It Started with a Bet... (Watty Awards 2011)

Did it work? Did the sky take me away?

Did it work? Did the sky take me away?

“Because I love you, Haley.”

First it’s one voice. The sky’s voice. And then another. A girl’s. I stop scratching and pounding. I just cry. I cry like I’ve never cried before, sobs I’ve never heard before. Rasping and breaking free from where I held them. I clutch at the sky like I’ll never let go. How long has it been raining for? I want it to take me away. Away to where everything is clear and beautiful, no matter what happens below it. I’m sorry, Trina. I tried so hard. I promised you, didn’t I? That I wouldn’t cry. I’m sorry. Please forgive me.

I feel the arms around me tighten, holding me closer and closer as my sobbing fades. My consciousness fades. It’s black.

***
The sun is warm on my face. Did it work? Did the sky take me away? There are arms around me, something warm and soft pressed against me. This feels…familiar somehow. I open my eyes to find myself in my own bed, strong arms around me. I want to see who it is, but I don’t want them to move. So instead I try to reorient myself.

Was it all a dream? That seems the most likely. A horrible, horrible nightmare. The person behind me groans a bit and pulls me closer as they shift in bed. That is most definitely Trevor’s voice. I look down to see the clothes from my dream. Or rather, from last night. Then…who was the sky? Was it Trevor? I turn around quickly to see. Thankfully, Trevor only stirs a little.

His shirt is messed up. There are small tears and a few buttons have popped off. There are streaks of mascara there, too. I slowly unbutton the first few buttons and peak underneath. There are red welts and several bruises.

“Like what you see?” Trevor mutters sleepily. He rubs his red and puffy eyes and looks at me. Has he been crying? I bite my lip.

“I hurt you,” I whisper. He shrugs and then winces.

“It’s not that bad. If anyone asks though, tell them that they should have seen the other guy.” I crack a smile. Should I ask him? How can I? I can’t just say ‘Hey, Trevor, just wondering, but were you the sky?’

“Because I love you, Haley.”

I swear there were two voices saying that last night. One was Trina and the other was…I look at Trevor with wide eyes. He smiles sleepily and pushes some hair out of my face.

“Um…Trevor?”

“Wassup?” He asks, turning to face me and shutting his eyes.

“Did you…uh…last night…” His eyes pop wide open and he blushes. Was it him then?

“You know you’re wearing all your clothes, right?” Oh. That’s why he was blushing.

“Yeah, I know that,” I say quickly. He sits up and gets out of bed.

“Are you feeling better?” He asks, changing the subject slightly. I think about it. Yes. I feel significantly better.

“Yeah, but my memory of what happened last night is…pathetic at best. What happened?” Trevor shrugs.

“I tried to take you to a party and when we got to the lawn you started flipping out and…you mentioned Trina so I said Trina was dead and…it kind of spiraled out of control from there.” He sits down in front of me suddenly and looks into my eyes.

“Are you okay, though?” I nod.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” He sits back, obviously relieved.

“Thank God. I was so worried it would make you get worse.” I look at him.

“You took me to Andrew’s house on purpose?” He shakes his head and looks confused.

“Cameron’s house. Andrew moved out of there like three or four years ago.” His eyes suddenly get wide.

“Is that the same house—”

“That’s where the accident happened, yeah.”

“I’m so sorry. I was just going to take you to a party.” He speaks rapidly, frantically “I knew you’d freak out but I thought…maybe it would help. I didn’t know—” I put my hand over his mouth and yawn.

“It’s fine. I feel…better now. A lot better. Not just from last night but from…” I wave my hand around and swallow. “the accident.”

“Do you want breakfast or do you want to go back to sleep?” Trevor asks, removing my hand from his mouth.

“Hungry hungry hippo,” I say seriously. He raises an eyebrow.

“You are not fat.” I can’t help but giggle.

“No, I’m not.” Trevor smiles broadly.

“You barely stopped yourself this time!” I shrug.

“Eventually I’ll stop censuring myself, I think. It’ll probably take a while.”

“Not if I make you stop,” Trevor says with an evil grin. I stand up and start walking towards the door. It opens suddenly.

“Mom!” says Trevor, pulling the blanket over his shirt. I prepare myself for the worst.

“What are you doing?” Mom asks angrily. Even if I’m not in bed with him, the scene is pretty incriminating.

“I can explain!” Trevor says, clutching the blanket closer to him. I realize now how bad that looks. One person in bed, the blanket covering most of him. The other person out of bed in the same clothes as last night.

“Move the blanket,” she says suspiciously. Trevor moves it.

“What happened?” she almost yells. She must have a mom radar because it’s hard to see the bruises from where we are.

“I got into a fight at the party last night,” Trevor lies smoothly. “With a really short guy.” I glare at him but he just winks back. “And Haley brought me here and went to go find the first aid kit but I fell asleep. She fell asleep on the couch. She just came in to wake me up.” Mom looks closer at the shirt.

“We’ll talk about this ‘fight’ later. Go upstairs, shower, and come down for breakfast.”

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