Little Sisters

Chapter Two (Jessica)

Jessica

        I played with the frayed end of my sleeve, sitting awkwardly on the couch. It was about a week after Lina had joined us, and the boys had gone to a meeting with Management, leaving us at home alone. After a very, very long awkward silence, Lina rolled her eyes, and shoved herself off of the other end of the couch, where she had been slouching.

        "They said we haveto get to know each other, right?" she asked, looking at us. Gracelynn stared at her knees, not replying, but Talia, Dylan, and I all nodded.

        "So...what're your favorite bands?" she asked, as if she hadn't spent the last week ignoring our attempts to be nice.

        Dylan shrugged, setting down her pizza and excusing herself to the bathroom. Talia spoke up first, surprising me.

        "Um," she began awkwardly, "I like Christina Perri. And Ed Sheeran. Three Days Grace. And, uh, All Time Low. Of course, One Direction, too." Lina nodded her approval.

        "Not bad," she said, looking around expectantly. I half-expected her to add her favorites, but she didn't. Her eyes fell on me. "What about you, Miss Priss?" she asked, causing my face to flame, "Who do you listen to?"

        "U-uh..." I stuttered, "Green Day's okay. I like The Beatles a lot. And 5SoS." Lina nodded, looking satisfied. Her gaze fell on Gracelynn, who had been doodling in her notebook during the conversation. She was huddled in the huge arm chair, looking quite small, even for her.

        "Hey," Lina said, rather harshly, "Oh, quiet one. What music do you like?" Gracie's head shot up, and she stared, seemingly forgetting the notebook resting on her lap. Lina looked annoyed. She waved a hand in Gracie's direction.

        "Hello?" she called, "Anyone home?" Talia immediately jumped to Gracie's rescue.

        "She doesn't talk," she said. I rolled my brown eyes. Talk about stating the obvious.

        "We're all a li'l shy," said Lina with a shrug. She paused, and thought for a moment, before adding, "Well. Not me. But whatever. Come on. I don't bite." She bared her teeth at Gracie, causing the girl to scoot back into the chair even further. "Yet."

        "No," I said, raising an eyebrow. "She doesn't talk at all." How did she not notice in the past week? "That's what her notebook's for. Communicating. She's got a million. Almost nine years' worth of her conversations."

        Lina stared over at Gracie for a moment in disbelief. "That's kinda lame," she said finally, causing me to frown. "Why not?" I opened my mouth to defend Gracie, but she shook her head quickly, weilding her pen. Shakily, she began to scribble away in her notebook.

        While we waited for Gracelynn to finish writing, Dylan walked in. She stuck a Listerine Square in her mouth - I swear, she is obsessed with those things - and squeezed into the chair next to Gracie. When she was finished writing, Gracie handed Dylan the notebook. Dylan cleared her throat, and adjusted her black-framed glasses. She began to read what Gracelynn wrote silently - I had a feeling that she was being brought up to speed - before reading out loud.

        "If you really must know Lina," she read, "I was kidnapped. I won't talk after that. I won't go into why not. But I have my reasons." 

        Lina raised her eyebrows, but didn't reply. After a few minutes, Talia grabbed the television remote, and put on a football game. Soon she and Gracelynn were immersed. I watched for a bit, not really paying attention. I was too busy mentally reviewing the steps for my latest dance routine.

        After a bit, Lina stood up "Well," she said, "this has been fun and all, really, it has. However, I happen to know where a party is really close to here, so if you'll excuse me... Anyone care to join?" My eyes widened, and I looked around at the other girls. Gracelynn studied her knees, and Talia opened her mouth to protest. Dylan had a look of shock on her round face.

        "You can't," I found myself saying, "You'll get caught." Lina rolled her eyes, and whirled off towards the entrance hall.

        "Not if you can keep a secret," she called over her shoulder. "See ya." We stared after her, until we heard the door slam shut behind her. Then the four of us looked at each other in shock.

        Talia and Gracelynn were the first to recover. Gracie tapped Talia on the knee, and they both stood up. "We're off to bed," Talia announced, yawning slightly, "Ni will kill me if I can't get up in the mornin'."

        "Night," I mumbled. Dylan soon followed, under the pretense of getting a shower. Left alone in the living room, I rose to my feet. Quickly I pushed the coffee table out of the middle of the living room, and began to stretch.

        When I was ready, I plugged my headphones into my ears, and began to work on my new routine. A smile spread across my face each time I executed a move correctly, and frown would flash as I made notes of places I needed to improve. After a while, I heard quiet clapping, and tugged my headphones out of my ears. I looked to the doorway, and smiled when I saw Louis.

        "Lou!" I scolded, half laughing, "Don't do that!" He just smiled.

        "Aw, but Jessie," he whined, "I wanted you to know you were good." I giggled at his behavior, and pulled the coffee table into place.

        "Gracelynn went to bed," I informed him. He nodded.

        "You read my mind," he announced, turning to the stairs. Every night, each of the boys made an effort to visit their sisters before bed. It was really cute with Dylan and Harry, who would tickle each other and giggle madly about the stupidest things. Lina and Zayn would argue, but it was normally playful - speaking of Lina, I was worried that she wasn't home yet. Niall and Talia would normally have a long talk about serious topics, that normally turned oddly humorus. The saddest were Louis and Gracelynn, because he normally spent the entire time trying to get her to talk. She never did.

        "Oh," Louis called, poking his head back into the living room. "Liam'll be in in a minute. And Aaron called. You have a date tomorrow, apparently."

        "Okay," I replied, plastering on a smile, "Thanks." As soon as he was gone, my smile dropped and my face paled. The last thing I wanted to do was spend the day alone with my boyfriend tomorrow.

        I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, and fished it out shakily, already knowing who had texted. I slid the screen, and punched in my passcode quickly. It lit up, a message from Aaron appearing on the screen before me.

        Did Louie, he always spelled Lou's name wrong,  tell u abt our date? get ready babe, I'll be there at ten. Im comin for ya. ;)

        I sighed in relief. A seemingly harmless message, thank God. Quickly I texted back, telling him that yes, Lou told me, and I'm going to sleep now, okay? He replied with a quick, K bae. Night. Luv u. x

        After Liam came downstairs to wish me a goodnight, which turned into watching the first half of Toy Story together, I headed up to bed. Thankfully, the room I shared with Dylan and Lina was seperated where our beds and dressers were with curtains, leaving a common area at one end of the room, and "dorms" at the other. I slipped into my section in the dark, fumbling for the switch to my lamp in an effort to let Dylan sleep.

        Once I could see, I slid off my old, faded red jumper, and comfortable skinny jeans. I stopped in front of my dresser, examining myself in the mirror on the wall above it after I removed my makeup.

        I had bruises up and down my arms, and a few scratch marks on stomach, which were slowly healing. The bruises on my sides, thighs, and face were fading for now, but something told me they would be back by tomorrow. I sighed, and pulled my pajamas out of my top dresser drawer.

        I pulled on soft, blue plaid pajama pants and a black tanktop, and crawled into my bed. With a sigh, I turned off my lamp. In the darkness, I curled into a ball on my side, terrifed of the day to come. I squeezed my eyes tightly, trying to prevent the tears, but to know avail. A few slid out, and a few turned into a lot. I cried myself to sleep.