Written in the Stars

Siblings

She was in the midst of perfecting the neckline on her newest creation when she got the text message. Normally, when Jessamine was ultra focused, she would ignore all incoming calls and texts, but when she glanced down and saw multiple messages from Caroline Brewer, she knew something important was happening. Caroline wouldn't be begging for Jessamine to respond unless it was absolutely necessary, so Jessamine shut off her sewing machine and picked up her phone, her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed in concern as she read the messages.

Jessa, can you meet me at the corner, as soon as possible?

It's urgent.

Don't tell your parents.

The last message was extra concerning. It wasn't as though any of the Vertical Limit children were in the habit of spilling each other's secrets to their parents – after all, if they couldn't trust each other, who could they trust? – but if Caroline was specifically asking for silence, it meant that she was freaked out and didn't know what to do.

Luckily for her, Jessamine Copeland was a master at remaining calm in stressful situations.

Grabbing the purse that had her wallet in it, Jessamine stuck her phone inside before rising from her chair to slip into the closest pair of braided sandals and heading out the door. If she was truly going to get away with her parents not getting suspicious about her sudden departure, she needed a cover story and an alibi, which was where Tyler came in. Having someone who could back up your story was one of the many things she'd learned from the crime shows she loved to watch.

It was Saturday afternoon, which meant that her younger brother was unwinding in his room from that morning's swim practice, which generally consisted of listening to indie rock songs very loudly while he looked up pasta recipes online. She had always thought it was kind of hilarious that her baby brother ended up being such a whiz in the kitchen, seeing as neither she nor either of her parents were particularly skilled in that area. Up until Tyler had learned that he was quite useful with a saucepan, their meals had mostly consisted of takeout, frozen dinners, or their mother's famous chicken, rice, and vegetables.

"Ty," she said, knocking twice and pushing the door open before he had a chance to respond, a habit she needed to get out of, especially after previously walking into his room while he was in the midst of an extremely private moment. She supposed it was because she was innately curious. If someone told her not to enter, she would just want to enter more, so she didn't bother asking. He was right where she expected him to be: lying on his stomach on his bed with his laptop in front of him, Blink-182 blasting through the speakers.

"What's up?" Tyler replied, eyebrows raising as he turned down his laptop speakers and closed the window which had been opened to a recipe of pesto carbonara. He was so used to his sister just walking into his room that he didn't bother complaining about it anymore. Besides, it wouldn't be long before she left for college again and he wanted to enjoy all the time he had left with her.

She leaned against the door frame and crossed her arms over her chest. "In case Mom or Dad ask, I'm going out for a little bit."

"Okay...," he replied, unsure as to why she was telling him that. It wasn't as though they were constantly aware of each other's activities. "Why don't you just tell them?"

"Because," she sighed, reaching up to pull her hair out of the bun it was always twisted into while she worked and sending her thick, dark curls tumbling down to her waist. "I don't want them asking a bunch of questions."

Her parents weren't nosy, per se, just parental, and although she could appreciate that they cared enough about her to want to know her whereabouts, considering she had no idea what was currently going on, she didn't want to have to vaguely respond to questions she didn't actually know the answer to.