Surprise! YES it's ANOTHER chapter :D I feel generous today so enjoy chapter 3!
TRIGGER WARNING!
There's elements of suicide, y'all know where this is going...you have been warned.
The following year...
Jenny walked toward her sister's room, knocking on the door softly before slowly opening the door, finding Roz sitting on her bed staring out her window. "Roz, mom is calling you to come down and have dinner." "I'm not hungry Jenny. Just leave me alone." "But Roz, you hav.." "No Jenny. I said I wasn't hungry!" Roz said again, with a bit more force this time. But Jenny was not giving in either. She misses her sister. Over the past couple of months, Roz hasn't been Roz. She always locks herself up in her room, barely eating anything if mom didn't threaten to take away her car keys. There were a few times that Jenny had caught her sister staring the ceiling, with tears running down her cheek. She wants to help her sister, she really does. But she didn't know how, and she was hoping that her sister will let her in and tell her what has been bothering her so much. "I don't know what's wrong with you Roz. I know SOMETHING is wrong, but I don't know what, or how to help you if you don't let me in. I love my sister, but right now the person in front of me isn't her. I miss her and I want her back. If you decide that you're hungry after all, the lasagne in the oven for you. Goodnight."
Jenny started to walk away before Roz called out, "Jenny wait! Come… come here and close the door." Jenny did what she was told and sit next to her sister on her bed. Roslyn just sighed without saying anything. She didn't know what to say. She knew she can't tell Jenny the truth. She wouldn't understand, she's too young for any of this. She decided that for the next week, she's going to stay strong, and stay happy. If not for herself, she'll do it for her parents, and especially for her baby sister. "I'm sorry I haven't been myself lately. I just have been stressed out lately. I have a lot on my plate right now, but I'm okay. How about we go out to the mall tomorrow after school? We can go shopping and maybe get some ice cream before going back?" Roz asked. Jenny looked at her sister's face, not entirely convinced that her sister is okay. But she's getting her sister back, and that's all she ever wanted. "Yeah okay I would like that." Jenny satisfied that her sister is okay, stood up from the bed walking towards the door before turning around, "You sure you're alright Roz?" Jenny asked again, she wanted to make sure that she's really fine." Roz forced a smile, "Yeah, I'm alright Jenny, you wanna know why? Because I have the best sister in the world." Roz said and Jenny beamed before running towards her sister and giving her a big tight hug. "Now you have to go to bed so you won't be too tired for our outing tomorrow." "Okay Roz, good night, sleep tight!" "Don't let the bed bugs bite." Roz continued. Jenny left her sister's room, satisfied that her sister was alright and was excited that they're going to spend time together tomorrow. What she didn't realise was that right after the door was closed, the fake smile disappeared, Roslyn lied on her bed staring at the ceiling, the tears began to fall again.
Jenny woke up the next day, feeling more cheerful than she was the past couple of months. She walked on the corridor of her school towards her locker when Billy and Brandon saw her and announced their presence. "Why do you all happy and giddy this morning?" Brandon started. Jenny smiled before answering, "Roz is taking me to the mall today after school and we're gonna get ice cream later on. I'm just happy that I get to spend time with my sister." "Glad to hear that she's happy again," Billy said. The bell rang so they had to walk to their classes. They promised each other to meet up at their usual spot during lunch time.
Lunch time came and Jenny was the first one to arrive at their table with Billy right behind her. 5 minutes later, Ally and Adam sat down on their seats, Adam pulling out a turkey and cheese sandwich while Ally, PB&J sandwich. Jenny just stared at them, 'can't they be any more different than one another?' she thought before Brandon walked in and practically slammed himself on his chair, being loud as usual. "So are we hanging out at the park today after school?" Adam asked the group. "You guys can go ahead, I already have plans with Roz today." Jenny replied. "Yeah sure we'll meet at 4pm." Brandon chipped in. Ally and Billy just nodded their heads. They continued eating the rest of their lunch in silent.
After a few hours walking around in the mall, going in and out of so many shops, the two Jareau girls finally called it a day and went to their favourite ice cream parlour. Jenny ordered her favourite, Very Berry Strawberry while Roz went for Chocolate Chip Mint. "I had so much fun today Roz! Let's do this again soon! I love spending time with you." Jenny said. Roz smiled, a genuine smile this time. "Sure kiddo, we can do this again next time." "You promise?" Jenny asked hopeful. Roslyn's smile was a bit forced this time, 'I'm sorry Jen' she thought before answering, "I promise."
The next few days went by as it should. Everyone in the Jareau household were happy. The man of the family Tom going to work in the morning, coming back after his shift was over, having dinner with his whole family even though sometimes he's so tired he just want to throw himself on the mattress and sleep for a week. Sandy being a housewife making sure the house is clean and order is retained in the house. Jenny was being Jenny, stubborn, hard headed but has the biggest of heart. Yesterday Sandy caught her youngest feeding some stray cats outside their house in the middle of the night. She wanted to scold her daughter for going outside at night without any adult supervision, but she knew her daughter was just feeling sorry for those poor animals. Roslyn has seem to be in a better mood these couple of days, Sandy thought. She realised that her eldest has been acting strange lately, but she just thought that Roz is going through a phase as a teenager so she just let it slide. God knows Sandy went through some funky phases too during her teenage days.
