“That’s enough, Skylar,” says Dad. “We should go.”
Alec’s hold on me is stronger than before. If it weren’t for him, I’d have dropped to the floor by now.
I look back at Mike. “Why? Do you even regret this?”
“OUT!” he yells. I cry and Alec guides me out of the room as Dad gets the wheelchair.
Once we step out of the room, I sit back down and no one says a word on the way to the car. Dad is now pushing the chair and Alec is walking next to it—next to me. I know he’ll never understand why I wanted to see Mike, but I love him for staying by my side either way.
When we get home, I’m still so upset that Dad doesn’t give me any trouble about Alec staying.
Alec helps me sit on the couch, and sits next to me. I slowly lean into him and we watch movies until I fall asleep.
When Mom wakes me up later, I’m laying down on the couch, with a blanket over me, and Alec is gone.
“Are you hungry, honey?”
I nod. “Where is Alec?”
“He had to go home. It was getting late.” She sighs.
“What, Mom?”
“Nothing.”
I know she’s lying. I know she wants to talk about Alec and me. Alec mentioned at the hospital a few days ago that they’re all concerned about how serious we are.
That conversation is coming sooner or later.
I grab my phone to text Alec and see that it’s already eleven at night, and also, that I have a message from him.
‘Sorry I had to leave. I didn’t want to push my luck with your dad.’
I send a smiley face back and after I eat something, I go to sleep.
In the morning, Mom and Dad wake me up. They both have to go back to work so that conversation comes sooner than I thought.
Dad helps me to the table to eat breakfast with them.
They both seem like they’re struggling with something.
“What is it? Just say it.”
“We have to go back to work today and we don’t want to leave you alone so we asked Kyle to come by and keep you company.”
“Kyle?” I ask.
“Yes, and I’m sure Alec will be around at some point, but we’re a little worried,” says Mom. “Honey, you put yourself in danger to protect him.”
“Mom, it was instinct. I think I would have done that for anyone.”
“Do you really think that?” asks Dad.
“Yes. I think there is a strong possibility that I would.”
“Okay, let’s say that is the case. You and Alec seem too attached. You don’t want to leave each other’s side. I understand that all of this is traumatic, but—just how serious are you?” Mom asks.
I roll my eyes. “Mom, we barely just started dating.”
“Yes, but you’ve known one another almost your whole lives. I don’t want you to rush things in light of what happened. He’ll be going to college soon and you still have two years of high school left. Not to mention the fact that Alec could get sick again in the future.”
“MOM!” That is harsh. I know she regrets it as soon as the words are out of her mouth. I take a deep breath and try to keep calm.
“Mom, it may not seem like it, but we’re taking things slow. Trust me”
Dad watches the discussion back and forth, until he finally says, “Either way, we’re still not leaving you home alone with your boyfriend, young lady. Kyle stays.”
“Yes, Dad.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Over the next week, I spend a lot of time with Kyle and Alec. My dad must have scared Kyle, because he rarely leaves Alec and me alone. When he does, it’s not for long. One day, Alec asks if I want to go outside, just to get away from Kyle. We go in my backyard and he helps me sit on the swing. I close my eyes, remembering Kristi.
“What’s on your mind, Sky?” he asks as he sits next to me. I feel like this is the first moment I get to really talk to him about this—face to face.
“I think I saw Kristi… when I was in surgery.”
He stops swinging.
“I guess that is how I knew you’d be okay. She said to have hope… have faith…” I stop and laugh. “I sound like a crazy person, right?”
“No. You don’t. I believe that you saw her.”
“Do you think we’ll ever find out why Mike did this?” I ask.
“I wish I could tell you yes, but I don’t think so, and even if we did, that wouldn’t change what happened.” He pauses. “Sky, please don’t go see him again,” he begs.
“I won’t. I promise.” But that is not enough to get Mike out of my head. I don’t think I ever will.
On Monday, we go back to school. The guy’s locker room is closed and so are two of the classrooms where students got hurt.
Not everyone is back yet, but I see Lizzie. She’s hanging out with one of the guys from the baseball team and her arm is bandaged up. I want to tell her I’m sorry about Mandy and I start to go toward her, when she stops me. “Don’t come any closer,” she says. “You were his friend. I don’t want you anywhere near me.”
Great. That is how people will see me now. As much as I try not to let that thought get to me, it does.
On Friday, more decisions are made about trying to get things back to normal—whatever that means. The baseball team doesn’t have enough players to finish the season, so that is done, but they decide to leave prom as is. And I heard the talent show might still happen, which doesn’t matter. I’m not going to do it anymore either way.
I tell Alec I don’t want to go and he understands. I find myself pulling away from things… singing at the talent show, doing anything fun. I become obsessed with watching the news to find out what is happening to Mike.
It’s not long before Alec puts an end to this.
Friday after dinner, he tells me he has some things to do and that he’ll be back to hang out in about an hour. As he kisses me goodbye, he’s grinning from ear to ear.
He comes back just like he promised.
“Come with me?” he asks.
“Where to?”
