Chapter 25: Leo Age 20

Allison (19), Megan (18)

Leo sighed as him and his friends studied for their biochemistry test. Leo enjoyed hanging out with his friends while studying but they always asked him too many questions about material that he had studied days ago. His friends weren't quite so proactive about studying and were often just starting to study the night before the test.

Eventually, Leo slipped away to the library, using the excuse of needing to print for another class. He didn't want to make his friends feel bad but he also wouldn't let their questions change the way he studied the material. Leo got situated at the library and resumed studying.

He barely looked up from his book until a packet of papers landed in front of him. He jumped slightly and looked up to see Lauren from his class.

"What's this?" he asked, picking up the papers.

"Copy of my outline," Lauren said.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Leo asked. They knew each other from class but weren't really friends.

"Well, I was watching you study and you seemed stressed," she answered. "My outline has a bunch of practice questions."

"Wow," Leo said, flipping through it. "Thank you."

"I was thinking we could study together. I noticed you were on the same section that I am," she suggested.

Leo agreed and Lauren sat with him. They studied and practiced the questions from her outline until they both felt confident about the test. He liked studying with her. She was calming and obviously hadn't waited until the last minute to study as she was able to answer the questions pretty readily. They said goodnight and wished each other luck for the test tomorrow.

Leo breezed through the test. Lauren's practice questions had been so helpful. They were very similar to the ones on the test just with different numbers for the calculations. He felt relieved.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Lauren asked catching up to him after the test.

"I think I got an A. What about you?" Leo asked.

She shrugged confidently. "Same."

"I really appreciate your help last night," Leo told her.

"It was no problem," she insisted. "Hey, do you want to go to Starbucks with me? I don't know about you, but I need caffeine."

Leo smiled. "Sure."

They walked to get coffee, and sat together. Their conversation started with school as that was what they knew they had in common. But, that soon changed to them talking about their own lives and hobbies. They both enjoyed going to the football games and found out that they both played intramural soccer.

"Oh, our teams are playing next Sunday," Lauren told him, looking up the schedule on her phone.

"Awesome," Leo said. "You're going to go easy on us right? My team is usually pretty hungover on Sundays."

Lauren laughed. "You don't need us to go easy because we are terrible. We just do it for fun."

The two talked past when their coffees were empty before parting ways.

"How's school going?" Owen asked Leo over the phone.

"Good," Leo answered happily. "Lauren and I were the only people to get an A on the biochem test."

"That's great," Owen replied. "Who's Lauren?"

"Girl from my class," Leo said. "She gave me her outline and practice questions for the test."

"Is she pretty?" Owen asked.

"Yeah, very," Leo admitted.

"Are you going to ask her out?"

Leo shook his head. "She's a little out of my league."

"Hey, don't talk about my kid like that," Owen joked.

"She is," Leo insisted.

"But obviously she likes you if she helped you study."

Leo shrugged. "And, we got coffee after the test. But, I don't think she means anything by it."

"Well, it doesn't hurt to ask," Owen advised.

"Actually, it would if she said no," Leo responded.

"Eh, you'd be fine," Owen insisted. "There are other girls out there."

"I just don't want to get rejected," Leo admitted.

"Is that why you never ask anyone out?" Owen questioned.

"Well, yeah," Leo said.

"Look, Leo, being rejected happens sometimes. Not just in relationships. You have to be able to bounce back from it or you will be very unhappy in life."

Leo sighed. "Okay. I'll ask her."

"If she says no, then she just isn't the one and you find someone better," Owen encouraged.

"Alright," Leo agreed. "I'll try. Thanks Dad."

"Good luck," Owen said. "Love you."

On Sunday, Leo went to his intramural soccer game, nervous to see Lauren. He decided that asking her out wouldn't be a terrible idea. It's not like they were that close that it would ruin a solid relationship. He would only have to see her in class twice a week and they didn't even sit near each other.

Their game began and Leo and Lauren chose to be on the same side of the field to go head to head.

