Jewel was stitting on the top step of her floor, watching people go by below. She watched as Arin made his way up the stairs and sat down next to her.
"Can I help you?" Jewel asked as he sat down.
"Just thought you could use someone to talk to."
"You're right. I could," she sighed. "So, how long have you and your brothers been here?"
"Five long years. And I've hated every minute of it."
"After your parents died, did you go through the same problems? Like what's wrong with Jade and Harmoni?"
"The Jade thing sounds familar, but no one was like Harmoni. Levi was on the verge. He didn't talk that much the first few days he was here, but we got him to open up. Hunter, on the other hand, was just like Jade. He started smoking with Crystal and even went out with her."
Jewel's eyes grew huge. "What was he, high?"
Arin laughed. "I think he was." Arin turned his attention downstairs where he saw a bunch of kids playing tag. He smiled as he watched them and added a small laugh.
"So, what did you end up having to leave?" Jewel asked him.
"Soccer, my drums, and a lot of my friends. What about you?"
"My boyfriend, soccer, drums, friends, just about everything I loved."
"I guess we have a lot in common,"Arin commented with a smile.
"I guess. Just not how we got here. You didn't see your parents die." Jewel sighed as she looked down at the kids who were now wrestling.
"Maybe I didn't, but I was only fourteen years old when my parents died. Levi was watching us when the police came to our house and took us to the station. The next thing I knew, I was on my way here. All I had was a bag of clothes. I couldn't take anything I loved, like my drums or my movies. Nothing. Not even a picture to remind me of what my parents look like. I'm starting to forget, and that scares me more than anything."
Jewel nodded. "I see what you're getting at. I had to leave behind pictures of my friends and family. I had to leave behind my drums, my computer, everything. Harmoni was lucky enough to sneak her laptop, and Jade was lucky enough to sneak her portable cd player and a couple of her cds. Jade, Harmoni, and Zoey all wanted to bring their instruments, but they said we had to leave that big stuff behind."
"I hated when they told me that. I was almost in tears. Then, when I went to grab a picture of my mom and dad, they yelled at me. I didn't think about stealing it. Then when we got here, Hunter started to smoke and got the crap beat out of him by the same gang Jade did."
"Why doesn't Miss Thomas find another empty building to buy?"
"She said that she spent her whole life here and doesn't want to move out. She said she would home school us. I hated when I found out 'cause if you're home schooled you can't play on a school team. That's why my brothers and I tried to run away. Levi didn't want to give up football, Dade didn't want to give up baseball, Hunter didn't want to give up basketball and football, and I didn't want to give up soccer."
"That's not fair."
"It's not. Not to mention, we almost got out of here once, but thanks to Hunter smoking we were sent back. I wanted to beat the crap out of him. He ended up quitting a few days later. Or at least I hope he did."
"So we have to wait 'til some family sends us back before Jade will quit? Then again, I'm sure anyone would send us back after they found out about Harmoni's problem."
"Don't worry about that. Most people understand."
Jewel looked back down the hall. When she saw the door to her room was open, she quickly got up and headed to her room. Arin them jumped up and followed her. Harmoni was sitting on her bed alone in the room, typing on her laptop.
"Where did Zoey go?"
Harmoni looked at her sister and shrugged.
"Okay." Jewel knew she was not going to get much more out of her sisters, so she and Arin left, shutting the door behind them.
They then sat down on the top step and began to talk about everything that had changed and all that would soon change because they had moved.
Dade walked into Harmoni's room and sat down in front of her. "You know I was supposed to be on the plane with my parents? I could have died with them."
Harmoni looked up at him. The look on her face showed sympathy towards him, but still she would not say she was sorry about what he could have gone through. She, on the other hand, was there. She saw it all and lived.
"I know you must have loved your parents, and it really had to have been bad to see them die in front of you, but it won't help any not talking to anyone."
Harmoni shrugged and looked away. She was getting really tired of hearing everyone say that she should talk and that she could not stay bottled up forever. That was what she preferred to do, though.
"Come on. At least talk to me. I went through almost the same thing. I know what you are going through. I helped Levi when he went through this."
"How can you help?" Harmoni asked in a low voice, almost a whisper.
Dade smiled. "I'll be someone to talk to about what's going on."
"How will that help?"
"It helped Levi a lot. He hardly talked to anyone when he got here. He was still really shaken up about the loss of our parents. He was watching us when the police came to tell us our parents were dead."
Harmoni rolled her eyes. She felt bad about what had happened to them, but it did not compare to living through it.
"Trust me. I can help. I can also bet you I went trough the same exact thing you're going through."
