"Skylar!" I hear a familiar voice yell. "Are you almost ready?" They ask me.
I look down at my legs. They are so small. I'm wearing jeans, a red t-shirt with a blue and red flannel, and red converse. I'm trying to tie my shoes. My little fingers just aren't working. I sigh.
"Need help?" I hear someone ask.
I look up and smile at my mother. She smiles back to me. "Remember, you don't have to be perfect at anything to be perfect to me."
I nod my head. I watch her as she ties my shoes. When she is done we walk over to the mirror. She stands behind me and smiles. I smile at our reflections. I'm eight. My mother and I are wearing matching outfits.
"Come on. We don't want to keep your father waiting." She says as she takes my hand. I nod as her and I walk down all of the stairs. The rest of my family is waiting for us. "Ready?" My mom asks my dad.
He shakes his head no. My mom raises an eyebrow at him. He walks forward and kisses her. When they pull apart he smiles. "Now I'm ready."
I follow my family into the car. "Come on Skylar." I hear faintly.
I look around while I buckle my seat. Nobody said my name. I shrug and look at my baby brother. He is three. My sister smiles at me. "Want to color?" She asks me.
I smile and nod my head as she takes out a coloring book and some crayons. "You color this page and I will color this one." She says to me.
I nod and take out a red crayon and start coloring the sky. My father turns on our song. "I've had the time of my life." My father starts singing.
"And I've never felt this way before." I sing.
"And I swear it's the truth." My sister sings.
"And I owe it all to you!" My mother sings. We all smile and continue to sing the song all the way there.
Once the car is parked I unbuckle and jump out of the car with my sister. My mom gets my brother and my dad the picnic basket. My sister kicks me the soccer ball and we both start running around.
After a few minutes my dad runs up behind me and grabs me. He picks me up and starts swinging me. I start laughing hysterically with him. He throws me over his shoulder and over to my mom.
I sit down with her and she pulls out some watermelon. My dad and sister start playing with Emmet.
"I love you so much Skylar." My mom says as he pulls me on to her lap.
I look up at her beautiful gray eyes. "I love me too mom." I say. We both start laughing and I hear a click go off. We turn to my father who is smiling at us.
We all start laughing again. "Come on. Let's go get them." My mom says to me as we stand up.
I nod as she runs over to my father. I start to run but my legs slow down. "Skylar!" I hear.
I just watch my family having fun. I smile to myself.
Suddenly my whole body hurts. I feel something rising out of my chest. I try to move but I can't. The stuff in my throat goes higher until I cough it up. I now feel everything. My head hurts, I'm freezing, my chest is burning really really badly. I gasp for air as I start coughing.
I open my eyes. Hovering over me is Stone. His eyes are really wide. He just looks at me and sighs. I see relief go through his big eyes.
He hangs his head. I turn around and look at my surroundings. Hunter is holding a crying Avery as Rylee is on the phone talking to someone and Jake is also on the phone.
There is no music anymore and everybody is outside. I look back up at Cam. Tears start to fill my eyes. "I want to go home." I say hoarsely.
His eyes soften as I let the tears leave my eyes. His whole body is over mine and from the looks of it he is soaking wet. I reach up and wrap my arms around his neck. His arms immediately go around my back as he sits us up. I just start to cry into his chest.
My whole body is hurting. My head is pounding. My chest is on fire. And I want to go home. I feel Stone start to stand up. He takes my legs and carries me bridal style as I keep my head pressed into his chest.
"The paramedics should be here any minute now." I hear Jake say.
"Skye!" I hear Avery say as I feel someone touch my arm.
I don't say anything, I can't. "Avery, phone." Rylee says.
"Come on. Let's take her to the front of the house." Stone says. He starts walking.
"No mom she's okay. She's breathing now. Yes and talking. The paramedics should be here soon. Okay I will meet you at the hospital." I hear my cousin say.
We continue walking. I stop crying. "I'm so tired." I say.
Stone jerks us so I fumble in his arms. "You have to stay awake Skylar. No matter what until we reach the hospital."
I nod and look up at him. He looks down at me. "I'm sorry." I say.
He doesn't say anything. "For what?" He just asks.
"I just am." I say. We hear the sirens. Stone doesn't put me down even when the ambulance comes to a stop. He doesn't put my down until they pull out the gurney and wheel it over to us.
"Is this the girl?" One of the male paramedics ask.
I look at him. "No it's the other wet girl."
