Straight from the academy

16.

Ruby told my family what happened since they started to ask questions. All they heard was me shouting at Luke in the kitchen.

I collect myself together and walk with Leah back into the living room, trying to act like nothing happened. My mum insisted she cooked, I begged her to let me do it but she wouldn't listen. So, she started to make the dinner whilst the rest of the family and I stayed in the living room talking and watching tv.

Dinner doesn't take long and about an hour later it is ready so everyone relocates to the dining table. We sit down and eat our food. My mum made my favourite cheesy pasta to cheer me up. I sit next to Leah on one side and India on the other. Just as I sit down, a hand taps me on the shoulder. I look to my left to see India peering up at me. "Are you okay?" She asks me.
"Yes I'm okay, why?"
"You were sad before. You were crying."
"Oh, right. Yeah I'm okay now."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes I'm sure." I wrap an arm around her and squeeze her gently.

I am just about to start eating when the door opens.
"I'm home!" Shouts a familiar voice from the other room. She walks into the room and greets me.
"Hey Beth" I say hugging her.
"Hey, sorry I didn't know your family were round. I was at Viv's but I could've come home."
"That's alright don't worry, you're here now. Hungry?"
"Yes very"
"Good, my mum made dinner. I'll go and get you some, take a seat."
"Okay thanks."
I quickly walk to the kitchen and get Beth a plate full of pasta. Then I walk back over to the table and suddenly it feels different. It feels more awkward. Then I look over at Beth and understand why. The only seat left was one along from me, next to Leah.
"Here" I say handing beth her plate.
"Thanks."
Leah turns around and looks at me, I make eye contact with her. I give her a look as if to say 'are you okay with this?' and she nods her head reluctantly. Then she nods her head in the direction of my chair, telling me to sit back down. I do so and start eating.

Everyone talks while we eat and there is quiet but audible music on in the background. I speak to my parents and grandparents a lot. I also speak to Beth a bit and explain to her what happened between me and Luke. We continue to talk for a good 2 hours, and so by the time we have finished dinner it is nearly 8 o'clock.
"We should probably be getting home. Don't want to leave it too late" my dad says standing up.
"Okay. Thank you for coming today, it means a lot."
"It was our pleasure."
I hug everyone goodbye before they leave.
"Can I come and watch more of your games?" India asks me.
"Of course you can, you can come anytime you want."
"Okay!" she says beaming at me. I hug her before she walks out the door with my parents and I shut it behind them.

My phone vibrates in my pocket so I pull it out and look at the notification. Leah tagged me in a post on her instagram story. It's a picture of me and her that I didn't even know she took.

@leahwilliamson

I smile at it before reposting it to my story with a red heart. Then I walk into the living room where Leah and Beth are. I think during dinner they talked and kind of figured things out between them. They seem to have made up for the most part.
"If it's alright with you guys I'm gunna chill out in bed and have an early night."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, it's fine."
"Can we come with you? We can watch a movie or something" Beth says.
"Okay sure" I know they are only saying all this because they don't want me to be alone and upset over what happened with Luke, but some company wouldn't be too bad.

We all get into my bed and snuggle up under the millions of fluffy blankets we have. We pick a film to watch and we get comfortable, and then press play. I'm sitting in the middle of Beth and Leah, and I'm lying on my side with my knees tucked up to my chest.
"You alright?" Leah asks looking down at me.
"Yeah" I say quietly. "Tired, that's all."
Leah wraps her arm around me and tucks a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Get some sleep." Beth turns down the volume on the tv slightly and I slowly let my eyes close.