42| Maggie discovers it

Leah's POV

My hesitation was as hard as a rock, and I planned to relent her order.
“You just have to do it.” She insisted.
“I don't think I need to.” I stood up. “I don't know the point you are trying to get to.”
“Do it.” Her voice was low but harsh.
I could not remember the last time I heard her use such a tone of voice on me. It broke me down, and the guts I thought I had melted down.
I touched the tip of my skirt, trying to raise it like a stone too hard for me to carry.
“Take it off.”
I held it up, just enough for the start of my white pants to show.
“Blood....”
“What's it?” I bent my head slightly to get the view of my pants.
A thin line of blood was on it.... My head went into a spin as though it was placed on a centrifuge. It was self explanatory. I was a virgin, and the blood was a sign that....
Maggie did not utter any word to me, she simply got up to leave.
“Mother....”
She acted dead. Was I supposed to regret my action with Grimes? No! She had claimed she understood me, but of course she didn't!
I sat down on the bench, holding my hands together, and started feeding my eyes with the flowers. The stance I had did nothing to eliminate the bad feeling of guilt that was welling up in me. I felt like a disappointment to Maggie. Was it that her anger was just for the fact that I wasn't being careful?
Euphoria came to me. I suspected that she saw everything that transpired.
“Cheer up girl,” she rubbed my jaw.
“She doesn't understand me. She doesn't.”
“She does, I saw it in her eyes.”
It didn't make sense to me. What does being able to understand have to do with walking out on me? It was obvious Euphoria's words were merely made to make me feel better amidst the reality of things.
“You went to visit him?”
“I did.”
“That wasn't bad after all.”
At least someone was in line with me, ready to hear me out.
She moved closer to hold my hand. “Who is a judge of what is good?”
I had no answer for that.
“No one is qualified to make the final decision of what is bad. Something might be good to you, and also bad to the other person.”
“So you feel what I did is good?”
“At least to you.”
“But it was bad on her own views.”
“The both of you should consider yourselves as judges. She felt it was bad, but you felt you could do without it. Everything is made equal in that way.”
She started laughing, sending shivers up my spine, what was funny?
“Sorry I'm laughing, it's just the way you have decided to keep your face.”
“It's funny to you?”
“Trust me, it wouldn't take long before Maggie starts trying to offer you comfort.”
That may be true.
“Where was Octavier at the time you saw her?”
“Her? Maggie was talking to her, and it was so much like an interview.”
She was turning everything into a show, using hand movement to demonstrate what she wanted to say. It sucked. I needed a serious conversation, not a playful one.
“How was it?” She winked.
“What's that?” I feigned ignorance to what she was saying.
“Alpha Grimes.”
I heaved up. Maybe I needed some playful talk, perhaps dirty talk.
“It was my first time doing it.”
“Hmmm “ She placed her hands on her mouth. “I suspected that.”
“You've been watching me?”
“Never mind that, it's just normal to observe someone like you. Is it an offense to observe?”
“I'm not sure about that.”
She had cured the bad feeling in me, and her smile was soothing to my eyes.
“Now tell me.” She brought her mouth close to my ears. “How was the feeling? Tell me about it.”
“I prefer keeping it as a secret.” I gave a smug expression.
“Ooh.... It's unlucky you have to give him some space.”
“That's what is hard for me.”
“Maggie is simply concerned.”
That same instant, Octavier came to us. Her face had a different expression from the way she was. I wondered what Maggie had told her.
She sat at the other side, making me stay in the middle. “I heard Emaus telling Maggie that you should go with him.”
My face dampened at that moment. It was the same reason I was wary of him. It was coming up again!
“Why wouldn't he keep his ideas to himself?” I was almost going to explode.
“She seemed to consider his point in taking you away.”
“That isn't happening.”
“Yes, it all depends on you.”
The little smile Euphoria had made to appear on my face was starting to fade off with disappointment brazenly replacing it.
“What about my father?” I asked.
“He has been keeping to himself all this while.” Octavier answered. “I noticed it from the time we were eating. Does he have a problem with you?”
“I don't know, I wouldn't know. His mind is elsewhere, far from the things affecting me.”
“How do you know that?” Euphoria asked.
“I don't really know, it's just a guess.”
“His mind being somewhere else might be worse than the current situation, something everyone of us might fear.”
I turned to look at her. “It shouldn't be.”
She stood up from the bench.
“Euphoria.” I called. “Please put an eye on Emaus.”
She smiled, and walked close to kiss my forehead. “That's my passion.”
Passion? She was weird.
Octavier held my arms. “Maggie wants you and her to come visit my mother.”
That was when I searched out myself. It was obvious to me that I hadn't been a perfect friend to her. I had barely gone to her home for about a month, yet she always came to visit me almost everyday.
“It's a pleasure for me to come along.”
“Thank you.”
What more could I do for a friend?
Maggie came to us, and without any thoughts, I averted my eyes from her.