What happened yesterday was still stuck on Rachel's mind.
Leigh-Anne was making quite a bit of progress with the song she had started learning yesterday.
Rachel kept guiding her as to what chords to play when they changed and how to play them.
Leigh-Anne would make mistakes here and there but she seemed determined enough to not stop.
Rachel nodded as Leigh played and sang along. They had been at this since she finished school at 12. It had been two hours. "Aren't you hungry Leigh-Anne?" She had asked how Leigh was feeling when she came in today and the girl had said she felt alright. Rachel hoped she was telling the truth. To her, it seemed strange that Leigh was able to move and walk around normally even after being close to a dead body at the hospital and when they brought her home. Marcy had told her that Sairah reported that Leigh-Anne was talking and moving again around one a.m last night so maybe she felt energized after that? It didn't make sense. The doctors had said that Leigh should be weak after what happened but she was just . . . normal.
Leigh-Anne was singing and playing effortlessly until she hit a wrong chord that seemed to upset her. "Damn it." She hit a bunch of random chords out of frustration and then sighed.
Rachel patted her back. "It's okay. You're actually really good for someone who just started yesterday. Don't beat yourself up okay?"
Leigh-Anne blew a raspberry and then held her head.
Rachel spotted a look of exhaustion and illness on Leigh's face. "You okay there?" She rubbed the teen's back gently.
Leigh-Anne nodded though she felt nauseous. She didn't know why she wasn't recovering from the extreme emotions of yesterday. She had had a full on meltdown in her room before collapsing due to a seizure. Why did heavy emotions make her feel so sick? She had thrown up first thing this morning but didn't tell anyone because she was trying to change. I don't know how though. But she had to try.
Rachel didn't believe her. "It's okay not to be okay." She said softly.
Leigh showed her a sad face but then stared at the piano keys again. "Did I hear Marcy telling you that she's getting all my friends to give me space?"
"Well . . . yeah. Sometimes it's good to just breathe and forget things. You've been doing a lot of late haven't you? You shot that guest appearance for that series, your magazine came out and people are going crazy and . . . you have tons of stuff lined up to do this summer so it's a good idea to spend a bit of time with yourself, see where you're at before you jump into all the insane projects lined up for you. She thinks your friends need space too. Something about new dynamics because Jesy's been added to the group and a lot's happened regarding her and . . . gosh you guys have so much going on in your lives. It's not like anything I've ever had to deal with," she smiled.
Leigh-Anne hoped that they were not straining Rachel. "It's okay. You won't have too much to do. I'll be on better behaviour from now on." She tried playing what she had learned so far.
Rachel found that an odd thing to say. "But you're very well-behaved already."
"I know but . . ." Leigh-Anne sighed. "What did you like to do when you were sixteen?" She stopped to face Rachel.
"Uh . . ." Rachel thought back. "It feels like it wasn't long ago but it actually was." She sighed dreamily.
Leigh-Anne was ready to take notes.
"Ooo I actually had a bit of a rebel phase at that point. How embarrassing." Rachel laughed at the memories. "The kids around me were experimenting with a lot of things and I remember every other word out of people's mouths being the f-word." She cringed. "I was naturally a good girl but being around so much profanity made me start speaking like that too. It was horrendous." She shuddered. "I remember having this boyfriend who was such a . . . he was silly was what he was but I liked him for some reason? Guess I was silly too. Let's see . . ." Rachel tapped her chin. "I wasn't a heavy drinker like other kids but I'd have a beer if I went out with my friends. Oh boy. Was sixteen when I lost it? No I lost it later."
