"I'm saying you should trust your instincts, your heart, your mind but nothing else. You're not far from the answer but be prepared for everything." ~ Poseidon Jackson
Grover isn't the type of person who joined Environment groups for Service points to get into College. He wasn't the type of person who was forced to join and really didn't give a damn about the environment. He genuinely felt he was needed to somehow make an influence or some kind of impact to safe the world. He would go around town cleaning up every single bit of garbage found on the street. He participates in beach clean ups, save the animal or something rallies and he is an avid supporter of the environment.
As the president of the Goode High Environment Group, he cared deeply even about the slightest harm hurting the environment. He built a reputation for himself for being every construction worker's nightmare. One time, Grover stayed on a tree for three days just to protect the tree from being chopped down for a new skyscraper. The idea was very unrealistic especially when Grover got the idea from TV shows but it worked. He got Juniper to give him food, water, his laptop, more food and nessicities like that. Of course, when he had to go to the toilet, the sight wasn't lovely and it wasn't entirely comfortable for Grover but if that's the price for a tree to be saved, to him, it wasn't a lot. He had to do it.
Juniper loved the environment as much as her boyfriend but she wasn't as wild as him. She didn't approve some of Grover's crazy schemes but as a girlfriend, went along with them grudgingly. Another reason why she often came long Grover was to keep him away from other girls. There was no doubt (especially in her eyes) that Grover is cute and caught many girl's attention. Juniper really hates it when another girl flirts with her guy and knowing Grover, even when a girl is about to kiss him, he would have no idea. She have to be around to stop girls from taking him away.
There was more to why Juniper is more obsessive with her boyfriend than anybody else of course but that leads back many years to when Juniper only started having a crush on Grover. They were only in Grade 5 at that time and the key was in biology lesson. Juniper's lab partner was Drew since neither of them had anyone else to pair up with. Juniper still remember the words Drew said to her loud and clear in her mind in their first biology lesson together.
"So who do you like?" Drew asked curiously while batting her eyelashes at an adorable classmate who just walked past.
Juniper pouted. "I don't like anyone."
"Lies, hon. Lies." Drew laughed loudly which irritated Juniper. "We're friends here, Junnie. You can tell me everything. I'll tell you everything too. If you're shy, I'll start first."
"Don't call me Junnie." Juniper narrowed her green eyes.
Drew smirked. "Alright, hon, but don't change the subject. Here we go. I like Luke." She admitted.
Juniper sighed. Luke Castellan is older than them and obviously not into Drew. However, it was almost like every girl in this school had a crush on him so no surprises there. Juniper wasn't attracted to Luke but she had to admit he is quite handsome.
"Luke's a cutie." Drew smiled. "Your turn! So who do you have a crush on?"
"I don't like anybody." Juniper insisted.
Drew rolled her eyes. "That's what they all say, hon. I don't bite, Juniper."
"I never even talked to you until today." Juniper reminded her.
"Friends always started off as strangers."
Juniper growled and muttered under her breath. "Fine. It's Grover."
"Oh, hon, you poor thing." Drew shook her head.
Juniper turned her head sharply. "Excuse me?"
"He obviously belongs to someone else, not you." Drew said. "Find another boy, he's not worth waiting for."
It was a simple statement. Juniper was pretty sure Drew don't even remember saying it but for some reason it stuck to her. Ha, she got Grover, didn't she? Grover loves her, doesn't he? He doesn't belong with somebody else. Juniper already claimed him and things are going to stay this way. Drew was wrong and she will always be wrong. So if Drew was totally wrong, why is that little statement stuck in her head?
Piper rubbed the mascara on her face. The mascara stayed on her face as if they were glued on. She sighed in frustration, these mascaras are so hard to get off. She needed to use some kind of special ointment to get rid of it. She could have simply gone with a normal kind but no, her mom made her wear these new mascara from her line to advertise it.
