Elite Eight (Book 1)

Blooming

"Princess? You in here?" Jesy asked in a voice that betrayed the worry she wanted to hide. She stepped into the locker room. She saw Leigh-Anne sitting on a bench and stuffing things into her bag. The girl was out of her cheer leading uniform and back in her outfit from earlier.

Leigh-Anne sniffed. If it had been anybody else she would have asked them to leave or not answer at all. But somehow Jesy was special. "Yeah . . . I'm here." She murmured. Her phone had several missed calls from her family but she didn't want to speak on the phone with any of them. Their worried panic would only make her more upset at her inability to be strong.

Jesy was standing right in front of her now. "I'm sorry about that douche. You shoulda called as soon as he showed up . . . I woulda set him straight."

"I . . ." Leigh-Anne didn't know what to say. Her brain wasn't thinking properly. All she knew was that she did not want to go home. She did not want to face her family looking like such a wreck. Not when she'd just told her father she would be fine with Jesy. Of course no one in her family would believe that this, what she felt was failure on her own part, had nothing to do with the girl.

Jesy knelt in front of Leigh-Anne so that she was just below her level on the bench. "Babe? What do you want? I want to make you feel better. Name it and I'll buy it. No price is too high." Jesy almost cringed at the words that came out of her mouth. She wasn't as good as she wanted at comforting. She wished she could do more than give material things. She was becoming insanely terrified of possibly not having money and being unable to play the role of saviour.

Leigh shook her head. "I don't want anything . . ." She stood from the bench with her bags.

Jesy scrambled to her feet. "How bad was it?" She asked before gulping. She moved ahead of Leigh-Anne and faced the girl. She touched at a bruise on her cheek and forced herself to not get angry. "I . . . Princess . . ." She said softly. She wished comforting words came as easily as insults did. I hate myself. "Does it hurt?" She asked stupidly. Brilliant Jesy, just brilliant.

Leigh-Anne nodded.

Jesy bit her lip. She leaned towards Leigh-Anne and kissed the bruise gently, praying to every god out there to make this help somehow. Affection . . . that's how the comforting shit works right?

Leigh-Anne smiled a little. "Thank you." Jesy's attempts at cheering her up were always adorable. The leather clad girl looked like a sad puppy when she couldn't get Leigh to smile. I love puppies.

"You ready to go?" Jesy asked with fake nonchalance.

Leigh-Anne was about to nod but then remembered something. She set her bag down and started rummaging through it.

"What are you looking for?" Jesy asked. "Did you lose something? Did he break your stuff?" She was ready to offer to buy Leigh-Anne the world if it would help. Who even am I?

Leigh finally found what she was looking for and grinned. She pulled the hat Jesy had given her over her head. "There . . . now I'm ready for anything."

Jesy chuckled, ignoring the blush on her cheeks. "You sure love that cap don't you?"

"Mmhhmm." Leigh hummed as they stepped out of the locker room hand in hand.

Leigh tightened her grip on Jesy when they started passing Taehyung and the others who were hovering over Zane.

"Miss!" Jimin yelled moving towards the two girls. "Miss Jesy we need more light! Namjoon can hardly see what he is doing and the boy could be dying."