As empathetic as Leo seemed, you didn't quite buy his whole "just between us" act. You weren't going to simply give the information with him and hope he keeps it secret. You needed to know more about him in order to make a better judgement.

Leo had everything down. He sat next to you on your bed. His hand softly rested on your shoulder. His eyes looked into yours. His body language practically screamed "I care."

But, the third rule you had was "Only trust Hunter." While Hunter seemed as trustworthy as a phone call about a computer virus, you wanted to learn more about the other side. You knew they were hiding something, and you wanted to take the opportunity to find out what it was.

"How about this," you paused, mentally figuring how to arrange the words. You shifted away from him, telling him to remove his hand from your shoulder. He dropped his hand and scooted away a few inches to give you more space. "I will tell you everything if you tell you the secret the crew has been hiding."

"Hold on, what makes you think we're hiding something?" Leo questioned. "We're perfectly normal teenagers sailing the sea for vacation."

You gave him your "how-stupid-do-you-think-I-am" look. "Leo. Don't mess with me."

He groaned. "Okay, so a secret for a secret..." he pondered. He seemed reluctant, then said, "Okay, I guess that's fine. You go first: I want to see how it's done first."

You shook a finger, clicking your tongue. "No, no, no. That's not how this works. What if I tell you my secret, then you just walk out without telling me yours? What if you come up with a lie while I'm talking? I can't trust you will tell me the truth."

Leo rose and eyebrow, closely observing your actions. "You're admitting you have a secret?"

You smirked, laughing internally because you knew you were about to blow his mind. "Or I'm bluffing and am trying to trick you into spilling your secret."

"Oh," he groaned again, putting his hands on his forehead. "I try not to think. It interferes with being nuts. But, you? You're a challenge. You make me think."

Unsure of how to take the compliment, you shrugged and leaned back against a pillow. "I guess if you're too chicken to play, you might as well leave. I'm not telling you my secret. If I have one, that is."

Leo pushed himself off the bed and walked to the door in defeat. "You win."

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 Within the room, you sat in silence, except for the ticking of the wall clock. Your brain hurt because there was absolutely nothing to do. No book to read. No paper to write on. Nothing. Your mind was racing too quickly for you to be able to go to bed. You lied in bed, your eyes wide open, contemplating your situation. The only thing you wanted to do was to explore the ship, but you remembered that Leo had mentioned that the weather was gusty.

Chapter 40: Stay in

Chapter 41: Sneak out