"Mr. Jackson!" She yelled. "Can I get out of this damn room? At least I can go back to my hotel room to get my suitcase. It's not easy spending days in the same dingy room of yours wearing a red-carpet dress."
"Piper." Jason pleaded weakly. "Don't yell. You're held hostage, you don't demand things when you're kidnapped. I watched movies when if people complain while held hostage, they get dumped to a crappier environment."
Piper rolled her eyes. "Screw that. Nothing can get worse than this."
"Actually, I think the sewers will. Leo's description of his stay at the sewers when he was young seemed pretty horrifying. Definitely worse than this."
"Well, it can't get worse for me anyway." Piper said. "I can imagine more homely sewers."
"Stop!" A voice commanded. "Your door is unlocked. Come outside and we'll have a chat."
"Finally." Piper grumbled as she got onto her uncomfortable high heels and headed towards the door. The apartment Poseidon Jackson made them stayed in was dirty, dim and Piper could have sworn it was infested by rats a few years ago. She didn't like it but she didn't have a choice to leave. She was practically kidnapped when she was drunk. Jason wasn't in a much better state either. His blonde hair was messed up but in a cute way and he looked tired.
"What the hell?" Piper demanded.
Poseidon was wearing loose Hawaiin patterned shirt and a Bermuda Shorts. His hair was wet and tousled as if he either enjoyed a sunny day on the beautiful beaches of California or he just took a relaxing bath. Either way, it seemed as if he was taunting Piper since she was locked in the same jail cell for at least 72 hours without any facility to wash up.
Poseidon smiled pleasantly at them. "I hope you would forgive me for the state you're in at the moment. You see, this apartment doesn't exactly have a proper shower or sink. I never needed to use it."
"How did you wash up then?" Jason asked.
"Private villa." Mr. Jackson replied. "I would let you use it if we're alone there. Sadly, I have a few maids inside the villa which have loose lips. I can't risk anything."
"You could have at least got us into a hotel." Piper told him. "Or allowed us to stay in our own rooms. Put guards in front of our doors, I don't fricken care. This is ridiculous."
"I know, right?" Poseidon agreed. "California really isn't as good as Florida. I much prefer places like Miami."
"That wasn't my point." Piper was thrown back by the random comment of Percy's dad.
"Oh well." Poseidon shrugged. "I'm guessing and possibly even hoping you're itching for some answers?"
"I better get a damn good reason why I'm being kidnapped." Piper snarled. "I'm not even as famous as my dad. You want to kidnap somebody? Kidnap Jaden Smith, kidnap Kendall Jenner, not me. I can't even sell my autograph on Ebay for 10 dollars."
"Calm down, Pipes." Jason rubbed his hands gently on her arm which for some reason made Piper's heart skip a beat and relaxed at the same time.
"Exactly, calm down." Poseidon said smoothly and patted towards two chair who are close to be broken. "Sit down."
"Is it safe?" Jason frowned.
"Very." Poseidon assured them without taking no gestures to sit down himself.
Warily, both teenagers sat down as their chairs creaked almost in unison. Both of them held onto the edge of the chair tightly hoping not to fall if it breaks down.
"You do know that I used to hang out with Hades and..your dad." Poseidon nodded towards Jason. "Like way back, way back in high school. I don't even look them in the eye anymore."
"Yeah.." Jason said while Piper looked confused. Nonetheless, Poseidon beamed at Jason and seemed to not be getting Piper's confusion at all.
"I'm not going to go into much details because what's the past should stay in the past. I'm just going to make this brief and clear but you're not going anywhere since I have to make sure everything goes as planned. Hades is gone, there's two left - me and Zeus. I know it won't be long until we fall. We both know somebody is after us. We were a pact in elementary, middle and most of high school, not everybody liked us. The past shouldn't be revisited and I'm making sure it won't. However, we should learn from the past. The closest people can betray you in the end of the day. I know that from personal experience." Piper could have sworn he gave a slight glare at Jason as if it's his fault but continued.
