Secret Singing Superstar

Eight ~ ♫♪♫

Caitlin didn't realise how much Leanne improved the days at school until she wasn't at school. In the morning before snack Caitlin talked to Stephanie, as Claire was in neither of her first two classes; and at snack time, Caitlin and Claire ate together, alone.

"I tried talking to Leanne on Hangouts," said Claire, eating an apple. Of course she would eat an apple. Claire was a healthy person, unlike Caitlin and Leanne, who ate anything that tasted nice to them, even if it was unhealthy. Because of that, sometimes Caitlin ate too much sugar at recess and lunch times and acted crazy during classes, narrowly avoiding getting in trouble; and Leanne loved potatoes so much she was called the Potato Queen. "But she didn't answer."

"She's busy? Or out?" suggested Caitlin. It was noon, after all.

"If she was sick, she would be inside," said Claire.

"Maybe her mother wouldn't let her use her phone or computer. You know parents."

"Perhaps," said Claire uncertainly. They sat in silence for a while.

All around them, everyone was having fun and chatting. The girls were gossiping; the boys were playing soccer at the back of the school where most teachers couldn't see them wrestling each other for fun. Usually Caitlin, Claire and Leanne sat at this specific spot in the courtyard, and they all had their own personal space to sit. Now Leanne's empty spot was like a gravestone in Caitlin's eyes. She forced herself to look away and tried to make conversation with Claire. Luckily, it was easy to talk to Claire. They talked about the most random things: America, natural disasters, how many obese people there were in the world, and the 'horrifying' and 'devil made' peanut butter, according to Claire.

In the next lesson Caitlin sent a message to Leanne using her laptop asking her where she was, but received no reply.

"I'm sure she's fine," Claire replied to after the millionth time Caitlin had asked her the question if she thought that Leanne was okay or not. "Look, if you're so worried, I'll go over to her house in the afternoon."

Caitlin gave Claire a hug. She made a sound of protest as Caitlin let her go.

"I don't like hugging, remember?" said Claire, crossing her arms.

"You deserved one," said Caitlin. Then she made a face. "I would go to Leanne's place with you, but I've got stuff to do after school." She didn't elaborate and thankfully, Claire didn't ask for details. It would've gotten a little awkward then, considering the reason why she couldn't accompany Claire after school.

When school ended, Caitlin took the bus home. She looked at the time, and yelped when she realised that she only had half an hour until 'her visitor' arrived at her house. Her parents were going out for the night so she had the house to herself. She ran into her bedroom to get changed.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang as Caitlin was checking that the house was clean and that there was a plate of cookies on the table. Her visitor loved cookies. When she went to greet her visitor, she was so happy and content with the person that she didn't realise that her phone was silently vibrating as she received new text messages.

* * * * * * * * *

Leanne had finally gotten out of bed by 1:00 pm and was dressed in jeans and a pink top. She was helping her mother prepare food for dinner when her father came home. She had spent the whole morning on her phone with her headphones on and listening to music. She couldn't be bothered to check any social media; there probably wouldn't be anything new, since it was school hours.

Her music was so loud that she didn't hear her mother calling her until her mum took her headphones off. "Leanne!"

"What?" demanded Leanne. "I'm listening to music."