Hello! So Chapter Two... I will probably post in week-like intervals and/or a little longer if I'm pressed. Enjoy!

Readwriteedit: Thank you dear! I definitely agree. I needed a little more sisterhood in my life.

"Skye?"

"What."

"Don't you think we should go to sleep?"

"Not particularly."

"Me neither."

S:

You know how sometimes you worry more than you think is possible about someone else? I mean, Jane is just so fucking clueless when it comes to the pecking order. Middle School is one thing; and then high school comes along and the bus ride turns into a tank. I had vowed to myself and Jeffrey countless times that I would protect Jane as best I could against the terrors that invaded ninth-graders' privacy.

I strained to remember the long conversation I'd had with Jeffrey the night before. Missing him was too often an ache in my gut.

"Hello?" He'd answered as I slipped out onto the roof so that Jane couldn't hear me.

"Hey. Jeffrey what am I to do about her?"

"Relax?"

I picked up a stone from the drainage pipe and threw it as far as I could. It sailed over Tommy and Nick's roof and off into the twilight.

"Dammit Jeffrey. What if I can't?"

"Skye, you're the most resourceful person I know. And I'm not going away. Together I'm sure we'll be able to figure something out."

"I don't know. Promise you'll have a guest room ready for her if I need to get her out of here while I go and massacre everyone in her class."

"Skye." I could picture him sighing. "Did you ever think that perhaps you're overreacting?"

"What?"

"No, no. This is good. Large displays of emotion from Skye Penderwick are a rarity. Please keep on."

"I can't even deal with you right now." I slumped down onto the roof. "Besides, this isn't about me. It's about Jane."

"Jane has spirit too. Maybe she'll retreat inside of her head until she finds her people and then it'll be a walk in the park."

"Right."

"But it's not just about Jane right now. Also about me."

"You?" I dug my fingers back into the drainage pipe along the back of the roof.

"Yes. And girls. I thought I could tell you because I'm going to pieces over this girl."

My fingers curled around a small round stone and I raised them. "Oh? Does she go to your school?"

"Violin player. Beautiful."

I balled the stone in my fist. "That's great! Are you going to ask her out or something?"

"That's just the thing. I already have. She should be here soon."

I chucked the stone over the hedge in the opposite direction. A loud thud echoed from a fence two doors down.

"That's exciting Jeffrey! What's the plan?"

"Just a movie. Should I wear a grey or blue shirt?"

I frowned. "If she likes you she won't care. I'd better go. Jane will be coming up really soon. And I have to make sure she doesn't start talking about cesspits or something."

"Cesspits?"

"I don't know. She talks in her sleep."

I could hear his smile. "Okay. Goodnight Skye."

"Goodnight."

I sat on the bus with his words running through my head, making sure that he was assuring me about Jane. About Jane, who was shaking a little on the seat next to me.

I pushed down slightly on her knee and she shot me a look.

Well, I thought, I'll get points for trying.

As soon as fifth period was over, Joanne and I hurried to the bathroom where we knew Hanna would be smoking or something of the sort. They conversed quietly in the stall next to me as I pulled out my phone and texted Jeffrey.

Well, Jane didn't start chanting in Swahili on the bus. So far so good.

I listened for a moment to Hanna's whispers from the next door stall and then hear a ding from my phone. Eleven thirty one. Just on time. I smiled.

She knows Swahili?

I smiled.

Rosetta Stone. She says that it's her calling- the clicks are a much more accurate form of what the shuddering of the heart sounds like.

I stood up, waiting for the bell to ring to signify the beginning of lunch.

That's our Jane.

I nodded, wishing that he could be there.

So how did date w/ Viola girl go?

Joanne knocked on the door. "Skye?"

"What?" I pushed it open.

"Are you talking to your guy?" She wiggled her eyebrows.

"No." I said grouchily. A; he's my guy, yes. But not romantic and B: He's the Viola girl's if that's what you're thinking of.

She pouted.

Violin. And good! She liked my grey shirt. Said it was attractive. Kissed me in the back of the movie theater.

"Are you going to eat lunch?" Hanna asked from behind, peering at my phone from behind.

I held it high above my head so she couldn't see. "Why?"

"Because the line will be long."

"Okay." I said, stowing it in my back pocket. "I'm coming."

And I let her lead me out of the bathroom without a backwards glance.

The next week slid by without much complaint from Jane, but I could see her being worn down by the stress of being there. On Saturday I dragged myself out of bed in time for Jeffrey's call and slipped into the bathroom, dialing his number as quietly as I could.

"Hello?" His voice made the room warm and I curled my toes against the carpet, perched on the edge of the bathtub.

"Hi." I must've had relief in my voice because I could hear him exhale.

"You okay?" There was the noise of someone talking behind him and he muttered something.

"Yeah. Who's there?"

"Gracie. Violin girl from the movie theater?"

"Oh. Did she spend the night?"

"Yeah things aren't so good with her parents right now, so I offered."

"Aren't you both supposed to be in dorms?"

"She's a day student. And only freshman are required to be in dorms. I convinced Mother to get me a flat about a block from the main building."

"Oh." I felt like I was grappling for a topic. Everything was different for him. "Great news! My dad said that maybe Thanksgiving weekend I could come and visit!"

I could hear him smile. "That's awesome, listen Skye, I have to make Gracie breakfast okay? Can I call you back at two twenty? She said she has to go to afternoon class then."

"Yeah sure." I smiled again, and turned on the shower, I needed a burning hot shower to rinse the week off of my body.

"I'm sorry Skye."

"Nothing to be sorry for." I told him briskly, disentangling my pants from my foot and testing the water. "Have a good morning, okay?"

"You too. Talk to you at two twenty."

Standing and letting the waves of water stream over my head, I felt a rush of anger that my first week of school had been entirely Jeffrey-less. He wasn't there for ranting or long winded talks about numbers and musical notes. God, sometimes I wondered what that boy was good for if he was always disappearing with some girl who played the violin.

Struck with a sudden image of him, I turned to the back wall so that there was no way anyone could see me smiling for no reason.