Secret Singing Superstar

Nine ~ ♫♪♫

Leanne wondered down the aisle, taking a few cans of tuna and placing it in the red basket she carried. It was Saturday night, and she was in Coles, doing an errand for her mother. She would've loved to say that she was doing it because she loved her mother and didn't want her to have more work to do, but that would be a lie. In truth, Leanne was only in Coles because her mother had forced her to.

"You are fourteen, and you are old enough to run some errands for me," her mother had told her firmly when she'd protested. They'd been home all day. Leanne had been on her laptop in her room when her mother came in without even knocking, which had made her angry. She'd also been checking her phone every few minutes, but she had gotten no messages, except one message from Claire confirming that she was coming to her house next week. Caitlin still hadn't replied, and Leanne wondered if she was seriously angry with her. It wasn't a happy thought.

Leanne had asked her how come her brother couldn't go to Coles and buy the food for her, and her mother had told her, "He's younger than you, and he's a boy. Boys are terrible at shopping, and trust me, I know. Your dad is a horrible shopper. He gets all the wrong things! So that's why you have to go."

"Fine," grumbled Leanne. "On one condition. Can I get a few things that I want?"

Her mother had argued with her at first, but seeing that Leanne wasn't going to budge, she agreed. "But not too much food, okay? I know how much you like food. Especially potatoes," she muttered under her breath. Leanne grinned. She loved potatoes.

She wondered down another aisle, trying to find anything that she might want to buy. She wasn't about to come home without buying something that wasn't on her mother's list. That would be a waste of her time. She'd already gotten everything that her mum had asked her to get.

Leanne walked down the next aisle, where a couple was laughing and joking around with each other as the guy pushed a trolley. They then kissed, completely ignoring Leanne, who was standing directly in front of them and could see them clearly. She made a face when they weren't looking and walked around them in a purposeful manner. Some people were so public.

She wasn't the only one. She saw a dark-haired girl pretend to vomit from behind them. She looked only a year younger than Leanne and she too was carrying a red basket. She saw Leanne looking at her and grinned while rolling her eyes.

"People these days," she said.

Leanne nodded.

"I feel sad for you. You were right in front of them," the girl continued, twirling her hair between her fingers.

Leanne didn't know what to say. The girl was a stranger, after all. But the more she looked at her, the more familiar she was to her. But she couldn't remember where she'd seen her before.

"Sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable," the girl apologised. "I just talk a lot. My friends call me a crazy chatterbox."

Leanne smiled. "I talk, but not as much."

The girl turned to the aisle. She reached up to get something at the top of the aisle, but she was too short and couldn't reach it. She growled in frustration and swore, evidently forgetting that Leanne was still standing next to her.

"Do you need help?" Leanne offered.

"Yes, please," said the girl, glaring up at the cookies at the aisle as if they had offended her. "Can you get the choc chip cookies at the top?"

Being half a head taller than the other girl, Leanne was able to reach up and get the cookies. She grabbed a packet and gave it to the girl.

"Thank you," said the girl, placing it in the basket. "I need the cookies because I'm having a sleepover at my cousin's house tonight, and she wants cookies. Well, actually, I want cookies." She didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that Leanne was a stranger to her. She just blurted everything out. "Can you get one more packet, if that's okay?"