bury it somewhere it can't be found {Leo}

[ĸara вelova★]

You shouldn't really ask where Kara gets her things. All of it was second-hand, and usually the original owner had no idea how it went missing, or how it came in Kara's possession. She was a brilliant actress, and if anyone ever approached her she would shoot doubt and a little uneasiness into their emotional cache until they gave up and left.

So Kara was sitting in the empty classroom, with the door closed. She kicked the desk away from the chair she wished to occupy (bruising her foot in the process), and sat down gracelessly with a guitar in her hands. Her instrument of choice was a violin, but she was actually quite talented with many string instruments. If someone could hold a cello up for her, she was unstoppable, however the last time she'd played the large instrument was when she was taking lessons, before she turned thirteen. The guitar she'd never possessed herself, but she would use the out of tune ones in the music room when she had those rare moments to herself. Those ones were allowed to be borrowed though, unlike this one that clearly had someone's name tattoo'd to the back of it.

She tested the chords before she started plucking out a slow, morose tune. She experimented with this for a while before she started to add lyrics. Her eyes were screwed shut as she concentrated, and certain parts of her song actually pained her.

"Here by my side, an angel.
Here by my side, the devil..."

She choked and had to clear her throat to continue.


"Never turn your back on me.
Never turn your back on me, again!
Here by my side, it's Heaven."

She scoffed and shook her head, laughing at the juxtaposition of her words, the pure contradiction everything was, reflecting her poor excuse of a life.

"Here by my side, you are destruction.
Here by my side, a new colour to paint the world..."

Kara had a haunting voice, there really was no other way to describe it. She sang for her ears only, and it was a shame that she never pursued it as a career. The brunette opened her eyes slowly, head hung low as she studied the chords on her guitar, and she hummed along while she plucked a few more notes out. Then she sat back in her chair, burried her face into her hand, and sighed. It had been too long since she played. Since she wrote music. Kara would occassionally record something she liked back when she lived in Spain, with a crappy microphone and mix program. Some of her songs were on her mp3 player, but now when they came up she would simply skip over them.

She strummed the guitar absently while she thought of something more to add, or something new to start, when she finally got that distinct feeling she wasn't alone. Now, Kara was actually able to feel people in the room, but when she played her music she tuned everything out but the song. Now that she wasn't concentrating on it anymore, she had a sinking feeling that this person had been there longer than she would have ever allowed.

Her hand smothered the vibrating strings and she shook her head.

"What the hell?" She muttered darkly to herself.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

Leo had been in the room by chance, as many things in his life seemed to be governed. He had left his spare keys in here during class yesterday, luckily they were still here when he entered. But when he was about to leave he heard someone coming towards the door, and he felt a need to hide. He couldn't quite explain it, but something seemed to say that he should observe who this person was.

And as Leo hid behind the teachers desk, in walked Kara. She seemed totally oblivious as she kicked the table and sat down, bringing the guitar up. And then she played, and it was depressing...haunting even. She seemed to spew out sorrow from those red lips, as her fingers deftly plucked the strings. He sat there underneath the desk and listened to her for a bit.

He had wanted to talk to her again, especially after he found out a little more about her. A mere hour after he'd met her that day, he heard about her again. Apparently she had reduced 'Queen Bee' Jessica to a quivering child in front of the whole school. When the girl he was talking to described what this 'Kara' looked like, and how she spoke, Leo knew it was her. Had to be, nobody else it could be. He actually would have congratulate her, but right now it didn't seem the best thing to say.

And then, she stopped playing, the strings silenced. And then she muttered, it was safe to say he'd been discovered. This...might be a bad situation but it would only be worse if he tried to dodge her. Yeah he was fast, but he couldn't get away before she noticed, that was beyond him.

And so he stood up from behind the desk, sliding his hands into his pockets. "Yo." He offered with a simple greeting. "You play well, didn't mean to intrude. Kind of caught me by surprise."

It was a pitiful excuse, but Leo really didn't want to be like Jessica right about now.

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara seemed to be a in a forgiving mood. That, or she just really didn't want to deal with him today.

"Next time speak up," she advised, inwardly freaking out that he overheard her. She tried to act casual, but it was really tearing her up. Her music was supposed to be for her. Only her. She wasn't sure what the feeling was - maybe she felt robbed? - but it was unpleasant to know that she'd unwittingly shared one of her most private secrets with someone she didn't even like.

