[center][color=teal][h2]Jessamyn "Jess" Bailey[/h2][/color][/center]

It had been five years. Jess knew this from the change of the seasons, the varying temperature, the trees outside the cabin window as they shed and regrew their leaves. It felt like much longer, though. She didn't even know why she kept track of the time any more. Each year was a repeat of the last.

She tried to keep her attention on the book she'd been given to keep her mind occupied, but her gaze kept drifting towards the window, her concentration fraying as always. The young woman gave the outside world a longing stare. As she glanced this way and that, her ribs tightened. She could swear the room looked smaller than usual. Standing up, she paced from one wall to the other. [i]Get a grip,[/i] she scolded herself, [i]the walls aren't really going to close in.[/i] Sighing, she sat back down. Her brain played these tricks on her more and more often these days.

Suddenly, her head jerked up. In the distance, she could hear the hum of a motor, the grinding of wheels against the dirt path - and a growing wave of resentment. She pulled back. This wasn't just somebody here to bring food, only to leave as quickly as possible, radiating guilt. The sound was more like a motorbike than a car. Steeling herself, Jess peered out, watching a purple-haired girl draw closer. Hope welled through her, tainted by bitterness and a pang of unease at the thought of burdening someone, at the thought of needing someone.

Was this even her own bitterness she was feeling? She didn't know. She barely knew who she was.