"Put her here son." He says to Cam. Cam listens.
They lift it so I'm sitting up and start to strap me on to it. They start to load me into the ambulance. "Only two can come with us." The paramedics say.
"I'm family." Avery says as she starts to climb into the ambulance.
I lock eyes with Stone. "Cam?" I ask. "Will you come?"
Without being have to be asked twice, he jumps into the ambulance. The female paramedic shuts the doors and climbs into the front. She turns the ambulance on and starts driving away. "Are you okay ma'am?" The first paramedic asks me.
I nod. "Yeah but can she put on the sirens?" I ask with a smile.
They all start laughing. "She's fine." Avery says.
I smile at her. The driver puts on the sirens. "Thank you!" I yell.
The paramedic on my side looks at me as the other one starts to take my blood pressure and heart rate.
"I'm going to put a warm IV into your arm to try and bring your temperature up more." He says to me.
My eyes go wide. "Oh great. Needles." I say.
"It won't hurt." He says to me. I raise an eyebrow at him. He chuckles. "Okay it will hurt." He says as he sticks me with it. I watch him. My eyes go wide as my scars are exposed. Everybody is looking at them. It's very hard to miss.
"Now. Starting from the beginning what happened?" The other dude asks.
I nod and try to remember. "Well we were at the party and I kicked Cameron's ass in pool." I say with a smirk. He rolls his eyes. "Then my brother called me and I took the call outside because it was quieter. Once I was done I ran into this blonde bimbo and she ended up bumping into me and I fell into the pool. I remember hitting the water and hitting my head on the concrete edge but then the next thing I know I'm having a flash back of a childhood memory until I heard Stone's voice and that's when I woke up soaking wet." I say.
The paramedics nod. "How long was she unconscious for?"
They grab a spare blanket and hand it to a shivering Cameron. "Thanks." He says. "We heard the splash and ran outside. We saw her at the bottom of the pool and didn't know what was going on but when I saw the other girls just standing there and the blood on the edge I jumped in and got Skye out of the pool. It took two and a half rounds of CPR until she came back." He says.
"You gave me CPR?" I ask him. He nods. I just nod too. "Thank you." I say.
That's when we pull into the parking lot and we all rush out of the ambulance. "Skylar Sadburry age 17 white female 128 pounds. Head laceration followed by submersion in water and two rounds of CPR by male teenager. Patient is stable and conscious. No sign of any brain injury." The paramedics say to a doctor.
The doctor nods and wheels me over to a private room alone. My cousin and Stone get stopped at the front desk.
A bunch of doctors come in and out of the room and ask me a bunch of questions. I stop a young looking intern. "Hey." I say as she walks by.
"Yes?" She ask.
I smile. "Do you guys have any hot neuro doctors here? Because I have a head laceration and that would be nice."
She starts chuckling. "Actually our best looking doctor is in pediatrics."
I nod. "Ooh ooh, I'm a minor! Send him my way! Send him my way!" I say.
She laughs and nods her head. "Right away."
A few minutes pass and two doctors come in and ask me more questions. "We are going to take you up to CT to do a quick scan to make sure there isn't any damages." A chick says.
I nod. "I hate hospitals." I say to them.
They both chuckle as they wheel me to an elevator. "I hate elevators more though." They laugh out loud this time.
After we finished a CT and I got a few stitches, I get put into a room with no one else in it. I get asked if I want anything and chocolate pudding comes to mind. One of the doctors nods and walks out of my room.
I wait ten minutes before he returns. "Thank you!" I say. He nods and leaves.
I eat my pudding in silence and turn on the television. I get fifteen minutes into an episode of greys anatomy where someone drowned when I hear familiar voices. "Oh my god." I hear my aunt say.
I turn to her as she walks into my room with my uncle, and two cousins. She runs to my side and pulls me into a hug. I hug her back. "Are you okay?" She asks me.
I nod. "I think so. I mean the doc hasn't come back with my results yet but I feel fine." She nods.
"You're on house arrest." She says to me.
"What?" I ask.
"Whenever you go out you always get hurt."
I roll my eyes. "It's no big deal." I say.
"No big deal? Skylar you drowned! Your heart stopped beating. You were dead! That's a big deal." She says.
I just look away from her and out of the window. "I got hurt much worse back home." I say as I take my hand and cover up my scar.
I hear her sigh and she leans over and kisses my head. "You're just a pain in my ass."
