Comfy Closets

20|| Brothers and Jerks

“What do you think about Pumpkin?”

“No.”

“What about... Sweets?”

“No.”

“Honey?”

“Eh...”

“Tarts?”

“Where’d you even get that?”

“I don’t know!” I threw my hands up, out of ideas. For the duration of our chemistry lesson, I’ve been bouncing ideas off Leah for good nicknames, and apparently, I wasn’t as creative as I thought.

“Why can’t it be something related to my actual name?” the dirty blonde mumbled as she concentrated on mixing the solution in the beaker.

“Because your name is so short! It’s hard to come up with one,” I pouted, leaning my arms on the table as I watched her do the experiment for us. “I mean, all I can think of is Lele, Laylay, Leah Beah and Leahbear. And none of them are that great.”

“You said you were creative...” she sang towards the end. “And only my sister gets to call me ‘Lele’ because it’s embarrassing and she only does it to annoy me.”

“Alright, got it. But, seriously, this is hard. And I like calling you babe anyway, so why change it?”

“Done!” she announced, moving away from the equipment and sitting back down. “Now all we have to do is write the report.”

“Babe...”

“I heard, I heard. I don’t mind, whatever feels natural, y’ know? I love when you call me that, so I have no complaints here.”

I smiled happily. “Okay, that’s settled. So, the report?”

We worked through the data together, comparing notes and results before doing the write-up. I’ve loved having Leah as my lab partner since she changed seats. My previous one has since replaced Leah's place in the back, who was very irritated to find out, but did so without complaint because - come on, she would be picking a fight with the class president.

After handing in the report and chatting between ourselves, the bell rang to release us. I walked out with Leah, heading in the direction of the cafeteria when I felt someone’s hand on my shoulder. The contact startled me to a stop, causing me to turn around instinctively.

“Ash? What’s up?” I asked, confused. He looked very serious as his eyes darted between me and Leah. “Is something wrong?”

“Can I talk to you- the both of you, for a minute? Please?”

“Sure...” I had no clue what this was about.

He turned around and headed the other way, going against the current of students rushing towards food. I gave Leah a sideways glance and shrugged before following his lead.

Ashton took a turn into a small, secluded hallway that only held storage rooms before stopping and facing us. He crossed his arms, his stance a little guarded as he pursed his lips. I felt the barest of touches on the small of my back as Leah prompted me to start.

Clearing my throat, I proceeded. “So, what is it, Ash? Why did you want to talk to both of us?”

“I needed to know something, and I want you guys to confirm it for me,” he said slowly. “Are you two a thing?”

I looked at him blankly. He must have just pieced it together in class. I thought it was quite obvious though since I told him a couple of weeks back that we had something going on, it just wasn’t official then. With the amount of time I spent with Leah now, I figured he had already found out. I mean, even his girlfriend noticed.