Story of a Girl

"If you could bring one person back from the dead, who would it be?"

Sydney bit her lip, and then looked straight into his brown eyes.

"Ashton Maxwell." his eyes filled with confusion. "He's my older brother. He...he was a Marine. When the war overseas started, he was shipped out. That only made my parents fighting worse. They so often blamed each other for him enlisting, but I knew it was because he wanted to. He chose the Marines because my mom's dad had been in the Army, and my dad's dad had been in the Navy. He wanted to join a branch, but he didn't want to favor either parent."

Sydney was surprised with how much she was sharing with him. But he just made her feel so comfortable. He didn't judge. He was just...Alex.

"Syd. Party tonight, you gonna go?" she nodded.

"Yep. I need to get my mind off of everything." he nodded and they got off of his bed.

Sydney and Alex had been spending a lot more time together. Sydney was no longer eyed as a stranger at band practice. She was no longer considered unfriendly by the others.

Sydney drove them to her house and they went in, her parents again not home. Alex had insisted on being around her all the time in case Daniel came around again. Sydney had insisted he stay away but gave up after two weeks.

Alex followed her the familiar path to her room. He sat on her bed as she entered her closet. He saw her throw out the outfit she had been wearing before and shook his head. He didn't know any other girl whom he hadn't dated(or hooked up with)strip in front of him. Granted, she was in the closet, but he was just in the next room. He heard her look through her clothes and when she emerged she was wearing a bright yellow giraffe print tunic v-neck and black leggings. She had a white long sleeved shirt under the tunic, because the fabric was sheer. on her feet were her tattered converse. she twirled in front of Alex and he laughed.

"I like it." he said coolly.She smiled at him and nodded.

"Thanks. I like just throwing things together." he raised an eyebrow.

"You're good at it. When I just throw things together, that's what it looks like. When you do, it looks like you spent hours putting it together."

she laughed, shaking her head and sat down in front of her mirror, brushing her hair and then putting it into a low side ponytail. She then did her usual make-up. She stood up and sprayed her body spray, a kiwi-like scent, Alex thought, and then the two of them were out the door, and to the party.

Once inside they went to the kitchen together and got drinks, and then Alex was pulled away by some busty redhead. Sydney laughed and he just shrugged and followed her. Sydney knew that girl wasn't really what Alex was looking for. She shrugged herself and got another drink. She walked around the party and soon was pulled into the room where the music was blaring and was dancing. She kept getting drinks and dancing with the random guys, but she didn't feel like kissing any of them.

After a while she headed outside and sat in the grass. She shook her head, not understanding why she was feeling emptier than usual. Normally the kissing, dancing and drinking would make her feel better, but it wasn't working tonight. The thought of kissing some random guy made her stomach turn in knots. she shook her head, clearing those thoughts and took a sip.

Amanda watched Sydney sitting by herself outside and extracted herself from Jack. Jack watched as his girlfriend made her way to Sydney and shook his head, unable to wrap his head around what Alex saw in her. Everybody knew who Sydney Maxwell was. She was the girl you'd go to if you just want to make out. She was the girl who had accused Daniel Wallace of abusing and almost raping her. But Jack, knew in the back of his mind that she was telling the truth. Nobody goes from goody-goody to that overnight for no reason.

Amanda sat beside Sydney, and Sydney gave her a small smile.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"So...you and Alex came to this together huh?" Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. We were hanging out and then we decided to come here. He knows he can't rely on Jack because you two left him at a party." Amanda laughed.

"Yeah. It was all Jack's idea though. Said that Alex could get a ride from whoever he slept with." Sydney laughed.

"Yeah right." Amanda laughed.

"So how have you been? I mean...I heard that Daniel was back."

Sydney shook her head.

"I'm okay. Better than I thought I would be. Alex has helped me a lot, ya know. He's a nice guy. Better than what girls have said about him." Amanda raised an eyebrow.

"You're different than what others said about you too." she said quietly. Sydney gave a somewhat bitter laugh.

"Am I?" Amanda nodded.

"Yeah. I mean....I've known that you weren't really like that. But the others....they still don't fully believe that." Sydney shrugged.

"I don't blame them. It's not like I haven't earned my rep."

"Sydney, you're not a whore." Sydney laughed.

"No. I'm just the girl guys go to if they want to make others jealous, without actually sleeping with me. Because, hey? Who would want to sleep with the girl that Daniel says is a whore?" Amanda sighed.

"I'm sorry." Sydney shrugged and sipped out of her beer bottle.

"Sydneyyyy. We're about to have a 'meeting.' You wanna join?" she bit her lip.

"I'll pass." she called back the guy shrugged and walked over to a corner.

Amanda looked at her, an eyebrow raised.

"What was that about? Weed?" Sydney nodded. "And you decided that you didn't want to because....?"

"I want to be a different person." Sydney replied, sighing. "I want to be someone that Ashton would be proud to call his little sister." Amanda nodded.