What she didn't realise was that it was more than just a phase. She failed to see the little signs. The mood swings, the need to always be alone, not eating, the crying, the shallow cuts, the long stares into the darkness, the emptiness in her eyes. Sandy missed all of them. She just shrugged them off as teenage angst. Boy was she wrong…
It was Thursday night. Sandy and Tom were watching TV in the living room. The girls are in their respected room doing their own things. Jenny was on her desk finishing her science home work when she heard Roz calling out for her, asking her to come to her room. She would choose hanging out with her big sister over homework anytime. So she went to her room and she saw that Roz was lying on her bed. "You called me Roz?" Jenny asked. "Yeah kiddo, come here and lie down with me for a sec…" Roz simply said. Jenny did what she was told. "What's up?" Jenny was happy that she could spend time with her sister, but that doesn't mean that she wasn't curious as to why Roz called her to come over.
"Nothing Jen. I just wanted to spend some time with my baby sister." Jenny was satisfied with her answer. Roz continued after a few minutes of silence, "You remember that time last year we went for a weekend trip to the beach in LA? We went together with the Lamontagne's and rented a whole beach house for the weekend. You and Billy would spend the whole evening by the beach building sandcastles, burying each other in the sand, swimming, and he just followed you around wherever you go. Sometimes I think he has a crush on you. We had so much fun that weekend." With a furrowed brow, Jenny said "What do you mean Billy has a crush on me? We're best friends don't be silly. I remember that weekend. I also remember you chasing me along the beach with a scary crab in your hands. I still haven't paid you back for it" Jenny finished with a fake-serious look on her face. Roz just laughed remembering pretty well the incident that ended with their mom giving her an earful for scaring Jenny out of her wits.
Roslyn stood from her bed and went to her desk before opening the top drawer of her study table. Inside the drawer was a velvet red box the size of her palm. She took it out, closed the drawer and walked back to her bed. "I have something for you. I know you've been eyeing this for quite awhile, and now I want you to have it." Roz told jenny before she opened the jewellery box and took out her rose gold heart necklace. Jenny was shocked to see the piece of jewellery, "Wait what? No, that's your favourite necklace! Are you sure?" "Yeah I'm sure. I know how much you wanted this necklace, so I want you to have it. Keep it close to you." Of course Jenny was happy! She wanted that necklace for so long, and Roz never let her borrow it. Now that Roz had willingly offered to give it to her, who was she to decline? "Thanks Roz, I love it so much!" "You're welcome kiddo" Roz replied with a smile. She helped Jenny putting on the necklace.
She stared at her little sister for a few seconds and then said, "You know I love you so much right Jen? No matter what happens, I'll always love you. Because you're my one and only baby sister, and I would do anything for you." Roz said truthfully. A tear was threatening fall but Roslyn managed to hold it in. Jenny just looked up at her sister without a clue that anything was wrong, and smiled, "I love you too Roz! More than anything in the world." Roz smiled, "And I know if anything happens, you'll have a lot of people that loves you and will be there for you." Roz thought of Billy, Jenny's childhood friend and best friend. She has a strong gut feeling that the two of them will end up together one day. It's a shame that she wouldn't get to see it. "What do you mean by that Roz?" Jenny questioned. That was a weird thing to say, she thought to herself. "It's nothing Jen, okay it's time for you to go to bed. You have school tomorrow and you don't wanna be late." Jenny just let it go before standing up from her sister's bed to go back to her room. She took a few steps towards the bedroom door before she doubled back and went to hug her big sister. "Thanks again Roz for the necklace! I love you." She repeated. Roz was taken by surprise. It's like she knew, Roz thought. She hugged her back tightly, maybe a bit too tight but Jenny didn't seem to notice. Roz watched her baby sister walked out of her room and closed her bedroom door. 'I'm sorry, I wish there was another way. I wish it didn't have to come to this, I really do. But I can't take it anymore, I can't do this any longer.' The tears started to fall again, for the last time.
Jenny woke up at 4:30 am because she needed to pee. She walked slowly to the bathroom, her brow furrowed when she found the bathroom lights were on. She knocked a few times to find out who was in it. When no one answered, she just assumed that the last person to use the bathroom have forgotten to switch the lights off. So she tried to twist the doorknob and to her credit, it was unlocked. When the door swung open, Jenny froze as she saw the scene in front of her own very eyes. Roslyn was lying in the bathtub still in her pyjamas, her right hand stretched out of the tub, with blood dripping from it. Her eyes were still open, but it was empty. Jenny stood there, frozen. She didn't know what to do. She just stared at her sister's body, laying lifeless in the tub. It must've been at least 10 minutes before she snapped out of her shock. She screamed for her mother as loud as she could. The tears finally decided fall down her cheeks. Once the tears started, it was like a dam broke. She kept screaming and screaming until her mother showed up, asking her what was wrong. When she lifted her head and looked towards what her daughter was pointing, she screamed as well. She rushed towards her daughter to try and find a pulse, but her efforts was in vain, as her body was already cold. Tom woke up to all the screaming and finally, the whole family sat down outside of the bathroom, the parents trying to shield their baby girl from anymore horror, and they waited for the ambulance to arrive though they knew, it was already too late.
How was it? Do read & review ;) It took me so long to write this chapter if I'm being honest. It didn't feel right and I was definitely struggling to write the suicide scene. If any of you guys ever have thoughts of doing it, please remember that you have people that loves you so much, and that your life matters. Don't be afraid to ask for help and when you finally do, you'll realise that you have so many people that would do anything for you, that loves you dearly. My DMs are always open if you need to just talk, rant or anything :) Stay happy everyone!
