Becca sits between Howie and Jc. She’s looking at Jordyn and Nick and Justin suspiciously. She doesn’t know what Jordyn is plotting but she doesn’t like it. She, Howie, and Jc had been enjoying breakfast like any other morning. Jc had even managed to clean off more than half his plate. She was happy for him. The doctors had even said that if his progress continued he’d be out in a couple of months. She was happy but also depressed about it. She liked him and didn’t want him to leave. At least here she had friends who cared about her.

“So Howie the docs say you’re going to be getting out next month?” Says Jc. Howie nod’s and smiles.

“Yeah. They say that if I keep up the good work that at this rate they’ll be able to have me discharged by the end of next month.”

“That’s great!” Jordyn says out of nowhere. Becca looks at her suspiciously. She knows Jordyn doesn’t liker her though why that is completely beyond her. It makes no sense to her that Jordyn would be acting so nice all of a sudden. Howie and Jc also seem a little suspicious but they just play along.

“Thanks. I think after I get out I’ll finish school and find an apartment somewhere. Maybe LA or Seattle.” Howie says thoughtfully. Becca perks up at that. Jordyn nods and then goes back to eating. Chris approaches them. He doesn’t make eye contact with Becca but he still nods and smiles in her direction.

“So how’s the little princess doing?” He asks. Becca shrugs, and Howie and Jc wave to Chris who waves back. Jordyn and Nick look at Chris while Justin and AJ are too preoccupied with eating their food to even bother noticing.

“Whatcha doin’ here Chris? Isn’t your shift at lunch this week?” Asks Nick. Chris shrugs.

“Just wanted to remind you guys that you all have cleaning duty after you finish eating. Every meal every day for two weeks.” He says. Nick looks dumbfounded and AJ and Justin look up from their food. Jc doesn’t show any emotion at all and Howie looks concerned and Becca squeaks in fear and scoots closer to Jc who puts an arm around her. Jordyn rolls her eyes at this and goes back to eating. Nick is about to argue but Chris gives him a look and he quiets down. The others don’t even bother arguing. Chris goes back up to his office.

After they’ve all finished eating and all the other patients have left to their various routines the group is standing in the middle of the dining area. Nick and Justin have mops in their hands and Jordyn and Becca have washrags to clean the tables with. The others also have various cleaning items. Becca shrugs and begins working on one of the tables. Kevin who’s also in the dining area instructs Jordyn to work on that table as well. Jordyn grumbles but she complies. Kevin then leaves to go handle a few of his private sessions.

“So would you mind telling me why the hell you don’t talk?” Jordyn asks Becca after about half an hour of cleaning. Becca looks at Jordyn and inches away. Jordyn rolls her eyes and get frustrated. “Fine. Don’t talk. God people like you are the worst.” Jc and Howie look up. Jc moves closer to Jordyn and Becca. Jordyn gets more annoyed by this.

“And to top it all off you can’t take any kind of conflict without having your body guards babysit you. Do yourself a favor and get a spine implant.” She says exasperatedly. Becca stands there emotionless. Inside she’s hurt by those words. She’s heard them before from other people but every time it hurts more and more. Jordyn rolls her eyes and goes back to cleaning. Jc looks at Jordyn angrily and goes back to sweeping and mopping with the others.

“Why is Jordyn so hard on Beck?” Howie thinks aloud. Nick shrugs.

“I think she mentioned something about Becca reminding her of people in her home town.” Howie growls frustrated.

“Well Becca’s not like those people and maybe if Jordyn would stop being so cruel to her maybe she’d open up to her a little more.” He says.

“Who knows?” Says Justin. “She’s a nice kid. And it’s obvious that she and Jc is an item even though they don’t realize it. I don’t think that Becca even thinks of anyone here like that.” Howie nods in reply. Jc makes it over to them and they start talking with each other about stuff and before any of them know it they’re becoming good friends.

“You know what?” Asked AJ. The others all look at him.

“No, we don’t know what.” Nick replies. “Mind telling us?”

“I think Jordyn intended for us all to become friends like this.” AJ says grinning. The others smile. All except for Jc who’s watching Becca who’s still several tables down with Jordyn.