"The only person you can trust is yourself. It's a cruel world out there, nothing is like what it seems. You might have a seemingly perfect life planned out but life will always throw surprises at you. You can do nothing but brace yourself for these unexpected times. Jason, you, Percy and Hades' son…- Nico, is it? - are strong together. I'm not saying like if you guys somehow bonded, you'll get supernatural powers but you hold power stronger than you think. What we did as your parents was set you on that path. It wasn't intended but it was planned by the fates. There are times you can solve the mystery yourself but this time, you can't. I can't give you all the answers but you can find it out. Nobody holds the key to every single mystery in the world."
Piper rubbed her eyes gingerly. "That's deep. I didn't get half of it."
"What do you mean?" Jason asked.
"I'm saying you should trust your instincts, your heart, your mind but nothing else. You're not far from the answer but be prepared for everything."
"Why didn't you tell us in New York?" Piper asked. "It's not that hard. We always go to Percy's house. You can maybe come home when we're around and ask us to stay behind or something."
Poseidon laughed. "You sound like Percy. The thing is, I can't tell you anything in New York. New York is full of spies. You can't even tell a lie without at least five people knowing about it. Besides, there's more to that so I kidnapped you. I won't have the time to tell you everything in New York. I may not have the key to your burning questions like who's the shooter and why is he going around shooting people but I know other things that might help you. The past is very important and you have to study it well to know the shooter's motives and eventually, find the identity and stop him or her. I can't reveal too much myself but you can obviously find the answers yourself."
"Okay." Jason nodded. "How are we going to do that?"
"There's a reason you're in Malibu." Poseidon started.
"Malibu?" Piper gasped. "Oh my god. My family owns a mansion here! Why didn't you tell me earlier? I could have gone there and actually enjoy life instead of being stuck here."
"Exactly." Poseidon sighed. "If you're in your mansion, your family would figure out your location and then your friends, then everybody. We don't want people to know where you are so you stayed here."
"If they don't know where we are, what excuse did you tell my friends and family so they aren't worrying about us?" Jason asked thoughtfully. "Knowing my mom, she'll be fretting about where I am unless I have a really realistic explanation. Last time I went to a sleepover at Leo's house, she made me take a picture of Leo and me together proving that I'm not somewhere else with other people and a picture of Leo's room to make sure I am there. On top of that, she calls me every hour to see how things are going."
"Simple." Poseidon smiled, it was the type of smile that wasn't exactly assuring and gave Jason and Piper chills. "Everything has been taken care of. You have nothing to worry about. They're fine and you're fine."
"I don't like the look of it." Piper muttered. "But give me the reason we're in Malibu."
"Well, this very apartment belongs to my uncle. When I was 7, my uncle got killed by a drunk driver leaving this house for me. Technically, I was too young to be legal to inherit anything like a house so he left it for my parents but clearly stated in his will that it's for me and it's my choice whether my parents can reside in it or not. My parents didn't really mind as they believed strongly in letting myself having my own private space so I was allowed to go here whenever I want as a teenager as long as I tell them where I am. To keep track of me, they rented a house nearby just in case."
"Wait, weren't you a student in Goode High? That's in New York, not Malibu." Jason pointed out.
"Everybody in Goode High is well-off." Poseidon explained. "My family is rich. They're able to afford private helicopters so our pilot can fly us over here during the weekends. Hey! Don't look at me like that! It's not like your families aren't rich and Piper, your family does own a private helicopter. Anyway, I became pretty attached to this place. I kept everything I didn't want my parents to see or basically everything I wanted to keep a secret about here."
"Does Percy know about this place?" Piper asked curiously.