"Ready to lose?" Lauren asked him, jokingly. Leo laughed. She had confessed earlier that she wasn't very good at soccer but enjoyed it anyway.

When Leo got the ball, Lauren tried to steal it from him. Leo played keep away from her in place for a minute while Lauren struggled playfully to try to get it. He passed it away to his teammate.

"You're better than you let on," she told him.

"I've been playing since I was five," Leo explained. "Earlier than that actually. Since I could walk."

"Why not play for the team?" Lauren asked, as they jogged towards the ball.

"Pre-med," Leo told her.

"Oh right," she remembered.

The next time Lauren got the ball, he went easy on her, letting her have the ball despite the fact he could have easily gotten it from her.

By the end of the game, the two of them were pretty comfortable with each other. Lauren was essentially cheating by grabbing hold of Leo's arm to prevent him from getting away. They were hip checking each other lightly and laughing the whole time.

After the game, they went back to their teams.

"Who's the girl?" one of his teammates asked.

"Oh, that's Lauren," Leo explained. "We have a class together."

"She's clearly into you," his friend replied. "She was hanging all over you all game."

Leo shrugged. Once he said goodbye to his team, he caught up to Lauren.

"Hey Lauren," he called out, causing her to turn around.

"Hey," she greeted. "Good game."

"You too," he agreed. They stood for a moment as Leo gathered up the courage he needed. "I was wondering if you'd want to get dinner with me tomorrow night."

She smiled slightly. "Like a date?"

"Um, well, yeah," Leo confirmed nervously.

She smiled wider. "Yeah, that sounds fun."

Leo smiled and they worked out the details as they walked back to their dorms.

Leo and Lauren went to dinner at a small Italian restaurant near campus. They ate as they learned more about each other. Leo learned more about Lauren's goal of becoming a physical therapist and Leo told her about wanting to be a surgeon which he had become interested in since all of his parents were surgeons.

"Wow, all of them are surgeons?" Lauren asked.

"Yep, my mom is cardio. That's what I want to do. Her husband, Tom, and Dad's wife, Amelia, are neuro. And, my dad is trauma."

"Lots of smart people in your family. Do you have siblings?" she asked.

"Two sisters, Allison and Megan," he replied. "Do you?"

"Nope. Only child," she answered. "So, you must be the smartest of your siblings? Seeing as how you'll be a doctor."

"No, Megan is probably the smartest," Leo explained. "She wouldn't have any problems with med school if that's what she wanted to do. But, she's majoring in psych to become a psychologist."

"What about Allison?"

"She's decided on marketing," Leo said. "She's smart too but she is definitely worried more about her social life than school."

"I don't blame her," Lauren replied.

They continued to talk and enjoyed their date together. Leo paid for their meal, then walked her back to campus.

"That was fun," she told him. "We should do that again."

Leo smiled. "I'd like that."

He leaned in and kissed her. She kissed him back, wrapping her arms around his neck while his hands rested on her hips.

When they pulled apart they smiled at each other. They said goodnight and went their separate ways. Leo was excited about the idea of dating her.

Leo and Lauren spent the next few weeks getting to know each other better before officially declaring that they were dating. They had been officially dating now for about three weeks. Leo was completely enamored by Lauren, thinking that he was so lucky that she liked him.

After class, the two of them were watching TV in Leo's room, his arm around her.

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Leo asked her.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"Are you going out with your friends later?"

"Probably," she answered. "Will you come with us?"

"Sure," Leo agreed, kissing the top of her head.

She smiled and snuggled closer to him. She lifted her head and kissed him. "I'm fine with hanging out here until then."

"Okay," Leo agreed, kissing her again. "What do you want to watch?"

Lauren reached over him for the remote and turned off the TV. "I don't really want to watch TV."

Leo was about to ask what she wanted to do instead until he figured it out himself. Lauren was now on top of him, straddling him. She kissed him again, this time more passionately. Leo held her against him, loving how much more intimate this kiss felt than any of their other kisses.

