Eight

Rick, Josh and Jessie were all stood under a willow tree in the playground. They had managed to shrug off Elektra, Frank and Faith so it was just the three of them. "Come on then you told me you'd tell me, well now is your chance," Rick said. Josh looked at Jessie before launching into their story.

Josh and Jessie's story (Josh is speaking the whole stuff in italics)

Mum wasn't the one abusing Jessie. Not fully anyone. I'm the reason for a lot of the cuts and all of the burns. But it wasn't my fault. She was threatening me. She told me to scorch Jessie with the iron and to light a match and hold it under her arm to burn her. She told me if I didn't she'd kill me.. or Jessie. And to prove she meant it, if I was slow she'd take a knife to my back and cut me. I'd bleed and Jessie would cry. She didn't like watching me be hurt so she told me to just do as mum said to protect me. Jessie used to be the overprotective one. She was the one I'd hide behind when I got shy. It was never her being the shy one. So I did as mum told me. I hurt my own sister because we were being threatened. I only have a few cuts because I only defied mum a couple of times because Jessie got too upset watching me get hurt for her. When I wasn't in mum used to use Jessie as a punch bag and she threw her into the kitchen sink a couple of times. It's why she has bruises. Jessie's scar comes from mum. She get really angry and just cut her for no reason. It carried on for weeks. The cuts on Jessie's back are me though, because mum told me to. We never called social services or let anyone see us hurt because mum said if we did she'd kill us both.

The night before we got taken into care was the night Jessie got her burn on her neck. Our neighbours heard her scream and called the police who took us into care. When Jessie told you our mum sellotaped a lit match to her neck she was lying slightly. I sellotaped the match to her neck. Mum lit it while it was on her helping to burn her skin more. I helped to torture my sister. I hate myself for that and I have to live with the guilt everyday and see her in pain and agony and the looks she gets from people when they see her marks. How would you like it?

Rick listened quietly. Jessie started sobbing halfway through. "You shouldn't feel guilty Josh," Jessie said tearfully. "It's all mum's fault." Jessie turned to Rick. "We've been lying to everyone because if they found out Josh was the one hurting me they'd split us up and we don't want that to happen. Please Rick you can't say anything." Rick watched the two of them intently.

"Alright. I promise," he said slowly. "But you should of done something about it earlier." Jessie brushed her tears away and curled up on the floor with her brothers arms around her.

"I couldn't. And I wish I could of. I've hurt my sister and I can't forgive myself," Josh told him. The whistle blew and the three of them stood up and wandered back towards the school building. Rick watched the pair of them. So his suspicions had been partly right but Josh had been doing it under duress. They walked to English all together and sat down on a table with Frank.

Jessie looked over at Sophie who had her feet on her desk and was still chewing bubblegum. "Does she ever stop chewing or say anything in proper English?" Jessie asked. Rick laughed.

"meet Sophie and Alex Lock. They are twins as well. Alex is the complete opposite of Sophie. He is studious, hard working and like you two well-spoken. Sophie is... too be honest a chav. She doesn't shut up and she cheats on all her homework," Rick explained. Jessie looked at them.

"I can't imagine such dissimilar people being related," Josh said watching them both. "I mean me and Jessie are quite alike. Both sporty and both academically average. Although I will admit she is better at sport than me, just," Josh added.

"yeah and credit where credit is due, Josh is brighter than me," Jessie said laughing. She turned her attention to the task in hand, creative writing for her coursework. "Josh do you reckon we could just print of a copy of our one from our old school?" she asked. Josh looked at her.

"Yeah. If your prepared to hack into our old school's mainframe and risk prison Jessie. No just redo it," Josh told her. Jessie sighed and picked up her pen to start writing. She could remember what her creative story had been about. She started scribbling what she could remember. Rick stared at her.

"Is she plan on doing an exact copy?" he asked watching the speed at which she was writing.

"She has a photographic memory. She can probably remember exactly what she wrote last time and is probably doing an exact copy. To be fair it got her an A* at our last school and that was a private one where it's almost impossible to get an A* as the boundaries are so high," Josh explained.

"In that case she's almost guaranteed an A* here then. We have very low expectations," Frank told him.

A/N: So now you know the full story. Josh was hurting Jessie but only because he was being threatened. Do you think Rick should go back on his promise and tell? Let me know, Indigo :)