They're Just Girls

Locklyn's POV

"I am so not ready for today." I groaned loudly walking into school with Marley.

"Why not?" She sounded surprised I was usually the more optimistic of our group so my change in heart may have come off as strange.

"This Project S.O.F.T. thing is not going how I thought it would."

I felt stupid, caring so much about how one person felt about me, but I had hoped Ashton and I would get along.

He left his notebook in class and I anticipated my rescuing of it would give us push in the right direction.

The damn book had been taunting me all night and I knew I shouldn't have looked inside it but I did, and it was frightening, dark images, all of them looking like the result of a bad trip, but there was one picture that stood out to me among all the deeply shaded horrific works of art, at the very back of the book, was a flower, void of any dark shadows or sharp scratches and I wondered what was going through his head when he had created it.

I thought I had him all figured out, a criminal that thinks he's too good for everyone and everything. Too bothered with himself to be bothered with anyone else, but after taking a peek inside his brain I couldn't help but think there might be more to the boy with the dead eyes.

We made it to the front office where all four boys were waiting outside the door. Michael and Luke were talking, Ashton stood alone, seeming to be as far away from Calum as possible.

"Here's your, um, book ." I stammered handing him his darkest secrets trying not to upset him already. I wanted today to be easy.

He took it from me wordless, not meeting my eyes.

As we walked to class, he trailed a few feet behind me, obviously not wanting to have conversation.

"Why don't you like me?" I asked quietly, wondering if he could even hear me at all from all the way back there.

"Because I don't." His words stung but I wouldn't let him know that.

"I haven't done anything to you."

"You didn't have to. I know your type."

"Oh really? What would that be?" My words were harsh, letting him know that I was in fact angered by his cocky assumptions about who or what I am.

"You're one of those smart girls that thinks she knows everything. You think you know me, you think you know who I am, and what I'm about, you think you can read exactly how I'm feeling or what I'm thinking. The best part is, when you don't know something you have to figure it out, you pry and press and ask a thousand questions. You're nosy, you thrive of gossip, usually at the expense of others. You're boring, living your life through other people because you don't have the guts to do it yourself. You're pathetic."

He had gotten closer to me as he spoke and was now standing just in front of me. My mind raced trying to debunk his hypothesis. I was not that girl...I wasn't.

"Like I said, you don't know me."

His eyes rolled back into his head and we continued to walk the now nearly empty hall to Biology.

Jett's POV

"Do you have siblings?" I asked Calum as we worked on our English project, a presentation on Shakespeare. I hadn't been able to get Presley out of my head all day, worried she was only getting worse, beginning to feel like our time together was running out, that if I waited until after school I might be too late.

"Yeah, I have a sister."

"Is she older or younger than you?"

"Older. What about you?"

"Yeah, I've got a little sister." I held my breath to keep from crying.

Then we were quiet again, and I could see Calum looking at me out of the corner of my eye.

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah I'm fine. " I smiled weakly, not looking at him, the tears were welling in my eyes I was sure of it. Don't cry.

"Are you sure? You look like you're going to cry." Today had gone so much smoother than yesterday, which I was glad for, not in to mood for any unnecessary emotion, Calum and I had been finding out a lot about each other, but his sudden worry for my well being made me smile, feeling like we were actually getting somewhere.

"I'm fine, really."

"I don't think I believe you. You've been pretty down all day."

"It's nothing." I tried to brush it off, still decided if I wanted to tell him about my terminal sister.

"If you're trying to figure out if you trust me or not I should tell you that you are the only person I've actually held a conversation with since I've been here, so I have no one to tell really."

I was slightly excited by his words, feeling like I was the only one he'd decided to somewhat open up to, but also curious as to why he hadn't bothered speaking with any of the other boys. Something told me his busted lip and bruised knuckles had something to do with it, but I didn't ask. I didn't want to ruin the day over it.

"It's just my sister, she's in the hospital going through some stuff right now."

"Stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Oh come on, I practically told you my life story in third period! Tell me what's going on."

I paused before answering, "She has...cancer...leukemia actually, and it's bad, getting worse, I'm going to visit her after school so it's just kinda been on my mind."

Tears threatened to spill over but I didn't allow them.

"Oh my God, Jett, I didn't know, I'm so sorry I-"

"It's fine Calum, it's not anyone's fault." I gave him a half smile, letting him know that he hadn't upset me.

"How old is she?" He asked after a moment of silence.

"She's ten, but you wouldn't know it if you talked to her. She's really smart, as in book smart and a smart ass, difficult as hell too, but she's great."

"Sounds kind of like you." He smirked over at me lightening to mood.

***

"Well it's about time you made it over here! I could have been dead by now!" Presley threw her hands up in exasperation, her words tugging on my heart strings even though I knew she was joking.

Her blue eyes were red a little puffy, she had either been crying or it was the medication. She no longer had her long brown locks, but her mouth was still set in the beautiful bright smile she'd always had.

"Hey Pres, how are things?" I bent down hugging her through tubes and wires.

"Well, beside the fact that I am deteriorating as we speak I am good. "

"You know I hate when you talk like that."

"And that, my dear sister is exactly why I do it."

I rolled my eyes, pulling a chair up next to her bed.

"Is mom or dad here with you?"

"Both actually. They're in a meeting with Dr. Mohr."

"Oh. What for?"

This never meant anything good.

"No one will tell me." She shrugged.

"Are you scared?" I asked, knowing her bluntness was only a shield from what she was really feeling, it had to be, there was no way anyone could be that nonchalant about dying.

"Can we just talk about something else?"

"Sure, anything."

I knew she was probably asked these questions day in and day out and pestered with inquisitions about her condition, if this was my last visit, I wanted her to remember me as her sister, not the girl with the same questions as the rest of them.

"When I get out of here I hope you know you're taking me to the movies at least twice a week."

She'd always loved the movies, and that had kind of been our thing before all of this, we went every Monday night, easing the pain of the first day back to school.

"Sounds like a plan, and we can eat tons of food."

"I'd kill for some movie theater popcorn right now!" She groaned.

"So then it's settled, the day you get out we'll go to the movies and I'll get you the biggest bucket of popcorn they have."

"And Sour Patch Kids." She added to the list.