Chapter 4- Taunting Walks

[] L E O []

"Leo Kennedy... I heard she's quite the gold digger. Your mom, I mean."

I froze.

Every part of me forgot how to function.

At first, I was confused.

Then I was angry as hell.

Slowly I turned around and faced the guy who had spoken.

He was standing up now, swaying on his feet. The girl that was with him, now stood beside him, holding him up so he could stand upright.

"What did you just say?" I asked venomously.

The guy smirked.

"Your mom. Heard she married quite the guy, after sending her first husband to-"

It was like complete rage had taken over me.

I couldn't hear or say what anyone else around me was saying.

All I saw, was burning rage.

A rage to annihilate the person who said it.

In one swift movement, I was in front of the guy, my fist coming into contact with his face before he could finish the sentence. The girl he was latching onto, took a shocked step back, making it easier for me to grab onto the piece of garbage and shoce him against a nearby table.

I punched him repeatedly, and both of us eventually fell to the ground. He fought back, but I was faster.

I was stronger.

I was raging.

I don't know how many times I hit him, or how many times he hit me. All I know is, that I was not done. Even after I was pulled away from him, even after I saw the look of horror on the faces of the people surrounding us, and even after Jamal and Andre had dragged me out of the Pub, I still wasn't done with him.

Once it hit me that my shoes were touching the grass outside instead of the laminate floor of the club, I let out a strangled yelp and pulled out of Jamal's hold. I slammed my palm down on a nearby tree, kicked it once, and still, it wasn't enough. Finally, I slumped down against the tree and sat there, wondering about what the hell had just happened.

"Relax, man. He didn't know what he was talking about," Andre said from somewhere around me.

"Yeah man. Let's just go home. Come on, Leo," Jamal said.

The two of them dragged me up and we made our way to the car in a heavy bundle of limbs. Andre and Jamal were trying to hold me together, but it was a futile attempt.

Somehow we got into the car, and all the way home, I thought about the guy's words.

'Where the fuck did he even get that from? ' I wondered.

And how dare he say that to my face?

How dare he try to pry into my past?

* * *

I woke up with a pounding headache. My apartment was awfully quiet, even though Andre and Jamal had both stayed over. I sat up in my bed, my feet dangling over the edge, and ran a hand through my hair in annoyance. I stayed sitting there for a long time, thinking about the events of last night.

"I heard she's quite the gold digger."

A low growl left me and I frustratingly slammed my hand against my side table. It was then I noticed that my hands were not attended to last night. Dried blood lined both my knuckles and I winced just by looking at it.

Deciding to do something about it, I lazily got up and headed for the bathroom. I took my time in the shower, not ready to see anyone else yet. My bruised knuckles burned, but I only fisted them tight, not caring about the pain they brought. I spent over a half an hour in there, then slowly made my out. I sloppily threw on an old hoodie and sweatpants, then made my way out of my room.

Once out in my main lounge, I was surprised to see Jamal by the stove. He was whistling a tune and flipping something in a pan. When he heard me close the door, he turned my way and grinned.

"Morning," he said.

I nodded and made my way over to where he was standing.

"Aren't you too happy for a hungover person?" I asked.

"Nah, I didn't drink much last night," he said, taking out scrambled eggs onto a plate.

"Where's Andre?" I asked, noticing how it was too quiet.

"He went for a walk."

I nodded, remembering how he couldn't live without those. Jamal placed the food on the table and sat down across from me. We ate in silence, occasionally sharing a word or two. Afterwards, we cleaned up and Jamal left soon after.

He didn't comment about last night, and I didn't elaborate. For this, I was grateful, since there was nothing to explain.

* * *

[] A M E L I A []

The morning sun was casting a nice glow over my body, and I found myself happy for once. It wasn't too bright, but there wasn't a cloud in sight. It felt good. Sighing contedly, I pulled my headphones off of my neck and brought them up to my ears.

I had been impatiently waiting for Sunday to arrive so I could finally relax, since I had spent all of yesterday cooped up in my room, only leaving to grab food. Today I finally came out for a walk.

I made my way towards the main campus, where a few people were either chilling or walking about. I turned up my music and continued walking.

I didn't think much. I just walked around aimlessly, keeping an eye out for anything interesting.

Just when I had completed a round around the campus, my comfortable walk was interrupted.

At the sound of my name, I stopped and nearly did a 360, trying to locate where the voice was coming from. At last, my eyes fell upon a running figure. He was running towards me, holding his hand out as if to stop me. Surprised, I pulled my headphones down and waited for Andre to catch up to me.

"Whew," he wheezed, coming to stand in front of me. "Whoa there Amelia, you're quite the fast walker there," he said out of breath.

My mouth formed an 'O', realizing he had probably been calling my name for a while now.

"Sorry, my music was too loud I guess," I murmured awkwardly.

"It's alright. I didn't realize you live on campus," he said.

I nodded. "I just moved in last weekend."

He nodded at my answer.

"Care to join me for the rest of your walk?" he asked.

I contemplated it, thinking if I should bother intruding. But then again, he called my name.

I shrugged at his question and he took that as a yes. So here I was, walking with a guy I don't know much about, with no aim of where to go.

We walked in silence, and Andre occasionally pointed out a few places I hadn't noticed before. It was nice, and the sun had risen higher, indicating it was probably nearing 11 or so. I slowed down when we got closer to my dorm and turned to face him.

"Thanks Andre. That wasn't so bad," I said, surprising him and myself both.

