Skye's POV
"Excuse you" the high pitch voice spits
I slowly turn to look at her wearing my don't push it glare "Oh, it's you" she sounds surprised, she brushes down her pink fitted blouse, I thought she'd abide by the mean girls rule and only wear pink on Wednesdays.
"Nice seeing you too Jessica" I fake smile.
"You look more pissed off than normal"
I narrow my eyes at her, I'm shocked she has any brain cells left. I let a heavy breath out and continue my storm out
"Hey" she calls, making me stop
"I never got to properly say thanks for you know, not killing me" her words seem genuine, her whole bitchy tone has vanished
"You caught me on a merciful day"
She lets out a small laugh, it's sweet and girly. I'm sure a lot of people prefer that then her snarky laugh she uses at others misfortunes. "I'm sorry about your leg too"
I shrug my shoulders "You saw a chance and you took it, I'd do the same, but I wouldn't recommend doing it twice"
Her green eyes that are masked by her classic smoky eye shadow widen "I definitely witnessed why people fear the Red's first hand" normally I would smirk but my mouth stops at a small smile
"Well, families are complicated so"
She cocks her head "Still, yours would die for each other unlike mine who have a secret life half way across the globe"
I frown in sympathy "That's rough" "If you need a punching bag, I'll let you know when Tyler's up and running"
She laughs "How's he doing?" she seems to have some compassion in her stone heart
"He's alive. This is Tyler, he'll be back to his usual obnoxious self soon"
Seconds from the bell ringing I walked away, while I still could. Adding to the list of differences, Jessica acting like a civilized teenager and not a complete brat. Her Dad keeping a whole other life secret sounds harsh, I can't help but wish I set up a second life too.
~~~
Sweat droplets run down my burning hot forehead, but that hasn't stopped me punching the punching bag for the last hour.
The best place for me was my training unit. It's quiet and even better, nobody knows I'm here.
Every brutal blow let's out a word from the classroom but, I fear no matter how long I stay here and beat the imaginary bag of problems will never be enough.
I have a game plan, like everyone else in my life. Mine being the less people involved the better. That's my type of damage control.
I give one last beastly jab to the warn bag and step back. My knees offer me support as I recover.
The shiny knives on the wall are enough to tempt me into staying here forever. I kitted this place up for a reason, it's like my deadly playground.
Round and rounds thrown at the board soon relieving tension.
"Damn it" I curse as a blade slices my hand, it clangs when it slips through my fingers onto the ground.
My ruby red blood has already made an appearance. The stupid medical box isn't so stupid anymore. It's a minor cut but that doesn't make it any less annoying.
~~~
Seeing as I ditched my car when I decided to depart my home, I lost my method of transport. Fortunately for me, I have a car parked under the training building, meaning I could get back to the apartment without having to walk a tedious 50 minutes.
Blue welcomed me with a squeaky toy and a waging tail, he is the key to uplifting anyone's mood.
"Hey, handsome" My words fall out before I process them.
Why did I ever think a stupid pet name was a good idea? But then when did Grayson think telling me he loved me midway through a fight of a life time was a good idea?
I sigh and throw the spare key Baxter gave me, which I guess is now mine into the bowl and trudge further in.
The apartment is silent meaning Baxter isn't here. My stubbornness doesn't want him to know his prediction was right.
I push my door open and set my sight on my laptop and bed. I figure if I do some school work it will make up from me cutting class but nothing is new.
"Skye" a voice whispers. My eyes lazily open up to see Baxter. CRAP!
He takes a seat on my bed. I yawn stretching, I didn't expect to fall asleep.
"I take it you didn't have the best day"
I roll my head to giving him a state the obvious much glare "Let's put it this way, the nicest conversation I had was with Jessica"
His protruding eyes give me the exact reaction I expected
"Hey, what time is it?"
He takes his phone out "Coming up to 4 why?"
I groan "I want today over with already"
The sudden gentle contact with my hand stops me rubbing my eyes. The blurriness only shows a figure but I know it's Baxter "You can't go 5 minutes without injuring yourself, can you?"
I shrug still having my hand in his, his thumb traces the area around the cut "Sorry Doc" he smirks at my sarcastic apology
~~~
My body jerks awake. Lost for breath, I turn to the alarm clock that reads a miserable 3am, the devils hour. My heart pounds through my chest at the nightmare I had woken from.
It starts with me and Grayson dancing in the hotel ballroom, the perfect night. We go up to the roof like the day we had a group date and then the nightmare starts. I'm upside down in the car, he's staring at me across the road but he stands still, I scream but he looks straight through me. Nobody comes to me but Lorenzo and his smug grin mocking me. I'm totally trapped and then the car blows, that's when I wake up.
