Chapter 5

The award ceremony went well, minus Leo standing in the crowd of families like a fucking skyscraper. I pretended not to notice him as I helped guide each of my students to get their award during the ceremony, smiling during picture time. A few parents approached me after the ceremony, wanting extra photos with my students. I, of course, sing their praises and allow my lovely students to have a moment with their parents.

In the back, I notice a student remaining on the bleachers, standing still, overlooking the crowd as his friends reunite with their loved ones.

"Where's your family, Quill?" I gently ask as I approach him. I take a seat next to him, recalling a similar sensation.

"They're not coming," he says quietly. His cheeks flushed red in embarrassment, and his eyes blinked, preventing falling tears.

I pat his shoulders, kneeling to his level. He keeps his head down, avoiding eye contact. "It's okay. My parents didn't come to some of my awards."

He raises his head a little, lifting his glasses higher from the bridge of his nose. He doesn't say a word, and I continue.

"They were busy working so that we had food at home. I cried and cried and stood the way you did. But you know what? At the end of the day, I always remembered that this was still a special day." I tell him, holding his certificate proudly.

"Best Class Mathematician." I read it aloud to him, smiling. "Quite an accomplishment, Quill. Don't you think?"

He unclenches the sides of his hands and presses his glasses closer to his eyes. After a brief pause, he nods his head.

"I think so too. Be proud of it, Quill. In fact," I say while tugging a small piece of chocolate candy out of my pocket. "I believe you've earned this."

The corner of his mouth lifts subtly, and he takes the candy from my hand, admiring it.

"Can I eat it now?"

"Of course,"

He takes the candy and unravels its wrapper. From a distance, I hear his name being called. I point Quill out to his friends and encourage him to join them. Before he does, he gives me a small hug and scurries away, holding his certificate.

Together, they all proudly display their awards and take pictures together, all huddled up.

It was one of those moments that reminded me why I teach.

"Quite the teacher you are," Leo murmurs from behind me. I shift in my white tennis shoes, acting not-so-surprised by his presence when it did in fact shake me to the core having him this close in proximity at my workplace. THE. UTTER. AUDACITY.

"I'll assume that is a compliment."

"It is." He crosses his arms in amusement. "Not everything is darkness, pequeña estrella."

"Don't call me that." I give him a glance, examining the tightness of his t-shirt. Perhaps it wasn't tight, but it did accentuate his built physique. I try to re-avert my attention to my students before he catches me staring.

"To each their own. Without darkness, there cannot be light, and vice versa. Thus, I choose to be cynical. Makes life more bearable."

"Are you always this philosophical?"

"I'm a teacher."

"You didn't answer the question."

As I open my mouth, a bell rings, and the principal calls for all parents to leave and all the teachers to escort their students. Sighing, Leo leaves and tells me he'll be waiting at the front office.

I nod and escort my students to my classroom. They all place their awards on their desk and head out to lunch with their lunch boxes and miscellaneous things they want to show outside of the classroom.

"Felix," I call back one of my students as the rest walk to either the outer bleachers or the cafeteria. "Remember to go to the nurse's office after you finish your lunch. Your mother should be there as well to see how you're doing with your Dexcom."

"I will Ms. Martinez!" He looks back down the hallway, excited to have lunch with his classmates.

"Great! If you need help finding the nurse's office, make sure to ask one of the security ladies." I add, sending him off.

With his lunch pail, he scurries and catches up to his friends Liam, Berry, and Gill.

I smile in approval, walking back into my classroom, contemplating whether or not I should go to the front office for Leo. I grab my phone out of my ba,g along with my lunch. As expected, Leo had both called and messaged me.

Another message appears from him and I open it.

I'll be waiting.

After the message, he sends another one with a smiling emoji sticking its tongue out.

I'm coming. I text him, followed by a frowning emoji. You know your text messages sound like a creepy stalker right?

HAHA! He replies with a laughing GIF of a cute animated character.

I tucked away my phone and weaved my way to the front office, where he stood there waiting like a puppy.

"Is this your friend Ms. Martinez?" she smirks.

"Ye-"

"He's an old childhood acquaintance of mine," I respond, cutting off Leo. "I'll be out for lunch."

Mrs. Lorenza bobs her head gleefully, as I am well aware of the office gossip she is about to implement on me. "Little miss unmarried has a boyfriend," she would say. I bid her farewell and follow Leo out to the parking lot.

He takes my lunch pail from my hands, and I scowl at him. "You won't be needing this."

"I need to be back before my class starts," I state, pointing at the school building.

"And you will." He replies as we arrive at a spacious hybrid van.

"A blacked-out van?" I raise my eyebrow. "You aren't planning to kidnap me, are you?"

"Heavens no. You read too much."

"And you read too little."

His attendant opens the back of his car, and the two of us enter. Meeting inside the van, it was quite spacious, like those rich automobiles you see in movies. It had a small mini fridge and nice leather seats for a person to nap on if they wanted to.

"Wow." I gasped at the array of food at the center of the table.

"Dig in." He says pridefully.

"That looks expensive. I don't think I'll be able to pay you back for the food."

"It's on me."

"I'm good."

"No, really. I got this for us."

"No thanks. I've learned it the hard way. If I eat your food, that would mean I would have to repay you in some way, and I don't want that."

