Just give me a sec, okay? There’s a way out of this. There’s an easy solution — I know it. I just need some time to drum it up.

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@stokesleighann
Just give me a sec, okay? There’s a way out of this. There’s an easy solution — I know it. I just need some time to drum it up.
“True. I can stay though, I don’t mind, and I’m not really in the mood for exploring.”
“I mean, so long as you think I’m decent company.”
Always anxious to get off the van and finally stretch his legs, Donnie often found himself eagerly hopping out, but as it was now, he rarely wandered until he had a good view of the area. He turned to Leigh-Ann, mildly humored but not apparent on his features. “Leigh-Ann, your mother is showing. Why don’t you go explore too?”
“Isn’t it always showing? I didn’t know it ever had a chance to hide.” She smirked, looking at Donnie pointedly. “I’m fine, really. Someone should always stick by the van.”
Cody never wasted any time getting out of the car, always in need of fresh air and newer surroundings. Not that the van wasn’t fun, but its interiors had grown stale over the past several weeks, both literally and figuratively. He was pacing about nearby when he heard Leigh-Ann’s voice, glancing up and flashing a grin. “Such shenanigans,” he agreed, mostly teasing. “C’mon, Leigh. It’s not like the van’s gonna drive away on its own — nobody’s ever loved it as much as we do.”
“Fair point, but you can never be too careful.” The toes of her shoes were pressed against the surface of the ground, keeping her unmoving as ever. “Hey, I don’t mind — go run off and do whatever it is that you guys do. I can never really figure it out, to be honest.”
"You say that like it’s a bad thing that I put my own well-being over my potential criminal record," he replied, a joking tone in his voice. He followed the line of her gaze outside the window, eyes looking on what appeared to be the same line of trees that he’d been staring at for the past hour and a half. "You count the trees? I knew you were crazy, Leigh," he replied, shaking his head, "But yeah, okay, I’ll try it. Thanks."
“Oh, you know I don’t mean it like that,” she admonished, though she knew he was joking. “It’s really weird, I know — but I like that the scene never changes. The highway is never-ending, and so are the trees. I’m sure it doesn’t make any sense, but it comforts me to count them knowing that I’ll never have to stop. Keeps me preoccupied.”
It’s just a scratch. Just hand it over and I don’t have to talk to you.
Yeah, of course, but I was only trying...to help.
Leigh-Ann sighed audibly, her legs swinging to and fro along the side of the van. As with all breaks, the door to the van was haphazardly tossed open and the group was scattered about, each person eager to stretch out and wander. She, of course, was always the one who stayed near the vehicle. “I kinda feel like the announcer before the ten o’clock news every time this happens —” Her voice transformed into that of a robotic spokesperson. “It’s ten P.M. — do you know where your children are?”
With anyone else, he might have drawn back. But not with Leigh-Ann - he’s always sort of trusted her. “It’s entirely possible,” he mused, a joking smile on his lips, “though I’m surprised, Dramamine is essential. You could have potentially risked letting us all down.” He nodded, “Yes, ma’am.” Louis finally took his full attention away from the car window, focusing on Leigh-Ann, “Yeah, okay, hit me — but not literally, this time.”
"I have Tums! And Pepto Bismol. All over the counter stuff — nothing swiped from St. Clair's, thank goodness." She bit her tongue for a split second, afraid of sounding as if she was admonishing him. "I mean, good on you for bringing it." Once he agreed to hear her out, she pointed towards the window to the right of them — to the endless line of trees across from the road. "I start to count them. It's a little dizzying to begin with, but if you breathe through it, it'll slow down. It's good to focus on something consistent; it'll distract you from the nausea."
While the mothering tone to Leigh-Ann’s voice — and her presence in general — often seemed to more than irritate the others (Devin and Imogene especially, but her efforts with them were futile anyway. Theirs were fires not dampened by the wet blanket of reprimand) Danika found it sufficiently comforting. It was nice knowing someone cared. “N-no, it’s probably just something from outside,” she said, one hand gesturing behind them towards a window. “If there is, we’ll know about it pretty soon anyway.” A tease, accompanied by the mischievous grin she wore too often lately.
