She Believed Every Single Word

Sam stared intently at the crystal orb.

"What is that," she asked, wiping what remained of her tears away.

"It is a crystal, nothing more. But, if you look into it, it will show you the answers you are looking for."

Sam quickly looked in his direction, as if searching for reassurance. When all she received back was a blank expression she gave up. She brought the crystal close to her face and peered into it. At first all she saw was blackness, but as she stared harder the darkness faded into that of images. Sam gasped at the feeling of dizziness as she got pulled into the memory.

(Flashback)

Sam looked on, giggling to herself as she saw her brother engage in his first kiss. She hid behind the bushes, amazed that two thirteen year olds could swap spit for so long.

School had just let out and everyone had gone home for the day. The football field was deserted and so were the bleachers the two teens occupied. Two teens that were very unaware of the little girl's presence, behind the bushes a few yards away.

"Oh, Chelsea, you are so awesome, you rock my world," Toby said, taking a breath from their little makeout session.

"Well," his female companion replied, "I can honestly say the earth is moving for me, too."

As they locked lips again, Sam cautiously sneaked from her hiding spot and made her way around the bleachers. She nearly lost herself to a fit of giggling as she crawled her way underneath them and approached the two lovers.

"What the hell was that," Toby exclaimed suddenly, when he felt something pinch the back of his calves.

"What," Chelsea replied, alarmed.

"I felt something pinch my legs."

Sam could stand it no more and grabbed a hold of his brother's legs.

"Rowl," Sam yelled.

Toby quickly looked underneath him and saw his sister smiling, mischievously up at him.

"Sam what are you doing here? You are supposed to be with Mom," Toby spat out.

Sam managed to climb her way through the bleacher slats and sat next to her brother.

"Nuh, uh. Mom asked you to pick me up from school and walk me home, remember."

"Oh, crap," was all Toby could say.

Of course, Sam didn't have a problem finding words.

"Hi," she directed toward his makeout partner.

"Hi," Chelsea replied to Toby's cute, little sister. As she was about to figure out, Sam was not so cute. Her devious mind turned as she looked at Chelsea.

"You must be Tara," she said, sounding innocent. "Toby has told me a lot about you. I can see why he likes you so much."

"I am not Tara. Who is Tara?" Chelsea looked at Toby, accusingly.

"I have know idea who she is talking about, Chelsea. My sister is lying, you are the only girl for me." Toby gave her his puppy dog eyes all the while thinking about how he would kill his sister.

"Funny," Sam chimed in, "didn't you say the same thing to Tara on the phone last week."

"That's it, Tobias Williams, I am leaving. Looks like you will be kept company by a ten year old for the rest of the night."

Chelsea stood abruptly and stalked down the bleachers,

"No, baby, come back. Come on."

Sam casually pulled out her sketch pad and started to draw as if nothing had happened. Meanwhile, Toby followed his girlfriend, trying to convince her to stay.

"Get away from me you pathetic, loser," she said in his face. She walked away, quickly, leaving a dejected and angry, Toby.

Sam inwardly winced after the scene had unfolded, a twinge of guilt surfacing inside her. Toby turned around and glared at his sister. Sam gulped, but tried to remain nonchalant. When Toby reached her he said in a venomous voice, "You little punk!"

"What, it's not like I lied to her. You do like a girl named Tara."

"Sam, that's Sarah's friend. And you did lie, I never told Tara she was the only one."

"So, I stretched the truth a little."

Sam stood and started to put her pad back in her backpack, as Toby glared at his sister, wanting to hurt her somehow.

"You are still carrying around that damn, sketch pad. It's not like your any good anyway."

Sam looked up at him with wide eyes. "What do you mean, Toby? Mom, Dad, and even Sarah say that I am good."

"They only say that so they won't hurt your feelings. I am telling you the truth because, I don't want you to set yourself up for disappointment. Sarah even agrees with me. She said that she thought you were a failure. That's what you are Samantha Williams, a failure. You might as well give up on trying to be anything."

Toby walked away from her, his anger not allowing him to feel the guilt he would feel later. Sam held back her tears in shock, as she followed her brother home, dragging along behind. Toby was a good actor as he had just proven at that moment. It was the biggest lie he had ever told, and his sister had believed every single word.

(end of flashback)

Sam snapped out of the vision and found herself in front of the same willow tree Jareth had been at earlier. She pet the branches for comfort, trying to process everything she had seen. Jareth watched her from his position on the bench, quietly observing her reaction to the memory. Sam finally spoke.

"You saw it too,didn't you." It was more of a statement than a question. Jareth noticed this and let her continue without interruption. "I don't know whether to laugh or cry. I was such a brat. I can't believe such a small, insignificant moment could have made such an impact on me. How could I have aloud it to ruin my life?"

Jareth stood up and approached her. When he reached her he looked into her eyes intently. "Because Sam, your older siblings were your whole world. If your big brother said it, then it must be true. You were a child, Sam. You were very naïve and you couldn't have known any better. Although, I would never have believed such a thing."

Jareth smirked, trying to get the girl to smile. He succeeded, but it only lasted a moment.

Sam came to a sudden realization and said, "I remember the day after that,Toby offered to take me to a movie and out to ice-cream. It was like his way of apologizing, I suppose." Sam paused and then continued, "How could he have said such hurtful things to me, Jareth?" Sam's smile faded, as her eyes began to water.

"Samantha, he was a hormonal teenager. He wasn't thinking clearly. He didn't mean to hurt you anymore than you meant to hurt him."

"So, what do I do now?" Sam looked up at the Goblin King, helplessly. He raised his hand and caressed her cheek.

"You reach for your dreams, Sam, and keep on reaching. No matter how afraid you are, faith in yourself will keep you going. What is even more important than success itself, is the fact that you try. You do that and everything will work out in its own time."

Jareth dropped his hand from her face. Sam surprised him by giving him a warm hug. Her tears dried and were replaced with a smile. Jareth spoke again.

"Talk to Toby about this, Sam. You might be surprised by his reaction."

"I will," she replied. She pulled away from him. "Jareth, thank you. Especially for using my first name."

They smiled at each other as Jareth faded from Sam's vision. Her surroundings faded from view as Sam began to awake. (end of dream sequence)

Ripper 101- YOU'RE so right. Thanks buddy for taking the time to review. Moonjava and Nyllewell, I hope you are still reading. If you are, please let me know what you think so far. I would also appreciate any other readers to leave a contribution in the little, review box.