Poseidon frowned. "No. He doesn't need to know this and don't tell him anything. Look guys, I have to catch a flight back to New York quickly as I have to arrive by tonight. However, you guys can stay here. Take your time, I have everything under control. There is cell service and wifi here but I strongly advice you not to use it or your friends and family will be pretty surprised and you're doing the explaining. By the way, they won't believe it if you tell them I kidnapped you. You can look through anything here and you're welcome to just live here. There's plenty of food in the kitchen, I stocked up a lot of stuff in the fridge. There's movies in that cupboard and go ahead if you want to use the TV, I'm sure it's working. I got those hotel toothbrush and toothpaste in the bathroom and there should be shampoo and soap. Sorry, Piper, I don't think there's conditioner."
"How about our clothing?" Piper protested.
Poseidon offered. "If you want, I probably left a few of my old college t-shirts and stuff in my wardrobe but I don't think you'll want to wear it."
No thanks, Piper said in her head but didn't want to hurt Percy's dad's feeling in any way so she stopped herself from saying it out loud. She can't believe Poseidon had the nerve to kidnap her, at least he seems pretty decent and seems to have everything around.
"It's a pretty small apartment." Poseidon continued. "You should be able to find your way easily. The room I locked you guys in is the spare room, there's a kitchen, bathroom, my bedroom and this, the living room. I really have to go now so enjoy yourselves! If you need anything, call me. My number is on the fridge."
"Thanks!" Jason called politely. To be honest, he didn't know why he is thanking him. Thank you for kidnapping me? Thank you for getting me off school for however days I'm staying here? Thank you for leaving me and Piper alone here?
"You're welcome." Poseidon answered as he stepped outside of the apartment.
"Let's go check out this place." Jason decided as he and Piper split up around the place.
"Sardines." Piper commented looking through the refrigerator. "Shrimp. Crab. Why are they all seafood? We can't live like this."
"The TV is flickering, it doesn't work." Jason groaned.
"These clothing are so out of date." Piper complained. "Not that I care but not even I would wear these stuff. First of all, I swear there are mothballs on these shirts and second of all, there are tons of papparazis in Malibu. I can't be spotted looking like a tramp around here, my mom would kill me."
"There's barely any shampoo or soap left." Jason grumbled. "Besides, I don't even see any toothpaste or toothbrushes."
"Okay, this place stinks." Piper moaned.
"So, what do we do now?" Jason asked, looking at her as if she held the answer to everything.
Piper wondered for a few minutes and smirked. "Go to my mansion, of course."
"Nothing's the same without Beckendorf." Nyssa complained to nobody in particular.
It was a typical after school woodshop club meeting. Ever since their captain Beckendorf died two years ago, everybody just grumbles about how much they missed him and what they will be doing if he's around. It became a pretty depressing sight and some people wanted to quit but realize they needed extra curricular activity points so they stayed. Most people in this club are really good with building mechanical things, identify machines, basically anything to do with the subject. Although they're talented in that area, most of them are rubbish in other areas. Woodshop club is the only place they can get the points needed.
"I know!" Jake Mason agreed. "And look at me! Covered in a full body cast and in a wheelchair because of that fire accident we had last week. If Beckendorf was around, we won't even have that accident."
Leo dragged his body to his usual spot and started on his project. He didn't exactly looked forward to the activity since it was all if-Beckendorf-was-here-we-would-have-been… talks. He didn't like it at all. He wanted the club to be active and happy. He wanted to have parties all the time and not gain the reputation of being the most sadistic club in school which it is gaining. "Come on! It's the party house! Beckendorf won't be proud of us if we're still mourning over him years after his death."
"So you're saying you don't care he died?" Christopher gasped. "Leo! Respect please!"
"I care!" Leo said defensively. "I just don't think we should still mope about."
It was practically the same conversation for weeks. The whole group being sort of mad at Leo for 'not caring about Beckendorf's death' although it was two years ago. Leo had a hunch that these people are more miserable about Beckendorf's death than Beckendorf's family. It didn't make sense to him. Sure, that guy's dead and everybody should be sad but these people got to move on. Beckendorf will have to die at some stage of his life, it's just that his was tragically short.
