EPISODE 4: TAYLAH'S DISMAY!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dark Angel, I just own my story.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Taylah sat on the floor in the hallway, her locker opened and her books on her lap as she searched through her belonging for the last period of her day. Taylah was at school in her uniform, which included a pleated checked skirt, which she hated like a plague. Everytime she stood up from her locker, she had to make sure in the most graceful way she could that she didn't pull her hem. And the skirt had to be four centimetres below her knees because that was the way the Principal of the school wanted the girls to where it.

It's not like Mr Langley ever wore a skirt and knew the terror of my pain. Grr!

Finally after she had found her 'Only the Heart' novel, she 'graciously' got up and fossicked through the massive crowd which filled the hallways of her school. On her way she made her normal gracious smiles, exchanged her normal 'hey' to the many girls who judged anyone who didn't and ignored those whom expected her to do so. At High School, a person needs to have a mental list of those whom you ignored and those of whom you greeted. It was all part of a social circle of which Taylah hated being part of.

And I can't wait to get out of this hellhole so I can become the person I want to be and not the person I'm expected to be!

High School was the first real test of character. A person can look back on their days in high school and see a person of whom they don't want to become, and it has always been that way. When Adolescents get together, it can be said that the alter ego takes form, that of the follower. Peer Pressure and Rivalries are the main forces of which carry teenagers to be the socialites which follow each others example and lose there own sense of individuality. Taylah hated that fact, and she knew she wasn't a part of that. It was obvious in the way she didn't fit in with her fellow students, who she saw as associates rather than classmates.

Taylah walked into English and sat at her normal seat, second row and to the window side. She loved where she sat because she could hear the teacher, talk to her friends and feel the wind on a hot summers day.

But we haven't really had a summer. More like a mixed spring and autumn!

Taylah still had three more school terms to complete until she finished High School for good, she even had a countdown written up in her school planner. And she knew exactly what she wanted to do when she finished school. She wanted to dally in the arts, and writing was one form in which she could express that talent.

"Okay today we are going to start preparing for your Outcome which will be next Thursday at 2:40 so write that down in your planners. It will be an hour long and will finish at 3:40 so you'll be going home late so be prepared." Taylah's teacher sat at his desk with his planner opened and spoke to class authoritatively, almost as though he was speaking at a press conference such as the one Jade had recently attended.

Except Jade's real name is Jondy and she's a genetically enhanced prototype made by a secret US government agency who wanted to make her a perfect soldier. Isn't there anything that doesn't remind me of Jade? And where the hell is she, I hope she's okay!

"Okay, would everyone please place in front of me their Practise Outcome's and then you can go and do your Preparation and I will hand the Outcomes back to you before your Outcome!" Mr Johnson spoke and Taylah and the rest of the class stood up and put there Practise Outcome's on Mr Johnson's desk.

Taylah sat back down in her desk and began thinking about Jade again.

Jade may never come home, and I don't even now why she went. Max doesn't even know, and the police don't know anything except that they are certain that she was kidnapped. But who would kidnap her, except her military handler's back in the States

Taylah tried to control her thoughts and used her work as a distraction, engulfing herself in her writing.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

It was now after school and Taylah was dropped of as always by her best friend Mitch, and was surprised to find her parent's home, the two cars evidence in the driveway. She opened the front door and walked inside, feeling a sense of urgency and nerves as she walked. Since Jade's disappearance, her parent's had been using their work at the Hospital to distract them from their pain and having them home was strange, because even when Jade was home, 4 p.m. wasn't a time they would usually be home. Both parents worked 9-5 hour days with many days past that time span.

Taylah walked into the kitchen and found her mum cooking and her father sitting in front of the television. "What are you two doing home, cause your never home at this time?" Taylah asked, sitting next to her father Kevin, hugging him in greeting.

"We are having a dinner and Justine''s gonna be here soon. So go and shower and get dressed in something nice and we will eating dinner soon!" Kevin Donavan informed his daughter, answering her question.

"What's the occasion, cause we haven't really had anything to celebrate of recent! I mean with Jade- you know. I mean I've barely seen you recently and I live with you!" Taylah told her father, and her mother walked in the room from the kitchen.

"Darling, don't you remember what day it is today." Taylah's mother Joanne questioned her.

"April 12...Oh yeah!" Taylah's face fell and she remembered what the day was. "It's Jade's arrival anniversary!"

"And we are going to celebrate it cause it is worth celebrating, and it is what Jade would want." Joanne spoke, leaving the room.

Taylah stood up and started for her room, and as she passed the front door Justine walked in!

"So, we are celebrating an anniversary and you're not dressed yet. Jade would be shocked that you weren't in your party clothes!" Justine greeted Taylah with a hug. Justine was 22 years old and lived in Ballarat where she went to University. She was doing a double degree and therefore was going to be at University for another 2 years. She had already completed 4 years of her course and was really comfortable in her set up at Ballarat.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

Taylah finished her shower and put her underwear on, walking into her room with a set of clothes set down on her bed. Justine had chosen and ironed a pair of red hipster cord jeans and a yellow boob tube, which everyone seemed to love on her.

"Okay, so I guess that's one less job I have to do." Taylah remarked and started to put the clothes on herself, as she was only wearing her undies and a bra, which she realised she'd have to change.

"So I really wanted to talk to you about Jade. I mean, how are you coping with Jade's kidnapping?" Justine asked while picking at Taylah's make up purse.

"I can't lie to you. It's been hell! Everything reminds me of her and I just don't have any idea how I'm going to cope if she doesn't come back or if she's... I don't know how I'm supposed to act about all this and Mum and Dad try to make things better, but they can't. Jade's gone and I'm powerless to do anything and I really want her back. I want my sister back!" Taylah confided in her sister and she could feel tears well her eyes.

"Me too. But it's different for me cause I feel ashamed cause over the past year or so I haven't seen her or you as often as I should or could. And now Jade's like gone and I haven't told her in so long how much I love her and how much I miss her, even when she isn't missing. I feel this like great regret as well as sadness and...It's almost like we've already started digging her grave and I just can't and won't accept that she's gone!" Justine broke down into tears and Taylah followed suit, each embracing each other on Taylah's bed; communicating their sisterly bond in an attempt to comfort each other.

"She's gotta be okay!" Justine repeated between sobs.

"I know!"