Chapter 8

Syrus and I walk into my house with all of the paint and brushes that we bought today. I close the door behind us with my leg and put my things down. I go into the kitchen and see my Dad sitting in there. He's very still, not moving even when I stand in front of him. I sigh, knowing that he's having a flashback. He's trapped in his thoughts and I need to wake him.

"Dad?" I lightly shake his shoulder trying to get rid of his bad memories. He twitches a little, so I know that he is slowly coming back. I wish Mom was here, she handles these things better than I can. I hug him tightly, hoping he'll break it soon. Mom always ends up doing something affectionate to help him.

He hugs me back and I know he's officially alright now.

"Sorry about that Jas," He shakes his head at himself.

"Nothing to worry about Dad. I don't want to watch you suffer, so I did what I had to do," I tell him. He gets up from the chair and starts walking out of the kitchen.

"I'm going to take a nap, alright? Make sure your mother, knows I'm asleep," He says before walking up the stairs.

"Syrus!" I yell for him while I fix myself a drink. He walks into the kitchen quickly seeing what I need. "You want to get started painting the room?" I ask him, then take a sip of my drink.

"Sure, come on," He prompts me to hurry up and he grabs the bags off the floor. I watch as he walks up the stairs and soon I go and follow him. When we are in the room, I notice something from the start.

"The walls are too long. I forgot to get some stools, so how are we going to reach the top?" I look at him hoping he'll give me a decent idea.

He opens the first jar of paint up and hands me a brush. "I have a great idea," He says and he gets on his knees. "Get on my shoulders."

I hesitate. "I swear to god Syrus, if you drop me I will have to kill you," I say climbing on his shoulders.

"You wouldn't kill me sweetheart, you'd miss me too much," He grabs the paint and stands up with me. I try not to grip on his head too tightly, but I get nervous when I'm not on the ground. Yes, I do gymnastics, but that doesn't stop me from being nervous while I'm flipping through the air.

He has one arm holding one of my legs and the other arm has the paint. I reach my brush down and dip it in the paint before I start painting the walls.

"Can you stop clutching my head with your legs," He jokes


Later, I'm sitting on my bed shopping online for some things for the room. Syrus is taking a nap after hours of me being on his shoulder just too simply paint the room. I get a notification requesting me to video chat and I answer. Instantly, I see Lexi on one side and Jamie on the other side.

"Um, Lexi where have you been? I called you this morning. And hi Jamie, haven't seen you in a while."

"I haven't answered because Jamie and I were having a little talk about Melissa. You can tell her Jamie," Lexi pushes her to talk.

"So, I'm sorry that I haven't been with you guys lately. Melissa has blackmailed me because she saw me with my brother at his rehab. She said she would tell everyone that my brother was a suicidal freak, and make up stories about him if I didn't listen to her. I really didn't want my brother to be the hot topic of Panem. I'm sorry guys," She looks down.

"I can get Melissa off your back," I tell her, while I log into my twitter account.

"What are you doing?" Lexi and Jamie both ask me.

"Don't worry, I'm not mentioning your brother on this," I tell them while typing.

"Are you on twitter?" Lexi smirks at me

I nod as I press send. "Melissa is out of your life, although she's probably going to try to ruin mine, which is impossible for her to do."

"What did you say on twitter?" Jamie asks

"I said: "Hey Melissa, why do you like blackmailing people? I don't think you would like it if I leaked that 6th grade photo of you…"

Lexi squeals out of excitement. "Wait, you have the photo that she made sure to get rid of?" She laughs.

"Yea, you thought I would get rid of that? I've saved this for a special occasion,"

"Jasmine, I absolutely love you," Jamie blows a kiss at me and giggles. "Sorry guys, I have to go help the moms with something. See you two at school!" She waves and then hangs up. It's just me and Lexi now.

"So what did you and Syrus do today?" She asks me

"Oh nothing, we just painted the walls in that room we're getting together," I answer nonchalantly.

"Oh my god! You had a dream about him!" Lexi shrieks. How the hell does she know these things before I give her the chance to hear it from my mouth first?

"Lexi shut up! He's right across the hall,"

"Jasmine could have a boyfriend. Oh my life is complete," She smiles at me. "I have to go plan your wedding. I'll talk to you later," She hangs up quickly. I sigh and shut my laptop closed. Lexi is quite a character I tell you, but that's my best friend.

Hi guys! I'm sorry I wasn't updating on schedule, I've been busy and my computer is an idiot so the chapters were like hidden on there somewhere and I had to search for them. Anyway I hope you enjoyed those two chapters, if you would be kind as to review telling me what you thought about the chapters. Pm me if you have any questions, comments, or concerns . I'll see you guys later :)

Make sure to check out my other stories: Love is The Greatest Gift, The Evil Inside us, and Secrets in The Shadows.