Flowers for Lockehart

prologue

prologue

When Jolie and I were in third grade, she became very sick the night before my parents' big Halloween party. My parents were and are very wealthy important people. They owned the largest company in the world, Lockhart Corps.

"Is Jolie going to be okay mom?" I asked my mother, who was tucking in Jolie. Jolie already had passed out, with a damp rag on her forehead. I haven't seen my parents nor twin sister in six months because I lived with my grandparents. When I first saw Jolie again, it had seemed she lost a lot of weight. I didn't ask her about it because it seemed rude to ask at the time.

"She's going to be okay Jayden. It's also time for you to go to sleep," she replied to me, before getting up from my sister's bed and bringing me to the guest bedroom across the hallway.

When I woke up, I fell off the queen sized bed, dragging the comforter and blanket with me. I groaned slightly from the impact and afterwards got up, throwing everything back onto the bed. I skipped through the doorway into the connected bathroom and quickly washed up. When I finished dressing myself, I quickly hopped down the stairs and followed another hallway that lead into the dining room.

As I walked into the room, my parents were already sitting down, discussing the party they were going to have that evening. They didn't notice when I walked to an empty seat and sat myself down. While sitting alone and annoyingly tapping the dark oak table, one of the maids came rushing in with our breakfast.

While my parents were finishing their breakfasts, I went back upstairs, but this time into Jolie's room. When I got in there, Jolie had her eyes closed and was breathing very rapidly.

"Hi Jolie," I whispered just loud enough so she would hear. Her eyes slowing blinked open and looked at me.

"Hi Jay," she responded with a tired and forced smile.

"Are you still sick?" I asked, my naive self didn't understand the symptoms at the time. I just thought she easily got sick and that she easily got hurt.

"Mom and dad didn't tell you did they?" She asked, she seemed surprised at the idea of them not telling me what was wrong. I shook my head in response while she sighed in relief.

"Why? Mom said that you were going to be okay"

"I am going to be okay Jay," Jolie claimed, but she was and still is a horrible liar.

"When is mom and dad going to send me back to grandma and grandpa?" I asked. I did ask my parents but they said that I was going to be staying for a while.

"It's not going to happen soon I hope."

I didn't notice at the time, but as I grew up in that household, I was exposed to why I was really there, and the reason why was based on a timespan of five minutes and twenty five seconds.

My mother lied, Jolie wasn't okay that night nor was going to be okay.