Stay Green || [h.s.]

[Forward]

Heyyyy y'all! We're back with a new story, a new universe.

If you have enjoyed my previous work, but are not a fan of Harry Styles, fear not! The only elements of Harry that will be included in this are his name and face. You can almost consider him a made up character.

Let's get to know Callie. Dying to hear what you think <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Callie Lyon lives her life in the margins.

She is the small annotations and musings that accompany the greater narrative. Scribbled and crammed into the worn parchment borders of her family's complex history. She is never the focal point, never the lead plot line. She exists only to compliment the bold words and sweeping sentences in the center. Her contributions and perspective always fighting for recognition, scratched out in faded pen that paled in comparison to the dark, inky words typed out cleanly and decisively on the page.

She is the character that fades from the primary storyline. The one who sporadically stumbles across the awareness of the reader only to quickly be forgotten again with nothing more than a fleeting "hm I wonder what ever came of her."

Her delicate point of view fades from the margins, her hand-written thoughts become fewer and far between, her words turn into haphazard arrows and spiritless underlines until Callie Lyon disappears from the book all together.

So she has given up claiming the narrative.

It used to cause her bones to physically ache, the relentless longing to be noticed. In a home consumed by turmoil and unrest, she strived to be the lighthouse in the storm. She'd be the steady and unrelenting good where weary family members could take shelter. She dove into her studies, earning a place in every gifted or advanced course offered at school. And in her free time, she channeled her focused precision into golf, her father's preferred pastime, earning her accolades and all-state championship titles.

Dedicated to the straight and narrow, she stayed away from any potential vices, which along with the usual culprits, began to eventually include friendships. She lived in constant fear that one distraction, one step out of line would add to the ever-present chaos in the backdrop her life.

She'd be perfect, exceptional, a solace. Anything to get her parents to toss even just one approving look in her direction.

Because the undeniable center of the Lyons' universe was Jack.

Callie's older brother. Born five years before she quietly came into the world, he was a gravitational force that pulled the eyes and attention of all those around him, making it impossible to look away. However, despite his natural star power, Jack was more akin to a black hole. Tormented by an inherent darkness that lured him down a self-destructive path.

But Callie never blamed her brother.

Even when his demons had all but consumed him whole, she loved him fiercely. Every time he'd come stumbling home, run ragged by the drugs and half beaten by his so-called friends, she'd do her best to shield him from her parents. Greeting him with a gentle smile and an endless supply of forgiveness that rarely exists in the body of a small child, she'd help him sneak upstairs. With nimble fingers, she'd clean his wounds using the first aid kit she kept in her bedroom, always hidden just behind the carefully assembled line of stuffed animals. She learned to leverage her curse of invisibility to creep downstairs to swipe him cold dinner leftovers and a glass of water from the kitchen.

She'd always tip toe past the same living room scene; her mother practically doubled over holding her head in her hands while her father paced back and forth with his arms crossed tightly over his chest. After many years, the carpet had grown worn with worried footsteps.