Chapter Five

Leon's Confession

Savannah woke up feeling frustrated with the events that took place the night before but hopeful that this day wouldn't be as horrible, now that she knew better.

The only thing she couldn't grasp her mind around was what she did to deserve such treatment from her older brother Mike, but witnessing the little care he had for her in ignoring her, Savannah thought it was time to do the same to him.

This was completely unlike Savannah who wears her heart on her sleeve however, fighting with Mike is a war she'll never win when he is the 'golden child' in their parent's eyes.

"Good morning, I made you some breakfast," greeted her mother, there was little Savannah wanted to say, she gave her mother an appreciative smile and ate her breakfast.

She avoided eye contact with her mother, father and Ben who were sitting around the dining table, she could feel them gazing at her as she ate, not taking her eyes off her plate.

"Savannah," spoke her father in a very conscious tone, as if trying to figure out how to word what he was about to say, "we're sorry if... you maybe felt a little ganged-up on... we were just so worried..."

"It's fine," said Savannah, finally meeting her father's eyes, "I was just having a bad day."

Savannah walked into homeroom and took a seat on the last row, the further away she was from Miss Mewdan, the better.

She was once again the first student to arrive, she sat and read her favourite poems from her favourite poet, Mailine Anoch over and over again until Leon arrived.

"Hey Sav, you okay?" he said with a weary expression as he took his bag off the one shoulder he always carries it on and sat beside her.

"Yeah, fine, why do you ask?" she answered truthfully, "Well for one, you didn't pick up my phone calls last night and secondly..." he paused and put his elbow on the desk, "Mitch told me what happened yesterday between you, Heather and Natalie."

For some reason, Leon had a guilty expression on his face and Savannah couldn't work out why.

"Listen mate, not gonna lie, I was having a really bad day yesterday – on behalf of your bumbling buddies..." Leon furrowed his eyebrows and frowned, "but I'm honestly over it now and I just want to over past it," Said Savannah contently.

In the past it was always Savannah who had to be the bigger person when her and Leon's other friends would quarrel, this time it was different, the thing is, she'd never decided to move past it this quickly.

Traces of guilt still lurked on Leon's face, he looked as if he wanted to say something but he didn't know how, "honestly I'm fine, it's Mitchell I'm worried about... he seemed pretty angry, but I wanna see him to thank him for standing up for me,"

Before another word was said Miss Mewdan walked into the classroom, Savannah looked around and noticed that Mitchell was no where to be seen.

She sat in her seat behind her desk and began taking the role, "Savannah Brown," she called out, "here."

She continued with the class roll without looking up at Savannah, she told a few students off for inappropriate standards of uniform and hissed at the first three rows to be quiet but paid no attention whatsoever to Savannah or Leon.

The first period bell rang and Miss Mewdan released them accordingly. "Double P.E. with Mrs Brockman," said Leon as he and Savannah made their way to the school gymnasium.

To Savannah's distaste, Heather and Natalie were standing in the middle of the gym surrounded by their entourage of pretty guys and girls.

Savannah made no effort to acknowledge their existence or even look at them, to act as if the events that took place less than 24 hours before never happened.

Savannah could feel their eyes staring at her, the good thing was, she couldn't care less.

"Alright, year 12 P.E!" Said Mrs Brockman enthusiastically as she entered the gym.

She was a young teacher with rusty red hair that was always slicked up into a neat topknot.

She was always excited and a little too hyperactive, Savannah had tried her best to like Mrs Brockman, however the memories associated with her made Savannah's stomach turn.

Savannah is not a fantastic swimmer and was reluctant to participate in the swimming carnival in seventh grade, in an effort to get Savannah to participate, Mrs Brockman swooped Savannah from the ground and threw her in the water where she nearly drowned before being saved by Leon who fortunately, swam like a torpedo.

"Your physical health and education has been a responsibility of mine for the past five years, I may have been tough, I may have been a little too rough," she glanced at Savannah with a smirk, "but my sole purpose and objective was and still is to get you to be active.

"Now that this is your sixth and final year, I want you to know that I won't be around next year, yelling at you, hounding you to do your absolute best in staying active, so I'm going to give you a hell of a year to make sure you don't forget," Mrs Brockman finished, her last words still lingering in the air and processing through the student's minds.

For the first hour and twenty minutes, Mrs Brockman had the class doing drills and running laps around the school oval, every muscle in Savannah's body was aching.

"Okay for the last 20 minutes of class you all can play a friendly game of dodge-ball since you were all champs out in the field," smiled Mrs Brockman, "Thompson and King, front and centre, you two are the team captains, pick your players," said Mrs Brockman as Leon and Heather made their ways to the front of the class.

"Savannah," said Leon as Savannah got up and stood beside him, for some strange reason, Natalie was red with fury, 'did she really think Lee was gonna pick her over me?' said a voice in Savannah's head which she so desperately tried to shake off.

"Nat." Heather said simply as Natalie got up and strutted towards her 'bestie.' After both teams had 15 players the game commenced.

As rubbish as Savannah was at any kind of physical activity, it was her objective to not get hit with a ball from the opponents, which was difficult considering she was the target of all Heather's and Natalie's throws.

