44. Badass Supreme

She couldn't believe it. The last time she had planned on ever seeing him was when he had set himself on fire. That was it. But no. Here they were, a foot apart, staring at each other in surprise in the unlikeliest place ever. She stood up.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"That is none of your business," Thalia shot back, completely forgetting the other two people who were also in the room.

"What's going on?" the older woman asked.

"Nothing abuela," Leo said offhandedly.

"Now Leo, don't you speak to your grandmother like that," the older man said. Leo rolled his eyes. Thalia took the chance to make an exit.

"Wait!" Leo called after her, but Thalia had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him since he lied to her. "Oh, come on!"

"Just leave me alone!" Thalia said, halfway down the hallway.

"It was a mistake!" Leo yelled, and Thalia stopped and looked at him. "Are you going to completely hate me because of a stupid mistake?"

"You should've never done it!" Thalia spat.

"Look, I had my reasons. And I regret it, but you can't blame me for it."

"Yes I can, I will and I have," Thalia said. The older couple walked out of the room to the argument raging outside. Thalia tried to cool her demeanor, but it wasn't easy. Just looking at him made her angry. Leo was about to say something when the woman put her hand on his shoulder and walked over to Thalia, who unconsciously took a step back. The woman smiled, her wrinkles moving with her lips.

"Thalia?" she said and Thalia nodded.

"Call me Hazel," she said. "Leo told me about what happened between you," she said and Thalia felt like turning and walking away, but she kept herself from doing so because the woman, Hazel, seemed too nice for her to be so mean.

"I'm not making excuses for him," she said. "But I think you should try and talk it out."

"Why?" Thalia said angrily.

"He did have reasons. Very serious and very hurtful reasons," Hazel said, a trace of sadness in her voice. Thalia's defensive stance melted as she saw the look on her face; full of pain and concern.

"What do you mean?" Hazel sighed softly, clearly remembering a memory that was painful to remember.

"When he was little his mother died in a fire he's made himself believe was his fault," Hazel said. "We moved over here for a new beginning, but the girl who lived in our town also moved. Using his tragedy as blackmail, she forced him to do what he did because he didn't want his past to define him." Thalia suddenly felt like a jackass. She was hoping it wasn't true, but Hazel didn't seem like she was joking. Thalia sighed. Then a thought occurred to her. Cindy was not the person she told everyone she was. She wasn't the pure bred city girl. She was a girl from a town in Texas. That shouldn't be a surprise. Cindy was always a liar.

"So- so he didn't do it on purpose," Thalia said. Hazel softly shook her head. "Oh."

"He's with Sammy if you wish to speak to him," Hazel said, before she stepped outside. Thalia fidgeted with her jacket. She felt bad for treating him so rudely, but she wasn't the type of person to admit her mistakes, much less say sorry. She slowly walked to the door where the old man, Sammy? And Leo were. She sighed. I don't need to say sorry. I can just leave and just… not ignore him anymore. No Thalia. Be a good Samaritan. Swallowing down her pride she walked into the room.

"What do you want now? Gonna yell at me some more?" Leo said, the anger like an alien on his playful face. Hazel softly touched her shoulder as she sat down next to Sammy.

"No," she said sullenly. "I didn't know that –"

"Why do you need to? Why can't you accept people make mistakes?" Leo interrupted her.

"I'm sorry," Thalia said. Leo looked a bit startled.

"Sorry?" Thalia nodded. Leo raised an eyebrow before he cracked a teasing smile. "So the rock has emotions," he said. Thalia narrowed her eyes.

"Apology not accepted," he said. Thalia's eyes opened wide.

"Excuse me?!"

"Kidding."

"You're an assh- mean person," Thalia corrected herself when she remembered there were old foggies in the room.

"Hug?"

"In your dreams," Thalia said, but she stuck out her hand. Chuckling he shook her hand.

"Baby steps," he commented. Thalia shrugged.

"That's as far as the friendship goes," she said. Leo raised his hands. "See you around," she said. But before she left, she looked at Hazel. "Thanks." Hazel smiled and nodded. She left the home quickly, feeling like a small weight had been lifted off her shoulders and a secret deep in her pocket.

She now knew a secret that could ruin Cindy's façade. She wouldn't use it just to create chaos, but it was almost like a kind of security. She would keep it. She would let Cindy continue with her fake life, but she would keep the balance of her popularity in her fingertips. Thalia took a deep breath. If there was one thing Thalia was proud of, it was the fact no one could make or break her, because she was Thalia Grace: Badass Supreme.

First of all: I didn't break my word! I didn't make any promises! :( I tried to get that chapter uploaded before vacation and believe me, I wrote the chapter 3 times and it didn't work. I wasn't gonna give you a crappy chappie to get it over with . And I would upload more chapters at once, but because I left the story for so long, I can't remember what I had planned next, so now I need to do that... XD

This chapter isn't as long as most and probably not as good, and I'm sorry about that /.\ But I have a lot going on and I'm worried the stress is leaking into my writing. So be honest, and tell me what you guys think? Until next chapter :)