"No — what if it's serious?" Leigh-Ann's neck darted from side to side, looking about for any sign of trouble — though Danika seemed to think it a joking matter. "We may be near a forest fire, or something. I'd rather figure that out sooner rather than later in case we need to turn around."
Fuck, does anyone have a bandaid?
Yeah, of course — what's wrong? How badly did you hurt yourself?
Danika was sat slouched with legs outstretched across two seats, book in her hands hiding her face from view until she lowered it, brow furrowed and nose in the air, sniffing for something. “Does… does anyone else smell burning?”
Even with Danika's slow intonation, Leigh-Ann was immediately startled by her inclination, her head whipping in the girl's direction. "Uh, no. Burning? You think there's a fire somewhere?" Her mind went elsewhere, tabulating the amount of possibilities and tragedies in her arsenal.
He heaved an overly dramatic sigh — “Oh shut up,” he chuckled, “I’m sure you’ve got a whole pharmacy in your bag.” They could always count on Leigh-Ann for that kind of stuff. She was always taking care of anyone. “…If Devin keeps driving like this? No promises.”
"Maybe. Maybe not. What's it to ya?" She smirked, gently pressing her fist into his shoulder. "I like to fill in all the gaps. Sue me. Dramamine wasn't on the checklist, though — maybe you're just smarter than me. And I guess I'll rub your back if it comes to that point, but let's not test that theory, alright?" Though she was concerned about how evident her cheeky tone was, she hoped her smile would compensate for any misunderstanding. "Hey — do you want to know my secret to avoiding carsickness?"
Louis’s pale complexion has always made it damn near impossible to hide any sort of embarrassment. It’s a curse, really, because a deep red blush doesn’t compliment his brightly-colored hair in any way. “I, uh,” a sheepish grin crossed his face, “I’ve been carsick before, but it hasn’t happened yet. I actually nicked some dramamine from St. Clair’s before we left, just in case.”
"Hey, relax. I promise that it's not a big deal. It's not like you woke me up or anything." His blush was more than slightly adorable, but Louis was more prone to embarrassment than most of the group — and so she was always driven to placate him. "Look at you all prepared. You're making me feel like a slacker. Hopefully we won't actually need it. We hardly need anyone vomiting in the van."
Louis hadn’t been paying attention to who was driving (Imogene? Devin? Jane?), but regardless, the ride is bumpier than usual. He gripped the edge of his seat, sucking in a breath as they made a sharp turn. However, the turn was punctuated by a bump, and it seemed his grip wasn’t tight enough, since he wound up jostling the person next to him. “Fuck, sorry,” he laughed, scratching his head, “I’d say I wish we could get there sooner, but that means we’d have to go even faster.”
Leigh-Ann always wished to be lulled to sleep while they were on a drive, but she knew there was no making that happen — she was always on high alert, constantly concerned about whoever was at the wheel and exactly how capable he or she was at navigating the road. Quite frankly, they were all crap drivers, but the van was kind and took the constant rumblings as a norm. When Louis rustled against her, she broke out of a trance, having been too focused on the winding road. "No worries," she replied with her usual mega-watt smile. "I'm at least thankful that I don't get carsick. Don't think I could have survived this trip otherwise."