As petty as the the two were being, Savannah promised herself that she would not sink to their level.

For the first time in history, Savannah was the last member of her team that hadn't been hit with a ball, it was her against Heather on the opposing team who was elite at every sport she participated in.

Savannah's palms were sweating and her breathing become heavy, it was down to her, it was just a dodge-ball game but it seemed to be so much more than that.

Heather threw a ball right in Savannah's midriff and to everyone's utter disbelief she dodged it.

Savannah had never known how great her reflexes were, she picked up the ball and threw it at Heather, which she seamlessly dodged.

Natalie got up from the sidelines and approached Leon who was on Savannah's sideline cheering her on, it was clear to Savannah that Natalie was using Leon to distract her from winning the game, Savannah was astounded in her immaturity and tried not to lose focus on the game afoot.

Heather threw a ball that was moving so quickly that Savannah didn't have time to think or move in time to dodge it, she was going to lose the game because she let Natalie get inside her head.

Savannah, without really thinking about it, reached for the ball and to her disbelief she caught it, she actually caught the ball that Heather threw at her.

It took a few seconds for everyone in the gym to realise what had just happened, that Savannah Brown, the nobody, caught a ball that was thrown at her by the Heather King.

"Team Leon wins!" shouted Mrs Brockman as Savannah's teammates approached her, congratulating her with high-fives and pats on the back as Heather and Natalie watched sour-faced.

"Well done champ, you brought honour to the Leon Thompson team!" chanted Leon humorously.

By lunchtime, Savannah and Leon were still discussing their victory, "where did that come from Sav?" asked Leon for the third time, "like I said Lee, it was sheer luck, I don't have secret superpowers I swear," chuckled Savannah.

"Oh hey there's Mitch," said Leon as he used his hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sun, "be right back" said Savannah, getting to her feet and racing to catch up with Mitchell who was on his way to the canteen.

"Mitch...ell," breathed Savannah,

"oh hey," he smiled, "I heard you bet Heather in a round of dodge-ball, good job mate,"

"wow... things really do get around here," Savannah thought out loud,

"I admire your humbleness," he said smirking as he shifted his weight from one leg to the other, he carried his school bag on one shoulder, just as Leon did.

"Listen, I want to thank you for standing up for me, I really appreciate it, I don't know how hard it must've been considering your friendship with them."

He looked at Savannah and cleared his throat, "I'm not friends with them, I just tolerate their BS because Leon, regrettably associates with them.

But I couldn't sit and watch them walk all over you like that, so I did what any right person would do, may have went a little too far with the 'truly horrendous souls that lie in hell' bit but..." he and Savannah chuckled, "but I don't regret it."

He smiled, "and you're welcome, see you next period." He flashed her his dazzling teeth and waved her goodbye.

Savannah felt guilty for assuming Mitchell's dispositions before actually making the effort to know his character, the more she thought about it, the more she realised that her and Mitchell aren't so different.

The next three weeks went by smoothly and quickly, Heather and Natalie reserved their scrutiny towards Savannah, all she got from them were death glares when she was with Leon at lunch times and PE and eye-rolls when she was with Mitchell in Ecology.

She had found a friend in Mitchell, he was actually quite charming and funny and didn't have a big an ego as Savannah had once believed.

They shared a mutual love for trees and shared similar interests in ecology. She was glad she had a lab partner who also did some of the work instead of constantly relying on her.

Their workload increased making Savannah and Leon spend three nights a week together attempting to study and keep up.

Every time her and Leon would hang out, Savannah would notice Leon losing his train of thought more frequently as the days went on, she couldn't tell whether something was bothering him or he simply didn't want to do homework.

For the time being, Savannah thought it was best to let Leon be and didn't look too much into it.

Savannah hadn't realised how easy it was when she too began to ignore Mike as he ignored her, not to mention how much happier she is now that she doesn't give a damn about her older brother's pettiness for no reason whatsoever.

Once she decided to be unaffected by his childish actions, it seemed to anger him more than it did her.

It was a Tuesday after-school, Savannah and Leon were making their way to Savannah's house for a session of after-school study. Leon had been acting strange all day, barely touching his food, having everything repeated to him because anything anybody, even Savannah said went completely in one ear and out the other.

Savannah asked him multiple times that day, what had been bothering him and his reasons were that he "hadn't gotten enough sleep." She decided to let him be and wait until he is ready to talk.

The two were up in Savannah's bedroom preparing to study, Leon had been silent the entire walk to Savannah's house.

"Hey Sav," said Leon in a quiet voice, Savannah turned around to face him to see that he was avoiding her eyes as he hung his head and looked at the floor.

"Yes..." said Savannah cautiously,

"I've got to tell you something... but before I do, I want you to know that I love you and I'm sorry in advance and I wasn't thinking properly when I did, what I did,"

Savannah's mind had switched into panic mode, the last time Leon looked this guilty was when he was apologising to her in 8th grade for going to Natalie's birthday party instead of hers.

Savannah, as calmly as she possibly could, asked, "what is it?" Leon drew a long breath and locked eyes with Savannah.

