Lullaby

I sighed, setting my bags down on the kitchen floor, as I went to grab a glass of water. These last few weeks have been hell, to say the least. I had picked up two other jobs apart from teaching dance. I had a present that I wanted to get Dad, but it was really expensive. I didn't want help from anyone with paying for it, so I got two more jobs. Then, to add more to that, I haven't really seen Uncle Tommy or even talked to him since that night...

I haven't seen Dad much, either. He was either busy recording in the studio, showing up for events, or doing whatever else he did. It was getting a little lonely around here. Gunner tried popping in every now and then, but I was usually at work or practice. This was the first time where I was looking forward to Dance season being over...

After getting some water, I grabbed my school bag and sat down at the table. I had a project in history that was due tomorrow and I was maybe half way done with it. If I didn't get it done tonight, I was screwed.

About a half hour later, the front door opened and I heard numerous voices. "Oh my God! Nikki, there's a ghost in your house!" DJ faked shock. "Oh, never mind, it's just your kid."

Dad came in, shaking his head and laughing. "Hey, Sweetie," he said, leaning down and kissing the top of my head.

"Where have you been, shorty? We hardly see you anymore," James said, sitting down next to me.

I simply shrugged. "I've been really busy is all."

"What're you working on?" Dad asked, as he walked to the fridge.

"History; we're on the World War I section."

He turned to look at me and smiled. "Your specialty."

"Specialty? Do you like war or something?" DJ asked, laughing lightly.

I glared at him slightly. "Not exactly. I've always been interested in the period between 1900 up until the 80's."

"Hey! I should be your favorite part of history! It only got started in the eighties!" Dad said, sending me a wink.

"Sorry, Dad. This is U.S. history, not Rock history."

"Right," he said, nodding.

"Hey, guys, sorry I'm late. I had to take care of something," Uncle Tommy said, walking in. He quickly glanced at me, then looked away.

You could feel the tension in the room, and it was killing me. Why couldn't things just go back to normal?

"So, where have you been lately? I mean, you've been MIA for a few weeks," DJ asked me, trying to make conversation so there wasn't an awkward silence.

"I've had practice and I'm totally booked with classes, not to mention piles of homework," I grumbled, looking back down at my history book.

"Are you feeling okay, Baby? You look a little pale," Dad said, walking over and placing the back of his hand to my forehead.

"I'm fine, Daddy. Just a little tired," I said, giving him a soft smile.

"Daddy? You rarely call me that anymore. Are you sure you're feeling okay?" He asked, giving me a crooked smile.

"Dad, I'm fine, I promise." There was no convincing Dad when he was worried.

He finally dropped it, but still gave me a look saying that he didn't totally believe me.

I stayed up late, trying to finish this damn report. The whole time, the guys staid up talking and what not. My eyes were getting so heavy to where I almost couldn't keep them open...

"Baby, why don't you go to bed?" Dad said, rubbing my back. "You look exhausted."

"I will after I finish this," I mumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"Sweetie, you can finish it tomorrow. You need your rest."

I sighed, shaking my head. "I'm fine, I'm almost done."

*Nikki's P.O.V.*

I hated seeing Jasmine wearing herself out like this. She's always been a straight A student, and I was proud of her for that. But she knew I would be proud of her either way. She was going to school and she wanted a future for her life.

She had her head laying down on her books as she wrote in her notebook. Slowly, I could see her eyes slipping shut and her hand becoming still. Her slow breathing told me she had fallen asleep.

"I think she's down for the count, Nik," DJ said, also watching Jas.

I nodded. "I'm gonna get her to bed. I'll be back down in a little bit."

*Jasmine's P.O.V.*

I stretched and yawned as I slowly woke up. Wait... What?! I quickly sat up, and looked around. How the hell did I get to my bed?

I looked at my clock, and really started to panic. I started running around my room, changing as quickly as I could and throwing my hair up into a ponytail.

As I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, I almost ran into Dad and Gunner. "Whoa there! Slow down, little one," Dad said, jumping out of the way.

"Why didn't you wake me up?! I am so late!" I grabbed everything I needed for the day and shoved them into my bag.

"Jas, calm down. I saw how tired you were last night and figured you could use a day off. Most kids would be excited that their dad is letting them skip school for the day," Dad said, giving me a confused look.

"I can't skip school today. I have a report that is due in less than an hour that I was close to finishing last night, but for some reason had to fall asleep. Plus, I have two classes to teach and a shift to pick up at the resturaunt. So, I can't simply skip today." Dad looked a little hurt from me snapping at him, and it made me feel bad, but I would talk to him about it when I got home. Right now, I needed to get to school.

When I ran outside I suddenly realized that it was raining. If I didn't make it to school in half an hour, I was royaly screwed.

I finally got there with ten minutes to spare. As I was running through the courtyard, I made a sharp turn and slid on the slick floor. It was slick already, then add the rain to it, equals me slidding to the floor.

"Jas! Are you okay?" Sam asked, kneeling down beside me.

"I can be such a klutz sometimes," I groaned, grabbing my things and starting to stand up. As soon as I tried standing, I almost went back down. There was a pain in my ankle and I already knew that wasn't god.

"Hang on, don't put too much pressure on it," Sam said, holding onto me.

"I just need to get to class," I sighed, running my hand through my hair.

"Oh, you are not going anywhere but the nurses," he said, looking at me like I was a crazy person.

"Sam, I-"

"Don't Sam me, Jas. You need to get your ankle checked out. Now, let's go."

Great, just what I needed to add to my day...