"Why won't my model work?" Harley moaned in frustration. "I have been working on it for weeks! Everything was perfect!"
"This sucks." Nyssa shook her head. "Ever since Beckendorf died, like nothing works anymore! No matter how hard we try assembling our pieces, calculating everything precisely and making sure there are no flaws, it just doesn't work. It's like his death placed a curse on us or something."
Christopher's eyes lit up swiftly. "That's it, Nys! That's it! We are suffering from a curse!"
"Don't be silly." Leo laughed uneasily. "There's no such thing as curses. Besides, my little torch contraption worked."
"That was nothing." Nyssa waved her hands dismissively. "I meant something huge. Something that would bring us the glory we had when Beckendorf was around."
Harley whimpered softly. "I don't like curses." Although he was a freshman, he had the mental mind of a timid 7 year old. Except when it came to building things, he is an absolute genius.
Suddenly, the door opened. When Beckendorf was around, it wasn't 'suddenly' since the club was still popular. Now, nobody ever comes in other than the members itself. Catriona Fontaine walked inside as she frowned at the place.
"Ew, how the hell do you work here?" She muttered.
"Cat." Nyssa nodded rather curtly. "What brings you here?"
"Piper's not here." Leo told her. "She's still in LA or something."
"I know." Cat said. "I'm doing a memorial for the victims of the Shooting and basically, I'd like to know more about Beckendorf since I didn't really know him that well."
"Oh god, here we go." Leo muttered quietly. This is so going to get everybody moaning about Beckendorf saying how much they missed him again.
Christopher raised his eyebrows. "If you don't know him that well, why are you doing a memorial for him then? Why don't you leave it to us?"
"That would be nice." Cat started. "but, it's kind of a collaboration. You know what I mean? I have to do it."
Leo was pretty sure nobody in the group got what she meant but nobody had the heart to ask. "Fine, what do you want to know about him?" Nyssa questioned.
"Oh, just about everything you know about him."
"That's going to take hours." Harley commented.
"I have time."
Leo sworn he saw Nyssa's expression harden. She seemed like she had a grudge against Cat or simply didn't like actually elaborating on Beckendorf.
"You may but we're busy." Nyssa told her. "Now's not a good time."
"Nyssa…" Leo glanced at her asking her silently 'what's going on'. "I'm sure it's fine. We aren't really doing anything productive anyway."
"Come on!" Cat insisted. "It won't take too long, I'm sure."
"Fine." Nyssa said. "You know what? Harley, Jake and Christopher will tell you everything. Leo, come with me. I have something to show you."
"Okay." Leo shrugged as he followed her into a room.
"What are you doing?" Nyssa hissed. "Stop taking her side!"
"What do you mean?" Leo frowned. "You're the one being all defensive as if she pissed you off or something."
"Why the hell is she asking about Beckendorf?" Nyssa shot back. "It's so..weird!"
"And still not getting over him isn't? There isn't a club meeting I've been to where you haven't complained about his death." Leo told her.
Nyssa sighed as she sat down. "God. I really am going to be telling you, am I? I can't believe it's you I'm telling."
"What?" Leo cried impatiently. "Don't talk to yourself."
Nyssa's head turned glumly around the room. "I probably will never get over Beckendorf. He's my first crush. In fact, I'm guessing he probably still is. He obviously didn't like me back with Silena around. He doesn't even know that I liked him. Silena was gorgeous and just so..kind, oh god, I can't even hate her. It's like you really want to hate somebody but it's almost impossible."
"There's other guys out there." Leo suggested awkwardly. He's never good at giving advice, especially ones to do with relationship. He never even been in a relationship.
