Chapter 15 Not Used to It
"Okay. Thanks."
Luna thanked the driver and got out of the cab.
It was a group brawl. The tiny precinct was packed with parents. Luna followed the officer to the interrogation room door and peeked in.
A bunch of rainbow-haired kids crouched in the corner. All bruised and battered. War zone.
Leo's blonde hair was impossible to miss. His face was the cleanest too. Just a small bruise under one eye. He was hunched over a chair, gripping a pen, scratching his head as he wrote a self-criticism.
The officer was young. He asked Luna, "This your brother?"
"Yeah."
"Regular here. You should talk to him more at home."
"I know, I know."
Luna nodded quickly. She'd dropped her usual haughty attitude. Her pretty face looked quiet and obedient.
Ryder scratched his head, struggling to squeeze out a sentence. His handwriting was so crooked it looked like centipedes crawling.
He finally finished a sentence and let out a breath. He looked up, wondering if Jax had come.
He spotted someone familiar.
An officer was saying something to Luna. She nodded along. Light blue jeans showed off her long, straight legs. The white T-shirt hung loose. The hollow of her collarbones was striking.
Ryder tugged Leo's arm.
Leo wasn't ready. The tug knocked him sideways. His pen skidded across the page in a long, jagged line.
"Crap." He glared at Ryder. "What's wrong with you?"
Ryder jerked his chin toward Luna. "Look who showed up."
Leo didn't think much of it. He lifted his eyes, looked over, and froze.
He ducked his head fast. Went back to writing his self-criticism, full of nonsense.
Stuff like: I really know I was wrong. I really really really really know I was wrong. I really really really know I was wrong...
Ryder said, "Luna came to pick you up herself. She seems pretty good to you. Not like you always say she doesn't care."
"You don't know crap." Leo smacked him. "She bought you one meal and you switched sides? Traitor."
"You're my boy, how would I switch sides?" Ryder got defensive. "I'm just saying, Luna really cares about you. The cops called your place and she was here in minutes. She must've come straight away."
Leo's pen stopped dead.
The paper was thin. The pen tip bled a large black blotch.
"She definitely wants something from me."
Yeah.
Luna's sudden concern could only mean one thing. She needed him for something.
He finished the page and handed it to the officer. The officer glanced at it twice. The handwriting was so bad he couldn't read a word. But it was a full page. Attitude counted.
The officer told him to stop fighting and study harder. Then let him go.
It was getting dark outside. The precinct lights were on.
Luna sat on a bench, scrolling through her phone. A shadow fell over her.
She pocketed her phone and looked up at Leo.
Their eyes met. Leo looked away first. "Let's go home." His voice was stiff.
He walked out before Luna could answer.
Luna hissed through her teeth.
Brat.
She hurried after him. Outside, warm wind hit her face. Loose strands of hair stuck to her cheeks.
She tucked her hair back. "Did you eat dinner?"
Leo hadn't expected that. He stared at her for a long time.
He still didn't speak. Luna waved her hand in front of his face. "Did someone knock your brain out?"
"You..." Leo ran his tongue over his teeth. "Why is it you?"
"You're not happy I came?" Luna raised an eyebrow.
Leo kicked a pebble. "Not used to it."
Luna opened her mouth. Closed it.
He didn't say unhappy. He said not used to it.
Stepping back from her obsession with Hayes in her past life, Luna could finally see how insane she'd been.
She'd been like someone under a spell. Every day, circling Hayes, never tiring of it.
When Leo was little, he used to come find her all the time. Begged her to go to the grocery store. To play games. To get food.
Luna was into it at first. But as she got older, all she wanted was to find Hayes.
Seventh grade. Hayes invited his whole class to a private room at a restaurant for an early birthday dinner.
Luna had hesitated for a long time. She dropped off her gift and left without even a sip of water.
That same day was Leo's midterm. She'd promised to take him for fried chicken.
Feeling guilty, she brought Leo to Hayes's second birthday party that night.
This party was bigger. The guests were all the Hayes family's business partners.
Luna had wanted to apologize to Hayes in person. But he ignored her the entire night.
When the party wound down, she gathered her courage and found Hayes.
That day Luna wore a beautiful princess dress. The nanny had skilled hands. She'd braided Luna's hair into something gorgeous.
"Hayes. Why are you ignoring me?"
Hayes sat on a sofa in the corner. The light was dim. He held a half-finished juice. His smile was mocking. "Why would I? Go home to your brother. You're the only one in class bold enough to embarrass me like that."
Luna stood frozen.
She was standing. He was sitting. But he was the one in power.
His tone was cold and mocking. "Luna. Stop following me around. I can't stand you."
Luna's heart hit the floor. She was close to tears. "I already told Leo. And isn't the second party the more important one?"
Hayes stood. He leaned in close, done listening. "Then go home to your brother. Don't come find me again."
After that, Hayes's crowd cut her out.
They stopped telling her about anything.
The isolation made Luna quiet. Then angry.
Leo asked her to play games. She called it childish.
Leo asked her to go shopping. She said she wasn't interested.
Leo brought home a pile of plushies. She said they were ugly.
After a few rejections, Leo stopped trying.
Leo started boarding at middle school. Only came home on weekends. They barely talked. Just drifted further apart.
So now, even a simple conversation felt awkward.
Luna's eyes stung. She looked at Leo, who was already taller than her. "Then get used to it."
Leo's throat bobbed. "You really don't like Hayes anymore?"
Luna was about to answer. Then she saw someone walking toward them in the distance.
Tall and lean. Black T-shirt billowing in the wind. Phone in hand. No expression.