Chapter 10: Bianca and Leonard, Two Peas in a Pod.
Simple Plan: Your Love Is A Lie
Leonard had put two and two together long before the rumours had even begun circulating around the school, but it was the final straw when he had to get informed by Niahm, Charlie's friend, that Gisele Hamilton was being interrogated by police.
He had very well gathered that their fling...whatever it was, was being put on standby. He had stomached the fact that Gisele had neglected to let him know that her father was the main suspect in Rayna's murder. But he was hoping for something from her.
A call, a text...a sign of some kind, letting him know that she wasn't a figment of his information.
He wanted to let her know that he would be, and was there for her. But after the sixth text that had went unanswered, Leonard threw in the towel. Though he wouldn't ever admit it - as it would force him to accept the possibility of it occurring - he had contacted her in desperate attempts to somehow foil Bennett's plan to propose. In doing so, he had ironically isolated himself from her. He was in the outs.
It didn't help that Gisele, Bennett, Logan and Carmen all seemed to run off collectively whenever they could, only ever giving vague or obnoxious excuses as to why. As a somewhat unsurprising twist of events, Leonard had found some solace in Bianca.
"So I guess I was wrong."
As Bianca pushed her phone towards him, Leonard found himself looking at a row of unanswered texts sent to the three absentees. He would've comforted her, but he wasn't really looking forward to getting clawed.
Saving her friend from forging out a sympathetic reply, Bianca heaved out a sigh.
"I'd love to say I don't care. I clearly do, everyone would. But she's my...it just sucks. I can't be mad at her about it because she's going through it right now. Bennett, I get. It's textbook, I'm not surprised he forgot. And Takuda...I was his first kiss. You'd think a simple 'happy birthday' would suffice."
It was never like Leonard had ever disliked Bianca Suarez. He found her witty, he found her quips entertaining. But he didn't want to have another friendship that he'd inevitably have to mourn.
It had been difficult enough losing someone who you had harboured a friendship with behind closed doors.
"Don't tell me you let Logan sleep with you."
"You really think he could have kept it a secret if he had?"
It was on one evening where the two had found themselves walking back from a bonfire party, both completely out of it and beyond the point of no return, that Leonard - in his drunken haze - had decided to confide in Bianca.
"You want to know my big, dark secret?"
He stood in the sand, relishing in the calming crashing waves to their left. His companion turned back to face him, lifting up a beer can to her lips.
"Well?"
"I've been sleeping with Gisele for the past two years."
Without missing a beat, Bianca gave a loud snort.
"So you were the one."
"You knew she was cheating."
"I knew that it had to be one of Bennett's friends. It makes total sense, I don't know why I didn't see it before." Bianca had lessened the distance between the two, continuously murmuring under her breath.
She appeared to be on the same level of sobriety as Leonard was.
"Was my crush on her really that obvious?"
Bianca was currently looking up at him, her beer can placed against her bottom lip.
"What I meant is that you're totally her type." She gestured at Leonard, "Your whole 'I'm cute and I get the girls but I'm not a jackass' schtick."
There was a moment in which their eyes met and for the first time, Leonard had lingering doubts about their platonic relationship. A second later, Bianca had turned her head, gazing out at the waves.
"You want to know my secret?"
She didn't even wait for a response.
"We slept together. Gisele and I."
If Leonard hadn't been sobered up by the fresh salty air before, he sure as hell was now. It did take a good second of repeating Bianca's words inside his own head before he had fully comprehended them. Then he came to the only logical conclusion.
"Alright, very funny. Ha ha." He gave a dry laugh, waiting for Bianca to meet his eyes.
When that didn't happen, Leonard grabbed her arm.
"Come on, you expect me to believe that B? I know Gisele has one off flings but I'm sure she didn't have the time to juggle Bennett, you and me."
It was only when Bianca gave a hesitant laugh, that it dawned on him. Before he could muster up a proper reaction, he was given a run down.
"We were both drunk, Bennett was hooking up with some tourist chick and I kissed her. We hooked up. I mean I already had a crush on her but after that, it got serious. And she told me she felt the same."
It was all too familiar a tale.
And Leonard already knew how it would end.
"Then one day...nothing. I figured she had moved on to the next new thing. It couldn't have been Bennett...but I could never figure out who."
Bianca gestured towards Leonard's direction with her now empty can, with glassy eyes.
"And now I know."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone