Chapter 6: Leader
The next morning after the kiss with Leo, I get up with a smile on my face. I get dressed and put on my ballet clothes. I go to brush my teeth and walk next to Leo.
"Hey", I tell him with a small smile.
"Hey there", Leo says casually while he continues to brush his teeth.
"So what's with this PE class? I thought I joined the Ravens so I wouldn't have to run around a gym", Hayley asks as she stands next to Leo.
"You know Coach Davies was a Raven himself? He was one of the first coaches to use advanced stats in basketball", I tell Hayley proud to know such knowledge after listening to Coach Davies' life once for an hour.
"I see you're really taking care of yourself with the whole dental hygiene", Hayley observes since Leo has been brushing his teeth for 5 minutes.
"I always take care of myself, Woods", Leo tells Hayley before spitting. Hayley walks away disappointed by Leo's apparent lack of flirting.
"So, about yesterday", Leo tells me as I look at him waiting for him to talk about our kiss and the fact that we said we liked each other.
"I was thinking about it. There's no way Louis will just forgive Daniel for what he did. You know what that means, don't you?", Leo asks me my smile fades into a frown. I thought he would ask me to be his girlfriend.
"What does it mean, Leo?", I ask him a little annoyed about the fact that he is ignoring last night.
"It means there's no way he'll let Daniel remain captain", Leo tells me with a small smile acting like he is happy about Daniel's problems.
"That's what you're thinking about...Daniel being humiliated?", I ask him scoffing at his insensitivity.
"Highlight of the day. Let's go, Osmund. Rock 'n' roll. Rock 'n' roll", Leo tells me as he walks away.
"Osmund?", I ask myself having never been called that before. I go to wait for Hayley before we walk to the gym.
"We are late for P.E.", I tell Hayley as I hold out my hand to help pull her up. I grab my dance bag and turn to go.
"Boys are crazy", Jackie says walking up to us.
"Tell me about it", Hayley mumbles probably talking about Leo.
"I know", I say thinking about Leo ignoring me.
We all walk to the gym and talk about boys along the way. We finally arrive and Hayley and Jackie sit in the bleachers with the rest of our house waiting for Coach to talk as I go to Coach Davies.
"Hey, Coach", I say with a smile.
"Hey, Angelina, what can I do for you?", he asks me looking at me dance clothes in confusion.
"I will be spending my P.E. days with Madame Kirova for extra practice since I am taking a gifted class", I tell him twidling my fingers nervously.
"Well as long you are physically active, I have no problem with it although I will be sad not to have you", Coach tells me giving me a side hug before I wave to him and the class.
"Welcome to your first P.E. day. You will have these once or twice a month and will be notified two days before. We are going to be doing small physical activities for the 2 hours I have you during these days. Let's start with suicide runs", I hear Coach scream at them as I go to the glass studio on the second floor.
I walk into class and notice I am the only one since the other students are Eagles and have different physical days. I change my shoes and begin to stretch. I am in a very complicated stretch touching my toes backward instead of forwards as Kirova walks in.
"Hey, Sunshine", Kirova says in her loud mocking voice where you can still hear a faint French accent. The only way I was allowed to go to the Greenhouse was if Kirova came with me as the new dance teacher and Kirova knew what happened. She is a good person I know it but she tries to be mean so you won't know it. She is an amazing teacher as well; She used to be a famous dancer on stage and even was part of a few Broadway productions. She is skilled in all forms of dance but, lost her reputation after a drunken rampage during a performance. Kirova's dad was also a famous ballet instructor from Germany who, escaped to France from a concentration camp hence why her name is German but, she is France.
Kirova walks up to me with her cane and hits the floor once making me jump up in fear,"Come on. Barre!!", Kirova tells me.
I begin to go to the barre and stretch as Kirova joins me stretching as well. After we finish stretching I go straight into allegro as Kirova critiques me. I hope nobody can hear her downstairs.
"I want to see a stronger Assemblé", she yells at me smacking her cane on the floor.
I begin again and perfect my move before I finish with a bow.
"Beautiful, Sunshine", Kirova tells me. I am exhausted and notice we are halfway through lesson before I decide to take a break.
"I am going to go grab some water", I tell Kirova and rush out of the room before she can tell me no and walk down the stairs.
I walk to the fountain seeing Leo walk up to me as I take a sip.
