( 𝘾𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙏𝙀𝙍 𝙏𝙒𝙊. )
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JAYLENE FELT LIKE she'd been making her way home for at least an hour now, in reality it was less than ten minutes, but the humid air made it seem like a never-ending journey. The thin sweater she'd been wearing was now gripped in her hand as she approached the Rosewood mansion. Just like she remembered. The large water fountain in the front was temporarily turned off because of the hurricane that was predicted to pass through the island soon; possibly later that day, but the weather forecast wasn't all that accurate sometimes. The rose bushes were freshly cut, leaves green and full of life. Palm trees and pine trees lined up at the gate that led into the house. Since there was still light outside, the home wasn't illuminated like usual.

"Home sweet home." The brunette muttered under her breath, heading in the direction of the backyard since her house key was stored away somewhere in her bedroom. She'd forgotten to take it with her. Her trip back home after being released from the hospital was rushed. A specialist watched her pack every little thing, making sure that Jaylene wouldn't slip some more pills into her system. It was a very dreadful experience really.

The last thing she was expecting to see was a large amount of people in her backyard, storm prepping for the storm riding in the clouds, waiting to destroy a large portion of the land in a matter of hours. They were far too busy to even notice her which made it easy for her to walk into the house using the French doors, immediately being greeted by her stepmother who didn't look happy in the slightest.

"Where's your father?" Lorelei questioned, but didn't get to receive an answer from Jaylene. The second her eyes caught a glimpse of her brother walking down the stairs, her mood immediately altered and a random boost of energy consumed her body.

Jaylene rushed past her stepmother, heading towards her brother who was now a few inches taller than her, quickly engulfing him into a warm embrace, knocking the wind out of him at the sudden action. "Oh my god, Nate! I can't believe I'm saying this, but I missed you." She muttered the second sentence, feeling his arms wrap around her immediately. Although they fought over the most minor inconveniences sometimes, they had a strong bond that could never be broken. Ever. "I don't see you for six months and you decide to have a growth spurt?" She smiled at him once they'd let go of each other. It was genuine, making it the first since being admitted to the center up in New York.

"Hey, I don't mean to interrupt this adorable reunion, but I'm gonna ask you again: where's your father at? The workers need to know whether to storm prep the cabin or not." Lorelei sounded annoyed, somewhat concerned, but mostly annoyed.

Jaylene thought of a snarky remark to her rude tone, but Henderson walked through the front door before she could even open her mouth to speak. He set the suitcase near the side of the staircase along with the backpack that contained Jaylene's belongings, sending her a pointed look in the process of doing so.

"Relax, Lore. I'll take care of it." He assured his wife, planting a kiss on her cheek before rubbing her tense shoulders.

Trying her hardest to hide the disgusted look that threatened to plant itself on her face, Jaylene cleared her throat, all eyes turning in her direction. "Seriously, Lorelei? No welcome back? No how are you? You have nothing to say to me despite the fact that you spread a false lie about me all around the island?" She cocked her eyebrows upwards, knowing she'd get scolded for being so rude, but she had to get everything off her chest that very instant. "I'm not your daughter. There's absolutely no reason as to why you should feel ashamed for what happened. Just when I was starting to get warmed up to you—"

"Jaylene, stop!" Henderson quickly cut into the harsh words his daughter was spitting at his wife, infuriated with how petty Jaylene was being. "You're acting like a child and I'm not gonna tolerate that."

"I'm confused." Nathaniel's eyebrows rose in confusion. He saw some truth in the words his sister was spitting out, but he wasn't exactly sure what she was getting at.