"Are you leaving?" Kara asked, because if he wasn't, she was. There was no way she would let him hear her play again. Not that she thought it was a privilege, and not because she thought she was bad. She was merely a secretive person and she'd kept to herself far too long now to break from that habit. She was also loathe to being judged on things that were important to her. Even if Leo offered a compliment, however brief, she didn't appreciate it.

She placed the guitar on the desk she'd kicked out of the way, as though ready to retire her practice for the day. On her exposed wrist was a thick, expensive looking watch and a thin, delicate gold bracelet. Again, second-hand items, formerly belonging to Eiji Almasy and Kellan Callahan respectively.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

"Sorry, thought you were a teacher." Leo admitted sheepishly, and when she asked him if he was leaving he blinked. "Why would I? You can't leave a girl waiting, that's a universal rule. 'sides, why go so bashful on the music stuff? It's not like you suck at it, thought your voice is really...what's the word I want? Not sad...but like it...ah forget it." He said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Your singing and playing ain't bad, ya should do it more often. Hell, you might get a few more compliments out o' people if you let em hear what ya can do, well...besides what the entire school already knows what you can do." He seemed to wince from the memory of Jessica in his head.

"Thanks for that by the way, I owed that bitch one myself too. Guess that means now I owe you one." He said with a wink and a stupid grin. Even if the only response he could get out of her was a sigh, he'd get something.

[ĸara вelova★]

Kara spoke over his compliments, focusing instead on the first part of his rant.

"I'm waiting for you to leave," She said aloud, surprised by her own boldness. Two seconds ago she'd decided she would leave if Leo didn't, but now she was keen on staying. She might not have been here first, but Leo had no business here. If he wanted to practice his gymnastics, he could go to the training centre.

When he commented on what she'd done to Jessica, Kara's entire body stiffened as though someone dumped cold water over her head. His wink and smile were ill received and Kara stared at him cooly.

"Okay," She said abruptly, and it would be up to him to decipher what it meant. 'Okay, moving on' was a possibility, 'Okay, I'm leaving' could be another, or 'Okay, you owe me one.'

"You owe me one. You can pay me back by leaving, and not mentioning this to anyone." Kara twisted the guitar so it glinted in the overhead light. She wasn't just referring to the stolen guitar, but to her music in general. The girl was a very private person, and she was already a popular topic of gossip now that she was a YouTube star. She hated this spotlight. It made her notorious. And Kara firmly believed she wasn't the antagonist. She wanted to be a hero, but she lacked the courage to pursue her dreams. The delicate brunette was too timid to reach for her goals, so filled with trepidation that she no longer set any for herself. She was wandering this world aimlessly until her hourglass ran out, and each grain of sand was wasted by her inactivity.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

"Oh come ON." Leo said, a bit frustrated. "I can't be such bad company that you'd rather be in here alone bemoaning then at least having someone to talk to. If your gonna live alone, why even be in a school in the first place? This is like the most social place you could be, and you seem intent on staying as far away from everyone as possible."

And then she made the remark about not mentioning the guitar to anyone.

"Don't mention it? Why, you embarrassed of it? You have a talent and you hide it, it just figures I was never meant to understand women." He shrugged. "I'll give you one half, I won't tell anyone you can play music, and as a bonus I won't tell them you write depressing song lyrics and sing these haunting melodies in the middle of empty classrooms. I gotta admit, that last part is a little creepy."

He stood up and walked over to her, cupping his chin in his hand thoughtfully. "You know...you seem different from when we met in the trainning room. If I can be so bold, you never seemed like the type who would give an order. Is that a little bit of assertiveness I see poking out there?" He asked curiously. Now she was beginning to interest him again.

[ĸara вelova★]

Could he honestly not see how 'bad' of company he was for her? All his questions grated on her, but she answered them anyway. Just not in a way he'd understand. She stood rigid, screaming at him with her silence.