Nyssa shook her head, her eyes were oddly chilly. "Sure, but he's my first crush. You never get away from your first crush. They're always special in a way that even if you don't feel the same anymore, you kind of do. He's like the shadow following me everywhere but also reminding me at the same time, he can never be mines. I really don't have anything against Cat. I barely know her, but she is like Silena. If people can be separated in genres, they'll be in the same group. One of them already hurt me indirectly and unintentionally. It's silly, I guess but I really don't want to be acquainted with any more of them. What if they hurt me again?"
"Hurt you?" Leo raised his eyebrows. "Beckendorf's dead so you got to have another boy you like to be hurt again."
"Will." Nyssa whispered. "He's cute and Cat does seem to be pretty good friends with him. You know the drill. They start off as friends. Quoting 'just friends'. Then they realize they have feelings for each other, they date and end up getting married. It's like set up by fates and I'm just on the side going 'what the hell?'
Leo rolled his eyes. "You're over-thinking it."
Nyssa laughed harshly. "Really? Really? I know you, Leo. You don't exactly have the fairytale love story either. Don't you want Reyna? Aren't you scared she already fell for somebody else? Namely, your best friend Jason? It's complicated, isn't it? You don't want to hurt either one of them. Let's make the situation worse, shall we? This love triangle - or whatever you call it - isn't done yet. Your best friend Jason seems to be getting with Piper pretty well and Piper made it good with Sky who's now..what? Unconcious? Life is so damn annoying you just want to punch it in the face."
Leo felt like he have been punched in the face. He couldn't deny it, what Nyssa said was true. Besides, that wasn't it. This whole romance isn't enough. His life has been messed up ever since his mother passed away. It wasn't even her time yet. He knew his mother took cocaine but even now, he never thought it actually took her life away. Obviously, he didn't blame his mother for her death. He blamed the dealers, he blamed whoever that sold his mother that drug. She has been taking it for years, there had to be something wrong with that particular batch which made her so sick she died. He knew her illness had start building up since high school but he refused to believe it until it was really reality. He could blame his friend's parents, Jason's dad, Piper's mom, all the popular kids back in his mom's high school days who pressured her into taking the drug in the first place. However, he didn't. He doesn't like holding grudges against his friend's parents as he felt it might torn his friendship with his friends itself.
When his mother died, Leo thought it was the worse thing that could happen. Just like those movies when you say 'it can't get possibly worse!' and then it starts raining or some even more disastrous events happen, Leo's life changed completely and it became shittier. None of his 'loving' relatives took him in as quoting them 'he was too much of a burden!' or 'we don't have enough money to support him!' or even 'it's always windy here. I'm afraid he can't adjust to the climate'. Like what kind of an excuse is that? They just obviously don't like him. He was forced to stay in adoption house and trust him, it was terrible. He stayed in a wind-down little building, sharing a tiny room with at least 10 homeless scrawny kids just like him, eating what the orphanage owners called marsh potatoes almost everyday (if you're good, you might have one of those 'candies' that taste absolutely revolting!), being taught in the same class with people aging from 2 years old to 15 years old and of course, entertain the orphanage owners. The owners of the adoption house felt like they needed some kind of fun on every Saturday afternoon so they scheduled every kid to perform their talent. It was actually okay, seeing what other kids can do except Leo had nothing. He can sing just like a dying fetus, dance like a spastic frog, do gymnastics just like a hippo and can play instruments as well as a blind chicken. He tried entertaining everybody with his humor calling himself a comedian but nobody got his sense of humor. Everybody was too serious. Every Saturday, he got to scrub the toilets for being the least talented kid.
He had enough of the adoption house. He just isn't suited to the conditions he was confined in. He tried running away, twice. The first time, he was caught the police two weeks later and dragged back to the stinking orphanage. The second time, he was missing for a month and actually made it in Canada when this bratty toddler found him and somehow recognized him from a wanted poster which for some reason was in Canada and caught him. How embarrassing. A toddler of all people. Anyway, he was stuck in the same orphanage and as a punishment for being naughty, he got to scrub the toilet everyday.
