Too Young (The Jewel Project #1)

Chapter 24.1 - Broken

Chapter twenty three

Broken

This was wrong and Jessie knew it. They should've gone back to the hut by now, try and find Sam, Tom and Billy. But after two days, they still hadn't moved. Every day, Jessie would climb up a tall tree and glance over the canopy of vegetation to check for smoke. It hadn't died down, which would make their trip to the hut useless and dangerous.

And then there was the other thing. Jessie rubbed the bridge of her nose. Kay's words spun inside her head like angry bees. He admitted it...I confronted him...He dared say I'm senselessly complicating things.

She'd never admit it to Kay, but Jessie believed Kyle was right. She was making matters worse. How could she believe Kyle liked Alice? But Kay insisted he'd admitted it. When Jessie tried to explain about Kyle's blackouts, she'd looked at her as if she were crazy. Said it wasn't how his blackouts worked.

Bulling Alice into admitting her lies hadn't worked either. It only railed her up to cause even more trouble. Jessie should've ended the fight Kay and Alice had in the hut much sooner. That way, Kay would've never believed her now.

Instead, Kay and Kyle were furious at each other and Alice pranced around with a wide grin on her face. Stupid, stupid Alice!

The only reason Jessie wasn't tearing her to pieces was Jimmy. He had no idea about her part in Kyle and Kay's fight. She ached to tell him, but knew it wouldn't do him any good.

"Any luck with Kay?"

Jessie jumped. Jimmy stood right behind her, looking very fed up.

"Nope. And by the looks of it, you didn't do much better either."

"Kyle's hella pissed."

Jessie slapped her forehead. "This is just what we needed. Kyle and Kay fighting. As if the past days haven't been horrible enough without this." Tears prickled her eyes, but she contained herself.

"Kyle had a bad one. He almost punched my head off." Jimmy rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't think you should watch him anymore. At least I can immobilize him until he calms down."

"Why is this happening to him? What did Jerry say when you told him?"

"Well..." Jimmy raised his eyebrows. "Jerry unexpectedly wants to have a look for himself. He's come round since the explosions. He wants to talk to Kyle, but can't spike up the nerve yet."

Jessie sighed. "At least some good came out of all this."

*

Jerry paced outside Kyle's tent. He had to go in. He wanted to see what Kyle's trances were like for himself, but it wasn't that easy. It'd been weeks since he'd last spoken to his brother. He couldn't pretend none of that happened, though he wished he could. He wished he could make the last weeks disappear.

Kyle stepped out of his tent. Jerry bumped into him and fell off his feet. He sat up, rubbing his back. Kyle had his arms outstretched, as if he'd wanted to catch him but changed his mind at the last moment. He closed his fists, lowered his arms and walked away.

"Kyle, wait." Jerry scrambled to his feet and followed.

Kyle turned to face him. "You're kidding, right?"

Jerry stopped at a safe distance. Kyle suddenly looked scary. "You're...you're okay, aren't you?" He swallowed. "Not in a trance."

Kyle's eyes narrowed. "You can't even tell the difference, can you?"