The Girl Next Door

Chapter 22

That evening, Jesy lay in bed with the past events playing in her mind in a loop. She had been trying to sleep a while ago as the girl next door had been busy with homework but her dreams had been haunted by everything.

She remembered the feeling of success and relief after she had thought that she'd gotten Jade and Perrie to leave Leigh alone and the bitter feeling of failure when it turned out that her efforts had been futile from earlier.

The girl groaned and rested on her side, facing her wall. Have I said this before? I'll say it again. I've lived more life in a span of a couple months than I have in my entire life. She actually felt aged from everything that had been happening. All hard experiences from before fell under the heading of 'dying' to her more than living. The hardships of now felt somewhat more worldly than what she had experienced many moons ago.

Jesy watched how the wall looked like a blank sheet of black. There was no light in her room. There was only a faint glow from her back where Leigh's lights were on.

Her friend was very sad and anxious about everything. Jesy knew so because on their way home today, Leigh had been silent. It's so odd for a person like her to look that way. That was why her back was turned. She did not feel like staring at a bummed Leigh. I miss the her that . . . smiles.

She did not understand herself sometimes, these days, of late. She had witnessed Leigh's depressive episode and had found it to be painful. It was probably human nature to feel sad for another when they were ill but in this case the sadness felt harder to cope with. She wondered if she could become depressed from it.

Jesy rolled to her back and blinked at the ceiling. If she turned her head to her left she would have a view of Leigh-Anne bending over a text book, trying to get some studies in because she felt nervous whenever she missed school. I remembered that. She remembered almost everything the girl said even though she tended to say a whole lot at once. Half of it are lies though. That made her smile.

Leigh-Anne was not like any person she had ever met. At first, Jesy had thought it to be a girl thing for Leigh to act the way she did but quickly realized that it was merely a 'Leigh' thing since girls at the school seemed calmer and more collected. Leigh-Anne was an easily excitable, nervous, quirky, awkward and adorable thing.

"I think that . . . my favourite part about her is how she gets so easily happy by some things I say." Jesy liked the power she usually had over the girl's emotions. Some things she told Leigh could make her give a goofy grin while others made her blush and look like she was screaming internally from happiness. Other things made her entire face go pink and cause her voice to squeal; 'Jes!'

Jesy laughed. "I'm crazy. I'm laughing in the darkness." It was hard not to laugh and smile when thinking of that girl though. I like it when she finishes saying something sometimes and her lips curl downward and her cheeks get those little holes in them. Dimples. Her own face heated. She had a friend who had those. She had thought that they were an adorable feature on him but never told him so. On Leigh-Anne she had had a hard time not saying that she liked them. They were so cute . . . why did they hide so well?

Jesy sat up and thought about her and Leigh's conversation about that facial feature of hers. I don't get why she's so ashamed. She's so funny that one. She finally decided to look out the window.

Leigh-Anne was in the same position she left her in. She looked to be focused and reading.

Jesy looked closer and wondered if how Leigh's face was was showing the dimples. I think so. She wanted to get closer but that would most likely look weird. Then again, she's a weirdo. It won't be so bad.