Jocelyn

Jocelyn is fed up with all that shit happening around her. Julie feels to be right when she belittles and humiliates her. Jennifer is constantly behaving like a spoiled brat. Jessica's reckless attitude is getting on her nerves more than usual. Janae is always acting weird, pretending not to understand her older sister's behavior. Lastly, when it comes to Jaeleigh... it's like she doesn't even exist.

Sometimes the Hudspeths' second eldest child wonders whether she has been adopted, which couldn't be that bad, given she's been given little to no rispect lately. Her parents, instead of listening to her, are just minding their own business. Talking to any of her sisters, by the way, would be pure fiction. 'What the fuck did I do to deserve this treatment?'

Worse still, Jocelyn trusts her friends more than her own sisters. To her, Cathy and Kristy are not just friends, or sister-like acquaintances. They are replacement for Julie and the others. They are something Julie, Jennifer, Jessica, Janae and Jaeleigh will never be to her: good listeners. Who, apart from Cathy or Kristy, will bear with her complaint about society? Who will she listen to boybands with?

'I want it that way...'

The Backstreet Boys are echoeing in her bedroom, but it seems as no-one else would appreciate it. Because Julie prefers rock and heavy metal, Jenn is into other boybands, whereas the three youngest sisters don't even listen to music that much.

Another thing of hers no-one would appreciate is her exterior beauty. She loves taking care of herself. When she can, she's almost always lending Cathy or Kristy her lipstick or mascara, if not her jeans. She would never lend Jenn anything or borrow anything from Julie. That's definitely out of discussion. Also, the two of them have different sizes from her.

***

Hoping to finally find her path in the world, Jocelyn is packing her stuff, because she's about to leave to college. She has been accepted at the college she applied for - Snowglen College of Literature. She loves literature. Even though it doesn't look she enjoys reading classics, she actually does; in fact, in her library there are also masterpieces like Pride and Prejudice and Moby Dick.

At least, she took a different path from Julie, who won a scholarship to Copperheights College in order to be accepted to Law. 'Law? Definitely not my path. I don't think Julie will succeed in becoming what she wants to do,' is what the down-to-earth girl is thinking of.

As of the other sisters, Jenn is in third year at Oakworth High School, which is the same Jess is going to enroll at, but also the place where Jocelyn has lived some of the worst years of her life until now, mostly because Kristy and Cathy weren't there, for that they attended a different high school. Jocelyn had no friends at Oakworth, and neither did she have any at Pingrove Middle School, where Janae is supposed to start her next school year. At least, Jaeleigh is still at primary school, at Linway Elementary. The point is, it doesn't seem as Jocelyn had a happy life in her school years, mostly because her friends weren't near her. 'Oh, if only Kristy, Cathy and I had attended schools together...'

Thoughts are overflowing in her mind as much as a voice is exploding through the corridors. "Tell me that's not true!"

The voice is grueling and menacious; the way it looks threatening makes her tremble. However, Jocelyn somehow manages not to make it evident. She has become good at concealing emotions after years of practice.

She rushes downstairs in a very unlady-like manner, only to find her best friends, Cathy and Kristy, who both look very angry and, unlike her, seem not to be able to hide their true emotions. It's still unknown what caused them this reaction, but Jocelyn must find the truth out before it's too late. As soon as she attempts to approach them, however, it doesn't seem as they change their feelings.

"Okay..." Jocelyn is now stuttering and doesn't know what to even say. Apologies don't exactly mend torn hearts, in this case her friends'. She must have done something really bad to earn their wrath. "What did I even do?" she ends up muttering, only to earn a frown from Kristy and a killer glare from Cathy.

"What did you do?" Cathy, who's standing opposite her, face to face, with her arms crossed, as well as glaring, is shouting. Her face is now red, probably turning purple, due to the anger. "You told Lea about our project!"

"Yeah, I told her, and, guess what, she is even gonna share it with the rest of the world," is Jocelyn's sarcastic answer. "Have you got nothing to do other than insult me?" What she's just said sounds surprising. She's never stood up to either Cathy or Kristy. She's always approved of their choices and decisions, even if they were wrong. But, now, it's time to grow up. Everyone must take responsibility for their mistakes.

"Huh. No. And, anyway, you're not even supposed to be that friendly to Lea. She's your colleague, not your friend." Cathy's despise of Lea is so evident that it embarrasses Jocelyn and makes the latter want to leave. Since when have she and Kristy become so hateful? Are they supposed to be her friends or what?

"She is not your friend," points out Jocelyn, even angrier than before. At this point, she'd rather have an argument with Jessica over her disrespect of privacy than with her friends over their disregard of her private life. Nonetheless, it doesn't seem as her ex-friends-to-be could give anything about this.

"Listen carefully, Cathy. Lea is the only one who helped me get through the duties and whatever of my fucking job!" She says that showing off her pride, as she cares about saving something for college. After all, getting a job at that coffee shop across the street has been worth it, as she has since got to earn much money, but if that means ruining a friendship, then she must make sure to talk to Lea and, probably, quit the job.

She goes on, "I mean, hadn't been for her, I would have left after only two days! Believe me, I need that money for college, do you really think it's going to be so easy?"

Now, it's Kristy talking. "You put yourself before anything else, that's the problem. You don't even seem to care about us. And-"

Cathy, not very wisely, cuts her off, "And you prefer hanging with her instead of us!"

"But... what..." Now, Jocelyn is in serious trouble. Her friends won't pay attention to her excuses even if threatened. She's definitely getting content of losing them, that's the truth. "You know what? It's clear that you're done with me. You don't need me, and neither do I. So, leave. We're over." After saying those hurtful words, she rushes back to her room, crying her eyes out, then slams the door behind her before letting herself fall on the bed. She doesn't care anymore if Kristy and Cathy left. They're not her friends anymore. It's time to change.