Lightning Strikes Twice

Chapter Four: Jesy and Leigh

(Jade pov)

Irritated, I sit down next to Jesy on a blue plastic chair with a crack in the seat.
'Errr, hi?' I say feebly. Jesy ignores me. 'Do you know what we're doing?' I ask. Still no response. Great. I look past Jesy at the girl next to her who smiled at me. She catches me looking and smiles again, but this time it reaches her eyes. Those brown eyes blink at me, silently beaming with warmth and friendliness. I smile back, feeling slightly better.
'Just ignore Jesy, she's one of my besties but she can sometimes be a bit...funny,' she tells me, 'I'm Leigh Anne Pinnock.'
'My name is Jade...Thirlwall' I say, 'as you may already know.' I laugh a little.
'Well it's great to meet you, Jade!' says Leigh, kindly.

I feel a bit happier now. I guess.

'Why the hell are you talking to her? I'm your bestie, woman!' whines Jesy loudly, pouting like a diva. She turns to me, scowling. 'Leigh-Leigh is only talking to you because she feels sorry for you,' she hisses. I try to remain calm but my heart hammers inside my chest and a lump starts to grow in my throat. Blinking back tears, I try to focus on the maths work and ignore Jesy's hateful jibes and comments. I scrawl some numbers down, trying to work out an answer, but I struggle to understand. My mind screams endless questions: what is going on? Why does she hate me? What have I done wrong?

I don't even notice the tears falling *plop* onto my maths book until Jesy suddenly yells,
'Look who's CRYING! Look, everyone!' and the sea of confused faces stare again, all eyes silently judging.
'Oh Jade, what's up babe?' asks Leigh, sounding genuinely concerned about me. I look at her, trying to blink the tears away.

'I can't do this,' I whisper.