Jenny's Heart

Prologue

"Jenny! Jenny, open up!"

A young woman's brown eyes snapped open, her head shooting up from where it had previously been resting on her desk. It took her eyes a moment to focus, and she rubbed them tiredly. The incessant knocking continued against the door of her dormitory.

"Jenny!"

Suddenly recognizing the voice, Jenny shot from her desk chair and stumbled over a pile of clothes in her haste to get to the door. When she opened it, she saw her older sister's wild hair and large eyes staring back at her.

"Clara?" she asked, confusion lacing her tired tone. 

She glanced down to see a suitcase in her sister's hand while the other held onto a much smaller hand. Jenny's three-year-old niece stared back at her with sleepy, brown eyes. Her dark hair was pulled into a ponytail, and a tiny bag lay beside her.

"Hey, Isabella," Jenny greeted and crouched down to look at her niece with a smile.

"Hi," Isabella responded, her sleep-induced voice hardly above a whisper.

"Jenny, I'm in a hurry. Please, I need you to look after Isabella for the night."

Jenny's eyes flicked back up to her sister as she straightened. "Clara, I can't. Campus rules state that no child is allowed in the dorms."

"Please, Jenny. Just this once? It's an emergency," the older woman begged.

She frowned. "What's wrong?"

Her sister didn't respond as she looked down at her daughter. "Go ahead, Isabella. Mommy will see you in the morning, okay?" she said and kissed her daughter's head before gesturing to the dormitory. 

Isabella gave a small nod of her head as she moved around Jenny's legs and into the room, pulling her tiny bag behind her.

Jenny looked at her sister with a flustered expression. "Clara, I can't just-"

"Please, Jenny. It's just for tonight, I promise."

"But-"

"I'm sorry; I can't talk right now. I'm already running late," Clara interrupted as she grabbed her bag, which appeared to be bursting at the zip, and began trudging down the hall.

"Late for what? Clara, where are you going?" Jenny asked, urgency and confusion seeping into her tone. She tried to keep her voice down as she rushed after her sister. "Clara," she hissed and grabbed her sister's arm, forcing her to a halt. The older woman glanced back at her with a frustrated gaze. "Where are you going?"

"Jeremy is catching a late-night train to Chicago, and ... I'm going with him."

"What? But what about Isabella?" Jenny asked, shock spreading across her features. 

Her sister couldn't possibly ...?

"I'll come get her once we've settled in the apartment. No more than four days at the most," Clara promised as she started to move towards the stairwell once more.

"But, Clara-"

"Please, Jenny," Clara whispered. The look on her face made the younger woman freeze. "There's no one else I trust with her. I know you'll look after her well."

"But-" Jenny tried once more, but her sister shook her head and gripped her suitcase with a tighter hold.

"I'm sorry," she said before rushing down the stairs.

For a solid minute, Jenny stood there in a daze. Her sister was leaving with her latest boyfriend to Chicago? Hasn't poor Isabella had enough disruption in her life while her mother constantly ran after any man with a deep pocket?

She shook her head to rid the thought. Wondering won't help anyone.

She slowly returned to her dorm and closed the door softly behind her. She glanced to the side to see Isabella sitting on the bed in her lilac pyjamas. She was holding a battered toy bunny to her chest.

Jenny forced a smile. "Hey, ready for bed?"

All Isabella did was blink, her face forlorn, and her response made Jenny's heart crumble.

"Mommy's not coming back, is she?"

[A/N] Welcome to the first chapter of Jenny's Heart! If you liked what you read, please consider giving this chapter a vote and adding this to your library to get notifications of following chapters.

Please note that any and all copying of this story is strictly prohibited and that such acts are liable for prosecution. This story and its characters herein are fictitious and any relation to persons living or dead, is completely coincidental. 

Without further ado, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and that you will continue to enjoy the rest of the story. Thank you!