"What do you mean?"
"With Jade. She's your fave sister, right? You two are best friends?"
"Yeah, so? How would you know what it's like to know your sister is smoking pot?"
"Hunter smoked when we got here. Granted, he's not my sister, but he started as soon as we got here. He ruined a lot of things for us."
"I just don't know what to do. It's not like I can talk to her about it. I'm not good with that kind of stuff. When I did try to talk to her about it, she said that it was her way of dealing with the pain. Just like not talking was my way."
"That's what Hunter told us. Only we were all talking to each other and everyone else."
Harmoni looked at Dade, then she looked at her laptop.
"Actually I have two ways of dealing with the pain. I started to write a story."
"Can I read it?"
"Sure." Harmoni turned around the laptop for Dade to see.
When he finished, he replied, "This is really good. Are you going to get it published when it's done?"
"One problem. I wouldn't know when to end it. When I do figure when to end it and how, then maybe I would. I just don't think that many people would want to know my life story."
"I think it's cool."
Harmoni smiled. She could not believe that the first person she started to talk to after her parents' deaths was some stranger from an adoption agency. She did not mind, though. He was cute, nice, and not to mention, her age.
Dade looked at Harmoni and smiled. He was proud of himself. He had gotten her to talk to him. He figured the first person she would talk to would be one of her sisters. Probably Jade, because they were best friends, but since she started smoking that was probably a slim chance.
Zoey walked back into the room. Harmoni quickly looked at her and smiled. Zoey smiled back. "What are you two up to?"
"Not much," Dade answered.
Harmoni nodded in agreement. Zoey smiled, grabbed her jacket off her bed, and left. Harmoni let out a sigh of relief.
"Aren't you going to talk to you sisters?"
"That's exactly what I'm going to do." Harmoni smiled. "The only person that I will agree to talk to 'til I'm feeling any better is you."
Dade smiled. "I feel loved."
Zoey sat in the kitchen with her jacket pulled tight around her. For the past few days, she had been really cold. No matter what the weather was like outside, she felt as if the temperature were set permanently below zero.
Levi walked downstairs and into the kitchen. "You okay, Zoey?" he asked when he saw her in the chair, shivering.
"No, I'm freezing. Do you think it's cold in here, or is it just me?"
"I think it's just you," he replied as he walked over to Zoey and put his hand to her head. "Zoey, you're burning up! Wait right here. I'll go get Miss Thomas."
Levi ran into Miss Thomas's office. "Zoey's burning up. I think she's really sick."
Miss Thomas jumped up from behind her desk and ran around it. "Where is she?"
"In the kitchen." Miss Thomas ran out into the kitchen. Then she walked over to Zoey and felt her forehead. She definitely had a high fever.
"Come on Zoey. We're going to the hospital. Levi, you stay here and watch over things. Keep everything under control, okay?"
"Okay," Levi sighed. Whenever Miss Thomas left, he had to stay to watch over things. Of course, he was the oldest there, but his brothers could even look over things. He really wanted to go with Zoey and make sure that she was going to be okay.
Miss Thomas led Zoey outside and past Jade and Hunter.
"What's wrong? Where are you taking Zoey?" Jade asked.
"She's burning up. I'm taking her to the hospital. You stay here. We'll be right back." Miss Thomas and Zoey got in the van and left. Jade watched as Miss Thomas pulled out and drove away. She then looked from Hunter then back to the van.
Once Zoey and Miss Thomas arrived at the hospital, they ended up waiting for a doctor for about thirty minutes. As time went on, Zoey's forehead got warmer as her body got colder. When the doctor could see her, he took her to one of the rooms and laid her down on the bed. "How long have you felt like this?"
"Since the night of the accident. That was two, three days ago." Zoey pulled the blankets on the bed up around her more. She was really starting to shiver. The doctor took the thermometer out of her mouth. It read 105 degrees. He quickly ordered a nurse to get him ice, freezing water, and some hot pads. In no time, the nurse returned with several bags of ice and a few hot pads. She handed them to the doctor who then placed the hot pads on Zoey's body and the ice on her forehead. While the nurse was trying to get Zoey's temperature down, the doctor gave her a shot of medicine and then took some blood for tests.
The doctor took the blood to a lab and then went to talk to Miss Thomas. When the doctor came out, Miss Thomas quickly stood up. "What's wrong with Zoey?"
"I don't know. I took some blood, and we are trying to get her temp back to normal. I would like to keep her here for the night. I think you should go home now. I know you have a lot of little kids at home to look after."
"Okay, thank you." With that, Miss Thomas turned and left.
