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“I took a picture.” My stomach drops. “Right after it was done, he passed out, and I took a selfie, like a douche.”
“What did you do with the photo?” My throat is dry.
Leon turns to face me again, giving me a solemn look. He doesn’t want to say it, but I have my answer.
“Delete it,” I blurt out, shocking him. My hand lets go of him, and I replace my worried expression with a serious one.
“You really think I’d keep that picture?” he questions, but my face remains the same. “Sally, come on. Do you see me right now and think I kept that shit?”
I want to believe him, but the pain in my gut and the fog that rolls into my mind fills with images from last year. Suddenly, Leon places his phone in my hand. I check his photos in the last couple of weeks and even look in the deleted folder. Nothing.
I breathe a sigh of relief before handing the device back to my little brother. He is obviously still upset, so I put my arm around him and bring him in closer. He buries his face in the crook of my neck.
It takes a few more minutes of sniffles brushing against my neck before Leon is ready to go. Ella is going to be pissed we took so long, but she’ll forgive us. Plus, the sooner we leave, the sooner I don’t have to be here anymore.
“Leon?” Both of our heads snap toward the sound, and my stomach drops even further than before. Who knew it could leave my body? “Oh, hey, Sally. How's graduating?”
Leon unlatches himself from me and walks over to Jeremy.
There stands Dalton’s little brother, Jeremy. I lost my virginity to his brother, but then he took those photos of me, and everything shattered.
“Sis?” Leon’s voice breaks my thoughts, and both of the soon-to-be juniors are looking at me. “Jeremy asked how you are.”
“Fine.” I bite my cheek, realizing the bitterness leaving my mouth. Please don’t notice.
They notice. Leon stares in confusion, and Jeremy shifts his position awkwardly. Now I feel bad. What happened between Dalton and me isn’t his fault. The only people that know about it are my parents.
I continue to stare in awkward silence as Leon finishes talking to his friend. Leon is far more popular than me. It’s his extroverted personality and the fact that, even in a small town like this, straight girls love the idea of a gay best friend. They might look at Ella and me like we are nothing, but Leon is their favorite trophy.
“Oh, Sally, Dalton wanted to say he is going to miss you.” If my neck had turned any faster, it would have broken.
His face is still innocent, like always. Jeremy looks up to his brother, just like Leon looks up to Miggy and Richie. I want to scream that Dalton is the worst man I’ve ever met, but I don’t.
“Same here.” It isn’t necessarily a lie.
I’m a dreamer at heart, and I miss the Dalton I thought I was getting to know. Fantasies are nice, but they just live in your head, and they can become nightmares with the slightest change.
With that, Leon and I make our way to Ella, and while she’s pissed about waiting, they still scream Taylor Swift the whole way home.
Our home is average-sized. You wouldn’t think the roof has held eight kids, but it has. Though, no more than five have lived here since I was adopted.
“Moms!” Leon yells when we walk into the open kitchen. There is no response, so Leon shrugs and walks over to the couch, hopping onto it and turning on the TV.
Ella and I stay in the kitchen. I make my way to the fridge and pull out the Brita pitcher while Ella grabs some glasses.
“Do you want any snacks?”
“Yes!” Leon answers.
“Wasn’t asking you,” I laugh.
After filling up both glasses, I start to look through the pantry to see if there is anything to eat.
“Sal, you have some mail,” Ella says as I turn to her.
“What?”
She waves an envelope.
