"One, two, three, four, John you are one, two, three, four," Mr. Hilburn carried on, pointing at students as he counted.
Leo was lazily sprawled in his desk, feeling depressed already even though it was only first hour. It was his birthday. September 16th. Leo didn't know why he hated his birthday so much. Maybe it was all the times others had forgotten about it. Maybe it was because he wished he never had been born in the first place. The young Latino wasn't caught in sour thoughts for long though, since he was a 'two' and had to find the other 'twos' in his biology class.
He was paired up with a chubby white boy, Mike, a blue haired girl with a thousand piercings, Eliza, and... wow.
Maybe the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
With skin like cocoa, hair like chocolate, and eyes like multi-colored candy, Leo Valdez thought the girl was, in one word, sweet.
"So, you guys know what we have to do?' Eliza asked.
"Uh, kinda. Two people stay in here and decide how we're going to experiment on them… the other two go outside and collect some bugs," Mike said.
"Well… who wants to go outside?" Eliza asked.
"I will," Leo volunteered.
"I'll go with," the beautiful girl said.
"Cool," Eliza said, absent-mindedly nibbling on a tongue piercing.
Leo got up to leave, making sure to grab his notebook before going out to be lashed by the cruel Arizona sun. The girl, whose name he didn't know, followed him into the hallway. "So… bugs," Leo started.
"Yeah. Not my favorite thing in the world, but I guess you gotta do the dirty work sometimes," the girl said.
"Heh, no kidding. So, what are you in for? Murder? Assault? You look you got anger issues," he joked with a smirk.
The girl laughed, and it filled Leo with happiness. "Oh yeah, killed a couple kids out in LA. They asked questions… just like you are right now," she joked back.
Leo grinned, glad he had found someone else with a sense of humor. "Oh please don't hurt me I won't say anything," he said in a shrill, scared voice.
The two continued down the school, joking back and forth. Leo learned some basic information about the girl, including her name was Piper. However, as they turned a corner, the duo hit a rather unpleasant block. Dylan.
Dylan was an attractive boy, with jet black hair and sharp blue eyes. He was a 'bad boy', the kind that made the girls swoon and the guys scared for their lives. He was also one of the most unpleasant people Leo had ever come across.
"Oh hello there," Dylan crooned, leering at Piper. "What's your name?"
"Not interested," Piper said coolly.
"Ooooo, a fighter. I like that. How about you ditch the killer here and grab some lunch?" Dylan continued to prattle on.
All of Leo's ecstatic energy came crashing down, a voice in his head sharply reminding him of his failure. "I'm not a killer," Leo weakly said.
"Oh, of course not. You just burnt down your mommy's garage and turned her into barbecue. You're a freak, Valdez," Dylan spat.
Leo began to feel the heat rise in him, threatening to spill over. All at once he heard the voices. 'Diablo', 'arsonist', 'killer', 'freak'.
"Leave him alone," Piper practically growled, her kaleidoscope eyes turning their colors onto Dylan.
"Oh, is it your pet? Careful, he might burn you t-"
"I want you to walk outside, take your shoes off, and stand in the parking lot," Piper said with fists clenched.
Dylan's sneer of condescending turned into the slack jawed look of a fool. The boy turned heel, and began to walk for the main doors.
Leo didn't really even notice what had happened. His brown eyes were locked firmly onto the floor, tears daring to pour.
"You're a diablo! You killed your madre!" Leo's aunt Rosa screamed at him in the hospital hall. A five year old Leo didn't know what a diablo was, but he knew what a slap to the face meant.
"Hey, hey. You okay?" Piper asked.
Leo registered her words, coming out of his trance. "Uh, yeah," he said before continuing to walk.
"That's crap and you-"
Leo snapped around. "Look, you seem really nice and you're pretty and everything, but I don't wanna talk about it," he said in a voice firmer than he knew he had.
Piper seemed stunned, and Leo knew he had made a mistake. Again. Another mistake, like always.
"Look I'll go get the bugs. You can just hang around or whatever and I'll find you when I come back," he whispered before walking away. He couldn't let anyone see the tears, no one could hear the ranting. Leo Valdez most certainly knew there were places worse to be than Wilderness School, places where they made you wear scrubs and take medication and talk to doctors.
When he didn't hear footsteps behind him, Leo let out a shaky breath and turned a corner, nearing the rear doors of the building.
