===

Monday 18th July

Jordan Terrell was curled up in a quiet corner of the Stonehall County Library, surrounded by mounds of books and an old camping lamp.

To an outsider, she would just look like a half asleep teen who had made a mess in a random corner of the library. But someone who knew her would know that there was order to her chaos; that the books around her were in fact all Sci-Fi novels from one series and that she wasn't just in any corner, she was in Aisle 10, the Sci-Fi Aisle, Eli's Aisle.

A perfectly shaped tear fell from one of Jordan's lowered eyes. It trailed down the contours of her face until it fell off the bottom of her chin and landed on the worn page of the book sitting in her lap. She looked down at the page and saw what word the tear had landed on. Love. She squeezed her brown eyes shut but it did no good when she was trying to escape her own thoughts and memories. If anything, it made them clearer.

She could almost feel Eli next to her, his dark brown fingers tangled in her's of a lighter shade as he read to her in that mellifluous voice of his. Almost.

When she managed to force her eyes open, Jordan noticed a pair of dark brown legs in her line of sight. She raised her gaze and recognised the figure as her older sister Kaden.

"Jordan..." Kaden murmured, sitting down before the remaining fragments of what had once been her sister. "I think you should maybe..." she stopped short; she couldn't do it, she couldn't kick Jordan out, not when she was gazing at her with those big brown eyes that were threatening to spill gallons of tears any second now. "I just think... Maybe it's not.... Maybe you should..."

"I should what?" Jordan asked in a barley-there voice.

"Nothing." Kaden sighed with a slight shake of her head. "Just do whatever helps okay?"

Jordan nodded silently as her sister stood up again before slowly walking away. Jordan knew what she was doing; Kaden was hoping that she would stop her before she went, that Jordan would jump up and give her more than just the one word answers that she had been subjected to for the last two months. She was hoping that Jordan would suddenly morph back into the loud, opinionated little sister she was a few months ago. She thought that if Jordan sprung back, maybe she could too.

Alas, that didn't happen. Instead of exchanging any words, both sisters shed a tear once they were out of each others sight, each mourning someone who was slipping (or had already slipped) between their slim brown fingers.

===

Wednesday 20th July

Jordan was in a mood which could be considered good compared to her emotional state for the last few months. Instead of nesting in the musty corner of Aisle 10, she was sat in the study area, a certain Sci-Fi book sat open on the table in front of her. Jordan preferred her usual recluse; there were less distractions. But now that she was out in the open, she couldn't help but watch the boy who was two tables away from her.

For the last twenty minutes, he had been tossing grapes into his mouth as about five textbooks were laid, untouched, before him. Jordan suspected that his sharp jawline and bright blue eyes had something to do with him being an exception to the universal no eating in the library rule.

"He's Dominic Richards." Kaden said from behind Jordan, causing her to jump and lose her page. "Sorry." Kaden apologised quickly as she took a seat beside her sister. "He was in my year but apparently he's repeating year 13." she explained. "I can see why." she said flatly as Dominic fell backwards off his chair after leaning back too far to catch a wayward grape.

"Isn't that the first thing they teach you in school? Don't rock on your chair or you'll crack your head open?" Jordan commented, her voice hoarse.

Kaden stared at her sister in shock for a few seconds, her mouth agape.

"What?" Jordan asked innocently, pushing a stray dark brown ringlet out of her face.

"I think that's the first full sentence you've said in weeks." Kaden said, her mouth curving into a smile. Jordan shrugged, keeping her eyes on Dominic who was muttering to himself as he picked himself up from the floor. "He's fucking hot isn't he?" Kaden said after the two sisters had been observing the boy for a few minutes.

"Was the curse necessary?" Jordan asked with a faint smile.

"Absolutely. There's hot then there's fucking hot." she proclaimed, resting her chin in her palm. Jordan hummed in response, wondering what Dominic was doing in the library. She'd seen him a few times around school and he didn't quite seem like the studious type.

"Aren't you going to tell him off for eating?" Jordan enquired.

"Um..." Kaden mused, scratching the back of her neck. "He's not really making a mess..." she said as Dominic attempted to catch three grapes in one go and ended up sending them flying in different directions as they rebounded off of his angular face.

Jordan raised an eyebrow at her sister who rolled her eyes before getting up from the table and walking towards Dominic. Instead of pausing next to him, Kaden walked right past the distracted teen, giving her sister a wink over her shoulder as she disappeared around the corner.

___

a/n: hi guys! This is my first attempt at a short story, so don't be too harsh with the comments ;)

But at at the same time, feel free to tell me what you think, if there's anything I could improve or any typos that I need to fix (my phone is always out to get me lol).

Thanks for reading x