“It’s a surprise,” he says.
ALEC
I’m losing her and I have to bring her back. I remember Amanda’s list and decide to move forward with the crazy items from her bucket list—the ones I couldn’t do before because of the no dating rule. But I make a few minor adjustments.
I call Kyle for help. He goes to the store to grab a few things and then meets me in Sky’s backyard to set things up.
Once we’re done, I go inside the house and ask her to come with me. Like most of the time, she’s watching the news. She spends a lot of time either doing that or googling updates on Mike, who is now out of the hospital and in custody. She doesn’t talk about it, but I think she hopes there will be some kind of huge announcement on why he did what he did. I’m not sure she’ll get closure until she hears that and I’m not sure that she ever will.
When we step outside, she sees the camping tent.
“Hmm… What are we doing?” she asks.
“Camping.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Someone told me every girl should go camping with friends—and boyfriend,” I wink at her, “at least once in her life.”
“Okay.”
“BUT,” I say, “We’re going to do better than that.”
“How is that?” she smiles.
“Well, being that my girl is awesome and loves scary movies so much, we’re going to watch scary movies in the tent, with the added creepy sounds of the outdoors for additional effect. And Kyle even got the best snacks!”
“Alec—I”
I pull her close to me and stop her with a kiss. “Just do this for me. One evening where we just focus on us.”
Kyle clears his throat. “Okay, I got all the classics loaded to my laptop: Nightmare on Elm Street 3, Halloween, and Friday the 13th. I look at my watch. I think we only have time for one movie before I have to go back in.”
And that does suck, but I
keep smiling at her. “Don’t think about it. Let’s just have fun.”
We go in the tent. Sky and I sit on one side and Kyle on the other. I put my arm around Sky and we start to watch Nightmare on Elm Street. Now, Kyle is the type of person who will jump at everything when it comes to scary movies. It’s hilarious. Under normal circumstances, I would’ve been shocked that he agreed to watching this movie out here, but I know he cares about Sky and wants to help keep her mind off of everything that is going on.
She laughs so hard every time that Kyle jumps and I love the sound of her laughter. I missed it as much as I miss the sound of her singing. When the movie is over, it’s almost 8:30. Sky checks her phone.
“Ugh. My dad said he wants to have a word with you.”
Kyle makes fun of me and Sky asks if she should go in with me, but I tell her I’ll be okay and to enjoy the last thirty minutes before she has to go in.
I open the back door that leads into her kitchen. Both her dad and mom are there.
“We haven’t heard her laugh like that in a while,” says her dad.
“We’re just trying to get her mind off Mike.”
He nods. “Do you guys have more movies and snacks?”
“Yeah, but she has to be back in thirty minute, so—”
Her mom shakes her head. “You guys can camp out there tonight. That’s fine. I know where you are and that you are safe. And we are right here.”
“As long as Kyle stays too,” warns her dad.
“Thank you.” I try not to smile too much until I’m out of house and, when I am, I rush back in the tent to tell Kyle and Sky the good news.
Kyle makes jokes about how there is no way in hell he’ll sleep tonight.
Before we start the second movie, I run over to my house to get sleeping bags. When I get back, Sky and I lay down in one of the bags, Kyle lays down in the other, and we start the second movie.
Kyle is the first one out.
Sky laughs. “Do you think he’ll have nightmares?” she asks.
“If he does, I’ll never let him live it down.”
She turns around and looks into my eyes. For the millionth time, I think about asking her to promise me that she won’t ever do something like that again; to push me out of the way and put herself in danger—but I stop myself. I know it’s not the time to bring up that night.
“What’s on your mind, Alec?” she asks.
I grin at her. “Nothing.” I pull her close and kiss her.
When she pulls away, I keep watching her.
“Can I ask you something?” she says.
“Of course.”
“What happens to us when school is over?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
She looks down, but I bring her chin back up.
“What is it?” I ask.
“Do you think you’ll be moving away to college?”
“Even if I do, I’m not letting you go, Sky.” I pause. “I never even thought I would make it this far, you know? So I didn’t exactly plan this far ahead. Now, I’m thinking that I’ll probably go to community college first. Here in town, at least until you finish school.
She looks shocked. “Does that scare you?” I ask. “That I’m starting to plan things so far ahead? Because it scares the hell out of me, but at the same time, it feels right.”
She laughs. “No. It doesn’t scare me. It’s good to see you making plans. It actually makes me feel relieved. But I don’t want you to be stuck in this small town for me.”
“I’m not doing this for you, Sky. I’m doing this for us. And it’s what I want to do.” I grab her hand and take a deep breath. “I lied to you at the hospital,” I say.
She gives me a confused look. “What about?”
“You once told me that words have power and I chose the wrong ones that day. I’m not falling for you… I love you, Sky. It sounds silly, but I loved you since the day we met. Throughout the years, when I closed my eyes, I saw yours.” I shake my head because I can’t believe I’m saying this stuff out loud. “I once heard that if you fall in love with someone because of their eyes, you’ll love them forever, because a person’s eyes are the one thing that will never change.”