"She seems nice", Leo jokes seeing my exhausted face.
"She isn't the best when it comes to feelings but she is the best teacher around", I say trying to steady my breathing.
"So about last night..", I begin about to ask him why he isn't talking about it.
"You know what? I bet Daniel will nominate Parker. So he can use him as his puppet, you know", Leo says with a knowing look not acknowledging the fact that he completely ignored me.
"Yeah", I say still disappointed he isn't talking about last night.
"Osmund when you get back you will do 50 non-stop piques and 40 fouerttès", I hear Kirova yell from upstairs as I groan.
"I better go", I mumble walking away from him to begin my dance session again.
🌱
Eventually, dance ends and I leave the gym not looking at my class who has to stay for another half hour. I walk to a bench and sit down thinking about why Leo keeps talking about Daniel and not last night. I feel someone sit next to me and look to see the last person I wanted to talk to, Leo.
"So, what's up?", Leo asks me as I look up to him.
"Why are you doing this, Leo?", I ask him about to cry finally realizing how much Leo's rejection hurts me in addition to my sore joints.
"Doing what?", Leo asks me confused.
"Messing with my mind", I tell him not understanding how he can act so casual about it.
He laughs, actually laughs, before saying, "Come on, it was just a kiss. I didn't think you would take this so seriously."
"You know what? Forget it", I tell him about to walk away before he grabs my hand.
"I really like being with you. I I just don't want the whole couple thing right now. That's all. I do really like you but, we can't be anything. Last night was a mistake", Leo says holding my wrist tightly so I don't leave.
"You are hurting me", I tell him as he looks down to see how tightly he is grabbing my arm. He lets go and I walk away from him not able to be with him any longer.
🌱
I change out of my sweaty clothes and shower before I get ready for the night and go to meet my dad an Brooke so we can talk. I walk inside and sit next to Brooke on the couch. She gives me a small smile and I give her another, anybody else would think we were just awkwardly saying hello but we both know that is our way of saying all is forgiven.
"How is he?", my dad asks us.
"Daniel? Not great", Brooke says with a small frown.
"He's gonna recover faster than you think. He's tough", my dad says squeezing Brooke's knee in assurance.
"Yeah. Dad, what do you make of that car fire? They said it was an accident. But don't you think that's kind of weird? What are the odds?", Brooke asks my dad.
"Don't tell me you're becoming a conspiracy theorist", I joke with Brooke. Brooke laughs before saying "I'm not. But seriously, if that car hadn't caught fire and destroyed the evidence, then Daniel would be in so much trouble." "Why worry about something that hasn't happened?", my dad asks her with that wise look he always wears.
"You're right. Well, I should get back to the drama at the clubhouse", Brooke tells me and my dad.
"I'll come with you", I tell Brooke needing someone to talk to about Leo.
"Thank you, Brooke", my dad says before she goes.
"For what? For not trying to persuade me to reinstate Daniel as captain. Well, I figured if Judy couldn't convince you, there's no way I could."
"Actually, she agreed with my decision", my dad replies.
"What? No way", Brooke and I say in unison before giving each other a knowing twin look.
"Oh and Angelina I forgot to mention that you will be attending the Nasa air launch representing the Greenhouse with Hayley and Leo", my dad said as I gave him a solemn nod.
We both leave, shutting the door before Brooke turns to me giving me a hug,"Thank you, I miss having my twin sister. Now. What is wrong?"
I give her a sad smile before telling her what happened with Leo.
"What a jerk!", Brooke told me giving me another hug, "I wish there was something I could do."
"Thanks but I will get over it. Now go back to the clubhouse. I will be okay. I am actually pretty tired so I think I am going to sleep.", I tell her before she gives me an unsure look before walking away.
🌱
The next morning I wake up and wear an off the shoulder red and blue top with jeans and heels. I eat breakfast with Sophie and Brooke catching up on what is going on with each other before I go to my Raven activity.
I walk up to see Ms. Suzy standing in front of a toy train set. I stand next to her on the side with the rest of the Raven's and wait for her instruction.
