flipped. charlie conway

25

the wet droplets on the oak planks of the raft soaked into the wooden fibres, though leah couldn't tell if they were mossy pond splashes or salty tears. never had leah felt so guilty. it was as though a blindfold had been taken off her eyes and exposed her to the world outside her own body - a world where not everyone looked through her eyes.

leah knew she was meant to be home by sunset, but she couldn't get herself to wade back to the pond's bank. she felt purely humiliated. if adam had just told her, she would have easily considered a different topic for her science fair project. now she had gone and burdened everyone.

"leah, is that you?" a curious voice called out from the opposite side of the bank - the side which backed onto the large frozen lake.

leah's head whipped around to squint past the bushes in the retracting light. "coach bombay?" she used the weak bark oar to push herself toward coach bombay.

"what are you doing out this late? come on, let's get you home." he ushered, beckoning with his hand.

leah remained silent, sheepishly following her coach as he told her to lead the way home. as if this day could have got any worse.

"is there a reason you're out so late?" coach bombay asked. when leah didn't satisfy him with a reply, gordon tried to encourage the girl to talk. "i was just strolling around to get a last glimpse of minneapolis, considering i leave for the minors soon. what about you?"

leah shrugged with her hands stuffed into her pockets. "same."

gordon sighed. something clearly upset the typically cheery girl, and gordon could only hope it wasn't charlie's doing. perhaps she just missed hockey? "well, keep an eye out for next season: we need you to win that peewee trophy again."

a light laugh escaped leah's throat. "as if i would dream of missing the hockey season, coach."

gordon nodded his head with a chuckle. "i know."

soon enough leah's house came into view, and she bid farewell to her coach and thanked him for making sure she got home safe. however, leah felt she would have rathered stay with coach bombay all night if she knew what she were about to walk inside to.

as soon as she opened the door, a relieved yelp engulfed leah the pair of arms belonging to her mother.

"you have no idea how worried we were, leah. it's 10:26 - far, far too late for you to arrive home!" leah's mother scolded, dragging her further into the house. "god, you must have been freezing out there. and catching yourself a cold! sit in front of the fire." she demanded, taking leah's puffy coat over her shoulders and forcefully plonking her down in front of the fireplace. leah sheepishly remained quiet, knowing she had broke the rules.

"relax, dear. she's home safe now." leah's father came into the kitchen upon the racket and placed a hand onto his wife's shoulder. leah's mother let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, finally calming down from her panicked state.

"oh, you had me so worried." the prim lady exclaimed through a sigh, rushing over to her daughter to engulf her in a hug once again.

as leah silently trod away to bed, adam watched her defeatedly shuffle into her own room from the slim crack in his doorway. adam wouldn't admit it aloud, but he couldn't sleep knowing his sister wasn't home beside him yet. man, adam felt guiltier than when he ate the last serve of leah's favourite cereal.

the young boy debated apologising to his sister, as he knew it would make the both of them feel better - he just wasn't sure how. when the soft click of leah's door echoed through the hallway, adam shook his head and rolled over, settling into a dream as comfortably as he could.

———

school the next day was no better. it was like everyone person in existence was in on the chicken joke, and adam didn't find it funny at all. as frustrated as he was, he now knew it wasn't leah's fault. unlike monday, adam happily stuck by his sister's side every other day of the week - confident in their ability to stick together.

as adam grew more careless of the ridiculous chicken teasing, leah found the taunts more and more tedious. specifically, the taunts that left charlie conway's mouth.

charlie wasn't a mean boy - so why was he so keen on taunting leah and her brother? leah would admit, she now felt ashamed to have won the science fair project and be so proud of her chicks.

for some reason, it hurt a little bit more when charlie would make a silly joke. leah tried to act unfazed, but of course she was upset. how could someone she adored so dearly tease her and her brother so unapologetically? leah certainly was not having a great time at school.

well, until thursday. despite the disheartening behaviour at school, leah's spirits lifted tremendously when she uncovered a beautifully rounded, speckled, tanned shell in her backyard. by friday, all of the chicken comments had become a reminder of the  egg one of her chickens produced.

"nice beak, banks. you should shut it sometime." charlie conway glared at the girl. leah couldn't help but smile. she would be honoured to share a trait with her amazing chickens that she was so proud of - and how admirable of charlie to recognise how much she would honour being like her beloved chickens.