After making out for some time, Lauren began running her hands under his shirt. She managed to peel it off of him and planted kisses along his torso. Leo was honestly a little shocked by how quickly things were progressing, not participating nearly as much as he knew he should be. Logically, he felt like things were moving a little too quickly, but his body disagreed, letting her set the pace.

Lauren took initiative and took off the bulky sweatshirt she was wearing. Leo's eyes widened as he realized she was not wearing a bra underneath.

"Wow," Leo muttered. "You're beautiful."

Lauren smiled and kissed him again, his hands now exploring her breasts. She reached for the button on his pants.

"Are you sure about this?" Leo asked her, still feeling like this was fast.

"God, yes," she assured him. She kissed her way up his neck and whispered in his ear as her hand squeezed him through his pants. "Let's have sex."

Leo needed no further convincing, flipping her onto her back. The two of them had sex which for Leo was a first.

He felt amazing afterwards, loving how connected he felt to Lauren after that. He was excited to see where this relationship would go.

"This is boring," Lauren whispered to Leo in class as the teacher droned on.

"Yeah, but it's probably going to be on the test," Leo reminded her.

Lauren shrugged indifferently. "I'm not worried."

Leo looks at her confused and then refocused on the professor. He took notes until he felt Lauren's hand on his upper thigh. She squeezed gently. Leo glanced at her, thinking that her touch was a little too sexual considering they were in the middle of class. She looked like she barely noticed that she was touching him, so he went back to his notes. Until, he felt her hand grab his manhood over his shorts.

"What are you doing?" he whispered harshly at her, moving her hand.

"Just trying to liven things up in here," she whispered, giving him a seductive smile.

"Laur, we're in class," Leo reminded her. "We can do that later."

Lauren sighed. "Fine."

After class, they went back to Leo's room. Lauren started kissing him.

"Hey, stop for a minute," Leo said, stepping back and putting his hands on her shoulders so she couldn't continue to kiss him.

"What? You said later and it's later," Lauren reasoned.

"Yeah, but what was that in class?" Leo asked her.

"I just wanted to have some fun. Why are you so upset?" Lauren asked. "Do you not like when I touch you?"

"Of course I do," Leo told her. "But, not in class where there are a bunch of people around and I'm trying to pay attention so I can pass."

Lauren sighed. "Okay, fine. It won't happen again."

"What are you doing?" Lauren asked Leo. It was a Friday night and Leo had his notebook in front of him.

"We have a test next week," Leo reminded her.

"Yeah, like a whole week away," Lauren said.

"You don't study this far in advance?" Leo asked.

Lauren shook her head. "No. That's crazy."

"How is that possible?" Leo questioned. "Your outline and practice problems were so detailed."

Lauren smiled at him. "I can show you this time. Meet me tomorrow in the science building after I get off work."

"You're the best," he told her. He gave her a kiss and abandoned studying, knowing that the outline she would help him make would be most helpful for studying, as it was last time.

"You look cute in your work clothes," Leo told Lauren as he approached her in the science building. They kissed.

"I can't believe the IT department makes us wear these ugly polos. They're way too big," Lauren complained.

"Let's get started," Leo suggested. "Where's your computer?"

"Don't need it," she said, gesturing to him to follow her.

Leo followed her confused. They walked up to the teacher's offices which were all dark since the professors had gone home hours ago. Lauren pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and unlocked the door to their professor's office.

"Woah, Lauren, why do you have those?" he asked.

"Relax, I have a set for when professors put in work orders on their computers," Lauren explained, as that really was her job at IT was to fix technical issues around campus.

"Is he having an issue?" Leo asked, still confused as to why they were now in his office.

Lauren ignored his question and logged into their professor's computer. "Oh yes!"

"What?"

"Well, last time, he hadn't written the test yet," Lauren said. "So we were just using the questions from last year's to study. This time he has the test."

She went to plug in her flashdrive. Leo grabbed her hand.

"Lauren, we can't take that," he insisted. "That's cheating."

"I prefer to look at it as being resourceful," Lauren defended, batting her eyelashes.

