It's my second last day of school! Ever! But I've also got two exams today so I'm not happy about that. I've just had my maths test and after dinner I've got biology.

"It went so bad!" I stress to Lacey. We walk out of the exam hall and into the canteen where I see Danielle coming out of class. She jogs over to us while Lacey tries to make me feel better about failing this test.

"It's fine Cole, you did two other tests that went well, this one won't affect your score too much," Lacey says and hugs me when I groan.

"What's up?" Danielle asks when she sees my distress.

"I've failed that test," I say and she hugs me.

"It's okay Cole, you said you wanted to be a model so you don't need maths anyways, just a gorgeous face," she assures me. I laugh a little and she lets go to smile me. It's true that I've been thinking of being a model. Nathan's been pressuring me to find a career I want to do and I decided on it, whether he was happy about it or not. Danielle took photos of me to make a portfolio and when I've got my grades from school in august I can start sending it to modelling agencies. Marcus thinks it's a great idea because I'm confident and not self conscious at all.

"But I can't be a model if I fail all my exams," I say sadly and Lacey sighs.

"Let's go see Nathan, he'll calm you down," Lacey says and we go to see him in his class during the break time. Thankfully he doesn't have a class so I go straight in and sit on his lap, my arms around his neck.

"What's wrong?" He asks and strokes my hair. I sigh and hide my head against his neck.

"He thinks he's failed his maths test and now he's scared for the biology one this afternoon," Lacey says.

"You two and enjoy your break, I'll talk to him," Nathan says and I hear them leave.

"I'm going to fail again," I sniffle and he sighs.

"Look at me," he says softly and I lift my head up. "You see your collar? That means me and Marcus are always with you, when you're doing your exam just put your hand over the chain and think of us cheering you on. I know you'll do well because you're amazing and you're much smarter than you think."

"Thank you daddy," I say quietly and hug him again. I get off his knee and he kisses me quickly before sending me out so he can get back to work.

"I love you baby," he says with a smile.

"I love you too."

Later that day, when I get out of the biology exam, I'm feeling much happier.

"It went amazing! I knew what I was doing and I didn't get scared or worried!" I say to Lacey excitedly.

"I'm so proud of you!" She hugs me tightly. "I told you that you'd do fine."

"You're always right," I tell her and she nods.

"That's right."

It's dinner now so we go to find Danielle and wait in the pizza line with her.

"Did it go well?" She asks me and I tell her all about it which makes her get excited for me. While we're wait in the line, a boy walks over and kisses Danielle's cheek.

"This is my boyfriend," she says with a big smile.

"Hi, I'm Sam," he says and I notice Lacey squinting at him.

"How old are you?" She asks.

"I'm 16, I'm in Danielle's classes," he answers nervously. I don't blame him, Lacey is scary.

"What's your intentions with my little sister?" Lacey asks and I see Danielle smiling. Lacey has decided that Danielle is her little sister and she is more than happy with it.

"I really like her, I'm taking her to see a movie this weekend," he says a bit more confidently.

"Okay, I trust you. I'm Lacey and this is Cole," Lacey says and he lets out a sigh of relief.

"It's nice to meet you both, Danielle talks about you a lot," Sam says.

"It's nice to meet you too," I say and get my pizza. We all get our food and then go sit down at a table. We spend the rest of lunch grilling Sam and making Danielle embarrassed. He tells us about himself and how he has always thought Danielle was cute but was too scared to say anything to her. He still seems a little scared of Lacey but who wouldn't be.

At the end of the day, Nathan comes over and tells me he has to pick his brother up from a doctors appointment so we have to walk home. I ask if Marcus can pick us up but he said he's too busy so we'll just have to for today. I kiss him goodbye and me, Danielle, and Lacey start walking home.

"Remember what Nathan told you about sex!" Lacey teases as we get to the road. Danielle huffs and her cheeks blush bright red as she crosses in front of us. I pull a cigarette out but as I look back up a car speeds past and hits Danielle.

Time slows down as she hits her head off the pavement and the car disappears down the road. There's a lot of shouting and screaming as Lacey crouches down beside Danielle to see if she's okay.

She has to be okay. There's no way she's not okay. She's my little sister. She just got here.

