Skylee wandered upstairs, unnoticed, as talk turned to the
tour. She silently walked through the dark hall and pushed
open the door to her room. Shutting (and locking) the door,
she kicked off her shoes and settled on the bed with a photo
album she had found downstairs. Turning on the bedside
lamp, she flipped through the pages but found nothing very
interesting so she shut it and placed it on the table.
Rifling through her bag, she pulled out her pack of
Marlboros and shook one out. Looking for the little book of
matches the restaurant had supplied, she managed to dump out
everything from her purse.
“ Here it is,” She muttered to herself, lighting a match
and putting it to the end of the cigarette. Startled when
there was a knock at the door, she scanned around the room,
looking for something that even resembled an ash tray.
“ Who is it?” She called, standing up.
“ Me,” Nick’s voice came through the other side.
“ Oh...hold on,” She unlocked the door and opened it.
“ I take it Kev doesn’t know you smoke,”
“ What he doesn’t know can’t hurt him,”
“ Yeah, but it could hurt you,” He said, looking
distastefully at the cigarette in her hand.
“ Your band member smokes,”
“ AJ? Yeah, but do you think he’ll ever listen to me?”
“ He seems like a jerk,” Skylee commented, sitting back down
on the bed.
“ He’s...Well, I guess he can be sometimes...But he’s a good
guy,” Nick said, sitting across from her.
“ So, why did you leave this pleasant little soiree my dear
brother is having?”
“ Got bored...”
“ Know what that’s like,” She remarked, taking another
drag.
“ Yeah? Were you bored at home?” He inquired reproachfully.
“ Why are you asking like that?” She said suspiciously.
“ Just wondering...You know, they say if people are bored,
they can do some pretty crazy shit...Drugs, sex, alcohol...”
“ What are you implying, Nick?”
“ I’m not implying anything...I just think you had too much
free time on your hands which brought on all this-” He
indicated with a wide sweep of his hands.
“-Gothism,”
“ You think I just sat around all day, Nick? No, I’m sorry
to disappoint you but I did have a life,”
“ Doing what?”
“ Doing a lot of things. Designing, acting-” She cut off
and stared at him.
“ Ok, I get it, Nick. My brother sent you to talk to me,
right? I mean, do you even give a shit?” She said angrily,
getting up.
“ Skylee-” She threw her cigarette in the bathroom sink and
faced him.
“ Nick, get out,”
“ What? Why?”
“ I mean, here you are, parading around and pretending to
be my friend. If you’re gonna listen to what my brother
tells you to do, listen to me, too. Get out, I don’t need
you in my life,”
“ Skylee, don’t be ridiculous, I do care, you’re brother
didn’t ask me to get info about you for him-”
“ I’m not buying it,”
“ If you’re gonna push everyone away, fine. But you should
have at least one person on your side, Sky,” Nick said
somewhat angrily.
“ Why you? How do I know whose side you’re on and why
should I even care?”
“ Because I’m the good guy,”
“ Yeah? I thought that was AJ,”
“ Skylee, I’ve known you for two years-”
“ A lot can happen in two years,” Nick stared at her,
wishing that single tear she had in her eye would hurry and
fall.
“ Forget it...” She turned away from him and wiped her eyes.
Nick stood for a second before he walked over to her,
resting his hand on her lower back.
“ Sky, I’m sorry...I know sorry isn’t going to bring him
back but it’ll get easier,” He pulled her closer to him and
held her in his arms as she cried.
“ It’s gonna be Ok, Sky,” He murmured as her body racked
with sobs.
“ It’s been three months,Nick, and nothing’s changed...It’s
still as if it happened yesterday,” She replied tearfully.
“ Three months isn’t a long time...This whole trip here is
supposed to be good for you; you’re not in a place washed
out with memories constantly...”
“ Why do they pretend? My Mom and Kevin act as if they’re
OK with everything but I know my Mom still cries herself to
sleep every night,”
“ Sometimes pretending makes it easier,” She leaned against
him in silence for a few seconds until Kevin knocked on the
door.
“ Sky? Are you awake?” Skylee pulled herself out of Nick’s
hug and sighed.
“ Yes, Kevin, I’m awake,” She answered reluctantly, trying
to dry her eyes but only succeeding in making them redder.
She pulled open the door and Kevin looked at her tearstained
face but didn’t say anything.
“ You guys want dessert?” He asked, glancing from Skylee to
Nick.
“ Um, I was gonna go to sleep and Nick was just leaving,”
“ Yeah, I’ll be down in a sec, Kevin,” Nick nodded and Kevin
looked at Skylee again before shutting the door behind him.
“ I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” He said to her as she
gazed down at the carpet.
“ Nick? I didn’t do drugs or sleep around,” She said,
looking up at him.
“ Yeah, I know, Sky. You’re not that kind of person
inside,” He stood for another second before he half-waved
and walked to the door.
“ ‘Night, Nick,” She said softly.
“ Goodnight,” He shut the door softly and Skylee went to
the big bed, drained as she turned off the light, not
bothering to change her clothes...
Main Page
elevenfiftynine Table of Contents
