The Sitter's Sister

Chapter 9

Do you like it when I brush your hair like this?

. . .

Mm?

You're a bit rough . . .

How so?

It hurts just a little bit.

But I'm always so gentle with you.

. . .

Oh baby. My sweet little girl. One day you'll grow big and strong. You won't stay little forever don't you know.

. . .

And maybe when you're much bigger you and your sisters will hurt me too. *sobs* Would you ever hurt me?

No.

That's good . . . but you know, I do hurt myself. All the while I do it. After he hurts me I lock myself away and hurt myself all over again. I scratch myself, I beat myself, I bite myself just like he does. But only that it's me. Me hurting me. *laughter*. It feels a little freeing you know.

Ow-

It feels good to do that. Maybe one day you'll find me in a pile of blood in the washroom. How would you feel if that happened?

. . .

How would you feel if that happened?

"Leigh- what the . . . you dozing off on me?"

Leigh-Anne snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her sister's voice. "Sorry I started dreaming and then suddenly I felt sleepy." She yawned.

Sairah chuckled. "What? Didn't sleep last night?" Her smile fell. "Did you have nightmares or something?"

"No. I slept fine. No need to worry." Leigh felt more awake now. She and Sairah were sitting way at the back of a wide open space.

Jesy sat in a circle with several other troubled teenagers and Joe. Perrie was there as well. In the middle of the circle was a woman reading poems about self-worth and self-acceptance. Each of the ones in the circle had an easel before them which they used to paint what so ever they desired.

"This is fun." Joe whispered to his sister. He looked over his shoulder briefly at Sairah and Leigh-Anne and waved.

Sairah saluted him. "He's a cute kid."

"Yeah he's nice." Leigh-Anne agreed. It had been weird to come to Jesy's house this morning after what happened yesterday.

Jesy had definitely not been happy to see her. The girl had not seemed happy to see anyone. Her mom had explained to them that she was confiscating her phone for the week and had said that that was the reason for Jesy's sour mood. Leigh would have told her about what happened on Sunday but she had not wanted to make Jesy anymore cross. The girl had been quiet and her glare had not been pleasant to Leigh at all. So she kept silent. If the mother knew of it she would have probably brought it up so Leigh concluded that she most likely had no clue.

Jesy's therapist had apparently put this little activity together in order to calm the minds of hyperactive teenagers. She had said that Joe could join since it would be good for his ADHD. So far he was the only person who was not a teen present.

Leigh-Anne looked at Perrie and hoped that she would not approach her at any point today. She had seen the blonde give her eyes a few times but Leigh had not entertained her.

Jesy rolled her eyes at her brother. "It's not fun. It's stupid." She was using black paint to cover the entire easel. Why was her mom doing this? Just because she was basically in the process of having a meltdown over social media comments? She still felt that it was not necessary to confiscate her phone and send her to a boring painting affair. Why is Perrie even here? Maybe the blonde's parents finally decided that they had enough of her. She's definitely got more problems than I do. She shook her head before continuing to paint blandly.