I see her eyes get teary right before a pillow comes flying at me.
“Dude! Holy hell! How did you manage to spit out so many cheesy lines in such a short period of time?”
I laugh, “Shut up, Kyle.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
ALEC
It’s been a month since the incident. Time doesn’t make us forget, but it does start to heal. As everyone’s lives start to move forward again, Sky tells me that maybe we should go to prom. She says it’s my last year and I should get to do this.
I grin at her. She doesn’t know it, but this is all about her. One of the things on my sister’s list of things every girl should get to experience is to ‘go to a dance and feel like a princess.’ I even got Kyle to invite my sister and go as friends. I know Sky doesn’t exactly have any close girlfriends to spend that day with and get ready together and all.
SKYLAR
It’s a few days before prom and I still don’t know about this, but I do know I want to do this for Alec. I asked Kyle if he would go with me to buy a dress but he keeps putting it off for who knows what reason. It’s probably some guy aversion to shopping. And mom has been working a lot of crazy hours. So after school, I decide to go buy a dress while Alec and Kyle are hanging out with the team.
I must be the only girl in the world who hates shopping. It wasn’t too bad when Kristi was around. I really miss her being here.
I take a deep breath and walk into the store that is full of dresses this time of the year. I end up finding three dresses that could be the one and I head to the dressing room. I try the first one on…. a long red dress with a halter top and split on the back. I step outside of the dressing room, where there is a full-length mirror. It looks nice, but I feel so uncomfortable. It’s not me at all.
I go back in and try the next dress, a strapless blue satin dress. This dress comes up to right above my knees. I step out of the dressing room just as Lizzie and her new best friend come in carrying an arm-full of dresses. Her new friend is a freshman and word is that she’s Lizzie’s new project.
Lizzie laughs as soon as she sees me, and the girl with her actually looks embarrassed by her attitude.
“Is that for prom?”
“Yes,” I say. I wonder why she’s even talking to me. At school, she wants me as far away from her as possible.
“Who is taking you anyway? Don’t tell me it is Alec. I don’t understand how you can’t see that he’s up to something to be hanging out with you.”
For the first time, I feel sorry for her. Sorry because she feels this need to put people down, which comes from a really ugly place. There are a thousand things I could say to do the same to her, but I’m not that kind of person. So I ignore her. I know she always had a thing for Alec too and I’m just not going to play into her games anymore. But she keeps going…
“I mean… Alec is about to go away for college.”
For a split second, I look confused and she notices it.
“Oh, honey. You don’t know, do you? Jake told me that since they couldn’t finish the season, the coach got some scouts to watch recordings of their games. Alec was one of the guys who got offered a full scholarship. And… get this… It’s the same college I’m going to!”
The first question that comes to mind is why didn’t he tell me? I ignore everything she says. I go in the dressing room, grab my things, and walk past her and to the counter, where a very bored looking cashier stands.
She looks up at me and arches an eyebrow.
“Is there something wrong with the dress?” she asks.
“No. I want to buy it.”
“Hmm okay. Do you want to change out of it first?”
“No,” I say as I reach for the tag on the side and rip it off before handing it to her.
She s
cans the tag and I pay for it. Then, barefoot and all, I walk out and away from the store. About a block away, I stop to put on my tennis shoes.
I must look ridiculous with a nice dress and tennis shoes, but I just wanted to get away from Lizzie.
On the way home, it starts raining. Yes, it’s that kind of horrible day.
I’m happy for Alec. He deserves this. It just bothers me that he didn’t say a word about it. We talk about this stuff. On the way home, the ‘what ifs’ start to fill my head with why he didn’t tell me…
I know I’m over-thinking things and I just need to clear my head, so rain and all, I grab the ladder and start to go to the roof.
I’m half way there when I realize that a slippery dress and rain on the roof wasn’t my best idea. That is also when I hear Alec’s truck pull-up in his driveway and he runs toward the ladder.
“Please tell me you’re not going up to the roof in this weather.”
I start to get down. When I’m close enough to the ground, he puts his hands on each side of my waist and helps me the rest of the way down, then turns me around.
“You look beautiful,” he says.
Ugh. How can he make me smile even when I’m mad at him?
“This isn’t for prom, is it?” he asks.
“Hmm… Yeah. Is it bad?”
He smiles. “No. It’s just that my sister is coming to town and she was going to take you shopping and get ready with you... She’s going with Kyle and thought it would be fun to have some girl time.”
“Is that why Kyle was giving me the run around about going shopping?”
“Yeah.” He pauses. We’re now both soaking wet. “We should go in,” he says.
“Alec?”
“Yeah?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the scholarship?”
He stops, bites his bottom lip, and looks away.
“Who told you?” he whispers.
“Lizzie.”
He looks up at me.
It starts to rain harder.
“Can we talk about this inside?” he asks.
I cross my arms. “No. I’m good right here.”
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I know how it must have felt to hear that from Lizzie. I just--I’m still trying to process this. I was going to tell you after I talked to Kyle’s mom about it later today.”
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