Chapter Five

I stayed on the floor, waiting to see if he had heard me. I had guessed that he had, becuase his window had been wide open, but when I thought that he hadn't I slowly got off the floor.

"Owww..." I groaned.

"Hello?" said a familiar voice. I froze in place. A familiar voice? I didnt even know anyone. I quickly opened the shades. when I did I came face to face with Jason's.

"Jason?" I asked in disbelief. The hot guy I saw earlier was Jason?! Crap.

"No way you live next door to me?! How ironic is that?! Now THIS is going to be awesome!" a smile spread quickly across his face.

"Yeah maybe for you... your'e not locked in prison" I said with a said with a frown, "They gave me rules!"

Suddenly I heard my grandma from the bottom of the stairs, "Leslie? Are you okay?...Who are you talking to?"

"No one Nanna!" I yelled back.

I turned back to face Jason. "See?!" I asked.

"Oh come on! I'm sure they just care about you!" I stood there speechless. He always thought the best of people. Gosh...

"Why do you have to be so...good??" I said with a smile on my face.

"Umm?" He said with a smirk and then chuckled.

Before he could say anything I but in again, "I mean you are just so accepting of everyone,...so unlike anyone in my family."

"Dont you think that's a little harsh?" He asked obviously not trying to hurt my feelings. He was just honestly wondering. "I mean come on your'e not too bad. You couldnt have done that bad."

He was so accepting. Everyone had always judged me by my looks. Couldn't he tell that I was a bad kid. That I was "dark" as my dad had put it?

I fealt like I could tell him anything and that he would just sit there and love me no matter what.

I remembered his accusation and came back into reality. " I mean... from my point of view it was like I was a preppy fun cheerleader one minute and after...- and then I was just dark."

He gave me a reasurring smile, "What made you change?..."

I had no clue where to start... Was it when my brother passed away...? Or was it when my dad left? Or was it my mom and the way that she had never dealt with any of her emotions after everything crashed...

Tears started to swell in my eyes. I couldn't help it. I couldn't believe I was sitting talking to a guy I had just met telling him things I had never even told one of my best friends back home.

Once he saw the tears begin to form his face turned to worry, "Oh!...I'm so sorry I-I... One second!" He left and seconds later he was back with tissues. He handed them to me and I gave a small smile back at him to thank him.

I decided I better just come out with it all. I knew I could trust Jason.

"Well... I guess it all started when the doctors found a tumor in my brother's brain.." Jason's eyes widened with shock. "When they went in for the first check up everyone expected for him to be fine. I thought they would just take it out and that he would be fine...well it wasnt going to be fine.. when my parents came back late that night crying, I-I- I was really confused. I asked and asked but they wouldn't tell me what was wrong, or where my brother was... later that night my mom came into my room and told me that the doctors had said that he only had a month to live..."

"Woah..Im so sor-'"

"I'm not finished..." I was really crying now, they became uncontrollable..." After my brother died...my mom never dealt with it. I- I never did either..." I admitted to my Jason and myself, "my dad on the other hand did...he visited his grave and talked to people about it...I just stayed inside away from my mom...I started using drugs because I thought it would make my life fun again and forget about how much my life sucked- I didnt...My mom just stopped functioning... She shut me out of her life...and my dad just couldnt handle being around us so he stayed away thinking it would help us all in the long run- it didnt.." I came to a sudden realization why my mom had now been andry with me..she blames me for dad not being around... "I well I became..." I looked down at my clothing and my black fingernails, "well this..."

There was silence for a while. Jason just sat there in shock.

Once I had calmed down, I was the first to speak. "Thanks.."

"Thanks?...what for?" He asked with a confused look on his face.

"I had never talked about it with anyone before...I had always thought that people wouldnt understand how messed up my life was..but talking to you- it was like I... knew you would accept me..." I trailed off.

He changed the subject. "So that's why you act like youre all tough?" He said with a wink.

"I am tough!" I laughed back..yeah right. I was probably the weakest person in the world. I just played the part.

"Ha ha" Jason looked down at his watch, and his face became surprised, "Woah 9:15 I better get to bed, I have to be at the nursing home tomorrow at 6 A.M."

"Yeah, thanks again Jason, come jail break me some time." I said with a grin.

"Will do!" He said and began pulling his window closed. He stopped half way and looked over at me.

"What?"

He almost looked embarrassed. "Umm...you wouldnt want you, you know umm come down to the nursing home with me tomorrow would you?"

I hesitated but knew that there would be nothing to do around my grandparents house anyways. I also knew that hanging out with Jason this summer would be the best thing that ever happened to me.

"Yeah I'd love that."

"Cool!" he said a smile growing on his face.

"Yeah but I'll be there around 9 a.m."

"Okay" he laughed. "Night!"

"Night" I said and we both closed our windows and shut our blinds.