The Sitter's Sister

Chapter 57

At Jesy's house around the same time . . .

Joe was heavily invested in one of the new games his mom had gotten him. He was sitting on the floor with eyes glued to the screen. They had opened all of their presents and everyone was admiring what they had gotten.

Janice sat on the couch next to Andrew, thanking him sincerely for a necklace he had gotten her while he said thank you for the new watch she had bought him.

Jesy observed her family quietly from a single seated chair across the room.

She had gotten plenty of gifts from her family and even from the friends who preferred spending time with the new girl in town over her. Their gifts were nice but nothing she had gotten from them really struck out. She had only acted happy because it was polite. Of course being polite and grateful was odd coming from her so her mother and everyone else had been kind of concerned but she had not explained herself.

Out of all her gifts, the only memorable one to Jesy was what she had gotten from . . . Leigh-Anne.

Jesy held it in her hand right now.

She lifted it to her face and stared blankly at it. It was a phone case with the words 'Believe You Can Do It' on the back. When she had opened it she had thought that that was it but inside of the case had had a folded note.

Jesy could not stop reading it.

It said:

Dear Jesy,

Wow. It's been a while since we've met face to face hasn't it? I believe the last time I saw you I'd had to be carried out of your room for collapsing in your doorway? *drawing of a sweaty smiley face emoji* Correct me if I'm wrong but that's what I remember.

You and I have had quite the history haven't we? I started off being secretly in love with you and somehow ended up feeling the opposite towards you and then now I guess I'm just a bit worried about you a lot of the time.

I know that ever since I came into your life that things have seemed a bit harder for you and I wish it was easy for you to miraculously recover from everything that hurts you and makes you think a little bit on a rocky wavelength but that's not how life works. Trauma and depression shows itself in several ways and one of them is aggression. People prefer it when mental illness is easy to deal with but keep their distance when it's a bit uglier but it's true that someone who may appear mean on the outside could just be suffering greatly within. Your mum told me that you weren't always the way that you are and that it really is because of what happened with your dad that you seem bitter right now so I know that deep down you're not a horrible person. Even if me and others may have told you so in the past.

Gosh I'm rambling aren't I? Jesy my wish for you is that you find a way to process your emotions in a way that doesn't hurt you or the people around you. That's what everyone should strive for. It's going to be difficult but I've heard from our friends that you've already started trying different ways of coping so I think you're on the right track.

I'm still trying to figure out what triggers me and how to deal with everything that hurts me too so I suppose we're in this together. Let's just try to take responsibility for ourselves and work towards the best versions of us okay? :)

I'm rooting for you and I'd appreciate it if you'd root for me too. You don't have to but it would be nice. Anyway, I hope I'll be able to see you again soon and that we can maybe be friends when that happens. But until then. Have a Merry Christmas and a prosperous New Year.

Love,

Leigh-Anne <3

Jesy read it again after reading it a second time and then did so again. This was . . .

She held the pages to her chest and shut her eyes, feeling warm by what was written on them. That was really sweet.

She got up then and started heading to the stairs.

"Jes?" Janice noticed this and became concerned. "You alright there love?"

"Yeah. I just have to do something." Jesy ran up the steps and went straight to her room.

She separated the papers and stuck them on the wall over her school desk using masking tape.

Once this was done she stepped back. Last we interacted I'd sent a disgusting message hadn't I? She really did feel bad about that after hearing that she had made Leigh-Anne cry. She could not stand here and act as if there wasn't still resentment and bitterness towards the girl in the pit of her heart but she did understand why things seemed to be going poorly for her and somewhat well for Leigh-Anne. Jesy was showing her pain through rage and aggression like Leigh had said, like Dr Jung had said. And that wasn't healthy for anyone. Naturally, people pulled away from her. So she had to fix that. And it was hard to do so when she had made it a habit but she had to try.

She sat at her desk and pulled out some paper. Why hadn't I thought of this before? Now she was writing something. She had wanted to apologize to Leigh-Anne for what she had said but never got the chance to. Perrie had done so for her but she had not heard a response from Leigh. The girl had probably been too hurt to say anything. She got a f*cking fever. Jesy shook her head as she wrote quickly. She could get someone to deliver this to Leigh-Anne whenever they had the time. Right. And she really did hope that Leigh would read it. She took time out of her life to write me a letter so I think she would.

She finished her letter and read it over quickly. It was written in the best writing she could muster and she used a sparkly pink pen. Leigh's writing had been in sparkling dark green ink and all of her 'i's had been dotted with hearts. Jesy wanted her letter to look nice too. She wanted Leigh-Anne to feel good when she read it. To smile and to want to see her- Wait.

Jesy stopped and scowled. What was happening? I don't know but it's giving 'cringe'. So she relaxed herself and got up to bring her letter to her family. Maybe her mom should read it over to ensure that it had nothing offensive in it. No it's too personal. She brought it back to her desk and set it inside. When the time was right, she would give it to someone to deliver to the girl. To Leigh-Anne. She was trying to use Leigh-Anne's name more out of respect.

She decided to hop into bed and to look through her phone.

People on her TikTok for-you-page were either posting about all the great things they had gotten for Christmas and where they had travelled to for the holiday or giving their two cents on what was 'revealed' regarding Perrie and Leigh-Anne.

"So Perrie was at Leigh-Anne's house for Christmas. That's major innit? I jus' fink that she's trying to send a message with that one. At what's up wif the whole situation about those models commenting on Perrie's posts and what not? And reposting fings from Leigh-Anne's page? Like . . . what's the situation here? I try to mind my business but what's with all dese models from all over the worl' saying fings?" The guy in the video laughed. He seemed about ready to snowboard. He was on a snowy mountain. "Anyway, let me get my nose out of their business. It's just what's hot so I thought I'd say my piece. Merry Christmas f*ckers." He showed a peace sign before snowboarding away. The video ended there.

Jesy felt a bit exclusive since she knew that those models had likely worked with Perrie and Leigh-Anne during that shoot but she would not say anything since it was not her place to do so. Right. She really was improving wasn't she?

Jesy wondered if any articles would be written on this. Nah. They already requested that people leave them alone. Plus, it was Christmas. Articles about now would be about Christmas trees and the best holiday sweaters to buy. Not who 'rising star Perrie Edwards' was spending the special holiday with. But it is strange that she's at this girl's house for Christmas. Aren't her folks home? Perrie must have been really into Leigh-Anne. Or bored of her parents. Jesy knew that Perrie didn't value her family that much. She loves 'em but she doesn't miss them while they're gone. It was because Perrie liked her freedom.

She lay on her back and looked at the ceiling. Hope they're having a Merry Christmas. 

THE END

To be continued . . .