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Gemma held her phone to her ear as she waited for Leo to answer his phone. She hadn't gotten much sleep last night and wasn't prepared to spend the school day anywhere near her boyfriend, Josh, that she'd gotten in a fight with. He was super protective and when he found out that she spent the afternoon with Leo, he was livid. It wasn't the first time that they'd had an argument like this, either. Apparently, Gemma was a repeat offender. "Thank goodness you answered," she said into the phone as soon as Leo picked up. "I know this might be a dumb question, but are you willing to skip today? I need a day to get away from Josh and I know you're always willing to contribute to the cause." She finished picking out a comfy outfit while she listened for his reply. 

 

Nate reached over and smashed at his alarm clock until it finally turned off. This was the first time in many weeks that he hadn't overslept, so he got out of bed quickly and planned on taking advantage of the extra time that he had. He got a longer-than-usual shower and got dressed before heading downstairs. He grabbed his phone from the counter and sent Bella a message. 'Want to ride w/ me to school?' he asked before grabbing an apple from the basket and taking a bite. While he waited for a reply, he grabbed his backpack and slid on his shoes - his favorite pair of Vans. He slid on his jacket and checked the pocket for his cigarettes and a lighter. He heard his phone go off and he found that it was Bella, who had accepted his offer. He went out, hopped on his bike and left for her house with an extra helmet in tow. Once he arrived, he went up and knocked on the front door.

 

Gemma pursed her lips as she considered his question. "Hmm..." she began, "meet me at the little sub shop on the corner of West Main and Park Avenue." She slid on her jeans and a t-shirt before slipping into a pair of Vans and a sweatshirt. She'd been struggling with her self-esteem lately, after Josh had a tendency to make her feel worthless. She constantly asked herself why she didn't go ahead and get out of the relationship, but to be honest, she was worried of how Josh would react. She didn't know if she would be leaving the scene in an ambulance or in her car. "See you there," she told him before hanging up the phone. She went into the bathroom and fixed her hair into a ponytail before she washed her face, brushed her teeth, and put on a tiny bit of mascara. She grabbed her phone and left her house to walk the short distance to the sub shop.

 

Nate shrugged. "That's fine, I can wait," he said before entering her home. He followed her upstairs and proceeded into her bedroom, flopping down on her bed as he waited for her to finish doing her hair. "Your bed is super comfy," he said, rolling over a few times and testing out each side. It was a shame that Ben got to spend more time here than he did. Woah, did he really just think about that? How much of a best friend could he be if he was thinking about doing such things with a girl that was taken? At least they knew each other! When ten minutes had passed, he called out to her, "Your hair looks fine no matter how you do it," he admitted honestly, "we have to leave in five minutes, unless you plan on dealing with detention. If you stroll in late you'll probably be excused, but since you're with me, there's no telling what will happen."

Gemma made her way to the sub shop and walked inside to order food for her and Leo. She got a breakfast melt for him, his favorite, and decided on a meatball sub for herself. Not a conventional way to enjoy breakfast, but she was too hungry to be concerned with how it looked. She grabbed their subs and found their usual table in the back of the room. She sat the subs down and took the cups to fill them with ice water. She went back to sit down just as Leo was walking through the front door. She waved and said hello but frowned when she saw the look on his face. When they sat down together, she didn't waste any time when asking, "What's on your mind? Something's up, I can tell, so don't lie to me. Definitely not in the mood for that today, my friend." She opened their subs up and sipped at her drink. 

 

Nate nodded profusely. "You look great, sweetheart, let's get rolling," he told her, locking her hand with his and ushering her downstairs. He had always called her sweetheart, and he found it amusing that she was too shy to say anything about it - he knew that it was pretty much a social faux pas since they weren't dating. They left her house and he helped her up onto his bike and handed her the helmet he'd brought for her. He drove his bike to school and parked it in his designated spot on the side of the building. He climbed off and removed his helmet along with hers. He brushed some of her bangs out of her eyes and tucked them behind her ear, kind of enjoying how he managed to make her blush. He was aware of the stares of the students around him but he chose to ignore them. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and together they walked inside, heading to their first period together, biology.

Gemma sighed, avoiding his glance as he listened to her. This wasn't like her, as she was used to looking into his gorgeous eyes while he talked, but whenever Josh came up, she couldn't bring herself to look at him. She finally looked up before saying, "I know, I know. I hear what everyone says. Not all of it is true, granted, but some of it is, I guess." She shrugged her shoulders, hoping to stall him for a bit while she thought. She took a bite of her sub and chewed at it before swallowing. "I just don't know how to get out of this one, Leo. He's so possessive, I have to let him know where I'm going all the time and who I'll be with. Who knows how badly he'll yell at me tonight for ditching school. Heaven forbid he can't sit at lunch with his less-than-perfect girlfriend!" She sighed heavily. "I just don't know how to end it. He tells me he loves me, and I guess I love him, but I don't love the way he's been acting. If I confront him about it,he'll probably take that as a challenge. It's like I'm his property."

