Just Another High School Story!

While Ethan talked, Leah hadn't said a word, instead, she had fallen deep into thought, Ethan, the school's coolest guy had had such a terrible life, he'd had to face so much yet he looked happy and gay, conversed with everyone and upheld his image as cool guy. Then understanding dawned on her, she'd done the exact same thing, for so many years now, she had let other's thoughts about her make her into a stranger, she hadn't realised that the Leah she couldn't identify in the mirror was a creation of what others hoped she should be, she'd camouflaged herself pretty well, she was hidden somewhere, but this Leah, the one that took her life for granted, wasn't the Leah she wanted to be, she looked at Ethan and smiled at him, "I'll help you and you shall help me. Let's be real." when she said this, she took a pledge, never again would she talk about death as if it were nothing, she realised that human life is fragile, and you shouldn't waste time on conflicts, you'd regret not saying sorry, you would never regret saying it, because even if the world stood against you, at least you can say, 'I held my fort, even against the worst of enemies." Leah wanted to be a person who could say that-- who would say that.

After walking her home, Ethan felt light-hearted, he lay on his bed thinking about how tonight and passed, then he looked at his phone and saw that it was 1:20 am, he wondered what Leah was doing, was she sleeping already? He even thought that her being asleep at around 1, past midnight, was absurd, the fellow was surely in love, though he hadn't confessed today, he never actually clearly announced his feelings for her, he pondered texting her and then dropped his phone; suddenly, someone knocked on his window, he jumped up with a start and saw two handprints on his window, then after focusing for a moment, he realised that it was his Juliet, a fierce one, as usually Romeo would be the one to fuss around near windows, she was the one who'd climbed up to his room, she enjoyed every bit of it, sneakily climbing the balcony, knocking on his window, he opened the window and let her in, immediately, "Are you an idiot, what if someone saw you?" he asked, though he was really happy that she was here, he'd wanted to see her too but thought it would be inappropriate, for she had barely let down her walls, he didn't want to make a mistake, she smiled, and said, "Oh then, I'll leave!", she acted as if she were going to climb back down, of course, she was just teasing him, climbing a balcony and weird pipes isn't nearly as easy as it sounds. "NO!" E yelled, and she turned around, "Why are you getting worked up then?" she winked at him, and climbed in, she continued, "Your room is pretty big, wow, you practice Korean too." Her eyes fell upon Korean dictionaries on his table, he'd started learning Korean after watching some Korean dramas, during recess, Leah had always pulled out her phone to watch them, and at first he didn't understand why she smiled so much, and looked like she was drinking from the fountain that held the 'elixir of la vida', when she was watching them, but after a binge session of 'Heirs', he realised that a world beyond his imagination existed. She looked at many pictures and saw that they were mostly of places he had visited with his dad, she liked the pictures and Ethan's warm smile in them, he seemed happy with his dad, "I'm really sorry about your dad, E", Leah said, "I'm sure he was a great man!" She smiled at him. He suddenly felt his heart race, she had this weird effect on him, when she smiled so warmly, the effect increased tenfold, he thoughtlessly blurted out, "Your smile is really pretty!" Immediately, blood rushed to Leah's cheeks, and she turned away, she wasn't used to getting compliments... well, actually, she'd heard too many compliments to be joyed by them, but somehow Ethan's compliment made her heart flutter. "Do you wanna go out for a walk?" she asked Ethan, and he complied

. She was about to go down through the balcony, when he pulled her closer to him, "Wait up, wear one of my hoodies, your clothes seem too thin to properly shield you from the cold, rather than begin the guy that gives you his jacket, I'll give you my hoodie!" Then he flashed his charming smile at her, and she smiled at his comment, she couldn't explain what it was but Ethan read her like an open book, she didn't like how men offered their jackets to women, it was plain stupidity, they'd be cold and the net result of giving the coat, jacket or anything would be ineffective as there was still a person shivering. She liked the thought of sharing, or coming prepared, when she was younger she joked that she'd never trouble her boyfriend with this task, as she would always carry a jacket. But now, standing there in front of Ethan, she felt warm as she slid into his hoodie, she felt his scent, and finally thought she'd made a friend. She'd never had a best friend before, even Linda wasn't her best friend, she had never truly confided in Linnie, though she told her everything, Linda still didn't know much about her, this didn't irritate Leah rather, she'd grown so far apart from her family, that them not understanding or knowing her didn't make a difference to her. She didn't love herself, and that was all that bothered her at the moment.

She'd been working out like a maniac for the past two years, consistently, it would be safe to say that she had not take even a single rest day in between weeks, but still she didn't achieve the results she wanted, she wanted to rebuild herself, as a person, who she was, what she thought about herself, what she saw in herself, she wanted to change, and begin with Ethan gave hr hope that she could, a thought that had seemed too far out of her reach, now seemed close, closer than ever and she wanted to leap furiously and snatch it.