"How do you expect me to react to this, dad? You two practically drove past the truth and created some absurd lie that's resulted in people either giving me the stink eye or looks full of pity! I didn't try drowning myself! I got a hold of oxycodone and accidentally overdosed which landed me in a six month program at a rehab facility that's hundred of miles away!" She cried, pointing a very sturdy finger in their direction. Her heart was beating out of her chest, adrenaline pumping through her veins with every word that left her mouth. "Do you understand how much it hurts getting compared to a woman you don't even remember? Everyone on this island knows that mom suffered from depression which led her to take her own life. I'm not my mother. I may've disappointed you, but what I made was a mistake and you have to allow me to live by it whether you like it or not. I'm sorry that I can't be the perfect daughter you want me to be."

Nathaniel's eyes widened in bewilderment. This was the first he was hearing about the false information that had been spread about Jaylene's departure from Outer Banks. When people at the academy brought up his sister, they never once mentioned a suicide attempt. People always told him how much they missed her, but always failed to go into further detail about what misleading information they'd been fed. "Am I missing something? What do people think happened?"

"Suicide attempt. They think it was a suicide attempt, but the pills were never brought up." Lorelei broke her silence, receiving a dirty look from the youngest Rosewood sibling.

"I'm gonna go help them storm prep. It's better than having to look at you two." Jaylene looked in the direction of the hard-working groups of people in the backyard. She could easily tell they were from The Cut by the way they were dressed. The one thing she didn't despise about her father was that he sometimes held sone sort of compassion for the working-class. He hardly ever hired anyone besides them. They needed money and he helped provide it. "Let me know when dinner's served, yeah?" She waved them off, heading back outside and towards a group of people who greeted her with friendly smiles.

｡･:*:ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹

BY THE TIME night had fallen, the clouds had formed in the sky, grey and full of water, pouring down on the island in a vicious manner. Trees harshly swayed back and fort, branches flying everywhere due to the strong winds. The power had gone out shortly after the storm began, forcing Jaylene to light up some candles in her room while she unpacked. With her luck, she'd accidentally end up tipping one over and setting the house on fire.

Phone service was also gone for the time being, but she had a few playlists downloaded on her phone which allowed her to drown out any other sounds besides the music vibrating in her large bedroom. It was why she hadn't heard the obnoxious knocking on her door as she placed her clothes inside of the walk in closet.

"Stop staring at me like I'm some creep." She finally noticed her fathers figure stood by the doorway as she sat back down on her bed. "I was just unpacking. I practically lived in t-shirts and sweatpants all my time there, hardly ever got all dressed up. But of course you wouldn't know that." She sucked air in through her teeth, throwing her body back onto the various pillows on her bed.

"I believe I owe you an apology." He began, taking a seat on the edge of the queen sized bed. "I'm not ashamed about what happened. I just never knew whether you wanted others to know. You know how everyone here is. They're judge mental because they refuse to see the flaws that people have."

Jaylene sighed, chewing on her bottom lip as she ran a hand through her slightly knitted hair. "Mom used to live on The Cut before she met you. She was a pogue. Everyone around the island knows that." She began, choosing to ignore his crap excuse of an apology. She wanted him to realize why she was extremely upset with how he'd decided to handle the situation. "People on this side of the island talk countless shit about her and solely blame her for what happened. And because she doesn't come from an extremely wealthy family, people completely ignore the fact that she suffered from severe depression which led her down that path. And you've never defended her despite the fact that you claim that you genuinely loved her. So why is it that you've constantly felt the need to downplay how these types of situations have actually gone down? You care more about your reputation, but you'll never admit it out loud. That's exactly why I'm making such a big deal out of this."

"That whole pogues and kooks name-calling is extremely childish—"

Jaylene took in a deep breath, ticked off that he'd overseen everything she'd just said. "We're kooks, dad. That's easy to say when all the money in the world is simply handed to us."

authors note. I actually wanna give Jaylene a proper storyline and not just jam her in with the core 4 which is why I've spent the first two chapters setting it up. Most of it will revolve around her mom and the truth behind her death. Unlike Kiara, she doesn't have a foot in both worlds. As of right now she's 100% kook, but that'll change very soon 👀.