 

Nate noticed that Bella was texting Ben and he rolled his eyes. He was going to tell her that she needed to get out of her relationship but he wasn't sure how she would take it. He knew he would listen to her, but he was worried that she would be extremely hurt when she realized that Ben isn't as great as he appears. "I'll see you at lunch," he told her as they walked into the room. His arm dropped instantly as he spotted Ben in the back of the room. Of course, the only two seats open were the ones surrounding Ben. Nate groaned as he took a seat behind Ben, hoping that he could keep an eye on him and his interaction with Bella. He wanted to get to the bottom of this, to see if Ben really had anything nice about him that would give Nate a reason to let Bella stay with him.

Gemma frowned again. "I don't want you to get involved in this any more than you already are," she told him as she took another bite of her sandwich. Her heart skipped a few beats as he tucked her hair behind her ear. The more he kept going on and on about it, the more upset she became. "Look, after all that I've been through in the past 24 hours, can we just let this drop for once?" she said, her voice nearly a shout. She instantly regretted what came out of her mouth when she looked up and noticed how Leo's jaw had dropped. She realized that she had crossed the line. "I'm so sorry, that's not - I mean, I just..." she apologized, tears pricking at her eyes. She shook her head quickly, wishing badly to change the conversation. "I want to plan this out and get all of my ducks in a row before I try and jump right in. I hope you'll be on my side, I know you and Josh used to be close in the past."

 

Nate's hands clenched into fists as he heard Ben confront Bella. Against his usual judgement, he decided to stay out of it and not offer his two cents. He knew that Ben would get over it eventually - she got here in once piece, on time, with her pants on. What was so wrong about that? He let out a sigh as class began. First period was definitely his most difficult class, considering he wasn't usually awake for most of it. He knew the drill: do little to no work all semester, surprise the teacher with an outstanding paper worthy of an A+, then boom - passing grade. When class was over, he tried to get out of the classroom as quickly as he could. He knew that he wouldn't see Bella again until the last class of the day, so he took it upon himself to tell her as she walked out the door, "Text me if you need me."

Gemma chewed at a few more bites of her sub and sipped at her drink. She leaned back in her chair and waited for Leo to come back in. When he took his seat, she apologized once again. "That wasn't right of me, to snap at you, when you were just trying to help. Please forgive me," she pleaded. When he agreed, she breathed a sigh of relief and showed him a small smile. They finished their meal and rose from their seats. "Do you want to go downtown and catch a movie? Or are you more interested in getting beat at a game of air hockey down at the arcade?" Both places were their usual spots to hangout when they spent time together. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, so she pulled it out to read a message from Josh. 'Where u at?' he asked, 'Coming soon?'

 

Nate felt his phone vibrate in his pocket as he was on his way to his next class. He read the message from Bella and frowned deeply. 'Meet me in the hall by the locker rooms,' he sent back, knowing that it was the only place where they could be alone and that it wasn't far from where he had last seen her. He made his way there quickly, hoping to arrive before she did so he could fend off Ben if he tried to follow her. Thankfully, she arrived alone. He noticed the tears forming in her eyes and his gaze dropped to the floor. He pulled her into his embrace, tightly wrapping his arms around her waist as her arms slid around his neck. "I'm so sorry he's treating you like this," he whispered into her ear before planting a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Are you going to be okay to go to class, or do you want me to try and get you out of here?" He'd written 'doctor's notes' for her before and was prepared to do it again.

 

Gemma nodded. "Sounds like a great idea," she said, following him to his car. Anything past the sub shop was a bit too far of a walk for her liking, and how could she pass up the chance to ride in his sweet Mustang? She climbed in the passenger's seat and sat in silence as he drove toward the movie theater. She fiddled with the radio station for a few minutes before deciding on a classic rock station, which made her think of her childhood. She knew that it was always Leo's favorite music genre and it was the complete opposite of the pop stations that she was used to listening to. When they parked in the parking lot, she got out and locked elbows with him as they made their way into the theater. They went inside and purchased their tickets for an action movie, something to keep her mind off of her relationship troubles.

 

Nate shook his head. "Oh, no, no, no, sweetheart," he told her, "you are a smart, talented, and incredibly beautiful girl. I'm sure he was just blowing off some steam, and I'm so sorry that he took it out on you. You and I both know what goes on between us, and if he doesn't believe us, then that's on him." He wiped a few of her tears off of her cheeks and pulled back for a moment to look into her eyes. "Let's get out of here," he told her. "I'll take you back to my place, for now." Together, they walked out of the front doors and hopped on his bike. He helped her slide her helmet on after he put his on and then they were off. He pulled into his driveway and parked his bike before helping her off and leading her inside. "Make yourself comfortable on the couch, I'll find us some munchies to snack on."