Soon enough, his father Hephaestus showed up at the orphanage and adopted Leo. Leo was totally pissed off with him for ignoring him and letting his life become even crappier when his mother died for like two days but realized he couldn't go on being mad forever. Without his dad, he would still be stuck in the adoption home scrubbing toilets. Besides, his dad had his own reasons not to adopt him sooner and Leo respected that. They moved to New York and so that's where Leo is now.
Yeah, his life is finally becoming normal, isn't it? If there's anything Leo learnt, that would be the fact his life would never be like everybody else. You might be expecting a nice father-son bond by now with the two of them going on fishing trips, hiking trips pretty often, but as Hephaestus never creased to remind Leo, he is not good with actual human beings. Both father and son enjoyed working with machines and found it easier to bond that way but really, you get closer to whatever you're building than the person next to you. They have that kind of a relationship where they regarded each other more like a buddy than a father or son. Even as a buddy, they don't tell each other everything though. It's kind of strain, they both held secrets away from one another. A typical conversation between them would be:
Hephaestus: How's school?
Leo: Good. How's work?
Hephaestus: Fine. What would you like for dinner?
Leo: Anything's good, but maybe beef patties?
Hephaestus: Sure. I'll make them now.
It wasn't what Leo expected and probably wanted but that's what he had now. All he could do is tell himself that it could be worse and he could still be stuck in the orphanage.
"Leo?" Nyssa shook him gently. "Are you alright."
"Yeah. Yeah." Leo blinked. Being lost in thoughts is something he hated being caught doing but found himself doing occasionally. "I'm fine."
"I'm going back. I'll leave you here." Nyssa paused. "Just tell me if something's wrong. Both of our lives are so fucked up I'm sure we can help each other."
"Sure." Leo nodded rather robotically. "See you."
As Nyssa left the room, Leo couldn't help but thinking about his mom. Why didn't his mom stop using cocaine? It's addictive but there got to be some rehab for people who want to quit. Then it hit Leo. She liked it. He remembered some experts who came to Goode High a few years ago to persuade the teens to refuse drugs.
"Why don't people stop taking cocaine?" Leo asked. He was especially interested in this Class A drug due to his mom.
The expert smiled. "Ah, cocaine. Well, for starters, some people tried it once maybe out of curiosity or peer pressure and get hooked up on it. Even if you tried it once, it hooks you in. You would want more. It makes you feel good. You feel high. You forget your trouble and pains. It's the best feeling you ever felt, but that's momentarily. The side effects coming piling in just after and its not pretty. It's not worth that moment of pure bliss. You won't want to stop because you wanted to feel that feeling again. It's out of the world and nothing can make you feel the same other than cocaine."
"Does it really make you feel that..amazing?" Leo asked again. Now, Leo wonder what kind of lies his mother is hiding and what kind of guilt she's covering that she wanted to become so happy, she'll forget about it. Leo had quite a few things in mind he wanted to forget.
The expert hesitated. "To be honest, yes, but it's not worth it. Don't take it. One snort can be the beginning of a irreviserable consequence."
"Don't worry." Leo assured the expert. "I won't. I'm just curious."
That was a few years ago, hen he was simply curious about the subject. Now, he wasn't so sure. He's still curious about it but maybe too curious. What made his mom like it so much? Why can't he try just a bit of it? It couldn't be that bad.
AN: omg, I'm so sorry! I have been updating on Thursdays for a while but I couldn't yesterday since I was really busy preparing my friend's surprise birthday party! Don't worry, I'm still going to update on Thursdays!
I realized I'm starting to write more and more...is that a good thing? (this is either the longest chapter I written or one of the longest) And here is a big chunk of Leo, I find him to be one of the most interesting characters to write about since he can be insecure and sort of easily persuaded but strong and funny at the same time.
~Kisses, Emily