A Girl Named Leigha

Chapter 3

Three hours later...

We are in the restoration area, after visiting almost all the shops in the mall - no surprise, it is very small, compared to many ones I have seen on TV. Also, we live in Wales, in a small town, so what do you expect?

My siblings are starving. They ate very little at lunch, even though I advised them to eat more. I don't want them to be undernourished. But the problem is another (apart from Coei pretending to share her fries with Jamie and having him taste a mouthful of her hamburger): Caiti is slobbering for something that is not food!
Or maybe, for SOMEONE.

Mai keeps scrolling her and even grabs her arm to gain attention from her, but these attempts fail. Whatever distracted our friend has definitely won her attention.
And that "something" that made her tremble and slobber like a baby is the hottest guy at our school.

Trayce Wyett.

***

"Stop slobbering, Caitlin!" Mai is telling her off. "Please, behave!"

"Mai Vyers," intervenes Caisa. "Stop. The. Fuck. It! Can you enjoy yourself like a normal 15-year-old and not behave like an 80-year-old, please?"

"Don't you know what love is meant to be?" adds Coei in a taunting tone, then she eyes Jamie once again.

"Stop eyeing Jamie!" intervenes Ashlae. "You know he loves another girl..."

"That's not true!" Coei gets defensive.

"Leigha," asks Brittany, turning to me, "what are your friends talking about?"

"Mind your fucking business!" I reply bluntly. "Why don't you go somewhere with Elorah, Regan and India, next time, instead of hanging out with us?"

"Are you ashamed of me?"

"Hell no! But you're visibly embarrassing me again! Please stop it, for once! And, you, Jamie, if I catch you glancing again at Coei, I will send you home in a minute!"

"Do you want the truth, Leigha?" he retorts, then he stands up angrily. "You are too overbearing! I am fed up with you. I am going home."

He leaves, much to my frustration. Why does he have to be so nitpicky? I am just trying to protect him. He is my little brother, and I think it would be awkward for him to date a friend of mine. But what if it was just for me, and not for him?

"Jamie! Wait! You can't go back home alone! Jamie! Jamie!" I shout the hell out of my lungs, but then I have to drink a lot of water to clear my throat. He has left, and it is all my fault.

"What did you do, Leigha?" comments Coei harshly. "It wasn't nice of yours at all!"

"I don't approve of that relationship," states Mai, "but this time you exaggerated. Jamie is right. You have been too overbearing."

"It's just a crush, like another, so what is the matter?" asks Caiti.

"Do you want the truth?" I explode. "I am fed up with all of you! You don't know how I am feeling, and pretend to be in my shoes! Though you don't know what is going on with me!" Now, I am crying my eyes out, but, when Caiti and Caisa try to hug me, I reject them. "Go away. I don't need a hug!"

"Leigha, what is going on with you?" asks the former.

I don't answer and instead I forcefully take Britt's hand and run away with her. My little sister protests, "Leigha! I want to stay! Leave me! Where are you going?"

"Shut up!" I tell her off. "We are going home. We must find Jamie, otherwise we'll be in huge trouble!"

"You will be in trouble," she points out.

"I told you to shut up!" I raise my voice, and she cries. I also cry.

I am the worst sister in the world. I never listen to my siblings. I never take their ideas under consideration. I always make them suffer. I always get them in trouble. Maybe Mom was right to consider me the rotten apple of the bunch when I was six.

I end up crying rivers, and Britt keeps yelling, "Stop crying, Leigha! You need to react!" This does not work, though, because I cry even louder than a baby.

Then my sister gets convinced that, "You need your friends here to cheer up," she states, and, like some sort of magic, they appear. Coei feels really sorry for having told me off so harshly, so she apologizes, "I am sorry. I should have taken under consideration that you are his sister and just want to protect him. And..."

I cut her off, "No, you were right. I should let him go sometimes." I stop crying and the two of us hug each other tight. Caiti, Ashlae, Caisa and then Mai reach us and share this group hug, after which I declare, "We must find Jamie. He cannot have gone so far."

"Right. We can't go back home without him, otherwise it will be the end for the poor Leigha..." reminds Caisa.

"Don't be so dramatic," advises Mai.

"Maybe he's just at the arcade," suggests Ashlae.

"Then let's go there," I decide, and then barely mutter under my breath, 'I hope you are right, because, if not, you'll be in huge trouble.'

***

Later, at the arcade...

As expected, we find him, playing video games like he was obsessed or something - actually he is obsessed with video games to the point that Dad has threatened to take away his PlayStation 4 if he doesn't ever go out to get fresh air.

But let's talk also about the girl who is wandering around him. I don't like her, nor the idea of her dating my brother. I would rather see Coei as his girlfriend than that slut. I don't even need to approach her, because he wisely rejects her.

"I told you multiple times, Lavender," he says, "but I love another girl. Sorry."

"Who's that, then?" She furrows her eyebrows, much to his annoyance.

He points at Coei, who is staring at me with a triumphant attitude, like she wants to say, 'I've told you!'.

I think, 'So, what's the matter with Jamie and Coei dating? It's way better than that awful girl sticking around him!'

As Lavender opens her mouth to talk, all we hear are probably the most unpleasant words a boy (and his sister) could ever hear.