Ha ha! Chapter 6! I think I might go up to having about 8 chapters, and then an epilogue. Or is it a prologue? Hmmm… I wonder. Does anybody know??
Chapter 6: Maybe Not Ready
LESLIE
I was walking down the corridor to nowhere in particular, enjoying my free period and my Vegemite, when Roger came up to me.
"Leslie?"
I nodded.
"Can I just… do you want to come into my office?"
I shrugged and followed him. When we got there I sat down on a chair opposite a big desk. He sat behind it and made a steeple out of his fingers. I tried not to giggle.
"Are you ok, Leslie?"
The question threw me off, and drew all thoughts of giggling from my mind.
"Wha? Sorry, pardon?"
He nodded at my correction.
"Well, I see you've made friends with some students who were previously lonely before… your grades are fine, except in maths…"
"If you're beating around the bush, can you stop it?" I grumbled suddenly.
I wasn't usually so rude! I just suddenly felt a bit scared. What did he care?
"Well, ok. Mello. Is he… causing you any trouble?"
I played dumb.
"What? The kid with the chocolate? Pah, no!"
Roger stared me in the eye.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
I wasn't actually very worried about Mello. I didn't care about rumours and psychical abuse I could easily hold out against, at least once; after that, I'd tell. I didn't care if he called me weak. Sticks and stones.
"We head from… other children that he called you a few things…"
"What? Slut?"
"Among… other things."
"And?"
"Well, we thought you might… want to talk about it?"
"No need."
"Well, ok. But if you feel that you need someone to talk to…"
"Come to you. Can I leave?"
"Yes, of course."
I left his office and looked at my toast. It was cold.
L
Near and I were sitting, eating lunch when Leslie burst in.
"Did either of you snitch to Roger??" she demanded.
She was rabid. I could tell something had really, really hit a nerve. Maybe she had loyalty issues? Meanwhile, Near studied his pasta like he had never seen something so fascinating.
"Near?"
"Hmmmm?"
"Did
you tell Roger??"
"Tell him what, exactly?"
"THAT'S JUST IT!!"
A few people turned and looked at her. She frowned them down.
"Somebody told Roger that Mello called me some names! I-don't-even-care-but-Roger-made-a-massive-fuss-over-it-and-now-I'm-being-'kept-an-eye-on'-which-means-no-more-fun-and-I'm-pratctically-booked-in-with-the-shrink-who-spilled-tell-me-or-I'll-rid-out-your-innards!"
She said that very quickly and very angrily. It didn't exactly make sense, but we got this jist.
"Leslie, calm. I'm sure that whoever told Roger had the best intentions…" I started.
"I do not care about intentions! It's loyalty! I believe in loyalty! You know, all for one and one for all? I think it was classified as… loyalty issues. Outward, not inward."
Bingo.
"So, basically, you're loyal and want everybody else to be loyal too?" I said, just wanting this rant to end.
"YES!! So, I won't be too angry… if you… tell… me…"
Her hands were clenched into fists. I'd never seen somebody so mad before.
"Um… Leslie?"
"Yes, Near?"
"It was… um, me."
Leslie took a shaky breath in.
"Why? Why did you snitch – tell, sorry, tell Roger?"
Near shrugged.
"I was… worried about you, I guess."
Leslie's eyes softened. A bit.
"I understand your intentions… but, my stuff is my own, k. So no more interfering from either of you, ok. Now, I need sugar."
We both nodded and she went off to find something sweet.
"Neeeeaaaaaar," I moaned as soon as she left. "Can't you not stick your beak into everything for once?"
"Well, L, as a matter of fact, I don't stick it into everything…"
"Just most stuff."
"Yeah."
"Well, maybe you should stop."
Near shrugged a maybe.
LESLIE
Later that day, I had practically forgiven Near. He had been very nice, and even found me a packet of Tic Tacs that hadn't been half-eaten. The lollies, I mean. Not the packet.
I was sitting on my bed, generally enjoying myself, and knitting, when a shadow fell across my bed. I didn't bother to look up.
"Mello, what do you want?" I asked in a tired voice.
"Blood."
I laughed, but without humour.
"God, you're mixed up. Can't we just… move on? We don't have to be friends, but at least not enemies, yeah? I fight dirty. I pull hair. I bite. I tell afterwards. Rodger will murder you. He's already convinced that I'm mixed up, thanks to you," I said, bored.
He made this weird sound. It was kind of like a snarl. I looked up.
"You ok, there?" I asked.
He was going a bit red. If I'd known better, I would've dived under my bed for cover, but I was a bit stupid at that point and stood up.
"You look iiiiill," I told him.
An eye twitched.
A little while later I walked into the study hall and sat next to L, wordlessly.
"Hey Leslie."
He turned around.
"Woah! What… happened to you?"
I guess I was a bit of a sight. Bloodied lip, black eye… at least Mello looked the same. Or worse. He only had a half-cast, after all. I had been very kind to him.
"Mello?" Near asked, sliding into the chair next to me.
I nodded.
"Tell Roger," L said.
"No, actually. For all my talk of dobbing… well, I think I can take care of this one," I said.
"Leslie… you'll be fine now, but puberty's on Mello's side… he's gonna get taller, and stronger," Near said, quietly.
I snorted. So? I'd get taller, too. And strength wasn't the only thing I needed.
"Matt."
"What?"
"Matt! It's brilliant! I'll get him psychologically as well!"
"Leslie… are you sure about that? I mean, Matt is like…"
"Yeah, yeah," I said, waving a hand. "Whatever. I know Matt is kind of a… Mello devotee. But, I have a plan."
L
I listened to her plan. Sure, it was clever. And efficient. But mad.
"Leslie, it's not going to work!! You'll need… time to be convincing. You can't act for that long. No offence, but your temper will get the better of you," I sighed.
Actually, I'd said that a fair few times. It wasn't making an impact.
"It will work!" she said, her eyes shining. "Now, Near, I need pretty ribbons, could you hunt some down for me, maybe? And L, could you find out where to buy a cheap, girly dress? And I need blush! And mascara! I'm going to have to talk to Elle about some of this. Anyway…"
I folded my arms and gave her a no. She gave me puppy dog eyes.
"Just an incy pincy bit of research? Pleeeaaaase?"
I shrugged, and my doubts were forgotten by her.
I'm think it's an epilogue. I'm not 100 sure. Anyway, I'm taking some time off from this story to write some oneshots. I won't be very long, I just wanna bulk up my list with some not Death Note stuff. Maybe something Edward-Cullen-ish. We shall see.