You believe I crave your company? That I'd rather spend the time I save for myself with an ignorant fool so I can talk about my life, or listen to him whine about his?
Why am I at school? Are you insinuating that education is only for the sociable? That I have no right to an education because I wish not to interract with idiots and assholes like you? I attend every single one of my classes, because I am paying to learn. I am NOT paying to make friends who will mourn me.
I am not embarrassed by my music, I just don't want to be remembered by it. Stop assuming you know anything about me! How dare you categorize me with 'women'.
Oh, how generous of you to give me 'one half' of my request. You know full-well I could MAKE you silent, you self-absorbed, cocky piece of...

"Different?" He had only met her once, and that was the most assertive she'd ever been. What the fuck did he know about her? Kara wanted to lash out at him - claw his eyes out - castrate him - break his knee caps - anything that would cause him pain and maybe illustrate how much she hated him.

"I could be more assertive," Kara offered, knuckles white from clenching the guitar so hard. It was meant to be a threat, not a genuine suggestion, so to strip the casualness from it, she reached out to feel what he was feeling. And regretted it.

It was that same curiosity, the thrill of encountering an enigma, that Eiji exhibited when he first met her. She saw herself letting him in, just a little, and her life would be over. Kara let Eiji become such a big part of her life, that now her life was empty after he'd extracted himself from it. Even moreso than it was before he came. Before she was blissfully ignorant of what potential happiness she could've had. Now she was painstakingly aware of what she was missing.

It was as Jessica had said. 'Riden while easy to drive, but traded in for the hottest new ride'. Eiji had stayed by her side just long enough to damage her, and then he left her for a beautiful girl she could never compete with, even if she wanted to. Now here was Leo, looking at her with the same expression Eiji could never quite conceal, and she could see Leo leaving her for next week's swimsuit model. Even though she wanted nothing to do with Leo, even though she didn't want him interested in her at all, it still hurt to know she'd already lost another before anything could have happened.

So, with this assumption firmly planted in her mind, Kara narrowed her eyes at the boy who would betray her, and picked the guitar off of the desk. She then staggered to the door, the guitar obviously off-setting her already horrid balance.

[Leogare Lasteulf]

As angry as Kara was.

As scared as Leo was of her.

And as odd as this situation was.

Leo couldn't help but think about how right he was when he'd said it before.

"Ah! Hold that look!" He said, boxing his hands as if he were making a picture frame. "It's a miracle in the making, Kara can have emotion! She can feel anger at least, that's a start and a step up from being a blank mannequin!" He knew the dangerous game he was playing, but he didn't care, so he crept a bit closer to her, and she pulled back looking livid. The look she shot at him, like he'd just slapped her across the face. What the hell was that for?

And as she took a step towards the door after her half threat, she started to wobble, and quick as a thought, Leo was there.

He didn't know why he'd done it, he didn't know what possessed him to, but here he was, catching the wobbling girl to keep her from cracking her head on the ground. The guitar slipped from her grip and Leo stopped for a moment to look at the girl who he now supported ever so slightly.

Her face was not pale white and blank, it was flushed with color, full of emotion. Her eyes weren't dark and empty, they had something in them, was that contempt? Regret? What was it that she saw when she looked at him? And what it that she hated?

Herself? An old flame? A family member? A good friend? What made her have this deep seated hatred for him?

It was the echoing chord of the guitar hitting the floor that jarred him from his thought, as he released Kara to her feet.

"Careful there, it's a little slippery."

He then picked up the guitar and made to hand it to her, when he noticed that name on the back of it.

"Say, who is David?" He asked, a wry smile forming on his face.

[ĸara вelova★]

She really didn't appreciate being compared to a mannequin. Actually, no one knew this about her, but Kara hated mannequins. Their perfection caused her to stick pins in their eyes if she had any on her... her mind went on vacation as she started her unceremonious steps to the door; the unbalance was routine for her. But when Leo was suddenly at her side, supporting her... well, you can imagine that didn't go over too well.

His excuse that the floor was 'slippery' was spat upon. "Get the fuck away from me," Kara hissed, pushing away from him and nearly stepping on the stolen guitar. His next inquiry of the tattoo on the instrument garnered an automatic reply. The girl had many up her sleeve, from much practice with being caught with stolen goods.

"Boyfriend. Now don't touch me again," Kara snatched the guitar from his hands without so much as a 'thanks' and pushed past him. She was done with him and his touchy-feely self. The spot on her arm where he braced her was tingling from the contact, and not in a good way. It made her want to shower, and wash off all those unpleasant echoes of Eiji he left on her skin.