"Come on, let's go," Leo insisted. Lauren finished downloading the test onto her flashdrive and then caught up with him.

"Oh come on," she pleaded. "Don't be like that. Med school is competitive. Don't you want to make sure you get in?"

Leo shook his head. "Not like that."

"Well, fine, we just won't study together," Lauren told him. "It's not a big deal."

Leo sighed. It was a big deal. Doing well was important to him but so was doing the hard work to get the grades. If she was okay with this, then she clearly had very different morals than he did. If it were anyone else, he would have anonymously reported them for cheating. But, this was Lauren, his first girlfriend. He had very strong feelings for her.

"I'm tired," Leo told her. "I'm going to get some sleep."

"Can I stay over?" she asked.

"Not tonight," Leo told her.

"I don't know what to do, Dad," Leo groaned over the phone.

"Sounds like she is bad news," Owen advised. "Do you really want to be with someone that cheats her way through life?"

Leo sighed. "No. But, I don't know. Maybe she's just struggling and is desperate."

"Maybe," Owen agreed, trying to be open-minded. He knew Leo really liked her and didn't want to end things with her. "Talk to her and see what's going on."

Leo nodded. "Do you think I should tell the teacher that I cheated on the last test?"

"I thought you said it was the previous year's test that you studied from," Owen thought.

"Yeah, it was. But, he purposefully keeps students' tests so that he can reuse questions. She never would have been able to see that test if she hadn't broken into his office. The questions were identical except for a few numbers being different. She and I are the only ones that got an A. The next highest grades were C+."

"I don't know what to tell you there, Leo," Owen admitted. "I think it'd be the right thing to do. You can explain that you didn't know the questions were stolen."

"But, I feel like I'd have to give Lauren up if I did that," Leo said. "I don't want her to get in trouble. She'd be pissed."

"Is that Leo?" He heard Tom ask in the background. Tom took over the phone. "Leo, think with your head not your-"

"Heart. I know," Leo finished.

"No, I was going to say-"

"We all know what you were going to say," Owen interrupted, taking the phone back. "It's not the worst advice he's given."

Leo sighed. "I'm going to go talk to her and see what she says."

Leo hung up and walked over to her apartment. When he got to the door, it opened and Lauren was corralling a guy out of her apartment. The guy walked right past him and Leo knew something was wrong immediately.

"Leo?" she asked, surprised to see him there.

Leo turned around to leave. He didn't want to face her. He already knew that she had cheated on him with the guy who just walked by.

"It's not what it looks like," she insisted, following him down the hall.

"Really?" Leo asked, turning around. "A guy just left your apartment early in the morning and you aren't wearing pants. How is that not what it looks like?"

Lauren tugged her long sweatshirt down slightly to cover more of her legs. She reached out and grabbed his hand. "I'm sorry. It was a mistake. I was upset about last night."

Leo pulled his hand out of hers. "You were upset?! You lied to me and made me cheat on an exam."

Lauren rolled her eyes.

"We're done," Leo insisted, walking away. Lauren called after him but Leo left. He went to his apartment, slammed his bedroom door in frustration, and laid in bed.

Leo felt terrible. This was his first girlfriend and she had cheated on him. This was exactly the feeling he had tried to avoid by not asking girls out. He was too upset, embarrassed, and hurt to go to his classes. He pulled up his comforter over his shoulders and tried to fall asleep.

"Owen," Teddy called out, banging on his door early in the morning. "Wake up. We need to talk."

"Owen," Amelia groaned, tiredly, giving Owen a shove to wake up in bed. "Teddy's at the door."

Owen rolled over and saw that it was only six in the morning on a Saturday. "Why do we live here again?"

"Hey, I can hear you," Teddy said from outside the door. "I'm coming in."

"What?" Owen asked. "What could possibly be so important at this time?"

"Something is wrong with Leo," Teddy told him.

"Did he text?" Owen asked, sitting up.

"No," Teddy answered. "We meet at this time every Saturday to talk about his med school apps."

