Chapter 781.
"Old spark coming back."

(January 24. S. Silver Residence.)

The day is looking good, and Leslie is dressed for the day and she looks to her belly and sees the small bump. "This is gonna get bigger, but that ain't meaning that I am fat or eating too much." she then rubs her belly. "You just wanna eat a lot, right little one?"

Leslie then looks to the photos on her table of everyone she has come to know as her friends and family. She sees photos of Gretchen, Hope, Regina, Chastity, Delilah and they're parents, Luna, Lincoln, Jordan and pretty much all of the friends she has come to have known and gained their forgiveness.

'Things have gone by, and I am done with the past I had long ago. I don't have to return to the damned past from which who I was long ago. That Leslie is gone, and I am a whole new different Leslie. Everything is turning good for me, I wish I changed long ago before this happened.'

Leslie then checks the time, and then she looks to the photo of herself with her friends, the friends she knew back then who are all rich and linked together. She is happy to have been back with Hope, Regina, Chastity and Gretchen.

'The crew are back, but we're all not mean girls anymore, but that was all of my fault to make them into my friends and loyal followers. The only person I feel bad for, is Karen. She became someone worse and... Dang, she was so messed up. I think I made her into something more.'

Leslie then looks to the image of Hope Pertland and she smile at her former best friend and this has her thinking. 'Perhaps... Maybe we can be besties again, like old times. We can be best friends again and then perhaps... Perhaps we can see through a better future together as true best friends.'

'I don't wanna take in the memories of the past and return to the Leslie I was long ago, that Leslie is dead and the new Leslie is now... The only thing left for me to see dead is Richmund. I will not allow him to take the baby from me, I'll make sure he never comes back.'

'A bright future is coming, and not just for myself but for the one within me who deserves more. I won't let Richmund make you into someone like him. I will teach you and guide you and I know that I won't be alone doing this, and when the time comes...'

'Then I will tell you what and who I was before, and who Edmund Richmund was.'

Leslie then checks the time again. "Well, time to get going." She grabs her bag and then her jacket, and because it is snowing outside she needs her winter clothing, she then looks to herself in the mirror and then she looks to her belly.

"Time for another day at school, my little one." She then grabs everything else she needs, and she heads out of her room and she goes downstairs and she sees her mom with the large bag of lunch. "Thanks mom." She then hugs her father. "Bye dad, see you all after school and I know what to do, I'll be safe."

Leslie then leaves the house and she sees Delilah on her scooter and so Leslie gets on and they ride off.

Helena and Harvey S. Silver watch as their kids ride off for school and they feel proud to have raised Delilah and honored to be raising Leslie into someone who can do more and become better.

(Royal Woods Middle School.)

Leslie is now walking down the halls and she greets everyone and even Simon and Stella who are both talking about a date night this week, and then Leslie checks her phone and she chuckles at what she sees.

Apparently, Delilah sent her a photo from what is going on at the High School. Someone accidently knocked over the wet floor sign and Benn slipped and landed onto a pie on his locker, setup by Luan and Benny is fine with it, he thought it was funny too and liked the second breakfast he was getting.

Leslie then heads to her locker and she opens it to grab what she needs, she then closes it but she bumps into Hope and the duo almost fall but Hope grabs her. "Whoa. Sorry, I didn't mean to run into you, Leslie."

Leslie chuckles. "No worries, it looked like you wanted to tell me something."

Hope nods and she tells her. "So, we know that you are gonna see what the gender of the baby is right? So, instead of going to the doctors, we call in some friends that Lincoln and Jordan know, from FutureTech. Because the last thing we need is a possibility of Richmund wanting the baby too."

Leslie thinks about this. "Hmmm, you have a point. Alright then, I'll do it. I don't want that bastard to come and see the gender of the child. He is nothing to me and I'd be damned before I allow him to make him into his own future version."

Hope nods. "No kidding, Richmund is a scum of the earth and someone like him has to be removed from the lives of others before he causes some damage. Also, it took a long time to make this possible, but my family managed to liberate and claim the wildlife parks of Richmund."

"We can now set those animals free that he kept as his pets. Even some of the black rhinos and Sphinx's macaws, he has a lot of them. He even got some rare endangered ones such as the Okapi and the giant African Orangutan, I didn't even know those things existed."

Leslie sighs. "We need to shut down all the locations that Richmund owns, we need to remove his valuable assets if we are to find out where he is. After all, when you take away the many things a rich person owns, then that said rich person comes out to rant about the problem inflicted onto them."

Hope whistles. "Nice plan, and Gretchen, Chastity and Regina said that they're parents are doing their part to help. We can only hope this works, and even though you aren't mean anymore you still retain the skills and traits of a gal who knows business."

