Chapter 15

   Leo drove us around our small little town for a bit, trying to decide what to do. Not that there was much. He had planned for a movie and then dinner but there weren't many choices. For movies, everything we had in the theatre now I had already seen before I moved here - at my friend's house. Yeah, everything in theatres here was on DVD everywhere else. For dinner, there were really only two restaurants you would go to for a date - Red Lobster and Olive Garden.

   "How about we go see that comedy? I thought it was pretty good. Then we can go to the Olive Garden for dinner?" Leo suggested.

   "Sounds good to me" I replied.

   "Then maybe we can go just hang out, maybe go to the stables?" He added.

   He knew I loved horses apparently. "Maybe. My dad wants me home by ten though" I told him. That part wasn't necessarily true. In all honesty, my dad didn't care what time I got home at. But I did. I didn't want to be out all night because Jake had convinced his brother to let us borrow his truck to go down to the lake tomorrow. Just our little group.

   "Alright" Leo said, sounding a little down.

   We pulled into the theatre parking lot and climbed out of the truck. Leo bought our tickets and drinks and we went to our screening room.

   I had already seen this movie and didn't really want to see it again, so I started looking around the room.

   I noticed a couple of kids from the middle school sitting next to each other, probably on a date. The adult two rows behind them confirmed my guess, apparently their "chaperone" although she wasn't paying them much attention.

   I also noticed a group of four students from the high school sitting together. Two guys and two girls. Probably a double-date. One of the girls had long, blonde hair while the other had shorter blonde hair. The guy sitting next to the long-haired girl had a more ginger color, with a short haircut. The boy next to the short-haired girl had spiky red hair. They were constantly giggling, despite the fact that the movie wasn't very funny at all. I caught some words like "lost it", "crazy", and "won't last long". I guessed they were talking about me and they confirmed that by glancing back at me every so often and quickly looking away when they saw me looking back at them.

   The movie seemed longer than the first time I saw it, but when it was over, Leo led me out of the screening room to the front of the theatre. The group I saw in our screening room walked up to us, each girl holding the hand of one of the boys, confirming my double-date suspicion. Now that I could clearly see their faces, I could tell that the two girls were sisters, the one with the longer hair was the older of the two. The boys had no relation to anyone in their little group, but by the way they dressed, I could tell they were good friends.

   "Well, well, well. What do we have here?" The older of the two sisters said. "What do you think, George? Will they last?"

   "I doubt it, Jessica" the blonde haired boy said, tightening his grip on Jessica's hand.

   "What about you, Jen?" Jessica asked her sister.

   "Not likely. Sean?" Jen asked the red haired boy, swinging their arms back and forth.

   "No way. Leo, what are you doing? You know you and girls never work out" Sean spat at Leo.

   "Honestly, dearie, don't you know why he never has a girlfriend? Why he was such an easy catch?" Jessica asked me.

   "I've heard rumors but mum always told me to never believe what other people say about someone" I said calmly.

   Jessica glared at me. "Listen, new girl, he may make you feel special, but he does that to all the new girls. Take our last new girl for instance. She was given his same schedule too, just like you. The two of them started dating, were together for about a month or so. Then she disappeared. We haven't seen her since. That's what happens. All the new girls get his schedule. They always start dating. They're hear for a month or two, then they disappear" she spat.

   "Sounds like you've had experience" I responded, keeping my cool.

   She turned red at that. "Yes, he and I dated, but don't think for a second that I'm jealous. I was one of the lucky ones. A week into our relationship, I got my schedule changed and broke up with him. It doesn't look like you were so lucky" she growled, looking me up and down.

   "And why exactly would I want to be so lucky? So I could be like you? A jerk to every new person I meet? No thank you!" I countered, still staying very calm.

   Jessica glared at me, shooting daggers with her eyes but I didn't care.

   "Wait, Jess! Hang on a second. I think I heard something about this one" George warned.

   "Yeah, me too" Sean said, looking me over. "Oh! I remember! Jessica, back up, this one's dangerous! Didn't you hear? She killed her own mother!" He gasped, pulling the girls behind him.

   My hand tightened on Leo's arm and he tensed.

   "Oh yeah. That was it. Get back girls, I heard she tore her apart, bit by bit as the woman screamed for mercy" George warned.

   "I... Did... NOT!" I yelled.

   "You lot may want to leave now, before things get ugly" Leo hissed between his teeth as he pulled me back behind him. Tears welled up in my eyes.

   "No way man. We gotta make sure she doesn't kill anyone else" Sean growled.

   "I thought you'd be better, man. Never thought you'd stoop so low as to date a murderer!" George spat.

   Leo lost it. He lunged forward, knocking both boys to the ground in one swift motion. I didn't see what happened after that. The tears that had welled up finally slipped down my cheeks, obstructing my vision. When I could see clearly again, I caught a glimpse of both boys running out of the theatre, each with a bloody nose and a black eye, the unblackened one wide with terror. The girls followed suit, just as terrified.

   That's when I noticed everyone was looking at us. I grabbed Leo's arm and led him out of the theatre before he could chase after them.

   I climbed into the truck and shut the door behind me. Leo did the same, laying his head on the wheel and banging the dashboard with his fist.

   When I said nothing, he sighed and started the car.

   "I think it'd be best if I took you home now" he muttered, pulling out of the parking lot.

   We sat in silence for a bit before I did something that surprised both Leo and myself. Before climbing out of the truck, I leaned over and kissed his cheek quickly.

   "Thank you" I whispered, dropping down to the ground.

   Leo grabbed my hand and smiled. "You're welcome"