Quiet people have the loudest minds.
- Stephen Hawking
"Leah?"
Brenton's arm hung over her shoulder as he opened the front door. In any other situation Leah would've shrugged it off, but the walk home had been accompanied by a disorienting headache that pounded with every step. A bump had formed on her head and a thick liquid was dripping down her back that she had an unhappy suspicion was blood.
"Leah! What happened to her?"
The voice came again and Leah made a conscious effort to look up. Alice was rushing forward, eyes wide.
"She might have a concussion."
Brenton's voice was heavy, the words falling into Leah's ears and sinking before her brain made sense of them.
Alice ushered Leah to a chair, hands fluttering over her injuries.
"What happened?" she asked, prodding the bumps gingerly.
Her eyes flicked to Brenton with a look Leah knew all too well; her head was tilted and her gaze hard, ready to dissolve the answer and dilute its severity.
"I don't know," Brenton said gruffly. "This guy had cornered her, he was yelling at her."
"What guy?" Alice demanded.
Leah recovered some strength and brushed Alice gently on the arm, dragging her attention back.
"It was no one," she said quietly. "Just a guy I met at Roy's a week ago. He's from out of town."
Brenton and Alice blinked at her, their faces identical masks of disbelief.
"Well, why did you let him –" Alice cut off abruptly and cast a paranoid glance at the windows, the doors. "Why didn't you run?"
Leah looked down at her hands, knowing that what she was about to say would change everything.
"I tried. He was faster than me."
Alice sucked in a breath, her eyes flying to Brenton, and the silence spoke more than Leah wanted to admit.
She could feel their shock mirroring hers. Jared had guessed things about her that no one outside this house was supposed to know. He could do things no one else was supposed to do. Thrills of fear and excitement were zapping through her and mixing into a confused blur that sent her head pounding harder.
"Well," Alice said eventually. "The cut on your head is small, so you won't need stitches. The bump will be there for a while, but if you don't go to sleep for the next few hours you should be fine."
Leah nodded and stood, testing her balance.
"I think I'm going to go lie down," she said. "I won't sleep, but my head is killing me."
Alice nodded, her gaze worried, but before she could shift out of the way Brenton's voice stopped them both.
"Leah, you still haven't explained what happened. Why did that boy attack you?"
Leah froze, Brenton's question ringing in her ears. She knew it deserved an answer, that for once Brenton had helped, not harmed. But there was something deep in the pit of her stomach that screamed she should keep the truth to herself. Jared had mentioned her father and no one, not even Alice, had ever broached that subject.
"I don't know," she said slowly, turning to face him. "You turned up before I could figure out what he wanted."
Brenton stared at her for a moment longer, a confusion of worry and uncertainty on his face, but then he just nodded stiffly. It scared Leah more than anything else had today. She couldn't remember the last time Brenton had looked worried about her, let alone defended her.
Not that he'd ever needed to.
Her forehead furrowed, pulling painfully at her bruised skin. For the first time, she realised how odd Jared's reaction today had been. Jared was stronger than her, and she was stronger than everyone. Why had he been so terrified of Brenton?
"Had you ever met him before?" Leah asked.
Brenton's blue eyes were blank, looking at her in an eerily familiar way. "No, never."
Leah stared at him and something rushed through her mind, a realisation that doubled in size and bulldozed right over her.
"I'm going to my room," Leah said suddenly, and ran up the stairs, slamming the door behind her.
...
Leah sat next to the window, her eyes glazed and unfocused. Her headache was getting worse, pounding away as she tried to calm down. Maybe it was just paranoia, the stress of everything catching up, but when Brenton looked at her like that, with secrets beneath the surface, she'd seen Jared standing there instead.
She hadn't noticed it before, but they had exactly the same eyes. Same colour, same shape. Normally Leah would've called it a coincidence, but Jared had blown up any delusion of safety she'd been hosting.
Leah turned as someone knocked on her door and Alice walked in.
"How are you feeling?"
Leah shrugged, pivoting around so her legs dangled off the window seat. "My head hurts a bit."
Alice nodded and sat next to her, her brow furrowed in concern.
There was an odd sort of home sickness rising in Leah's chest as she looked at Alice. She felt as if her world was collapsing. The safety barriers she'd so carefully maintained were crumbling between her fingers, and for once, Alice wasn't reassuring her that it would be alright.
"I'm sorry," Leah said softly, fidgeting with her fraying shorts. "I know I haven't said it yet, but I'm sorry I lit the fire. I did something stupid in front of the security cameras and I panicked. But I should've handled it differently."
Alice sighed and pulled Leah towards her, resting Leah's head against her shoulder. "I know you thought you were doing the right thing, as insane as that is. But you need to be more careful. For your sake, you really do."
Leah closed her eyes, sinking in Alice's embrace. "I know."
"What was on the footage that you were so desperate to hide?" Alice asked.
Leah squinted up at her. "You're going to get angry with me."
Alice just waited.
Leah sighed. "I'd had a bad day, Arelie had been hassling me when school finished. I was just frustrated and I kicked a tree. I didn't mean to, but everything just bubbled up," Leah hung her head, "I lost control."
Alice eyed her. "You burnt down the school because there was footage of you kicking a tree?"
"Yeah."
"Isn't that a little excessive?"
"The tree fell down."
Alice was quiet and Leah felt the need to say something more. "It was a big tree."
Alice pivoted to look Leah in the face. "And the boy who attacked you today was stronger than you?"
Leah nodded.
For a few minutes, Alice was silent, her brow furrowed. Leah didn't move, watching the thoughts travel across Alice's face.
"Was he at the school the night of the fire?" Alice asked abruptly.
Leah frowned. "Why do you ask that?"
"There was an article in the paper today saying they're looking for a male suspect. Apparently, a teenage boy was seen there that night. Is that why he attacked you, because he's being blamed?"
Leah sat up and ran a hand through her hair. "No. He's looking for something and thought I knew where it was."
"What did you say his name was again?"
"I didn't. It's Jared. Jared Caldwell," Leah said, remembering the way he'd held out his hand at Roy's Shed.
Alice's reaction was instant. She sucked in a breath, her face flooding with colour. Leah could feel the tension radiating off her like it was airborne.
"Alice?" Leah asked in alarm. "Are you okay?"
"Yes, I'm fine."
Leah watched as Alice controlled her expression. It only heightened Leah's unease.
"Are you sure?"
"It's nothing you need to worry about." Alice's smile was tight as she stood. "It would be best if you don't mention him to Brenton again though, it'll only aggravate him. I know he doesn't show it, but he needs you, he cares about you more than anyone else. Today rattled him."
Leah held back a snort of disbelief. "Okay."
"I'm going to go call the police and tell them what happened," Alice said. "I don't want Jared getting anywhere near you again."
Leah nodded as Alice walked towards the door.
She moved stiffly, her steps jolty and Leah's unease reared again.
"Why are you acting so weird?" Leah asked.
Alice stopped and turned back, shadows cast beneath her eyes from the ceiling light.
"I don't know if I've told you this before, but I had a child before you. My own child. But I lost him. I'm not going to let the same happen to you."
She turned and strode out before Leah could respond, shutting the door behind her.