Right before he could push on the metal bar to freedom, he felt a hand on his shoulder turning him around rather forcefully. "Listen, I don't care what you did. Dylan is an asshole, and assholes like him will always exist. And if you think I'm just going to sit around and let you do all the work, you're wrong," Piper said firmly.
Leo was surprised. Never had a girl touched him, let alone seek him out to talk. "You sure? You heard him… I… it's a long story," Leo said, slumping against the door.
"We have time," Piper said before walking outside. Leo followed.
The campus of Wilderness High School was mostly bare. The brick buildings formed a large circle, usually called 'The Circle'. With the Arizonian sun beating down, Leo guessed no one was going to want to sit on searing black benches for lunch today. Made of cement, rebar and metal with not a speck of earth in sight, The Circle would have no bugs. Unless…
"What kind of bugs did we need?" Leo asked.
Piper bit her tongue, thinking. "I don't think he said. Why?"
"People always leave their lunches out on the ground. Maybe some ants?"
"Good thinking."
The two walked about The Circle, looking for any stray food on the ground.
"It's way too hot to be doing this," Piper complained, wiping sweat from her brow.
Leo shrugged. "It isn't too bad, but…. I've never really noticed the heat," he said with a sigh.
"So, what's your story?" Piper asked, sitting down in the shade. "Five minute break, I swear," she added cheekily.
Leo grinned and sat next to her. "This is my… sixth? Yeah, sixth time running away from a foster home," he said. "You?"
"I 'stole' a BMW. I just talked the guy into letting me have it, but of course, the cops didn't exactly buy that. Six times though huh? That bad?"
Leo gave that question some thought. "Not bad, usually. Second one was, but the dad there was a drunk, and not the funny kind. It's just that… I don't know, none of them felt right. I mean, I was always going to be the odd one out. I was always going be the 'troubled child' or the 'dyslexic' or the 'ADHD'. So I kept running. Figured why the hell not, you know? Couldn't be any worse," Leo said, shaking his head. "My mom would be pissed, but maybe not. What about you?"
Piper bit her lip. "Look… if I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell anyone, okay?"
Leo nodded with a smile. "Sure."
"Promise," Leo said.
"Do you know Tristan McLean?" she asked as seriously as if it had been 'do you know Jesus Christ?'
"The actor? Yeah, seen a couple of his movies. The Spartan one or whatever it was I think, I liked that one. Why?"
"He's my dad," Piper said quietly.
Leo's mouth formed into an 'O'. "Wow… that's cool," he said.
"You're not… shocked? Or anything?"
Leo laughed. "Well, I guess I'm shocked. But it's no big deal," he said nonchalantly.
Piper smiled. "Thanks. It's… I mean, I sound like a spoiled bitch when I say this, but it's hard. I mean, not the lifestyle. I can have all the money I want. But I don't care about that. I just want my dad to… go to the beach with me, ask about my day, go shopping with me, you know? But he never does. Always too busy. Has to do an interview, has to do some shooting, has to meet with this director, that producer," Piper said, eyes screwed on a distant wall on the other side of The Circle. Leo had never been good at reading people, but he knew the look in her eyes: want.
Leo nodded in understanding. He knew there weren't words. He hated it when people pitied him. 'Sorry,' they would say. Leo appreciated the sentiment, don't misunderstand, but he hated the whole act. 'Sorry,' wasn't going to bring mom back. 'Sorry,' wasn't going to bring his deadbeat father back from wherever he had run off when Leo was a baby. 'Sorry' was worthless.
"I… understand. I miss my mom. A lot. What about your mom?"
Piper snorted. "Ran off when I was a baby. Dad never got over her. What about your dad?"
"Same thing actually. Weird," Leo said, somewhat startled that he and this girl had so much in common. True, her parent wasn't dead, but it sounded like he might as well be. Leo thought that maybe, just maybe, he had it easier. His mother died loving him, always making time for him no matter what. But Piper's dad… sounded like he loved Piper, sure, but didn't show it.
"That is weird. Guess we're connected," Piper joked, nudging Leo with her arm.
Leo laughed. "Yup. Maybe we're in a Nicholas Sparks book," he said.
Piper laughed, getting up. "Oh surely. What would it be called? 'The Notebook' is taken. 'Dear John'…. How about 'The Bug Collectors'?"
Leo got up with his new friend, a smile plastered over his face. Maybe Wilderness High School wouldn't be so bad after all. "I like it," he said.
Little did either teenager know that their destinies were intertwined and the fate of the world would soon rest on their shoulders.