"A leader has to make decisions all day long. The higher his or her position, the more critical their decisions are. CEOs, judges, military officials, senators. Captains. Today we'll be examining what a leader should do when he or she has to make life-or-death decisions. If you think that's complicated, you're right. Over here, you can see a car crossing the rails. Now here's the situation. This train has malfunctioned. It cannot stop. It's gonna crash into the car and kill everyone who sits in it. You can use the crane over here to redirect the tracks elsewhere. But then, the train will crash into this wall, killing 20 passengers on board. So that's your decision. If you do nothing, five innocent people trapped in the car will die. If you take action, you will cause the death of 20 passengers on the train. What will you do?", Ms. Suzy questions us as we all look around confused on what to do.
"Using the crane will be murder", Hayley says looking at the crane.
"I agree. There is no moral justification for using the crane", Max says looking up at Ms. Suzy for confirmation.
"Are you crazy? You'd rather kill 20 people?", Becca asks us as if we have lost our minds.
"Becca's right. It's like what Spock said on Star Trek, 'The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few'", Emma says while she is thinking about another way.
"Leo, what do you think?", Ms. Suzy asks him with a smile.
Leo crosses his arms across his chest before saying, "I say flip a coin"
"Great idea", I tell him while rolling my eyes.
"I think it's an unfair dilemma. Any choice would be problematic. Any decision would be immoral", Leo defends.
"Well, that's exactly what makes this dilemma so interesting. I mean, most of the time, a leader has to choose between two evils. I mean who gave you the right to choose who will live or who will die?", I tell him while crossing my arms across my chest as well. Everyone begins to fight amongst each other.
Ms. Suzy stops our fight with a smirk going to grab 2 pictures of adults and putting them on the table, "Guys! Hold on a second. There's one more thing I need you to take into consideration. Something I haven't told you yet."
"Hey! It's my dad!"
"Let's say the people in the car are your parents, on their way to the Greenhouse to visit you," Ms. Suzy smirks, "Now, what do you do?"
"Hey", Emma says looking at what I assume to be a picture of her mother.
Before Becca points out the man saying, "That is my dad!"
"I'd save my family without even thinking twice", Emma tells Ms. Suzy without a doubt.
"Do you all agree with Emma?", Ms. Suzy asks the Raven's as they all nod, "Yeah? So as leaders, you're saying that you will base your decisions on how closely related you are to the others? So you'd rather save your own brother but sacrifice someone else's brother? Is that what you're saying? Let me make this even harder. Among the 20 people on the train sits a young professor who's about to find the cure for cancer. Killing him would delay his research for years."
"We can't know the scientist will succeed in curing cancer. It's an intangible possibility", Max tells us.
"Even so, this man should not die. End of story", Becca says.
"But my mother should?", Emma asks offended.
"I don't know your mother, but", Becca starts.
"My mother is just a waitress, but she sacrificed everything so I can get into the Greenhouse. Doesn't her hard work also make her a valuable member of society worthy to be saved?" Emma glares at us daring us to defy.
"Direct relation is objectively irrelevant to determining the morally correct choice", Max tells us annoyed with the situation he is put in.
"Wait, there has to be a compromise we can make here", Leo says pointing at the train.
"There isn't a compromise. You have to make a decision. Stop trying to avoid the situation", I tell Leo aggravated that he never makes choices. I mean why can't he just choose?
"I'm not avoiding anything", Leo tells me.
"I thought you were a captain, right? You have to make a choice, and someone will always get hurt. That's the way it is. So make your decision, Captain", I ask him in annoyance.
"Is she still talking about the train?", I hear Max mumbles to Hayley before she walks up to the train.
"My father was an FBI agent. And I know that he would sacrifice himself for the greater good. Because that was his job. He would get everyone out of the car", Hayley tells us taking the toy people out of the car before turning on the train. We all watch the train run over the car and Mr. Woods.
"There is always another choice", I tell Leo before I walk away.
I hear somebody call my name so I turn around. Hayley runs up to me with tears in her eyes.
"What happened?", Hayley came up to me with a concerned expression. I quilting try to hide my shame and shake my head before squeaking that it was nothing.
"Did something happen between you two?" Hayley asks me on the verge of yelling. I look away and don't respond unable to tell her that I kissed him.
"I knew he liked you but you knew how I felt about Leo", Hayley told me giving me a glare before walking away.
"He doesn't", I tell her before causing her to stop on her tracks but not to turn around, "This morning he told me it was a mistake."
She turns around and looks at me straight in the eye. I am now full on crying as she says, "Well I guess we both got hurt" before she walks away.
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