One Last Hope

Twenty-Nine

Kaylee anxiously waited what seemed like an eternity for this time to come. It's been 2 and a half months since Jasmine ran away and now the twins could finally reunite. They've never been separated longer than a few days before so it was agonizing not waking up next to the person they'd been so used to waking up next to every morning. Kaylee had no idea what she'd say when they came face to face. It made her skin crawl just to think of all the possible outcomes.

One thing was for sure though, they both needed to avoid a conversation about the family since it would only result in another quarrel.  She knew that Jasmine would want to know about Charlie but that would ruin this entire visit. The last thing Kaylee wanted to do was add more flames to the burning fire. All she wants from this is a nice genuine chat with her literal other half. 

As she approached the door to the small rest area in the police station, she saw Jasmine waiting patiently through the window. She smiled as she ran over to hug her dear sister. Jasmine smiled through the embrace. The first thing they both noticed was a change in each others appearance. Jasmine got a lot skinnier, more like a bag of bones. She had dark circles under her eyes like as if she wasn't getting much sleep and her tan had faded, making her skin go back to a lighter shade. Kaylee on the other hand got a haircut. It used to reach past her hips just like Jasmines did but now it was shoulder length. She had a slight muscle build showcased on her arms and legs because of her recent athletic activities. Now they could easily be told apart.

"I like your hair." Jasmine observed before touching the ends of Kaylee's hair.

"Oh, thanks." Kaylee grinned. "I joined the track team a few weeks ago. I guess I was tired of my hair getting in my way when I run so I just cut it off."

"The track team? Wow. I never would have taken you as a runner."

"Me neither." Kaylee nervously played with her hair. "Tom wanted me to join with him. So I thought why not! I'm the fastest runner on the girls team. Its really helped me alleviate stress, y'know?"

"Why're you stressing out for?" Jasmine suddenly inquired.

"Oh, its nothing." She was taken aback. It was best if Jasmine didn't know about what was going on right now anyways.

"No. Tell me about it." Jasmine stubbornly demanded.

"Listen, Jazz, I don't want to argue about anything today. Can we just have a peaceful hour together? Please." Kaylee requested only one thing of her sister. Jasmine gave up a little too easily and then nodded in agreement.

They continued to talk about subtle subjects. It was mostly Kaylee doing the talking since Jasmine wouldn't say much about herself. Kaylee has always been the talkative one of the pair but today she just felt awkward about it. She wished Jasmine would contribute to the conversation instead of leaving Kaylee in this position.

It didn't take Jasmine long to realize that Kaylee was doing everything in her power to avoid the subject of their father. Something was obviously going on and she wanted to know about it.

"Alright, Kay. Lets cut the crap. What's going on with dad?" Jasmine scoffed.

"What makes you think something is going on with dad?"

"He's always up to something." Jasmine sounded ticked off. "If there's something that you know, tell me."

"Why do you want to talk about dad so badly? Am I not important enough to you?" Kaylee was offended that Jasmine would rather talk about their father than hear more about her "crap."

"Don't try and turn this on me. Your the one hiding something from me!"

"Maybe you should have a little more faith in dad!"

"Excuse me?" Jasmine scowled at her. "Are you seriously thinking that there's a spark of good left in that maniac?"

"All I'm saying is that things have been pretty peaceful between us lately and it feels nice." She tried to reword what she meant while defending herself.

"Your talking about the manipulative, controlling, egotistical asshole who tore apart our lives. Your an idiot to let him back in!" Jasmine bitterly shouted that last part.

Silence filled the room as Kaylee began to tear up. She stood there shaking her head, whispering, "You know.. I came here to have a nice talk with you.. no fighting, no arguments.. just peace.. and you ruined it just like you ruin everything."

She pushed herself up out of her seat and fled the police station before Jasmine could criticize her any further. Running away from the fight was better than feeding the fumes. She just couldn't help but feel so hurt that Jasmine would rather fight than connect with her own sister.

"Yeah, run away like you always do, you damned crybaby!"

****

"So I'm guessing your meeting with your sister didn't go so well." The social worker approached a hot headed Jasmine who was waiting for her in the lobby.

"Nope." She said blankly. "She ran off."

"Just give her some time. She'll come around." The social worker smiled. "By the way there's a boy here asking to speak with you before we take you back to Tess's house. I'll let it slide because he seems like a nice boy. But meet me in the parking lot in 5 minutes exactly."

She walked out the front door when he saw the boy heading over. Jasmine turned to see Logan standing in front of her.

"What do you want, Mr. tattletale?" Jasmine harshly spat.

"Whoa, tone down the attitude." He felt bad vibes with the first word she said.

"I just had a bad reunion with Kaylee. I'm not in the mood for your untrustworthy fake ass friendship right now."

"Jasmine, stop." He grabbed her arm to stop her. "I'm sorry that I got you into trouble.."

"I'm in freaking goddamn foster care because of you. Your apology isn't going to work this time." She pushed him off her.

"Jasmine!" He didn't expect such a hard push coming from her. He forced her to turn around.

"Why? Why did you do it?" She turned to him, speaking in a low angry voice.

"I was worried about you!" He stated the obvious which made Jasmine light up with fury.

"Bullshit! You must hate me a lot to put me through this crap."

"I don't hate you.." He calmed down and lowered his tone of voice.

"Whatever." She rolled her eyes and made her way towards the front door.

"..I love you." He finally came out with it.

She heard him loud and clear but chose to ignore it. She really didn't want to hear him say it. She was ready to throw a tantrum if he said another word.

"I'm in love with you, Jasmine Robinson. That's why I called the cops."

She stopped dead in her tracks without turning around, trying to keep her cool. She stood staring straight ahead for a few seconds before mumbling, "I have to go."

She sped walked out the door and toward the parking lot where the social worker was waiting for her.