I smile at her. There is a knock on my door. "Excuse miss Sadburry are you willing to take visitors outside of family?"
I furrow my eyebrows together. "Sure?" I ask.
She nods. A few minutes pass and there is another knock on the door. "Hey doc!" I say. "How am I doing?" I ask.
He smiles. "Actually great. No head injuries."
"So she is just as messed up as before. There is no reason for this?" Nick asks.
I stick my tongue out at him. He sticks his tongue out at me. The doctor laughs. "Mr. And Mrs. Morin if you come with me we can talk details." He says.
They nod and walk out of the room. "I'm hungry." Nick says. I look at the clock. 10:48.
"Me too." I say. "Nick go see if the café is still open!" I say.
His eyes go wide and he nods. He walks out of my room. I look at my cousin and smile she doesn't smile back. "Oh come on. I'm fine."
She nods and comes over and sits on my bed. "You scared the shit out of me." She says. I nod. "What memory did you relive?" She asks me.
I smile and look out the window. "It was the day my family went on a picnic."
She nods her head. "I think you need to stop going to parties." She says to me.
I roll my eyes and look over at her. "Why?"
"Because you seem to always get hurt at them."
I nod. "Yeah but last party was great." I say. "So I'm going to keep going to them."
She just sighs. She looks back up at me. "You know he saved your life right?" She asks me.
I look back at her. "I know." I say.
She smirks. "You know he had to kiss you to preform CPR." She says.
I nod. "I know."
She nods. "You're lucky to have him in your life." She says to me.
I just look at her. "I know."
"Well do you like him?" She asks me.
I pause and look out the window. "I can't." I say to her.
"Why not?" She asks.
"Because of Chris." I say to her.
She doesn't say anything. "I can't let anything happen between us because I can't lose him as a friend. I've had too many people walk out of my life and I don't want any more."
She nods. "Well what if Cam knew about Chris?"
My eyes go wide. I shake my head. "No." I say.
"But you told the others." She says to me.
"But I would never want to sleep with the others." I say to her.
She smirks at me. "So you want to sleep with Cam?" She asks me.
I roll my eyes. My heart monitor picks up a few beats. "No." I say.
She starts laughing and points to the machine. "I beg to differ." She says. I roll my eyes and smile. "What's so bad about him knowing?"
I pause. "What Chris did to me Avery, he broke me. He broke me into a million pieces and then drowned those pieces deep in water."
"Did you have to use drown?" She asks me. I smile.
I look back up at the television. "Being around Cam makes me feel like I could be whole again. He makes me feel like I'm not the broken girl who is a freak and has lost everything good in her life. I don't have to be fake around him, or put on a show and try to be someone I'm not. I get to be myself with him, like I am around you." I pause. "I can't let Chris ruin another good thing in my life." I say.
She nods. "Well what if he doesn't?" She asks me.
I look at her. "Avery I've tried dating other guys after Chris. Once they found out about him they bolt. Or I tell them and they pity me and date me for two weeks then bolt. It's always the same, I will never hurt you. I'm not like the other guys. Just give me a chance. I've heard it all before but once they see the scars on my back or I finally tell them how I got the scars on my wrists they look at me like how people always do. Then the leave. I can't risk losing Stone as a friend just to try and see if we could be anything more because I need him in my life whether he likes it or not."
She nods. "Okay."
"Okay." I say. We sit in silence for a couple of minutes until there is a knock on the door. We both turn.
"Hey cupcake." I hear.
"Hey." I say back. "Are you still in your wet clothes?" I ask.
He rolls his eyes. "Atleast I'm wearing clothes."
I stick my tongue out at him. He chuckles at me. "I'm going to go check to see where Nick is." Avery says as she gets up and walks to the door. "Thank you for saving my cousin." She says to Stone. He just nods.
Once she leaves he just stands there. He has his hands in his pockets. I just sit there on my bed. "Your aunt told me you have to stay over night for observation." He says.
I roll my eyes. "Great."
He just nods. This is awkward. "Thank you." I finally say to him.
He scratches the back of his neck. "It was no big deal. It's not like I was going to let you die." He says. I nod. He finally walks over towards me. "Can I ask you something?" He asks me.
My heart picks up noticeably on the monitor. He raises an eyebrow at me. "Depends on the question." I say as I steady my breathing to lower my heart rate.
He nods. "Did Brittany actually push you into the side of the pool."
