Secret Singing Superstar

Thirteen ~ ♫♪♫

Leanne walked down the hallway, wondering how was she going to find Cailyn in the mass of passages in Claire's house. The hallway led to so many rooms: the bathroom, all the bedrooms, the laundry room, the music room, the 'computer only' room, the kitchen and the lounge room.

At least Leanne was sure that Cailyn wasn't in the kitchen or the lounge room. They were connected to each other, and they had been in that room. And Cailyn had stormed out of it, which meant that she couldn't be in the backyard either, because that was behind the lounge room.

The hallway was eerily quiet. Leanne tried to think. If I was upset because my friend seemed to betray me, and I wanted to run away and hide, where would I go?

Out of all the people there, Leanne felt like she understood Cailyn the most when she had yelled at Helina. It was mean to plan something and make the decision without asking permission from the person first. But she knew that Claire had had good intentions, for herself, Caitlin and Cailyn, and that was what made Leanne not angry, but grateful that she had someone who cared so much.

Cailyn hadn't seen that. She'd seen all the bad things, and that had made her snap. Leanne didn't know her, and yet she wanted her to be okay, no longer upset.

Somewhere hidden from everyone. The answer was in her mind for only a second before it slipped out. That was what Leanne would do. But Cailyn was a different person entirely. Would she have done the same thing?

Well, either way, she should look. She checked in the laundry room and behind the piano and violin stand in the music room, but there was no sign of Cailyn. Leanne reluctantly opened Claire's parents bedroom. She walked all around the four-poster bed, but she found nothing. She was about to search Claire's sister's bedroom when she realised that the room had a lock, and sure enough, the door was locked when she tried to open it.

She walked in Claire's room. She looked in Claire's enormous cupboard, but found nothing, just a bunch of Claire's baby clothes that she'd tossed carelessly in the back of the cupboard in the past. She was about to walk out when she heard a little thud. Like something hitting something else. She froze, listening. She turned slowly and scanned the room.

She was about to give up when her eyes caught a little movement in the curtain by the window. Something was moving it, for sure. She moved forward to check, but then realised she would have to climb over Claire's bed to get to the window to check, and there was hardly any room between Claire's bed and the window, anyway.

Grudgingly, she crawled to the other side of the bed, to the window, and hoped that Claire wouldn't be mad at her for being in her bedroom without her knowing. She looked down, and stared.

Cailyn was sitting on the ground, curled up like a ball. Her head was on her knees, and her hands hugged her legs tightly. By the way she was shuddering, Leanne realised she was silently sobbing. As she watched, Cailyn's foot hit the curtains, and it moved slightly. That was why the curtain had moved a little bit before, Leanne realised.

She squeezed through the gap and sat down beside Cailyn. Lucky for her that she was skinny, skinny enough so that she managed to fit in the tiny space. In this space, they were concealed from the whole entire room. It was a perfect hiding spot, unless someone climbed on the bed and looked down, like what Leanne had just done.

Not wanting to startle the other girl, Leanne tapped her gently on the shoulder. "Hey."

Cailyn looked up, her eyes red and watery and full of tears. She looked terrible. And broken.

"You okay?" Leanne asked. She put on a smile, just to reassure Cailyn.

Cailyn shrugged. "I guess." Her voice sounded wobbly, still thick from crying.