The Girl Next Door

Chapter 7

Jesy was laughing to herself, watching Leigh-Anne skip ahead of her to the driveway. "Do you always get around like that?"

Leigh-Anne stopped and then ran to Jesy. "Yup. I'm a bunny you know." She held Jesy's hand and ran with her to a bench. "I know what you're thinking, why have you got to wait for your mum Leigh-Anne? You look so independent."

Jesy shook her head. "I was not thinking that." They were both sitting on the bench. "Aren't you too young to drive or whatever you're implying?"

Leigh-Anne shook her head. "I bet I'd be a great driver. It looks really easy to me." She licked her lips. "Don't you sometimes whish that instead of travelling by skateboard you could travel by car?"

Jesy stared into the girl's bright eyes. Her face screamed 'I'm a bubbly, happy, pretty girl!' "No. There are rules for driving on the road with other people. When I'm on my board it's just me." She perched an arm up on the back rest and looked out at students leaving.

"I get it." Leigh sat like her. "Are you always cool? Do you ever do goofy things like dance in your underwear to your favourite songs?" She brought both legs onto the bench and crossed them as if she was on her bed at home.

Jesy wanted to ask a question about the way Leigh was sitting but she let it slide. I'll let her live. "Nah. I'm not stupid. No offense."

Leigh's laugh started with a scream. "Shut up! I'm not stupid. You're a pervert." She slapped Jesy's shoulder.

"Bitch?! That hurt." Jesy rubbed it with a frown at Leigh who did not seem to think that she was being serious. The girl was just laughing. Hmm there must have really been something in her food then. "Where's your twin?"

"We're not twins. Sairah's seventeen and I'm sixteen. I act older most times though. She's like an annoying little sister." Leigh-Anne laughed. "In a good way. I love her."

Jesy laughed to herself. "Right . . ."

Leigh-Anne let her legs hang. She got up and picked up Jesy's skateboard from the ground. She looked under it. "Keep Riding." She nodded. "Cool dude. Cool. I like the way that sounds." She was nodding her head.

Jesy grabbed the board and looked under. "What? You can read this?" The lettering was in Hangul. "I've been trying to remember what it says for years."

Leigh-Anne laughed wildly. "Of course I can. I can read Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Arabic writing." She smiled.

Jesy was impressed. "Damn. Really? How though?"

Leigh brought her legs up and crossed them. "Okay, when I was eight, my mum gave me and my sisters each a language to learn. We had a month to catch on to as much as possible and then she would give us an exam. She kept doing that until my eldest sister graduated from secondary school so I know a lot of languages now." She clapped. "It's a nice story isn't it?"

Jesy blinked. "So you can speak Korean and those other things?" She wanted to bring this girl to Namjoon to show off.

Leigh grinned. "No but I know enough to survive in a foreign country." She scooted nearer to Jesy. "If you can't speak it then why is it under your board missy?"

Jesy looked at it again. "Oh uh well . . . it's not my board I guess. It was given to me by a friend." She smiled at Leigh-Anne.

Leigh-Anne blushed. "Tell me the story." She nudged Jesy with a shoulder.

Jesy giggled. "Okay." She thought back. "I can't remember why I went to the park that time about three years ago but I did and I saw this Asian guy struggling to skate. He kept falling 'cause I guess he was really clumsy. You can relate."