WOLFSONG
Jackie

"So I saw you totally schmoozing with Leo back there," Lucy purred, nudging me in the arm and winking. "What did he say? Did he ask you to marry him?"

"Omigod, you guys would be so cute together!" Ricky cooed, clasping his hands together and drawing out his words in exaggeration. Then he gasped happily. "You two would make such beautiful babies."

"Um, one... chill," I said between giggles. "He didn't even know my name until ten minutes ago! And two, he didn't say much. His bandmates were all over us."

We were all somehow still gathered in the Jeep, parked in front of the diner and waiting for the guys to arrive. Lucy flipped her hair over her shoulder, pulled her t-shirt down and hiked her skirt up a little before she spoke again. She was the only one who still looked so immaculately polished, albeit a little scandalous, after just having jumped around at a rock show. Even Ricky was grimacing at his hair that had slightly frizzed from sweating and his partially smudged eyeliner on the bottom of his lids.

"I can give you his number if you want," she continued, smirking at me from her lazy perch on the backseat. "You know you're totally into him."

"No thanks, Lucy," I responded, just as the van pulled up next to us.

"Suit yourself, girl... just don't let a good opportunity pass you by."

I rolled my eyes as we got out of the car, greeted by the band as they too filed out of their van. McKinley and Lucy were all smiles, of course, and they soon left us to lead the group into the diner. Leo was the last one out of the vehicle, and I could see that he was talking to someone on the phone, with a slightly perplexed look on his handsome face. I decided to hang back and wait for him at a distance, though I could hear most of what he was saying.

"I miss you too," he said, his tone loving and a grin everpresent on his attractive mouth. "I'll be home soon, okay?"

There was a pause, and in that brief period after registering his sweet words to someone else, my heart sank and my stomach turned over a little. Still, I remained where I was, trying my best to conceal the fact that I was kind of disappointed that this guy was off limits now, and what I had previously assumed was mutual flirting was actually nothing of the sort. Or maybe he was less of a choir boy than what Lucy had thought.

"I love you too, baby."

I let out a sigh, casting my attention to my shoes, which suddenly became entirely more appealing at the moment. He hung up the phone and placed it in his pocket, then walked around the van. When I looked up, I noticed that he seemed a little caught off guard, but I smiled at him anyway. He returned it, surprisingly brighter than I expected after just having overheard him talk to his girlfriend.

Just play it cool, Jackie, I thought to myself.

"Hey you," he said with a grin. "You hungry?"

"Starving," I responded, trying my best not to sound dry.

He held the door to the diner open for me, and it took all of my willpower not to roll my eyes at him. Then again, maybe he was just one of the rare gentlemen surely left in the world, which made every little chivalrous act seem like he had ulterior motives. I thanked him, and he followed me inside to the table his band and my friends had reserved and were already sitting at. They waved us down and we joined them, of course the only seats available being directly across from each other.

"Have you ever been here before?" Leo asked, taking a menu and scanning it briefly before putting it back down and nodding at the waitress.

"A couple times," I replied, ignoring the menu and ordering a water with a lemon wedge.

"Sweet! So then you know how amazing the bacon cheeseburger deluxe is."

"Um... yeah..."

"She's a vegetarian," Ricky cut in, his voice monotonous but his expression sassy, punctuated with a quirked brow and puckered upper lip.

"...Oh."

Leo hesitated for a second, clearly feeling like an ass, which in turn made me a little uncomfortable. I shot a pointed look at Ricky, who turned back to flirting with Ronnie before he could actually catch a glimpse of my expression. When I reverted my gaze to Leo, his demeanor had brightened considerably, and his smile returned.

"Right on," he said, flashing his perfect teeth at me and bobbing his head. "How long have you been a vegetarian?"

"Since I was fifteen," I answered, a little relieved that he no longer looked at me as though I were an alien, which was the usual reaction I received from people.

"Very cool. What made you decide to give up meat?"

"I started volunteering at a shelter for rescued slaughterhouse animals. The owner showed me a video of some footage her husband had taken when he worked at one..."

"Say no more," Leo stated, holding up a hand as though he himself were about to be sick. "I've heard plenty of horror stories about what goes down in those things."

"It's sad and everything, but I just love me a steak and buffalo wings," Quinn chimed in, his eyes twinkling at the mention of his favorite food. "But Oli here can talk your ear off about clean eating. Go ahead, Oli."

I cocked my head at the boy with dark shaggy hair and a band tank top that revealed his colorful sleeve tattoos and a bit of his chest piece. He smiled at me, making his septum nose ring rise a little bit and dangle in between his nostrils at an awkward angle while his green eyes narrowed.

"I'm a fellow veghead as well," he admitted.

"I don't know how you crazy hippies do it," McKinley suddenly added, his voice most obnoxious of all. "I can't go a day without a double cheeseburger, and bacon is a gift from heaven."

It smells like hell, I thought to myself, fighting the urge to gag and glare at him for Lucy's sake.

