Bitter Heart √

Twenty Five

Skylar's POV

"I'm surprised, Skylar," Alex spoke up as he drove out of my driveway.

I picked up the cup of coffee he'd bought for me and wrapped my fingers around it. It was scalding hot, too strong for me, and exactly perfect to scare off the heavy sleep that was nagging behind my eyelids.

"It took some real hard work to wake you up in the mornings. Especially Mondays." He pointed out. "All it takes now is one honk from my car and you come running out."

I hummed in agreement, pulling off my hair tie from my wrist and tying up my hair in a loose ponytail.

"Is it because of that gang stuff you were telling me about?" He glanced at me with a small frown this time. "The stuff with Caden?"

I let out a deep sigh and leaned my forehead against the glove compartment box, right in front of me. "I don't know, Alex."

I felt exhausted. And maybe that was just because of the bare minimum sleep I got last night. I remembered tossing and turning and flipping around on my bed. It got to a point that even Chicken had thought it wasn't worth it sleeping next to me.

Alex gave me another glance. Though that was as much as he could've looked at me since he was driving. Then he hummed in response. And that was that I guess.

A few seconds later as I took a small peek out of the window and saw the school nearing, I couldn't help but feel the unease churning in my stomach. It wasn't a nice feeling.

"Alex?"

He glanced at me questioningly.

"Can we skip school today?" I whispered.

Alex seemed confused and surprised, both. I was a little surprised too. I never liked skipping school. Alex knew that. I knew that too. Yet I didn't know why I suggested doing exactly that then. Skipping school was never an option for me.

"Why should we?" He asked, still driving towards the school.

I looked down at my cup of coffee and couldn't avoid the anxiety crawling up my gut. "I'm tired."

I was tired, yes. But it wasn't just that. I didn't want to face Caden, even though the chances of coming across him were highly slim. I still couldn't wave off the feeling of unease ever since I came back home after meeting Blake.

Blake had said a lot last night. A lot, yet it still felt like I knew nothing. I needed my parents but they weren't at home either.

I just needed a few hours away from all of this. A few peaceful hours. And I think Alex got the message even when I said nothing.

"All right." He said, swerving the car to the right and driving the opposite way from the school.

I closed my eyes in relief, slumping back in my seat.

•••••

When I woke up, I was still inside Alex's car, half of me leaning against the window. A small yawn slipped past my lips as I rubbed my eyes, noticing that Alex was still sitting beside me. He had stopped the car somewhere that looked like a park and was busy scrolling on his phone, looking totally unbothered. I guess skipping school wasn't that unusual for him.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" I asked him. I was glad, however, that he hadn't woken me up. I felt a lot better now, even though the nap hadn't been for too long.

Alex looked up from his phone and passed me a sarcastic smile.

"Morning, sunshine." He said. "I cannot believe I thought you were done with your sleeping shit."