It had been a few days, and Leo knew that his headache would return soon. The only problem was that he and Ivan couldn’t agree on a time when they were both free. They both had training straight after school, and they had decided that they couldn't keep meeting up every single lunch, or their friends would become suspicious — Ivan’s more than his own. And mornings were too short.

  When Leo got to the mall, he walked around a few shops, filling the time as he waited for his friends. When he went into a clothing store, he saw April sitting on a bench in front of another store. He walked up to her, and she smiled when she glanced up at him.

  “Hey, handsome.”

  Leo smiled, relieved that she clearly wasn't mad anymore. She was wearing a white tube top with baggy jeans, and her braids were held back in a black bandana.

  “You didn't answer my text. Thought you were still mad.” He took a seat beside her.

  She gave him a sheepish smile and bumped her shoulder into his. “I was for a bit. Then when I wasn't, I forgot to reply.”

  The glitter in her eyes fizzled into a contemplative frown, and the tautness of her smile disappeared. “What did they say when I left? Make fun of the fact that I don't have money?”

  “They didn't say anything.” He wasn't lying exactly. They technically hadn't said anything out loud, although he couldn't say the same for what they had been thinking. He hadn't missed Mei's look of judgement and the way she had whispered to Parker.

  “They will. Did you tell them we dated?”

  “I alluded to it.”

  “Well allude to the fact that it's over now.”

  Leo glanced at her quizzically, then the realisation dawned on him. “Are you…” A shy smile began to spread over her face, and she turned away from him to hide her oncoming smile. “You are. Who is she?”

  April grinned. “None of your business. And she's not going to be very happy when she finds out I'm cheating on her with my fake boyfriend.”

  “The best fake boyfriend you ever had.”

  “You're so delusional.”

  Leo said goodbye to April and then followed Parker and Theo, who he spotted as they were walking in, to the restaurant they had agreed to meet at.

  When he sat down, Parked clapped his shoulder.

  “Finally. I thought you'd be half an hour late, but here you are, only twenty-eight. I'm proud of your progress.” Parker said and ruffled Leo's hair, which he quickly swatted away with a scoff.

  “I just saw you guys walk in,” Leo said, running his hands through his hair in an attempt to ruin whatever mess Parker had created.

  “That's beside the point,” Theo interjected.

  “Where were you anyway? Training on a Saturday?” Mei asked.

  Leo shrugged. “I just left the house later than expected.”

  “You train way too much. You need to live a little.” Theo said, to which Mei hummed in agreement.

  “Hey—is that Ivan?” Amirah suddenly asked.

  Leo's gaze snapped to her. “What?”

  She pointed outside the restaurant, and sure enough, Ivan was standing outside of a clothing shop and talking on the phone as he paced the length of the store's clear doors. He was frowning angrily, occasionally pausing his conversation whenever someone would pass.

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  He was wearing a large, white graphic T-shirt with baggy blue jeans, and there was a brown, medium-sized paper bag in one of his hands.

  “Who do you think he's talking to?”

  “I don't know. Go ask him,” Parker suggested with an amused smirk, and Theo scrunched his nose in disagreement.

  “He creeps me out.”

  Amirah gave him a puzzled look. “Why?”

  “I heard one of those guys he hangs out with is…. You know. Plays for the other team.”

  Leo felt his heart drop.

  Mei raised a perfectly curved eyebrow at Theo. “And that creeps you out? Grow up.”

  Theo shrugged. “I don't care how people choose to spend their lives or who to be friends with. Just… his vibe.”

  “Well, I like his vibe,” Mei commented, a flirtatious grin on her lips.

  “You don't know anything about him,” Amriah stated pointedly.

  “I know that he's attractive,” Mei said, resting her elbows on the table and placing her chin in her intertwined hands as she watched him curiously through the window. “And I know that he's the future Beta of the Crawlers.”

  Theo scrunched his nose. “I don't see it.”

  “Because you're too prideful to understand that acknowledging his attractiveness doesn't make you gay,” Amriah said, making Leo grin. If anyone was going to call Theo out on his bullshit, it was her.

  Theo shook his head slowly and put his hands up in resignation. “I never said he wasn't attractive. There's just something about him.”

  Leo shifted, suddenly uncomfortable at the topic of conversation. Eight billion people in the whole world to talk about, and they just had to choose Ivan.

  Leave it to Ivan to make his life more difficult than it already was without even being in the room.

  “Well, you're not exactly the most astute person out there, buddy.” Leo squeezed Theo's shoulder in mock sympathy.

  Theo slapped his hand away. “I don't know what that means, but I don't appreciate your tone.”

  “Anyways,” Mei said, stopping Leo's oncoming reply. “I don't know what your deal with him is.”

  Her fiery dark brown eyes were concentrated on him, trying to force the answer out of him as she often could with other people. It was light, but Leo could still see a faint yellow glow in her eyes.

  Leo let his own eyes glow, using his status as future Alpha to force hers to return to normal, which he seldom did. She rolled her eyes at him then slumped back into her seat, arms crossed over her chest.

  “There is no deal. We just hate each other,” Leo replied, but was surprised to hear the lie in his words. A few months ago he might have meant them.

  “You don't just hate him. What happened to—” Theo started, but Leo covered a hand over his mouth, muffling the rest of his answer. When Theo finally stopped struggling, he made the redhead promise not to complete his sentence then let go again when he nodded in compliance.

  Then, before Leo could place his hand back on the other boy's mouth, Theo mocked in a high-pitched voice, “I wish he was dead! He's the most annoying person in the world! Please suck my dick.”

  Leo rolled his eyes as the rest of his friends giggled at Theo's terrible imitation. He could feel a small sense of unease at Theo's last words, but he chose to ignore it. He knew that Theo was just making a joke.

  “Ooo-kay…” Amriah drew out. “Let's give him some slack, we all know it was a long time ago, right?”

  “Yeah, it was what… two months ago?” Parker suggested, causing the rest of his friends to burst into a fit of giggles. Even Amirah was turned away to hide the way the ends of her lips were twitching.

  “Fuck off,” Leo said with a grin, and the rest of his friends engaged in an argument over when he had said the words. He zoned out of the conversation and grabbed his phone, sending a message to Ivan.

  Me: It's coming back, you feel ot?

  14:35

  Me: *it

  14:35

  Me: Meet me at the library?

  14:35

  Ivan Piotrowski: You look busy

  14:36

  Me: I'll be there in 20

  14:36

  Leo watched Ivan stop walking and put his phone into his back pocket before turning to them, inconspicuously scanning Leo's face with a blank expression before walking away. A few minutes later Leo's phone buzzed in his lap, and he opened Ivan's message.

  Ivan Piotrowski: I don't know if I'll be there in 20 but go ahead.

  14:39

  Leo looked down into his lap, struggling to hide the smile growing on his face. If only they knew.