Meanwhile, in Linda's life, Linda felt estranged from Leah, they were BFFs but now there was no B or f for them, not anymore, at least. She'd switched rooms, become all quiet, all of a sudden. She didn't like being away from her one and only sister, she knew that she'd hurt Leah. A lot. She regretted it. But she couldn't bring herself to say anything, every time she stood in front of her door, Leah's door I mean, her hand in a position, ready to knock, she'd step back and go back to her room. She hated this indecisive feeling she had. She'd known Leah most of her life, but rumours that were flowing around about her truly distressed Linnie, she wanted to dispel them but to avoid being bulled by Mindy, she joined forces with her, Leah had unintentionally stepped on the lioness' tail by dating Ethan, high school slander wasn't as bad as it got. She'd have to face a lot of questions in the future.
Linda was a cool person, summer breeze is a great metaphor for someone like Linda. Truly, Leah missed her sister, her fun, quirky, always longing-for-some-celebrity-sister, she desperately missed her too. But it was as if some invisible force was between them, driving them apart from each other, you can call it high school drama. Linda was feeling really down these days, she didn't like being called Mindy's pet, but if she didn't obey Mindy, rumours about her would take wind and fly to extreme lengths, though Leah hadn't ever confronted Linda about why they had stopped talking all of a sudden, Linda was worried she'd never hear her sister's voice again-- at least not in the tone she wanted-- Leah would have to be mad at her, she'd done something awful that would blow away Leah at school-- she'd exposed the one thing Leah had told her, in all her life, the thing that ruled Leah's life, Linda made it known to Mindy when she pressured her, saying that it was cool that they were hanging out but if Linda didn't fess up what dark demons Leah had, Mindy would cripple Linda first and then take down Leah. Linda wanted to punch the hell out of Mindy, she'd get the chance later rather than sooner. Linda didn't want to be grounded or misunderstood but more than that, even though she didn't want to admit it, maybe, just maybe, she felt a bit resentful, she'd wanted to become Head Girl, but Lee took that away from her, now she'd Never have another shot at it, forever, she wanted the lead position in the cheerleading squat but Lee and Mindy got to rotate there, Linda and practically every other girl at Wilson' High had their eyes on E, but Lee had taken him too... she wasn't sure if there was anything Linda could grapple for, this had left Linda disheartened.
This is completely normal, since as humans, we tend to often compare ourselves to other people, for many people comparison with others gives them the drive to move forward, but this isn't right, as you aren't other people, you are you, if you're getting better at things, better than you were yesterday, then voila, you can definitely call yourself good enough. It doesn't take comparison with others, but with others.
Unfortunately, it took a lot of time for all these teenagers to understand this simple thought, "Comparison with others is the kiss of death for your happiness." This was a quote Leah came up with after she matured and began to unravel the mystery that is life, which by the way, is more complicated than finishing all three versions of J.R Tolkien's masterpiece, and still remembering all the surnames of the Bagginses.
Leah finished her run with Ethan and drenched in sweat, they both went home to shower, and see each other again, Ethan offered Leah a ride by telling her to grab her clothes and told her, she could shower at his place, and they'd have breakfast together, Leah hadn't even thought about it, she ran into her house, grabbed her bag, and today's outfit, and made a run towards Ethan's house. She came full circle, intentionally, as always, since she was a bulimic, even exercising could be a punishment for her, she wasn't supposed to run to Ethan's house, but she thought to herself, let's just run another mile, but she wasn't used to doing so much cardio, running 5 miles is a big deal, and it isn't a big deal at the same time, say you ran 5 miles everyday for the rest of your life, wouldn't it become a habit, your body would get used to it, adapt, if you will! You wouldn't feel much pain, or strain, but when you do it for the first time, especially as a non-runner, or just as a beginner, you'll feel it... sure, you will. And so she did. When she stopped near Ethan's house, she felt a heavy throbbing in her chest, but she felt like someone was hitting her, from the inside, she felt a spasm of pain, and collapsed to the ground, her heart was hurting from the physical exertion, she wanted to cry but then she noticed Ethan was coming out of the house, and immediately got up.
Suppressing the urge to scream, she kissed him, still sweaty and he hugged her. He'd just prepared warm water for her to shower in, he'd looked up all sorts of details, like girls shouldn't use cold water, what is important to girls, like their essentials, he even sought out leg warmers, and all sorts of crazy things, just for her. He'd never done this for a girl before, and he sure as hell never would for anyone else, ever again. Leah walked in and felt fresh, she was happy but still a little in pain, she tried to calm down, and stepped into the shower, Ethan had given her space in his own room to shower and then he left and went to the room, a couple of metres away from his bedroom and he showered there. Leah had never felt this pleased and pampered before, she finally knew what it meant to be in love, the guy she loved made sure she was well supplicated before he left to find his own comfort, and whatever path she walked or thing she did, he was right there, ready to do it with her. While she was showering, Ethan was done with his shower and he went into his room to pick out clothes, Leah was singing, "Me", her original song, and her voice seemed sweet to him, it was, no kidding, and Ethan just sat there in a daze, listening to his girlfriend, still unable to wrap his head around the fact that she was his girlfriend. Leah Sanders was E's girlfriend. It was real. It was happening. He couldn't describe his happiness.