Through my peripherals I could see Leo looking at me, and when I turned, it was as if a smile were permanently etched on his deeply Grecian features. He had a face that I would imagine the sun god Apollo might have had; warrior-like and strong. The longer I looked at him, the more details I noticed about him: he had these light freckles underneath his eyes that were hardly visible unless you really studied him; but in stark contrast to those, on his left cheek, were four prominent freckles in the shape of a diamond.

He looked away awkwardly, probably noticing my staring, and I mimicked his actions, a little embarrassed now. I cleared my throat, and we remained quiet for the duration of the wait for our food, just listening to the rest of the band and my friends talking amongst each other. They shared equally provocative stories about situations they had gotten into while they were drinking; other things they had seen during their travels around California and their tour of the southern states; and everything eventually circled back to partying.

Shortly after, our food arrived, and like a pack of ravenous wolves, the band started tearing away at their meals. I watched them for a few moments, sort of taken back by the way they hungrily shoved their cheeseburgers into their mouths with grease and cheese flying around. I couldn't help but laugh when I saw how Leo was chewing his food, his cheeks stuffed to bursting like a chipmunk, and his jaw moving round and round like a happy cow with its cud.

"What?" he said, though it was a bit muffled.

"Nothing," I replied with a chuckle, then bit into my veggie wrap.

He swallowed his food, his eyes still on me, bright as ever and full of happiness. One look at him, and it was just absolutely contagious- there was no way I could escape that goofy grin and not do the same.

"How long have you lived in California?" he asked.

"About a month now," I said, looking at Ricky and then to Lucy, who was too busy blabbering away with McKinley, who didn't appear to be eating very much of it up.

"Get out! Two weeks? Where are you from?"

"Texas."

"Oh, that's right, I remember you mentioned that earlier. What made you decide to move out here?"

"Well, that's a long story..."

My voice drifted off as I took another bite of my veggie wrap, unsure if I wanted to continue. A few minutes passed and when he didn't press the issue, I figured it's because he got bored or something, but when I looked up, he was studying me. He watched me carefully with big earthy eyes, chewing his food with his lips still immovably curled upward.

"You ever been to El Matador beach at sunset?" he suddenly asked, and immediately Quinn and Oli perked up to stare at us, causing me to shift uncomfortably.

"No," I replied, trying to ignore Quinn and Oli's blue and green eyes. "I've only seen the pier in Santa Monica, but I haven't been near the ocean yet. It's killing me, actually."

"You wanna go sometime?"

At that exact moment, the entire table became quiet. If it weren't for the faint chattering of other diner occupants, I swear I could have heard a tree fall in the redwood forest somewhere up north. I swallowed hard, my heart starting to beat tenfold times faster, and my palms becoming slick. I looked down at my half eaten wrap as if it would magically stand up and give me an answer to his question. A million things started spinning around in my head- like, was this a date, or was he still being a gentleman?

All I knew was that the vibes he was giving off were confusing the hell out of me. I cleared my throat, feeling as though a million years had passed while I stared helplessly at my food before I looked up to all the eyes that were waiting to see if I would accept or reject him.

"Okay," I finally agreed, and it came out like a breath more than an answer. "That would be cool."

"Dude, Leo," Quinn said, grinning from ear to ear. "Go easy on the girl, man. You just met her."

"Yeah, bro," added Oli, though he wasn't as pleased looking as his bandmate. "Come on, El Matador?"

"Don't worry, she'll love it," Lucy came to the rescue for the second time that night. "She's totally into the ocean. That's part of the reason she moved out here. Isn't that right, Jacks? to be close to the beach?"

"Yeah," I said, my brain having conveniently farted out any other possible response.

It was quiet again after that, and when I looked back up at Leo, we locked gazes for the first time without looking away. His huge grin had dwindled into a contented look, his eyes warm, and then he went back to finishing the last of his food like everyone else did. I could feel the apples of my cheeks getting warm with flush, and I silently prayed that no one would look up to notice how red I was most likely becoming.

What the hell just happened?

Was he trying to play me? I was so confused. There was sincerity in his eyes, his voice, and that full-lipped smile; but what about the girl he was talking on the phone with? the one that he said he loved? For all I knew, this guy could be in a committed relationship or halfway down the aisle. But now he was inviting me to some beach, which was an apparently questionable move on his behalf, according to the protests of his friends. Part of me wanted to rip my hair out because I was growing so frustrated, and it was weird, because we had only just met.

Why did he invoke such feelings within me? What about him was drawing me so powerfully? One thing was for certain: he wasn't like all the other guys I've come across, in which I could easily read their intentions and react accordingly. But when I tried to study Leo, everything came up blank. He was a mystery.

Song played: Harmony by Never Shout Never

{A/N: Hey guys, sorry this took a bit longer than usual. Thanks so much for those of you who have been keeping up with my baby and for the wonderful feedback. I hope this chapter didn't bore you too much! See y'all next week!}