But there's a lot of blood. Her eyes are closed and someone's shouting she's not breathing. Someone is calling an ambulance. Lacey is crying. I think I'm crying.

"Are you okay?" A man asks me and I look at him slowly. I shake my head no and he helps me sit down in my dazed state.

Soon an ambulance gets here. They move Lacey aside and she sits next to me and hugs me. Everyone's gone now. No more screams or shouting.

"Is she okay?" I ask quietly.

"They don't know yet," Lacey says barley above a whisper. She wipes away my tears and picks up the cig I dropped.

"I called Marcus and Nathan. They're on their way," she says.

I nod and look at where the paramedics are attaching all sorts of things to Danielle. There's so much blood around her head. There shouldn't be. We should be walking home and laughing and teasing. We shouldn't be doing this.

It takes forever for Marcus to get here. He gets out of his car with a terrified look on his face. He runs over to Danielle and takes her hand in his own.

"Are you the guardian?" Asks the paramedic.

"I'm her brother yeah," he answers in the same state of shock that I'm in.

"We need to get her to the hospital ASAP."

Marcus and I go with Danielle in the ambulance while Lacey waits for Nathan at the school. They said they'll meet us at the hospital.

"Will she be okay?" I ask the paramedic. He looks at Danielle who is much paler than usual.

"We don't know yet, we need to do more tests and get her some blood in her. Did the police talk to you yet?"

"No, I didn't know there was any police," I answer and the guy nods.

"I know it's scary, seeing a family member like that. You need to be strong for her, and for him," he says while looking at Marcus who has his head in his hands and is bouncing his knee. I reach over and put my hand on his knee to still it. He looks at me and smiles weakly, his hand reaching for mine and squeezing.

When we get to the hospital, they take Danielle away and me and Marcus are left in the waiting room.

"It's all my fault," he mumbles from the seat beside me.

"It's not your fault," I argue back but he interrupts me.

"I should have just picked you up. If I'd come to get you then this wouldn't have happened!" He says angrily.

"It's no ones fault but the guy who was driving the car! You can't blame yourself for something you had no control over," I say and hug his head to my side. His tears wet my shirt but I don't mind.

"Nathan called my parents. They blame me."

"They're assholes," I say back but Marcus shakes his head.

"They're right. If I'd just made Danielle go live with them, this wouldn't have happened," he says as his hands curl into fists and he digs his nails into the palms of his hands. I hold his hands to stop him and he looks at me with teary eyes.

"It's okay, you didn't do anything wrong. No matter what they say, it wasn't anyone's fault but the driver's. Don't forget that."

"Cole!" Nathan shouts and I turn around to see him and Lacey coming into the waiting room. Nathan pulls me and Marcus into a tight hug and Marcus starts crying again. Lacey puts her hand on his back and tries to smile.

"How is she?" Nathan asks when we all sit down. He sits between me and Marcus so he can hold both our hands.

"They haven't said anything yet," I say and Lacey sighs to herself.

"Thomas has Minnie so we can stay as long as we need to," Nathan says and Marcus nods.

"How are you feeling?" Nathan asks Marcus and Marcus looks at him slowly.

"It's my fault," he says again and Nathan quickly tells him it's not his fault.

"Don't you dare blame yourself Marcus," Nathan growls.

"I was there Marcus it was not your fault, it was the idiot driving the car," Lacey says angrily.

Marcus eventually stops saying it's his fault and rests his head against Nathan while we wait for news. Lacey goes to get us some drinks and I rub circles on Nathan's hand.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" I ask quietly. I think Marcus is half asleep as we've been waiting for about two hours now.

"I don't know baby." Is all Nathan says. He gives me a weak smile and kisses my forehead and then Marcus'. Lacey gets back and we wait for another half an hour before a doctor comes out. Marcus stands up as the doctor walks over to us.

"Are you here for Danielle Carlisle?" He asks and Marcus nods.

"I'm sorry to say she passed away during emergency surgery. There was significant injury to her brain and too much blood loss. You can come and see her in a few moments."

This can't be real. This can't be happening.

"No that's not right. She can't be dead," Marcus demands.

"I'm sorry sir, her injuries were too much for her body," the doctor says sympathetically. He leaves and Marcus doesn't move. Lacey starts crying and I feel tears falling down my face too.

"She can't be gone," Marcus says to himself.