For the life of him, Willis could not fathom what he had done to warrant a cold shoulder or the anger that was simmering in her gaze. Had he said something wrong? Last he knew, they were on the right foot. She had even sent him a text over the weekend, informing him of her plans. What exactly had gone wrong? Deciding not to follow her since it was so obvious she wasn’t ready to talk to him, he retrieved his phone from his back pocket and brought up her message. It been very brief and concise. Hey. I won’t be around for the weekend. Date with Thea. Happy weekend. All friendly and cheerful. Had he missed something in her text? He reread it five more times before deciding he needed help. “Yo Jer!” He called out to his best friend when he reached the tracks. Jeremy was with a bunch of other guys, hanging out after school. It was the clique that Willis himself mostly moved with before ‘Project Leigh’ “What’s up man,” Jer looked surpris

A pretty blonde head walked up to them. She was holding a phone to her ear, apparently making a phone call. At the same time, Willis’ phone rang in Leigh’s hands. The lady zeroed her eyes in on the phone in Leigh’s hands and walked over to sit beside them on the bleachers. “Oh! Hey, You must be Leigh then,” she said in a voice that was both sassy and confident. “Yeah, and this is my friend Carol.” “Pleased to meet you,” Carol replied politely, but Leigh could see the mischief just brimming in her eyes and chose to ignore it. “Hi Carol,” The pretty lady—Willa smiled and Leigh caught herself comparing it to how the sun shone after a stormy day. How could someone so cheery have Willis as a brother? “I’m going to head out to grab a bite or something. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” Carol said and waltzed through the crowd before Leigh could say a word. Now she was left alone with the pretty lady. Not the best move considering she was sure

Him.It was him.It was Willis Reeler.Willis Reeler was in her home.Willis Reeler was in her backyard!And he was... Staring at her hair?

"How can anyone be so cruel?" Leigh cried. "They murdered her!" She continued in the same high pitched, half sob she had adopted for the past five minutes since the waiter had served their meal. He had suggested they had lunch at a great sea food place close to the aquarium where he had been willing to swear the food was absolutely divine. The thought of bringing her there had even excited him to the point that he had ordered the house's best. As it would turn out, the house's best had also been Leigh's best, only she liked it a whole lot more out of the plate and very alive. She had been visibly shocked when she was served on a more or less silver platter. He had had to actually beg her not to go after the waiter in annoyance-- hell, it was a restaurant that sold seafood what had she been expecting? Sea weed and salt water?-- either way, she was now half crying- half lamenting on the elaborate dish spread out in front of her while he could not wait to dig in. He had not even known

The next day, Leigh didn't see Willis in school neither could she get through to his phone. She had expected him the previous day till he had called to apologise and told her that something urgent had come up and he would not be able to make it. Asides from not being able to get through to Willis, she had no further encounters or bullying. It was like the entire school went back to ignoring her or maybe it was Carol's presence that intimidated them. Her friend had taken to following her whenever she went. Even to the restroom and Leigh could only say she was grateful for it. She had told her mom that she tripped and fell down the school staircase not wanting to get her mom all worried. Though her mom had not totally bought the lie, she eventually let it go and had silently tended to Leigh's wound instead. Her body still ached