"Savannah, about three weeks ago, after psychology class with Natalie, we were walking to my locker. Just her and I."

Savannah could tell how nervous Leon was, he was mumbling his words and rubbing his palms together, she tried to keep a straight face and silent so he could continue.

"And Natal-Natalie asked me to... she asked me if I wanted to be her boyfriend," he finished sighing deeply as he gently pulled on the golden brown curls on the top of his head.

Oh. My. Goodness. Savannah could handle Leon being friends with Natalie but being her boyfriend was a thought that made Savannah want to be sick.

"So what did you say?!" asked savannah in a panic-stricken voice,

"I said no of course!" retorted Leon, sounding just as panicked as Savannah.

Savannah couldn't see what the big deal was with the story so far, so she figured Leon wasn't finished telling it, she stayed silent, urging Leon to continue.

"You know what Natalie's like, she didn't handle the rejection well and kept asking why I wouldn't be with her, I mean, because half the guys in our school, in this state want to be with Natalie,"

"So I sort of..." he broke eye contact with Savannah and started gazing at the ceiling, as if wondering how to carefully word what he was about to say next.

"What did you say?" Savannah asked calmly,

"I told her I was in a relationship with you,"

They sat in silence, gazing at each other.

"When did this happen?"

"First day back," said Leon still guilt-stricken.

Savannah's mind was racing as Leon stared at her trying to read her reaction.

'Oh my gosh, Natalie fancies Leon and Leon supposedly fancies me,' thought Savannah,

"that explains why she has been so horrible to me lately... I mean, more than usual." Savannah thought out loud.

"I know, I'm so sorry Sav, as soon as Mitch told me what happened in your Ecology class I knew it was all my doing."

"No Lee, you rejecting her may have brought out Natalie's inner fire-breathing dragon, but I don't want you taking the blame for her actions... it wasn't you who said those nasty things."

Leon looked relieved over her words of reassurance but still guilty.

"But why Lee? why couldn't you tell her you just weren't interested in her?"

"Because she started questioning my... preferences,"

It took a while before Savannah realised what Leon was saying, was Leon coming out of the closet? Savannah had always seen Leon as Leon, loved him for who he is and never really thought about what his preferences were. It never really mattered to her.

"Lee what are you saying?"

"Savannah I think you've known, for long time, somewhere in the back of your head that I'm not what you call, 'completely straight'," Savannah couldn't disagree nor agree.

"So, what are you into?" asked Savannah, for some reason she felt extremely awkward, like she was overstepping her boundaries, as if she had said something offensive.

Leon furrowed his eyebrows and scrunched up his face,

"I'm not. That's the thing, I don't crave a relationship with either gender. First I thought I was confused but I just don't feel attraction in that sort of way towards..." he sighed heavily.

"Look if I could explain it to you I would, but I can't, it drives me nuts not being able to tell you how I feel." He said, Savannah hadn't seen Leon this down before.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Lee, or anyone for that matter. I just don't want you feel like you have to closet yourself, you're not some psychotic criminal that needs to be locked in a high security prison."

"Savannah I'm not closeting myself for their sake, I'm doing it for mine..."

they sat in silence, Savannah didn't know what to say, but she would do anything to relieve Leon of the hurt he was feeling.

"Savannah, I need you to do this for me, Natalie is starting to get suspicious about this, about us."

"Leon, what are you asking me?"

"I'm asking you, as a friend, to be my significant other in a staged relationship."

Savannah didn't need to give it much thought, she would give her life to Leon if it meant he wasn't in emotional pain.

"Okay, Lee, I'll do it," said Savannah confidently.

Leon's face lit up brighter than the moon on the darkest night of the year, he smiled from ear-to-ear and wrapped Savannah in his arms.

"DINNER!" called Ben from downstairs,

"Lee how many people have you told... about us?"

"Just Natalie, she hasn't told anyone I presume because the whole town would've known by now.

"But about me, so far you and Mitch are the only people who know,"

"You told Mitch before you told me?!"

"Yes, well Savannah I'm not asking him to be in a fake relationship to protect my sanity am I?," he laughed,

Savannah was so glad to see that smile on Leon's face which she had so desperately missed.

"You'd think it wouldn't take this much persuasion to get you to go out with a stud like me," joked Leon. "What about me made you think I was easy?" asked Savannah,

"definitely not your hair," laughed Leon as Savannah threw punches at him.

"You know," said Leon in an attempt to bring seriousness back to their discussion,

"I've always said that counting my blessings would be like counting the stars in the night sky, but you Savannah Brown, are my moon."

Savannah's heart filled with warmth, her and Leon were as close as the closest siblings, they mattered and meant so much to each other, but hearing it was always something that was rare, but precious.

Savannah smiled and hugged Leon, she hoped that it would show what words would fail to do. She pulled back and stared at Leon,

"and what? You're the earth?" she asked quizzically,

"no, I'm the sun 'cause I'm hot," he smiled as he stepped out the room and walked downstairs for dinner.

That night astounded Savannah as two things that she thought were impossible occurred, the first one was that she, Savannah Brown, had a boyfriend, the second was that it was Leon.