Chapter Three
1993-1994 - Sophomore Year
When cheer practice was done an hour earlier than usual, Amelia went to wait for Leo.
Her Leo.
One of the other members of the student government returned from the bathroom and nodded at her sitting cross-legged on the floor beside the entrance to the auditorium.
A minute later, Leo opened the door and looked around. Realizing she was on the floor, he came all the way into the hall and took her hands to lift her to her feet.
“Why are you sitting on the floor?” he asked with his hands on her shoulders. “You can come inside…”
“I didn’t want to interrupt. I don’t mind waiting.”
He stroked his palm over her hair. “Why don’t you sit in the car? Baylor has drinks and snacks.”
“It’s alright. Don’t let me distract you, Leo.”
His laugh gave her butterflies. “Wearing this? Impossible. Come on.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and led her inside. “We’re just finishing up. I want you to be comfortable.” Handing her into a chair, he shrugged off his jacket and pulled it around her shoulders.
“Oh, god. I was freezing. I forgot mine in my locker again.”
“I figured. You have goosebumps. We’ll grab it on the way to the car. Give me ten minutes.”
She nodded and he returned to the stage where the other students waited with wide eyes. Leo firmly pulled everyone’s attention away from Amelia and got them back on track.
Listening to him speak about the upcoming food drive for needy families in their area made her heart fill with pride. Working from a clipboard, he assigned each officer a task and reminded them that they had another meeting the next week.
“That’s it for today. Cindy, I need you to finish the tasks you haven’t done from the last three meetings. If you need help, let me know. Each of us is necessary.”
A short girl with red hair twined her hands together and tried to speak. “My-my grandmother is sick. I should have asked for help sooner but I didn’t want to let anyone down.”
“Hey, we’re all in this together. I’m sorry about your grandmother.” Leo quickly reassigned the girl’s responsibilities to other students and took a couple for himself. “I’d like everyone to keep Cindy’s confidence. As far as Mr. Fellman knows, this is a well-oiled machine that doesn’t falter - no matter what happens.”
Everyone murmured in agreement and gave the redhead their sympathies. Then everyone was grabbing their things and walking for the exits.
Leo returned to her with his backpack over his shoulder. With a slight bow, he held out his hand and she took it with a smile. When she was on her feet, they were eye to eye. He’d grown more than two inches over the summer.
“Hi,” she said shyly.
“Hello, Amelia.” He dropped a chaste kiss on her lips and guided her into the hall. Stopping at her locker, he took her bag and helped her into her jacket. “Hungry?” Amelia shrugged. “Did you eat lunch?”
“I’m not a big fan of school pizza…”
Tilting his head, he frowned. “You didn’t have breakfast either. Everything okay?”
“Oh, yeah. Just not very hungry. I’m drinking this juice and it really fills me up.”
He took her hand and they headed for the parking lot. “What kind of juice?”
“I don’t know. Some health drink.”
They exited into the crisp winter air and she felt Leo’s gaze on her face. She turned to stare into his pretty dark brown eyes. They seemed to sparkle with intelligence and general goodness. She could stare into them for hours but would never do something so weird.
“Where did you get it?” he asked her.
“Mom ordered it from a health company. I think she saw it in a fitness magazine.”