I reach for my glass of water on the bedside cabinet, when I feel the glass, it is in fact, empty.
"Great" I mutter to myself
I swing my legs off the bed and turn the side lamp on, the one night I forget to get water, I sneak past Blue who's sound asleep at the bottom of my bed.
The apartment is purely lit by the moonlight, the sun should start rising in a few hours. I get a fresh glass trying to create as least noise as possible, the apartment isn't as big as a house and Baxter's room is only down the hall.
I don't bother turning on the kitchen light, the window above the sink is enough. I fill up the glass with cold water and take a gulp over the sink, I instantly feel calmer.
Suddenly, the sound of the light switch fills the room, followed by the light. "Can't sleep either?" Baxter asks walking in. He doesn't sound tired at all, more bored.
I sigh and turn leaning my back against the counter "Nope!"
"Care to share?" he casually questions filling up a glass of water, copying exactly what I did moments before.
I tell Baxter most things but I don't know about boy problems. "Everything is just a whirlwind at the moment" I simply reply lifting myself onto the counter top.
He raises his eyebrows and hums a yes causing the water to ripple. "How much of a whirlwind though?"
I sigh just thinking of it all, my legs swing from the counter out of habit "Well, if it's not my family it's flashbacks from the crash"
"Woah, wait" he says halting the start of my ramble "Flashbacks? Like nightmares?"
I shrug my shoulder trying to downplay it "Kind of. It only happened tonight so I'm hoping it will pass"
He looks at me with a clear sympathetic look, borderline pity look "If it happens again you know you can wake me up"
I nod appreciating his kind offer. Having a nightmare is an embarrassing thing for me, I don't like it being known a stupid bad outer body experience can have a scaring effect on me.
"Hey, Bax" I sheepishly say bringing his attention back on me.
He smiles making it known "If someone you cared had done things that had hurt you or people around you, but told you they had a justified reason, would you still be mad at them?"
He takes a second to think "It depends on what the justifiable reason was"
"Okay" I say with a frustrated sigh "They can't tell you because it's to protect you"
He leans on the opposing counter "Is the person trust worthy?"
"I don't know" I reply with sadness slowing setting in "I want to believe they are, but, I'm not so good with the whole trust thing"
He smirks "So, this isn't hypothetical" I roll my eyes at him calling me out. It's not like it's a top secret situation, I want genuine advice. "Well, in that case. I think you need to figure this one out yourself. But, don't let you emotions get in the way. At the same time don't turn your humanity off. We all have good aspects and bad aspects of ourselves, it's what makes us human. You've been hurt in the past, but you survived. Just make sure whether you trust them or not you don't lose yourself in the process"
I'm totally taken back, I can't decide to well up or freeze in shock "Wow!" I exclaim "Have you been preparing inspirational speeches or something?"
"Ehh, what can I say?" He chuckles "The best people to tell your troubles to are bar tenders. You're just lucky to live with one"
I smirk at his usual spark returning. "Thanks Bax"
He winks at me "You're welcome"
By the time we finish talking it's nearly 5am. There's no chance of me getting back to sleep now, and honestly, I'm okay with that, I'm not in the mood for a repeat of the torture fest.
Instead, I decide to take Blue for a walk. It's a perfect way to clear my head and spend a little quality time with the least problematic and cutest creature in my life. I grab a warm hoodie pulling it over the crop top I was already in; my black sweats are too comfortable to take off. I slip my vans on and go to find Blue.
He runs into the main room when he hears his lead and harness rattle. He's such a happy pup.
"Come on my little baby Blue" I coo
"NOPE!" Baxter yells peeking into the room. I stop in confusion "I'm taking your Dog for a walk isn't that a good thing?"
"Yes. But, you cannot walk in here and emasculate my dog like that" I stare at him slightly amused at his argument "Okay, that dog is a killing machine" he protests
I smirk holding back my laughter "Yeah, maybe if he licks you to death"
"Uhh" he groans "Skye, you're going to make my dog soft"
My laughter no longer is contained, I continue putting his harness on, he complies like an angel "You should have thought of that before calling him Blue, it doesn't scream intimidation"
He rolls his eyes "Whatever, but if you repel his chick magnitude I'm blaming you"
"I'm sure that'll be a huge tragedy for his street cred" I smirk "Let's go Blue boy" he barks throwing a paw before we take off
"Be good. Don't talk to strangers" Baxter shouts
"He's a dog" I reply baffled
"I was talking to you" he laughs
Like I said Blue is the least problematic. That theory is going to be proven since I found the prison Lorenzo is held in.
And guess who's going to talk. The only one who can.
X