he answered in the most nonchalant way possible, "My house."

Word of Leon Colten being rich wasn't new. Everybody in the school knew that, but I think nobody had an idea of how wealthy he really was. How come nobody ever told me that he lived in a goddamn mansion?

My legs felt like they were about to give out when I stepped out of the car, gaping at the size of house. They even had a fountain at their front – a fucking fountain!

"Come on," he urged, nudging his head towards the direction of the front door.

Which, by the way, was massive. Double doors, columns, and the works.

Seriously, how was he single? Surely he must have liked some girls before and anyone would be lucky to have a guy like him.

He was beyond kind and now I find out that he has everything that he could ever wish for.

When I dared to go inside, I had to gasp at the interior. Here was something to help you scale how out of place I felt – their floors were marble.

Marble!

I felt like my peasant white tennis shoes were too filthy to even step in here.

"I hope you'll like the garden," he said, almost nervously as he started to make his way through the house.

He was actually worried that I would dislike anything about his beautiful home?

Leon, at this point in my life, you could literally do nothing wrong. You could show me a basement filled with creepy clown costumes and I would still be okay with it.

He opened the French doors and it led out to the backyard. There was a massive pool, complete with a hot tub, and there was a gravel path leading to one of the most beautiful garden I have ever seen.

You know those romantic gardens that show up in those adorable music videos? Yeah, it was a perfect example of one of those.

Hey I was a sixteen year old with a guy she liked, I wasn't kidding anyone if I told them that I wasn't bursting with giddiness as of this moment.

"My mother always loved gardens but she never had a green thumb and was always too busy," he explained, leading me to it, "During their first anniversary, before I was even born, dad hired a whole landscaping team just to build this garden for her."

I couldn't help but stand there in awe at the background story. If I recall correctly, both of his parents were amazing business people – huge hot shot ones. These were the kinds of things that was public knowledge and gave Leon relative popularity, but I guess his attitude was one of the main reasons why few people approached him.

"This was my playground," he continued on, his hands running over one of the bushes, "Every weekend when I was a child, mom and dad made it their mission to clear their schedules and make sure that we spend at least one whole day here."

Leon was loved by his parents. Even though I haven't met them yet, it was so evident in the story he told. Just from the way he talked about them was enough, because his voice was filled with so much respect and affection. He lived a charmed life and the more time I spent learning that about him, the more I realized that he was completely out of my reach.

I wasn't poor, I'd say we were rather well off and perfectly comfortable with what we had. Even though I didn't have a dad anymore, mom never fails to remind me just how much loves me.

And yet, I felt so unworthy to even think about liking him.

Yeah, I think being friends was more than enough for me.

"Leon," I softly called out, my hands fidgeting with each other as I tried to stay calm, "Hypothetically, do you think if you time traveled, you will retain your memories?"

It was a quick question, a good starter, and I tried to play it off as nothing but a curiosity.

But when those words left my mouth, I watched as his whole body stiffened. He didn't blink, he didn't move, he was seemingly frozen as he stared at me with eye wide in shock.

Did I do something wrong?

Then I watched his gaze slowly lowered from my face down to my chest. I didn't know what was happening or if I should cover myself with my arms, but I couldn't move because of how petrified he looked.

But then I realized what he was truly looking at. The silver whistle that I have forgotten to hide under my shirt.

Was that the reason why he paused momentarily when I got inside his car?

Ever so slowly, his hand moved from his side and he dug into jean pocket. He showed me a fist and even then, I was mighty confused.

Only when he loosened his grip did I understand. Because dangling there with a chain of its own was the same whistle.

"Did you figure it out?" he managed to say, "The whistle?"

My blood ran cold and it took everything in me not to faint. My theory was correct, the whistle had something to do with it.

And apparently, Leon did too.

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Yes, we're finally reaching the point where we'll finally align Leon and Avery's time travel experiences. By the way, your girl is back in school and she's extremely stressed so let's make this super short.

Question: Do you think this is their last time travel?

I love you guys and thank you so much for reading. Please vote, comment, and follow. I'll see you next chapter.