Leanne daydreams on the sofa. Thinking of Ray's words in the cafeteria, when the boy said firmly that he wanted to be friends with her.
"What is it?" Tamara came with two drinks and gave one to Leanne. Then she sat down next to the girl.
Leanne took the glass Tamara had given her. "It is nothing." She muttered, then took a sip of her drink.
"I don't think so," Tamara protested.
Leanne sat up straight, holding her glass in her lap. "Hey, Tara... Do you think it's impossible for a handsome boy to want to be your friend?"
"What? Hey, come on, that's natural, Leanne."
"Is that true?" Leanne fell silent, then spoke again. "But, if that girl belongs to the category of unpretentious nerds, how…?"
"You're telling yourself. I was right?" Sue Tamara. Leanne dodged while turning her face away. "Just confess."
Leanne didn't answer.
"Tell me, who is the handsome man you're talking about," Tamara pleaded.
"You know him," Leanne said honestly. "And met him, once."
"Oh my God..." Tamara covered her mouth in disbelief. "Ray Dixon? The person you were paired with in the photoshoot a while ago?" Leanne nodded in response. "I can't believe this… Is he that weird? I mean, during the photo shoot, I said that you were beautiful. However, Ray nonchalantly answered normally. Isn't that weird?"
"Strange?" Leanne smiled wryly. "He doesn't like me, Tara. Oh— Especially don't really like Leanne... I don't know why, but, whenever a kid asks about Leanne, Ray always says he doesn't care, as if he doesn't like Leanne."
"Is that true? But you are beautiful, Leann. If Ray says you're not a pretty girl. I'm sure, those eyes are very problematic." Tamara said curtly. "Or could he be gay? Oh! I can't imagine…" she exclaimed, covering her face like a frightened person.
Leanne hit Tamara's arm, exasperated. "Hey! Don't conclude that. It's possible that Ray doesn't like me, because he doesn't see women as beautiful or not." She said softly. Her heart warmed at the thought that Ray was someone who didn't judge people by face, status, or position. "And maybe, he's different from the other boys." She didn't feel her face turn red from embarrassment.
"You like it?!" Tamara exclaimed.
"What? Not! I don't like it—"
"Yes! You like it, Leanne. I can see it in your sparkling eyes when you talk about Ray." Tamara shook her head many times. "You're crazy, you're both crazy."
Leanne laughed at Tamara's exaggerated response. "You're crazy too, Tara," she said, laughing even wider.
Around 8pm, Leanne came home from Tamara's house. The woman was about to take her home, but Leanne refused with the excuse that she wanted to take a walk first and breathe in the fresh night air. With her appearance as Leanne, Leanne wears a hat and also a scarf that Tamara gave her so that not many know her.
It was quite cold that night. She wore a knee-length dress. Fortunately, Leanne was wearing a fairly thick jacket—covering her knee-deep—and brown sneakers.
Suddenly her cell phone rang. Call from Keane. Leanne immediately picked it up.
"What is it?" Leanne asked, nonchalantly.
"Are you still at Tamara's house?" Keane asked.
"Uhm… I'm on my way home. So what?"
"With Tamara?"
"Not. I walk alone—"
"Wait there. I will pick you up."
"What? Hey! I'm not a kid anymore, Keane! Stop acting like a big brother." Leanne grumbled in annoyance. She screamed like a man in a trance on the phone.
"Shut up and just wait there."
"Don't want to! I don't want to!" Leanne shouted, irritated. Just as she finished saying that, the phone line simply died. She is on the waist. Put the phone back in the bag. "Irritating!"
"You're such an annoying girl."
Leanne gasped in surprise when she heard Ray's voice. I do not know when the man was standing not far from her. Staring at her with his usual annoying face.
"This is a public place. You shouldn't scream like that and make people go crazy to see you." Ray snapped.
"I didn't mean that." Rebutted Leanne. Suddenly she felt so scared and horrified. "You... How long have you been standing there?" she asked, with a worried face.
"None of your business." Ray turned his back on Leanne and just walked away.
Leanne who was afraid if Ray heard all the conversations she had had with Keane, immediately ran after Ray and grabbed the man's arm. "W-wait a minute."
Ray turned to look at him. Pushed away Leanne's hand that touched his arm. "What?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Leanne's heart skipped a beat when she saw Ray's cold treatment of Leanne's figure—which was very different from the way he treated Alena. "I just wanted to ask, since when did you listen to my conversation with..." Her voice seemed to be stuck in her throat and wouldn't come out.
"If you don't want other people to hear your conversation. You'd better go somewhere quiet to make a call." Cetus Ray ignored Leanne's question. His cold face and the tone of his voice that sounded like someone didn't like it.
Leanne was silent. Feeling hurt by Ray's words. Her chest felt tight, as if she had been hit by something hard. "You are right. Sorry for bothering you." Without saying another word, she walked past Ray. Her steps felt so heavy.
Keane ran through the playground, turned right, and found Alena walking with her head down. He stopped running and walked slowly towards his sister.
"I told you to stay quiet and wait for me right?" Keane grumbled.
Leanne's head shot up, seeing Keane walking towards her. Without waiting for anything else, she ran towards Keane and burst into her brother's arms.
Keane's body staggered backward when he received his sister's sudden hug. Wrapped his arms tightly around his neck. His head was buried in Keane's chest.
"What is it?" Keane asked confused. His body stiffened when he received a sudden hug from Alena. He felt Leanne's body getting closer to him, as if looking for the comfort she had been wanting. "Are you crying?" He asked again, and was answered with a shake of her head.
"Let me hug you for a moment," Leanne muttered.
For some reason, Keane felt heavy and tight when he heard Leanne's helpless voice. His arms wrapped tightly around Leanne's waist, then ran down the girl's back and stroked her gently.
Leanne sat on the swing in silence, waiting for Keane to return with two cans of drinks from the vending machine. Leanne accepted it when Keane gave one to her.
Keane sat on the swing beside Leanne. He looked at his sister in confusion. Many questions were currently on his mind.
"Are you going to tell me what happened just now, Sister?" Keane asked softly.
Leanne smiled a little, calling her sister, it was Keane's way of seducing her to tell him what was happening to her, or to tell him about the problems she was facing.
"Won't?" Keane asked again.
Leanne smiled, trying to hide her sadness. "If I told you, you would have gone straight to beat up the person who just bullied me." She said as she looked at Keane.
"So someone's bothering you?"
Leanne nodded slowly. "You could say that, but also not too disturbing. It might hurt a little with words." Obviously Leanne.
"Who? Tell me."
Leanne chuckled when she saw Keane's face harden with anger. "You're like a thug ready to go on a rampage, you know that. I'm fine... Good thing you came, otherwise I don't know what to hug to calm me down," she said with a smile. It amuses her to imagine herself hugging a pole just to erase her sadness.
Keane no longer asked for anything. Can only be silent, before he finally stood up. Opened her soda can and gave it to Leanne. "Here, just drink it." The order. He took the can that was still closed from Leanne's hand.
See what Keane did. Leanne remembered something, "Someone did this to me too. Opened a soda can for me." she muttered.
Keane snorted, looking away with an annoyed face. "Don't compare me to other people. I'm different, you know that." He said, curtly.
"I know. Thank you, Keane. I'm glad you're my young brother."