Leslie chuckles. "Well, the one thing I still... Whoa!" Leslie almost slips from the wet floor, but Hope holds her hand and they are trying to balance together because Hope is now on the wet area and they make it to the lockers and stand still. "Whoa, thanks."

Hope nods. "Yeah, too close." They then see that they are holding their hands, and so they let go and kook away and blush red. They then walk together to their class while not looking at each other and still blushing.

But Leslie and Hope didn't know that Kat and Trent saw the whole thing, and they can tell when emotions and feelings are sparking, and they need to tell the others about this.

(Later in Cafeteria.)

At lunch time, everyone is enjoying their food and then Lincoln asks Leslie. "This might be sudden, but Jordan and I are curious. Leslie, what do you intend to name the baby whether that child be a boy or a girl?"

All of them look towards Leslie, and the girl chuckles and smirks. "Whoa, whoa. Everyone chill out and just calm down. Look, I know that all of you are so looking forward to knowing the baby's gender when next week shows up, but let's tone down the questions."

"Also, Lincoln Loud you are not the first one to ask me that question." She then goes back to eating her burger, and pizza, and chocolate milk, and fries, and an apple, and a watermelon slices.

Jordan then asks. "Wait, then who asked about the baby's name before Lincoln?"

Leslie continues to eat, and then she drinks her chocolate milk. "Delilah, and mom and dad... Oh and Ms. Henvers when I was walking with her the other day alongside baby Lucas."

All of them are surprised to hear this, they didn't think others asked her. Leslie then continues to speak. "I told them that I was gonna make the choice on my own and that I had it all covered and planned. Don't worry everyone, it's gonna be fine. I know what to do with this little one."

Hope then is about to get up, but she slips from a banana peel, then Leslie grabs her arm, and they look into each other's eyes. They were both holding each other's hands, and they both blush red looking towards each other.

As if time stood still, Hope is having this feeling that she had long ago, and Leslie is starting to have this odd feeling she once had for Lincoln long ago, but it seems different.

They then let go and Hope nods. "Thanks, Leslie."

Leslie nods. "No problem."

They watch as Hope heads off to go and use the restroom, and then they look to Leslie and she returns to her lunch, and then the others look to Trent and Kat, and the couple nod and what they say is true, there is something going on between Leslie S. Silver and Hope Pertland.

They all know what that is all about.

(Later in the Day.)

The school bell has rung and everyone heads off home, Leslie is among those coming out and the students avoid bumping into her so she doesn't get hurt, but deep down Leslie is confused and going through some stuff in her head.

After what happened today in the cafeteria, it's hard for her to try and get over what had gone down between her and Hope Pertland. She has these weird feelings, and she doesn't know how to respond to them, then she thinks about this.

'We just bumped into each other, and she kept me from falling and nothing more. We're friends, and I wanna become her best friend again like old times, but not the same kinda mean girls as long ago. We can be best friends but...'

'Hope wants to help me, and she is only being around me to help make sure the baby is safe. Yeah, that's it. There is no freaking way that she likes me romantically and there is no way that I would be in love with her, despite how pretty she is and...'

Leslie then realizes something. 'Holy shit I have feelings for Hope Pertland. Oh what the heck is going on? Holy, I need to speak with my sister about this and my parents. I don't know how to make this happen and deal with these feelings, it's so hard to figure out.'

Leslie then sees Delilah arriving on her scooter. "Hey sis, so ready to head back home? Mom said she's planning to make some baked ziti for dinner and..."

"Alright, let's go sis." Leslie puts on her helmet and she rides at the sidecar of the scooter. "We need to get home and discuss something very, very important. So, step on it."

Delilah is so confused. "Alrighty then." she then drives off with Leslie, but they don't know that Hope saw them drive off as she was leaving the school and she sees nervous about what went down at lunch earlier today.

Hope then ponders about what had gone down. 'I have feelings for Leslie again. I can't believe this, my crush over Leslie is back and... Does she like me back? She seemed nervous and she blushed, does that mean anything for me to sort out?'

Hope then walks away from the school and the others watch her take her leave, and then Gretchen goes over to see if she is fine, while Lincoln looks to the others. "You guys think Hope is crushing over Leslie and Leslie is having feelings for Hope?"

All of them nod and Lincoln smirks. "Yup, I knew it." Lincoln and the others continue to watch as Hope is telling Gretchen something and she seems surprised, and that means that Hope does have her crush over Leslie back again, and they're gonna need to help them sort their feelings out.

But Lincoln knows just the couples who might help with this.

To be continued...

A/N: Looks like Hope's crush over Leslie is back, and it seems that Leslie has feelings for her as well. This is gonna be something very, very interesting guys. Let's see what happens next. I hope that some of you enjoyed reading this new chapter everyone.

Date made: 11/20/21 – 11/21/21.