Season's Greetings

Chapter 2

"And this is the art hallway," Leah was saying, though she knew Toby wasn't paying any attention. She had been told by the principal, Ms. Anderson, that since Toby was living at her father's house, she should be his student sdvisor. "Your ceramics class is here." She pointed to a room. "It looks like Germhain isn't in yet. She's really nice, I had her last semester…Toby, are you listening to me?"

Toby smiled. "Of course. But I have a question."

"What's that?"

"When do I get one-on-one time with my student advisor?"

"We're one-on-one now," Leah said with a small blush.

"No, I mean real alone time. Since I got here a few days ago, the only time I've been alone with you has been this tour. Leah, you're my girlfriend, and I came here from Toronto to be with you—no other reason but that."

Leah sighed. "We'll do something—alone—this weekend. Toby, I've been so busy, and you surprised me. I promise, it's not going to be this hectic forever." She gave him a warm smile. "Don't worry." The first bell rang loudly, alerting the students that they had only a few minutes to get to their next class. Leah leaned in to Toby, giving him a small, soft kiss before going to her own class.

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"There's that McNichol girl," a girl in front of Toby whispered to her friend, pointing in Leah's general direction. Leah was sitting at a table, eating her sandwich, engulfed in her writing, as she always was.

Toby smiled a bit, turning back to the lunch menu, trying to decide what to get.

"Yeah. I heard that she was lesbo." The other girl said.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Oh, you know, it's obvious. She's never had a boyfriend, and she turned down Kevin Smith again the other night. He's not going to wait for her forever."

"She said no to Smith? No one says no to him!" The first girl said with an astonished tone.

Toby shook his head, getting his tray. "She's not a lesbian, I'll tell you that."

"How do you know, new kid?" the second girl asked.

"You're the one living with her, right?"

"Yeah, she's a member of my host family—her and her dad."

"So…" the first began, "did you guys like…do it?"

With a sigh and a small smirk, Toby looked down. "Good-bye, ladies." He began walking away, leaving the two girls squealing with their assumptions. He sat down and looked at Leah. "They think you're Lesbian."

Leah looked up from her notebook. "What?"

"There's a rumor going around that you like girls. Why didn't you tell anybody about me?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I guess, around here, when you say you have a boyfriend who lives in Toronto, they tend to think he's made up. I didn't want anybody thinking you were imaginary, because Icertaintly know you're not." A grin flashed on her face as she recalled a night of passion they had had back in Toronto. "Anyways, it doesn't matter. You and I know the truth, and that's all that counts, right?"

"Yeah, but...the rumors. Arn't they horrible?"

"Not really. You know me, I don't care about about rumors."

Toby sighed. "Alright. You still should have told them about me."

"They'll find out soon enough." Leah stood up, picking up her bag. "I'm going to class; I need some extra help with my homeowrk."

"Hmmmm....okay." He smiled at her, watching her grab her notebook.

About to walk away, Leah stopped and looked back at Toby. She kissed him sweetly. "I'll see you at home."

Toby nodded. "Bye, Leah."