Andre grinned at me.

"Eh, don't be silly. That's what friends are for Amelia," he said.

His words caused havoc within me.

I gave him a small smile, a real one, and he returned it easily.

With that, I started walking towards my dorm. However, a moment later, Andre called my name again. I stopped dead in my tracks and turned to face him. This time, Andre greeted me with another grin.

"You're welcome to join us for lunch any time Amelia. The boys really enjoyed your company."

And with that, he was off.

I stayed staring at the space he occupied for a good ten minutes, wondering if he even meant what he said.

* * *

Monday rolled around quicker than I expected, and before I knew it, I was already in the second week of my semester. Third, if you count the one I had missed.

I made my way into Sociology, and this time, Andre was already there, sitting in the same spot from last class. I hesitantly made my towards him and took the seat beside him.

"Morning Amelia," he sang.

I nodded to him and settled down in my spot. As the lecture went on, Andre found time to crack jokes in between, keeping me entertained for most of it. After we were done, I slowly packed my things, hoping he wouldn't ask me about lunch again.

As nice as Andre and Jamal had been last time, Leo was a whole different story.

The entire time I was there, his penetrating stare had me immobile. I couldn't even look at him, for the fear of what his eyes would be holding for me. Hate? Disdain? Rejection? All of these were something I didn't wish to see.

That was when I knew then that I couldn't get in between the trio. A one-time was all I had agreed to, and that was all that was going to happen.

However, as I threw my backpack over my shoulder, I saw Andre waiting for me at the end of the row of seats. I inwardly sighed and gave him a small smile.

"Let's go Amelia, I'm starving," he groaned out.

Together, we made our way to the same coffee shop as before. It was a nice little place. It was as busy as everything else on campus was, but it was somehow more peaceful too. Maybe because it was a little ways away from everything.

By the time we got there, Jamal and Leo were already seated at one of the tables like last time. However, this time, they had a mess of books covering the table and were heatedly arguing about something.

"Hola amigos," Andre greeted in a high-pitched voice.

Both Leo and Jamal turned to him in surprise and greeted him back. I stayed behind him, not ready to face the scrutinizing stares of the other two yet.

Before I could have a moment to catch my breath, Andre suddenly turned to me, throwing his arm around my shoulder. Surprised by the sudden contact, I let out an embarassing squeak. However, he paid no mind to it.

"Look who I brought again," Andre announced, showing me off to almost the entire coffee shop.

I slowly pulled out of his arms and waved meekly at Leo and Jamal.

"Hey Amelia," Jamal greeted with a smile.

I gave him a small smile back and went to go take a seat beside him, since the other option was sitting beside Leo, which was not going to happen. I dropped off my stuff at the foot of the table and headed off to buy myself food.

I wasn't too hungry yet, but I knew I had to get something before class started in an hour. I browsed for a while, surprised at the somewhat good choices here, and finally picked out a grilled wrap. I grabbed it, along with a bottle of cold coffee, and headed to the table. Andre had joined me while I was getting food, and both of us made our way back to the table.

We sat down and began eating, while Leo and Jamal continued studying. I quietly ate, and when I was about halfway done, Jamal suddenly shut his book.

"That's it!" he exclaimed, making me jump five feet in the air. "I am done for the rest of the week," he groaned, crossing his arms and putting them on his giant textbook, then dropped his head onto it.

Leo scoffed at him and Andre chuckled.

"Hater much?" Jamal murmured to Andre.

"Sorry man, but why the hell are you taking Biology when you hate it?" Andre asked him.

Jamal shrugged.

"It was either this or Physics," he simply said and Andre nodded in understanding.

Jamal then continued complaining about biology and Andre kept shaking his head at him. I finally finished eating and got up to throw away my garbage. When I got back, I noticed that Jamal had opened up his book again. I sat down, a little unsurely and Andre noticed this.

"So Amelia? What class have you got after this?" he asked, stating a conversation.

"I have Psychology at 4:30," I said.

He nodded.

"What are you taking?" Jamal piped in.

"Psychology major," I explained.

They both nodded.

"I'm doing a History major," Andre said proudly.

"And I'm doing Coach training and also playing basketball to play nationals," Jamal said.

I smiled at the two. After they explained their majors, Jamal and Andre faced Leo in sync. Leo, unaware of what was going on, continued writing in his book. As if sensing the stares, he looked up at us.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

Andre sighed.

"Well go on, tell us your major," he cooed.

Leo turned to me with a bored, almost annoyed expression.

"Biology."

And then he was back to writing in his notebook. Suddenly, my eyes came across his hands, and a small gasp left my lips.

His knuckles were completely wrecked. They were bruised black and blue and even had traces of dried blood. That would explain why he was so grumpy today. The pain was probably unbearable.

It was in that moment that I did something I never expected myself to do in a million years.

I grabbed Leo's bruised hand.

"What happened to your knuckles?" I breathed out.

For a moment, the table went dead silent.

Before I could pull away, Leo did the honors, and ripped his hand out of mine.

Realising how awkward the situation really was, I slowly sank into my seat.

"Don't you dare touch me again," Leo gritted out.

Something in his voice simply made me angry. I was just curious. Nothing more, nothing less. And for once, instead of breaking from his stare, I held it.

"I'm mostly worried about the germs you're spreading. Atleast put a bandaid on it or something," I muttered.

With that I slumped back in my chair, leaving Leo open-mouthed and Andre and Jamal howling in laughter.