"While I’ve never been one to advocate breaking the rules, I feel like Alfie needs us. We’re still the only family I’ve got, and if one of us is out there, it’s up to us to find him and be the friends he needs. I don’t think running forever is a healthy and happy way to live, and I think we can convince him to come back."
leigh-ann stokes ✦ sixteen ✦ jessica sula ✦ taken
+ nurturing, caring, charitable
- selfless, anxious, stressed
Leigh-Ann has been an the orphanage as long as she can remember. She doesn’t know much about her parents except that they’re dead and she’s alone. She was actually adopted once, as a baby, by two loving parents who could not have a child of their own. Or so it seemed. Truth was, they were a painfully unhappy couple, Jim and Kelly, who were hoping that a baby might save their dying marriage after two miscarriages. But some things just can’t be fixed. She hardly remembers Jim and Kelly except for the fact that always seemed to be yelling and that she was supposed to be the glue that held them together, but she wasn’t sticky. She’d been useless. When they divorced, the state took her back into custody - as neither of them seemed interested in having her - and she went back to St. Clair’s when she was almost five. She felt very alone, unwanted, and sad, but at such a young age, she had trouble processing such complex emotions. The only signs of what she was going through were how little she interacted with the other children and how much she liked to sit on her own, practicing her algebra. It was not until she became friends with Alfie and the gang that things started looking up.
The thing was, Leigh-Ann’s seeming uselessness did not get her down for long. As she grew up, she realized that she was merely a victim of circumstance, that she was strong and brave, and she didn’t have to be alone if she didn’t want to. These experiences made her stronger and braver and made her greatest desire to be that no one else would feel this way. In her own way, she adopted all the children who came to St. Clair’s, doing her best to make them feel as if they were wanted, that they were important. She desperately didn’t want anyone else to feel the way she once had, especially now that she knew those feelings weren’t true. Leigh-Ann is wise far beyond her years, however, sometimes she tends to worry too much about other people. She’s ridiculously organized and prone to panic - she’s very paranoid, due to her OCD. Leigh-Ann’s OCD does not run her life, but she is prone to the random break-down and is very particular about messes. She’ll occasionally do things like feel as if she has to tap a desk twenty-four times or something bad will happen. Little things of that nature.
When Alfie disappeared, Leigh-Ann was a mess at first. She tries extremely hard to take care of everyone and make sure that everyone is doing okay, so when he was gone, she felt like she missed the signs. Like it was her fault. However, because of who she is, the fact that others were miserable was what made her less so. She snapped out of it in order to take care of her friends and cheer them up, putting on a brave face for them. In this case, putting others before herself actually helped her rather than the other way around. Leigh-Ann has always been like this, thriving best in environments where she is helping people and being useful. She hates sitting idle and even more she hates the phrase “there’s nothing you can do”. She feels like there’s always something. And usually she’ll stop at nothing in order to do it.
✦ alfie wiggins was like a brother to her, and though they were about the same age, she acted like an older sister to him, taking it upon herself to look after him. when he went missing, she felt as if she failed.
✦ hana kim is someone that leigh-ann feels she doesn’t have to look after. they get along really well.
✦ imogene kelley drives leigh-ann crazy. they couldn’t be more different and due to leigh-ann’s tendency to worry too much, she’s constantly worried about imogene.
✦ danika walsh is a really close friend of leigh-ann’s. why? because leigh-ann listens. she gets dani in a way that the others don’t.
✦ jane doe is like a baby sister to her. ever since she arrived, leigh-ann’s felt very protective of her. after losing her siblings, she needed to. it is possible that leigh-ann needs jane more than the other way around.
✦ shaye donahue doesn’t take any favors from leigh-ann and is often annoyed by how much she worries. leigh-ann cares about her anyway.
✦ donald redgrave keeps his distance. leigh-ann continues to try to get him to open up to no avail.
✦ louis whaley is a good friend and she remains oblivious towards his feelings.
✦ leo sanchez is constantly needing looking after and she’s always stuck cleaning up after him. sometimes, though she’d never say it, she feels like he takes advantage of her.
✦ devin jameson is another one of her friends that causes her to become really worried. he’s very reckless and she’s constantly telling him to be careful.
✦ cody bradford always manages to put a smile on her face - however, sometimes she notices that he looks unhappy and she wishes she could make him laugh the way he does to her.