I look out of the window. "Yeah." I say to him.
He doesn't say anything. "Was it because of me?" He asks in a voice so low it's almost a whisper. His voice sounds so raw and painful.
I just look at him. "No." I say to him sternly. He doesn't believe me. "Hey." I say to him. He looks at me finally. He has pain in his eyes. "Sit." I say to him. He comes over and sits on the edge of my bed by my feet. "It wasn't your fault you know that right?"
He looks out of the window and doesn't say anything. "Did she push you because she thought you and I were a thing?" He asks.
"Technically yes. But you know me with my mouth. I don't have a filter so I probably started it." I say.
He doesn't say anything for a few minutes. "I'm sorry." He says to me.
I roll my eyes. "Don't." I say to him. He just looks at me. "Just because some bitch is obsessed with you and tried to kill me doesn't make it your fault."
He doesn't say anything. "But she is only doing this because I told her that I didn't want to see her again."
"What?" I ask.
He looks away again. "I've never actually liked her. She was just a toy to me. I hate how she treats other people and bullies everyone. After you came down here you made me realize how low she actually goes. A week or so after your fight with her I called everything off. I cut all ties with her. I was done. This seemed to get her even more mad because she thought it was because I liked you. She hated you even more now that I said no to her. She blamed you. That's my fault. I never denied it when she accused me of liking you. It's my fault."
I don't say anything. Cam doesn't look at me. "You didn't force me to hang out with you." I say.
"What?" He asks me confused.
"You didn't force me to do anything that involved you. I wanted to. So if anyone is to blame its her because she is psychotic." I say.
"So you don't blame me?" He asks me shocked.
I smile. "You saved my life Cameron. How the fuck could I blame you?"
He smiles at me. I smile back. I hear people talking and we both look at the door. My aunt walks in talking to my family. "So Skylar visiting hours are almost over and you have to stay over night. We will be back first thing in the morning."
I sigh and nod my head. "So I'm going to be here alone tonight?" I ask. She nods her head. "Can they drug me?" I ask.
Everybody laughs. "I'm afraid not." Says my doctor from behind them.
"Come on doc! I will pay you! Just knock me out for the night." He laughs and shakes his head.
I cross my arms and pout. "Come on. It's time to go." My uncle says.
My aunt comes over and kisses my head. "I love you." She says.
I roll my eyes. "Everybody does." I say. She just chuckles. "I love you too Auntie."
My uncle comes over and gives me a kiss on the head too. "See you in the morning." He says.
Avery and Nick gives me a hug. "Cameron would you like to ride back with us?" My Aunt asks.
He nods. "Yes ma'am that would be wonderful." He says. "Can you give me a moment?" He asks.
She nods and smiles. "We will be at the car." She says. Everybody leaves except for Stone.
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out my phone. "Here. I almost forgot. It's not broken. You threw it before you hit the water I'm guessing."
I nod and take the phone. "Thanks." I say.
He gets up. "If you need anything just call me and I will come." He says. I nod. He walks over to the door. "Goodnight Skylar." He says.
I smile. "Goodnight Cupcake." I say to him. He smiles and starts to walk away. "Cam!" I say as I slide my feet out from under the blanket and stand on the edge of my bed.
He stops walking and turns around to face me. Within an instant he is across the floor and in my arms. We stand there for a few moments until he pulls away and walks out of the room.
I sigh and lay down in my bed. Time for absolutely no sleep. I watch the television for two hours. A nurse comes by and checks on me every now and then.
My phones starts buzzing. I reach over and pick it up. It's a call on FaceTime. I smile when I see who is calling me.
"Miss me already?" I ask.
I get an eye roll. "Actually I knew you would be up and thought you would be bored. But I can hang up if you want me to."
"Nah. It's fine. I guess I can talk to you Stone." I say.
He just gives me a look. I smile at him. He just shakes his head. "Why don't you have a shirt on?" I ask him.
He pans the camera down his whole chest then back to his face. "Why do you have a shirt on?" He asks me. I just roll my eyes at him. He smiles at me. "So whatcha doing?" He asks me.
I just give him a look. "Petty my fucking unicorn." I say.
He chuckles. "Fun."
I nod. "What about you?" I ask while I yawn.
"I'm bored as hell." He says.
I nod and roll on to my side. Stone is laying on his side too. Stone and I talk for a few hours. After a while we sit in silence, a comfortable silence. I hear Stone's breathing become heavy. I shut my eyes and match his breathing. I fall asleep.
