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DQ Therapy Session

Michael stared out the window of the Dairy Queen table he was sitting at, waiting for his friends to arrive. He noticed that Leigh had been acting weird since Saturday, she had said she couldn't make it when asked if she could hang out, then when they asked why she simply said it was family stuff. It worried the boy to no end, Leigh normally told him and Jessie everything that had gone on in her life.

"What's got you all worked up?" Jessie said, sitting down across from him.

"What?"

"Michael, you're staring out the window with this mopey expression on your face. I take it you're worried about something." she answered.

"Oh," Michael said, "What do you think is going on with Leigh?"

"What do you mean?" Jessie was confused, she knew something was off she just assumed that she got into an argument with her mom once again and didn't feel like telling anybody.

"It's been a couple of weeks since school got out and we haven't been able to hang out as a group because I work during the week and she's busy on the weekends," He said.

"When I talked to her on Saturday, she said her mom wanted her to go to her grandma's house with her."

Michael sighed inwardly, she never told him that it was her grandma's house that she was going to. He knew Leigh didn't like her grandma very much, every time the woman was brought up, she changed the subject. He remembered when they met the lady at Leigh's 16th birthday party.

He, Leigh, and Jessie were just talking about school assignments when the old hag walked into the house. Right away he knew she was trouble, the expression on her face said it all. She was the boss in a video game that disguised itself as a normal human until the end and turned out to be the worst of them all. The woman had told him that he was too skinny, and that his glasses were too big and looked stupid. She had even told Jessie that she looked like a bimbo.

"Oh, her grandma is pretty terrible. I'm just a little worried." Micheal said.

Jessie's phone beeped causing her to pull it out, "Oh speak of the devil, it's Leigh, she's here."

"Thank god," Michael said, he was excited to see her after not seeing her for a few weeks.

"Excuse me, am I not good enough company to you?" Jessie said sassy.

"Stop being over dramatic," He quipped.

"Hey, be nice to each other," Leigh said, sitting next to Jessie.

Michael might have smiled any other time he saw her being the mom friend for him and Jessie, but this time he couldn't. The girl looked so tired, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her normally upright posture was now leaning her head on her hand. It could be because it was 8 oclock at night and she had a hard day, but Michael was sure that it was something else entirely.

"You look tired," He commented.

"I guess I am a little bit," Leigh said, "I have to go to my grandma's house tomorrow with my mom because she doesn't want to go alone."

"Are you serious," Jessie started, "Your mom is a whole adult, she should be able to do these things on her own."

"She didn't explicitly say that, but I think that's why she told me that I have to go." Leigh said, "Man I really don't want to go. Last week and the week before that, she gave me a list of chores to do."

"Wait, she had you do chores? It would be one thing if you offered to do it, but she gave you a list of things to do and said have at it? Now that's not right."Jessie burst out.

"She said her back hurt alot so I had to do them. The only issue I have is that it looked like she didn't do any cleaning during the week when I wasn't there. There was multiple loads of laundry and dishes just piled up. But she said her back was hurting, so my mom told me I had to do it without complaint" Leigh explained.

No wonder she looks tired, Michael thought, she probably has been worrying about the amount of work that she'd have to do tomorrow. In fact Michael himself worried about the whole situation for her. Leigh might put up a fight when it comes to being asked to do things she doesn't want to do but he knew that she could never say no to someone who said they needed help, even if it wasn't good for her own health.

"Pfff, she just wants to get out of doing them. I'm seriously about to beat this old lady up." Jessie said.

"Did your mom really say that?" He asked, he was seriously tempted to show up at Leigh's house and give Jacqueline a piece of his mind.

"Yeah, she did," Leigh answered, "I think she's trying to avoid conflict as much as possible. Although, mom still fights with her alot. She is still trying though, so I have to give her that."

"You know what," Jessie started, "Leigh, I'm going to buy you some ice cream and chicken. Come with me so you can pick out what you want."

The girls got up and left Michael and his thoughts to himself. He didn't know the full story and he was sure that Leigh would never tell either of them all of it either, but he knew that once it was all over and taken care of, she wouldn't be the same as she was before. He would always stay with her, just like she was there when his dad passed away last year. He would never give up on the girl who wouldn't give up on him.