Prologue
Jem was fifteen and I was eleven. When summer came, finally releasing me from my own personal hell, I thought my summer would be like every other. I hoped Dill would come back as he had promised and kiss me like he used to when Jem wasn't looking.
However, the summer was nothing like how it used to be. Dill didn't come and stay next door. He did frequently send me letters and postcards saying how much he missed me, but it just wasn't the same.
And Jem… Jem didn't play with me, he didn't read with me, or sit and smoke string. In fact, it seemed like he didn't want to do anything that involved me in the equation.
To say it's strange is an understatement. It wasn't always like that though. At first, things were like any other day, until it wasn't. That's when everything started to change. Jem started to change.
It started with little things like hiding in his room all day or sudden bursts of unwarranted anger. When we got in a fight- which was ALL the time- he would take it easy on me and pullback.
There was even a time where he didn't fight with me for a week after one of our spontaneous incidents, the longest radio silence ever recorded between us. It's safe to say we were quite disagreeable, especially with each other.
***Flashback***
The sun was shining down bright on Jem and I as we play in the street. I look up to Jem wondering when he will send the tire back over to me, when suddenly Jem rolls it into the Radley's yard with a big smile on his face.
"Go and get it Scout, I dare you," he says with a small smirk etched onto his full lips, chapped from the cold.
I look to the Radley's yard and see it lying right under one of the boarded up windows. He's just being lazy, I think to myself, no way in hell am I going to get that tire.
"Get it yourself Dummy," I yelled, "you did that on purpose!" Even though I know it's childish, I still pot my lip, cross my arms, and stomp my foot to show my deep discontent with this new development.
"Come on Scout, you chicken! You're such a girl. As a girl you are suppose to get things for men."
It will never matter how hard I try to be just like him, to Jem I will always be his little kid sister. "Take that back Jem! You take it back right now," I replied shaking my fist at him. Jem just smiled and shook his head as I begin to march towards him..
"You can't make me, I'm older an-" he was cut off from finishing whatever insult he was going to spout when I tackle him to the ground, landing on top of him.
I try to punch him in the face, but he grabs my wrists and flips us over so his lanky body was on top of me. Then he yanked my arms above my head so I was no longer to punch, the very thing I want to do most in this moment.
I hadn't expected him to be so strong, or so heavy. I can barely breath as his overheated body presses hard against mine into the cool Earth below us. "Get off you cow," I shout with a string of profanities following.
Jem still doesn't move so I begin to squirm, trying to get away before he can seek revenge for my punches by yanking my hair or hit me. But the blows never come, Jem doesn't try to attack.
When I look up, Jem is breathing hard, his bubble gum breath sweeping over my face. As I look into his forest green eyes, I watch the pupils dilate to black and his Adam's apple bob. "Are you okay Jem," I asked.
My question seems to pull Jem out of his trance because he swallows and rolls off of me, seemingly shaking off his weirdness, Clearing his throat Jem responds shakily.
"Uh… Yeah. I'm fine Scout." I watch him as he runs over to the Radley's and grabs the tire as if unconcerned with the doom and gloom that surrounds the residence.
He hands me the tire as he goes past, his fingers trembling as they accidentally brush against mine. Without another word he runs inside, leaving me to just stand there in dazed shock.
***Flashback Ends**
It was moments like those that made me realize how much Jem had changed. He was much taller than me, although he was still just as lanky. You wouldn't expect him to be so strong, especially when I pride myself on being the toughest girl in my school.
It wasn't just physical changes though. He was quite and more observant. Jem had always been more studious as I, but it was as if he threw himself head first into his school work. Atticus couldn't have been more proud of him. I, on the other hand, with my sharpened sisterly instincts, knew for a fact that Jem was hiding something; it was eating him up on the inside. It was easy to tell from the bags under his eyes and the constant ignorance of my presence. Luckily, after the week of ignorance of my presence, the true reason for Jem's shift came to light.