I wake up when a nurse comes to check my IV. "Good morning Skylar." She says to me.
I rub my eyes and smile. I have my phone in my hand. My smile grows when I look at my phone and see a sleeping Cameron. I screenshot it and end the call.
"Boyfriend?" The nurse asks me.
I shake my head with a smile. "No. Just friend." I say.
She nods as she continues to check my vitals. She leaves the room and I turn on my television. About an hour later and my aunt comes into my room with the rest of the family. I smile. "Oh thank god!" I say. "Can I get out of here yet?"
"I will go ask the doctor." My uncle says.
I smile. "Thank you!"
My uncle walks out of the room. "I want food." Nick says.
"Oh coffee sounds amazing." I say.
"I will be back." He says.
I smile. "Thanks Nicky!" I yell as he walks out of the room.
"So where's my clothes?" I ask.
"What?" My aunt asks me.
"Clothes?" I ask. "You know the pieces of fabric I need so I can leave this hell hole?"
Her eyes go wide. "I forgot to get you clothes."
I sigh. "I can't leave in a nightgown." I say.
She nods. "I can see what they have at the gift shop?" She asks.
I just give her a look. "It's a forty-five minute drive each way. If I leave now I could be here in about two hours."
"Gift shop." I say.
She laughs. "Sorry sweetheart."
I just shrug. "It's okay."
She leaves my room. "I could call Ashley or Rylee and see if they could get you close and bring them here."
I nod. "I have an idea." I grab my phone and dial a familiar number.
It rings five times before I hear his voice. "Hello?" He asks. His voice is low and raspy like I just woke him up.
"Can you do me the biggest favor in the world? I will buy you food or something." I say.
"What do you need?" He asks.
"My window is unlocked and I need you to get me some clothes and bring it to the hospital so I can go home today." I say.
"Seriously?" He asks me.
"Yeah." I say.
"I will be there in forty." He says.
"Thank you." I say with a smile. He hangs up the phone. "Stone is going to get me clothes." I say to my cousin.
She just nods her head. Twenty minutes pass and everybody comes back. My aunt has a tank top in her hands and Nick has a coffee. I take both. "Thank you guys."
We all sit around. "So tailgating tomorrow?" I ask.
"Are you up for it?" My Uncle asks.
I nod my head and smile. "Am I up for my team kicking your teams ass? Yes."
He chuckles and shakes his head. "Okay."
I throw on the tank top that my aunt bought me.
"So what now?" Nick asks.
"Now I deliver clothes and Skye owes me food." I hear from the door way.
"Oh sweet baby Jesus. I fucking love you." I say. I sit up in bed. My whole body is still sore.
He smiles as he walks into my room. He hands me a bag full of clothes. I pull out sweatpants and Stone's sweatshirt. I slide both of them on except for my arm that has the IV in it.
"Can someone get the doc so I can make sure I can go."
"Oh you can go. Your Aunt and Uncle already signed the release forms." My doctor says.
"Yay!" I yell.
"I will get a nurse to take that IV out." He says.
"No need." I say as I rip the IV from my arm. "Fuck." I say as it burns.
The nurse who checked on me before walks into the room. "Here are you discharge papers."
"Thank you." I say.
She smiles. Then she looks at Stone. "Hey. You're the boyfriend who was on FaceTime with Skylar all night."
He scratches the back of his neck and nods. "The one and only." He says.
I put the sweatshirt on and grab my converse that the doc brought back along with my gross clothes. I take out the pair of chucks that Cam brought and throw all of the wet shit in the bag.
"Let's go!" I say.
We all get up and leave the hospital. As soon as we get outside I take a deep breath and walk over to the closest tree. I kiss it and hug it. "Oh god I missed freedom."
"Let's go tree hugger." My Uncle yells to me.
I sigh and let go of the tree. I walk. "Skye so we will see you back at the house." My aunt says to me.
I raise an eyebrow at her. "What?" I ask.
"What? You are going to ride home with Cameron. It's rude that you made him come all this way and make him ride back alone. Plus I heard you owe him food." She says.
I sigh and walk over to Cam's car. "Fine." I say.
I open the door and slide into the passenger seat. The back two doors open and my cousins get in. Cam gets into the front. "Why are you guys coming?" He asks.
"Because I heard we were getting food." Nick says.
We all laugh and Cam starts the car. I'm finally leaving this shit show.