"At six in the morning?" Amelia questioned.

"It's his only free time," Teddy explained. "He didn't show. He hasn't answered his phone. You haven't heard from him in a few days. What if something happened to him?"

"I'm sure he's fine," Owen insisted, grabbing his phone. He sent Leo a text asking him to call when he woke up.

"Something's wrong," Teddy said. "I just know it."

They tried getting in touch with Leo all day with no luck. It had been three days since he had last talked to Owen on the phone. By late morning, Teddy was ready to get on a plane to Los Angeles.

"I'm home!" Allison called out as she and Brian walked through the door. She saw the grim look on her parents faces. "What's wrong? I thought this would be a nice surprise."

Teddy hugged her. "Of course it is. Sorry, we just haven't heard from Leo for a few days and we're a little worried."

Allison looked at them confused. Brian already had his phone out and was texting Leo.

"What's going on?" Allison asked. "Why wouldn't he call you back?"

They shrugged.

"Last we knew he was having a fight with his girlfriend," Owen explained.

"I hope they broke up," Allison said. "I don't like her."

"You haven't even met her," Owen said. "How do you know you don't like her?"

"I stalked her Instagram. She's clearly very full of herself based on the photos. She doesn't leave much to the imagination in any of her pictures."

"Leo's calling," Brian told them. Everyone went silent as Brian answered on speaker. "Hey, Leo."

"What happened? Is she okay? Is it serious?" Leo asked, rattling off each question.

"Yeah, Allie's fine. Sorry, man, I just wanted to make sure you were alive."

"What the hell? You said she was in the hospital and it wasn't looking good. I packed a bag," Leo said angrily.

"Well, you weren't answering anyone's calls so I took my own approach," Brian defended.

"Leo, what's going on?" Teddy asked him. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Leo said firmly. "I just want to be left alone."

"Yeah, we don't really do that," Allison chimed in.

"Did something happen with Lauren?" Owen asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," Leo huffed.

Owen took Leo off speaker phone and went to his room so they could talk alone.

"It's just me now Leo," Owen told him.

"I still don't want to talk about it," Leo insisted.

"Too bad," Owen told him. "If you don't tell me what's going on then I'm coming to Los Angeles to see you."

Leo sighed knowing he wasn't kidding. "Lauren cheated on me."

Owen shook his head, angry that she would do that to his son. "I'm sorry Leo."

"I can't believe I was going to forgive her for stealing that test," Leo grumbled.

"Well, better you find out now that she's not the right person rather than later," Owen offered. "Are you okay? Have you been going to classes? Hanging out with friends?"

"I don't really feel like it," Leo told him. He had been hiding in his bedroom since then.

"Leo," Owen said warningly.

"I know, you pay good money for those classes," Leo said. "But, maybe you shouldn't be."

"Why not?" Owen asked. "Are you saying you want to drop out of school?"

"What's the point if I'm not going to go to med school?" Leo asked sadly.

"Why aren't you going?"

"I told my biochem teacher about the test. I'm getting a zero on the last test. I missed this test. I won't get into med school with a bad grade in this class."

"Look, you can always retake the class next semester if you need to," Owen encouraged. "You will get into med school."

"I don't want to be here next semester," Leo said. "I don't want to be here at all."

Owen sighed. "Leo, you need to get out of your room and hang out with your roommates. Let yourself have fun. I know it sucks but Lauren wasn't good for you. You'll find someone else."

"No way," Leo insisted. "I'm never dating again. I don't know why I thought that was a good idea in the first place."

"You will," Owen told him. "For now, focus on friends. And, take care of yourself."

"I'll try," Leo agreed.

Leo heard his friends playing video games in the living room and decided that he needed to stop feeling sorry for himself and get out of bed. When he walked into the living room, they tossed him a controller as if he hadn't been hiding in his room for days.

It was nice spending time with his friends again. The past few weeks, he had spent all his time with Lauren. Leo was still hurting but he felt like getting out of his room and focusing on friends was a good start to feeling better.