"You won't owe me anything, Stephanie."

"I think I'll pass." I decline, though the sounds of my stomach perfectly give me away.

"How about this? Take the food as my payment for troubling you today." He hands me chopsticks and a platter of sushi.

I eye him and give in to the food, silencing the demon inside me.

"You always seem to know how to tiptoe around my words," I mumble in between bites of the rolls.

He chuckles and hands me a napkin. "I have to when it comes to someone as stubborn as yourself."

"Me, stubborn? Gee, tell me, Leonardo, why have you come to my work?"

"You refused to answer my messages. I had to reach you in some way."

"Leo, when a girl doesn't message you, she does it for a reason. Tell me, how much did you pay Beth to know where I work? No, wait, let me guess. Five hundred?"

He shakes his head.

"Six?"

He shakes his head again.

"Higher or lower?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Higher."

"One thousand?"

He nods his head.

"Leonardo Ramero Vasquez! Why on earth would you pay that!"

"To talk to you about my proposal. The only person who knows you better than anyone is Beth."

"You are an idiot."

"So, have you thought about it?"

"I have."

"And?"

"No."

"I was afraid you'd say that." He keeps his eyes latched on to mine. I knew that devious tactic. He had something up his sleeve.

"What did you do?" I cross my legs and wipe my mouth with the napkin he handed me.

"This weekend, I have an event, and I told my folks you'd come." He pauses, and I let him continue. "I may or may not have invited your family as well."

My smile drops, and my left hand clutches the napkin. "You did what! Why would you do that?"

"I had to! These last two months, you've ignored me. I had to lie about us. They were going to pair me off, Stephanie! My agent! My parents!"

"And so you've been pretending we're a thing behind my back? Does my family know? No! Does my mother know?" I emphasize the last question.

"Yes."

"Oh, god!" I gasp.

"I told her to keep our relationship a secret because you were too embarrassed to admit it."

"So that's why she stopped pestering me about my dating life! Oh god! Oh god! Do you know what you've done?"

"We just need to play the role this weekend."

"Play a role? Leo! I'm not an actor like you! I am a teacher for a reason. You seriously couldn't have done this with someone else?"

"No! You're the only one I trust with this, Stephanie. I can't handle another setup. The next person was going to be Georgia."

"Your co-star? What's wrong with her? She's gorgeous!"

"She is obsessive. I don't expect you to understand, but I just can't do this anymore. I know you and I have always gotten on the wrong foot, but this time I really need your help, Stephanie. I don't want to be around more people who treat me like I'm a-a,"

"Object," I interject.

"Yes, an object." He sighs, crouching with his hands on the temple of his head.

It was clear to me that Leo had indeed been desperate. I've always seen him as this confident figure who did what he liked and excelled at it. Sitting right in front of me was a side of Leo I hadn't seen. The type of guy who seemed like a bird trapped in a cage, squabbling at anyone who passed him by.

"Fine."

"Really?"

"Do I look like I have a choice? My mother thinks I'm dating an international sensation of an actor and model who used to live next door. You're literally the boy next door and childhood friend trope wrapped in one."

"Trope?" He questions, the corners of his mouth lifting, one side higher than the other.

"You're right, I have been reading far too much."

He chuckles, running his hand through the dark locks of his hair. "Never change, Estrella, never change."

"Whatever," I comment, crossing my arms. I check my watch and frown. "Text me the details of the event. We'll discuss this later."

"We're on?"

"We're on. I expect compensation." I snatch my lunch pail from him and tap the side of the door.

The kind middle-aged slender gentleman opens it and helps me get out. I recognized him from when I was younger, he was usually Leo's father's personal assistant. I never once caught his name.

"Thank you, sir."

"Please, call me Stefan." He shakes my hand. "Much like you, I too do deal with Mr. Leonardo's antics."

"Hey!" Leo exclaims in the car.

"You can't hide from the truth, sir."

I chuckle and head off to the main office of the school. Waiting there is Ms. Lorenza whispering to one of the other secretaries.

"Back from lunch?" she asks.

I nod my head with a frown as I head over to the entrance hall.

"Oh, Ms. Martinez?"

"Yes?"

Here we go—another one of her snide comments.

"Try not to be too loud next time you're in the van with an acquaintance. You nearly gave Felix's mother a fright. She heard you saying and I quote 'oh god' in the car."

My mouth slid downward, and my face turned a burning red. It was as bright and hot as an electric light bulb.

"Oh, that wasn't-You've got the wrong assumption- we didn't-"

Use your words Steph! Use your words! I internally shout at myself to find any and all self-composure. Quick, Stephanie think of a good explanation!

As I was about to testify, the school bell rang, and Felix came out from the nurse's room, paralleling down the main office door. He had his sleeve rolled up from when they switched out Dexcom.

"Run along now Ms. Martinez. Go ahead and follow her, Felix." She smiles at the child. I purse my lips into a line and start walking away from the front desk. The phone next to Ms. Lorenza rings, and she answers it. Felix follows behind me and sways his lunch pail with glee.

"Ms. Martinez?"

"Yes, Felix?"

"Why is your face so red?"

"I had too much sun, Felix," I sigh to the poor innocent child.

I am never going to hear the end of this.