2011 Submissions:
Skyscraper
by Mychaela
Chapter Four
Standing there, in their glory, was Hanson. The three brothers wore smiles on their faces.
Sky just stood there. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't breathe...
God what is wrong with me? she thought. Speak ya idiot, SPEAK!
"Uh... hi!"
Zac threw her a grin. "Hey. You must be Jasmine, right?"
Sky blushed. "No, I'm her younger sister, Skylar. I'm her assistant. C'mon in. They're just finishing setting up"..
"That's okay", Isaac said. "No rush."
After letting them in, the four sat on the couch, talking about how the brothers wanted to look for the photo shoot. Seeing how her sister wasn't back yet, Sky realized she might be on her own.
Taylor spoke up. "So ..where is your sister?"
Sky blushed. "She said she had to take a call...I'm really sorry about this-"
Zac held up his hand. "Hey, no worries", he grinned.
Sky smiled. Just then Carson came back out, and introductions were made.
But once noticing that Jasmine was not in the room, he frowned. "Where is your sister, darling?" he asked. "We need to start soon".
Sky shrugged. "I can go find her, if you want", she offered.
"No it's okay. We're wasting too much time as is".
"Really, Carson", Isaac began. "We can wait a little longer. It's alri-"
Carson shook his head. "No, no darling. We must start, whether she's here or not".
Skylar groaned mentally. Here it comes...
Carson turned to her. "Dear..."
Oh GOD!
"..Would you fill in for her?"
Sky looked at the three young men. "I really don't know that much about fashion..."
But ten minutes later, Sky was deciding what vest to put on Ike. He tried to give her tips, but she would feel bad not knowing what to do.
Dressing Ike and Zac were easy. Tay, however, was a problem. Taylor had a skinny build, and Skylar wanted to make sure he was comfortable in whatever she put him in. Finally, she put Taylor in a suit similar to Isaac's, but a different jacket. Showing him in a mirror, Taylor grinned.
Sky breathed a sigh of relief.
After a few hours, the shoot was over, and Sky was ready to go home. Thinking Jasmine was back at the apartment, she could really chew her out there. Saying goodbye to the boys, and them giving her cell number, she was out the door.
At the apartment, Sky was about to open the door, when she heard shouting. Reconizing the voice as Jasmine's, she carefully crept inside. The shouting was coming from the kitchen.
Sure enough, there was Jasmine sitting at the table with the phone on her ear. There were streaks of tears running down her face.
"N-no, Papi, I...no! Papi....no, Sky doesn't know yet".
She saw Sky staring at her. "Dad, I gotta go. Sky just walked in. Bye".
Jasmine carefully hung up the phone. "Hey".
Sky sat across from her distraught sister. "...Hey".
Silence.
After awhile, Sky spoke up, "Okay, 2 things. One, what was up with you today? And two, what did Dad want?"
Jasmine stood and went to open the fridge. She got out two cans of Pepsi, as she tossed one to Sky.
"Look, I'm sorry for running out like that. But after Lamar hung up...that's when Papi called".
Sky inwardly groaned as she sipped her drink. "What did he want?"
Jasmine looked down. "He says, that Mom's not doing well."
Sky sighed. For the past 2 months, their mother Maria had failing health, due to a stroke last year.
And she was getting worse. Both girls knew that. They accepted a long time ago that their mother wasn't going to be around much longer.
Jasmine put a comforting hand on her sister's shoulder. "Sky, look. I know it's hard for you accept, but Mom i-"
"Isn't gonna be around much longer, I get that!" Sky snapped, as she glared at her sister. "I've been getting it for the past year now, Jasmine!"
"Sky, he won't take Mom off the respirator..."
"What!? Why not!?" Sky shouted. "We all know, she's not gonna survive-"
"Yes, but, you know how Dad is-
"Screw 'how Dad is'! Jas, Mom wouldn't want this, and you know that!"
Jasmine pinched the bridge of her nose. "Well, what do you want me, to do Sky? Hm? You know that Papi is a very stubborn person!"
Sky threw up her hands. "Fine. If you won't talk to him, I will".
"Sky-"
"NO Jasmine! Ma is dying! DYING! Dad needs to understand that! No one does!"
With that being said, Sky stood up and stalked out of the room, slamming her bedroom door behind her.
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