The doctor in the lab finally got to Zoey's tube of blood. He put a drop of it onto a slide and slid it under his microscope. As he examined it, he noticed the virus he did not want to see. He quickly paged Dr. Smithson who rushed down to the lab. "What did you find?"
"Look." Dr. Smithson leaned over to look into the microscope. Leaning in closer, he also noticed it. The result was definitely not good, but it was what he thought it would be. The only thing he could do now was tell Zoey and Miss Thomas. No matter what they did, it was already too far along. Slowly, he made his way back up to Zoey's room.
Upset and scared, she quickly broke down into tears. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, Dr. Smithson slowly walked out of Zoey's room and to his office. From there, he called Miss Thomas to inform her of Zoey's condition.
Once the phone started to ring at the Thomas' house, Levi was quick to anwser it.
"Levi, can you please have Miss Thomas call me when she gets back. It's about Zoey."
"What's wrong with her?"
"Just have Miss Thomas call."
"Okay." Rather upset, Levi hung up the phone and sat down at the kitchen table.
Dr. Smithson put his elbows on the table and his head in his hands. He never in all his years saw a case this bad in a young girl. She had so much to look forward to. He was about to get up to go back to Zoey's room when his beeper went off. When he looked down, he was quick to realize that it was Miss Thomas's number. He quickly ran back to his desk and sat down. Then he dialed Miss Thomas's number.
"What's wrong with Zoey?" she asked, concerned.
Dr. Smithson drew in a deep breath. "I know you aren't her mother, but are you sitting down? This may come as a shock."
"Yeah. Tell me!"
"Zoey has AIDS. It's too strong for her body to fight off. There is no stopping it now. Zoey may not live past 17, maybe even 18."
Miss Thomas was upset, but for some reason she could not cry. She knew that Zoey was already 17, which meant that she probably would not be living much longer. "Thank you, Doctor."
"You can come and get her in a few days."
"Thank you, doctor." Miss Thomas stared at the phone as she hung up. When she looked up, she noticed Levi standing in the doorway, staring at her.
"What's wrong with Zoey?"
"Get her sisters, please."
Levi sighed. He was really worried about Zoey, and judging by the look on Miss Thomas' face, the news was not good. He knew that there was no use pestering her because she was not going to tell him anything. He would just have to wait to talk to her or one of Zoey's sisters.
Levi ran out to the porch and told Jade that Miss Thomas wanted to talk to her about her sister. As he turned to go back into the house, Jade had already pushed past him and ran into Miss Thomas's office.
Levi then made his way upstairs to tell Jewel and Harmoni that something had happened to Zoey and she was taken to the hospital. Now they had to talk to Miss Thomas to find out what was wrong with her. Both girls jumped up and ran downstairs where Jade was already fighting with Miss Thomas to find out what was wrong with her sister.
Harmoni and Jewel took the two seats in front of Miss Thomas as Jade continued to pace back and forth. Miss Thomas still had a distraught look on her face, so they all knew that it had to be bad news.
"What's wrong with our sister? You can tell me! My sisters are here now!" Jade demanded.
"Zoey has AIDS. The doctor says that it's too strong for her body to fight off."
Jewel started crying, and Harmoni tried to comfort her without any words. Jade could not take any more bad news, so she ran back out to the front porch and sat on the swing.
Levi moved away from the door when Jade opened it. He had heard everything. Slowly, he headed out to the back porch.
Jade reached into her back pocket and pulled out the pocket knife that her father had given her on her eleventh birthday. It was her hunting knife, which she always had sharpened. She stared at the knife as she rolled it around in her hand. Then she reached into her pocket and pulled out a joint which she had kept from Hunter. As she was smoking it, she opened up the knife and put it to her wrist. Her head was starting to spin from smoking so fast, so she did not realize any of the pain that she was about to inflict upon herself.. She started to press the knife hard against her wrist when Hunter came back outside.
"Jade, don't!"
"Screw you, Hunter!"
Like always, Hunter ignored the remark. He quickly walked over to Jade and sat down next to her. She had already started bleeding, but before it could get worse he took the knife from her. "It's not worth it."
"Bull shit! I lost my mom, my dad, and soon I'll lose my sister, maybe even all of them if I get adopted."
Hunter walked into the house to get something to stop the bleeding. When he came back out, he sat down next to her and wrapped the cloth tight around her wrist. Then he put his arm around her and pulled her close to him. She slightly turned her head and started crying on his shoulder, while she applied pressure to her wrist.
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," Jade said between sobs.
"It's okay," he comforted her. "Everything will be okay. I promise!"
Chapter 4
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