“Well I don’t like this.” He sighs. When the others all look at him in confusion Jc sighs. “Jordyn wants us all to become friends but she still treats Becca like crap. I’m sorry but if she wants this plan to work she’s going to have to accept the fact that either Becca is included or her plan fails. It’s all or nothing.” The others nod somberly. Half an hour later they finish with cleaning and Jc heads down to the studio.

Where do I start to express how I feel?

Jordyn follows Jc into the studio. She wonders what was so important about the place. She finds him sitting with a guitar, which is unusual for him because from what she has observed his instrument of choice is the piano. He was playing some song that Jordyn assumes is some creation of his. She enters the studio and Jc looks up.

“What do you want?” Jc asked. Jordyn shrugs.

“Nothing. I was just listening to that song you were playing. It sounds nice.” She says looking at the guitar. Jc looks at it as well and shrugs.

“Glad you like it. Levi and I had been working on it before he decided to eat lead. I haven’t been able to bring myself to work on it until now. I think he made this song for Brian but I’m thinking about playing it for Becca.” He says. He looks up at Jordyn. “Why are you so hard on her? She didn’t do a damn thing to you and yet you act as though it’s her fault for whatever thing that’s happened to you.” Jordyn glares at him.

“It’s none of you’re business.” She says spitefully. “When you stop being such a dick I might start helping you with that song.” Jordyn storms from the room and marches angrily up to her room where Becca is sitting in her corner. Jordyn growls and slams the door shut before flopping over on her bed. Becca looks up and Jordyn glares at her. The tension in the room is similar to a ticking time bomb: three… two… one.

“WHAT?” Jordyn yells. She sits up and glares at Becca who squeals and hides in her corner. Jordyn stands up and grabs her by her color of her shirt. She pulls Becca to her feet and slaps her hard across the mouth.

“God damn it, talk!” Jordyn screams. “You want to know what exactly I have against you? You’re a pathetic crybaby! That’s the problem! You’re just like those idiots at home! You act all high and mighty. Get over yourself you stupid bitch!” By this time Becca is crying hard. Jordan grabs her by the hair and throws her to the ground. She flops back down onto her bed. Then surprisingly something happens.

“I’m sorry that happened to you.” Becca stands up and wipes her eyes. Jordyn stares at the wall, shocked that the little mouse is actually speaking. “I’m sorry that happened to you. But I’m not like them. So don’t take you’re anger out on me.” And with that Becca walks out of the room and leaves Jordyn dumbfounded.

*

Brian is sitting in his room when Kevin enters. He’s been depressed all week. And yesterday’s fiasco didn’t help at all.

“What’s on your mind Brian?” Kevin asks. Brian puts his head on the desk and he shakes his head.

“I don’t know. I’ve just been so stressed by all that’s been going on. I mean first I’m dealing with a kid who I really like but then he dies and now his sister comes in and is turning our world upside down and on top of that I think I’m already starting to fall for someone else.” He says tired. Kevin raises an eyebrow.

“Oh really? Do tell. Who is this new love interest?” He asks. Brian shakes his head again.

“This is really embarrassing but… it’s Lance. I don’t really know why but I think I’m starting to fall for him.”

Kevin arches an eyebrow. “Maybe it’s because he’s like the calm in the storm for you? It’s okay to find someone new after you lose someone close to you. Just make sure you aren’t rushing it. If you really do care about Lance then you want to make sure that he’s not going to end up turning into just a rebound.” Brian takes his head off the desk and nods. Kevin pats Brian on the back and heads for the door. “Don’t worry rookie. Everything will work out in the end.”

“I hope you’re right Kev.” Brian smiles at him tiredly.

Meanwhile Chris is sitting in the break room with Lance. He’s staring into his coffee looking half asleep. Lance is worried about him. He places his hand on Chris’s shoulder.

“You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself.” He says to Chris who just sighs and takes a sip of his coffee.

“It’s just that with all that’s been going on and after what Jordyn said…” He’s interrupted by Lance.

“Stop worrying about her. Something tells me that there’s some one-sided jealousy going on between her and Becca. I wouldn’t stay worried about her if I were you.” He says. Chris is still bummed. Lance shakes his head and tries one last thing. “If it makes you feel better I think Becca sees you as a kind of uncle-type figure. That’s got to count for something.” Chris smiles a little and nods.

“Now we’ve just got to talk some sense into Joey.” Chris mutters.

“I think Kevin can do that. He seems to be the neutral party here.” Lance replies.