Goth music pulsed through the smoky club. Drugs raced through my blood stream. I needed fresh air. I ran toward the door. My feet touched the concrete and my knees bent before I remembered telling them too. The last thing I saw was a blond head.
“She’s so beautiful,” he whispered.
I opened my eyes and was temporarily blinded by the light. I was surrounded by blond angels. Was I in heaven? "What's going on?" I whispered desperately. "Who are you? Did I die?"
"Shh," whispered the one I first saw. "Everything's okay. You're alive and...not quite well. You were tripping hard."
"Yeah," said the other one, his loud voice breaking the intimacy of the moment. "You looked like shit when we found you, man. I'm Zac. That's Tay," he said as he pointed at the gorgeous one. "And that's Ike."
Ike smiled at me reassuringly. "Don't mind Zac. He's a little strange."
"Aren't you..." I struggled to finish the thought. "Aren't you Hanson?"
"Yes, but don't tell." Tay placed a finger over my lips. He looked at Zac and Ike and said, "Why don't you guys leave? She needs her rest." Zac winked at Tay while Ike glared, annoyed. They exited the room quietly, closing the door behind them. Tay looked at me and I felt my heart begin to melt.
"What's your name?" he asked. His eyes were bluer than the ocean.
"Skye," I answered. "My name is Skye." Someone knocked on the door then and it opened slowly.
Ike poked his head in. “Tay, Heather is on the phone and she wants to talk to you.”
Tay looked up and sighed. “Does she have to talk to me right away? I’m kind of busy right now. Skye and I are talking.”
Ike smiled. “She said now and she sounded pretty pissed off. I doubt that she’d be real happy if I told her that you can’t come to the phone because you’re in bed with another girl.”
Tay stood and walked out the door, still mumbling. “I was not in bed with another girl, we were talking. No big deal. It’s not like I cheated on her or anything. I was not in bed with another girl, we were...hi, Heather. No, no, that was just the TV. Did you need something? Well, I was kind of busy. Yeah, of course I’m glad to hear from you! No...” We listened to him walk down the hall, still talking on the phone. Ike sat in the spot where Tay had been and rested a hand on my arm.
“How are you feeling, Skye?” he asked with a concerned voice. I had to admit, he was pretty fine, though not quite as cute as Tay. His nose was bigger.
“I’m not too bad,” I answered with a smile. Tay was obviously taken so I might as well move on to his brother. “I need to get home soon though. My mom must be worried sick!”
Ike gave me a puppy dog look. “Are you sure you have to leave so soon? We just met you a few hours ago.”
“I’m sure. I’ll give you my phone number. You can call me if you want.” He nodded and I recited the number as he wrote it. I stood up and looked down, embarrassed. I was wearing my undies and that's all I was wearing.
Ike took a nice long look before he turned around. “Your clothes are in that corner. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll drive you home.”
I got home an hour later. I opened the door and turned to wave to Ike. As he pulled away, I felt something wrap around my waist. It was my stepdad's arm. He jerked me inside and slamed me against the wall, hard enough that it rattled my bones.
"Where the hell have you been, young lady?" I could smell the alcohol on his breath as the first punch fell on my eye.
My mom ran into the room, screaming. "Please, Jerry, stop! Leave Skye alone, please!" He slammed a fist into the side of her head, knocking her to the ground, and turned back to me.
He went on, raving about how worried he was. "I told you to be home by midnight, not sometime the next day. Damn bitch! Your mother and I were worried. You could have been raped or killed, but no, you're off loitering in a parking lot like a whore. With some strange guy who drives like a maniac and has a different slut for every night of the week."
My mom gave up on trying to save me and slipped back into the kitchen quietly, choosing to ignore my sobs. Jerry went on like that for a couple more hours before he passed out. I walked up the stairs to my room, stumbling. My foot caught on the loose board and I tumbled onto the stairs, slamming my already-bruised ribs into the corner of the staircase.
"Oh, baby," Mom cried as she hurried up after me. She helped me to pull myself up on the railing and muttered about "kicking him out" and "Matt could have stopped it, if he were here". I didn't pay attention; she had said it so many times before that night. It was hard to see out of my swollen eyes, filled with tears.
With shaking hands, I pulled on my pajamas and crawled into bed. I promised myself that I would hold on until Ike called. Tomorrow, I thought with a sigh. Just until tomorrow.
"Skye, wake up! Wake up."
I sat up in bed, startled. The urgency in the voice scared me. I glanced around and noticed my cousin Matt sitting on the end of my bed.
"Man, Skye," he said, looking relieved. "I thought Jerry went and killed you this time." He gave me a gentle hug, but I knew what he was really doing. He was checking me for broken bones.
"Matt, as much as I love your helpfulness, I feel pretty bad. I was at the Dungeon, tripping, and I passed out. Then I woke up in a house with three strange guys who turn out to be Hanson. I came home and got the shit beat out of me, and you wake me up to tell me that you thought I was dead. What do you want?" I knew I sounded like a bitch, but I wasn't feeling too good.
He tossed me the phone and I caught it in my bloodied palm. "There's a guy named Ike on there. I assume it's the Hanson. He wants to talk to you. Says he met you the other night." He took a drink of his Pepsi and held it out to me. I gave him my best evil look, but I was too happy to hear from Ike so soon.
"Hello?" I said into the phone.
"Skye? This is Ike. I'm sorry I woke you. I just figured that you'd be up by noon."
"No, no, it's okay. I'm really glad you called."
"Um, I was wondering if you might like to, you know, go to a movie or something. Tonight, around seven?"
"I'd love to! Could you pick me up at six thirty?"
"Sure, I'll be there. See you then."
I hung up and gave Matt a big hug. "I've got a date tonight. What'll I wear?" I ran to my closet and started pulling out clothes, looking for an outfit.
Matt looked at me with worried eyes. "Are you sure you're up to it?" He pointed to my bruised arm. "You look a little, well, I guess the word is beat up."
A wave of nausea passed over me. Even my cousin and best friend was against me and Ike. I decided to let my anger out. "Fine, disappoint me again. You know, if you would have been here last night, I might not look this bad. You could have convinced him to leave me alone, but I guess I'm not worth your time."
Matt stood, tears forming in his grey eyes. "That was really low, Skye. And by the way, I kicked him out this morning." He walked out, slamming the door behind him. I looked after him, shocked that such cruel words could come out of my mouth.
At 6:29, the doorbell rang. I ran down the stairs, praying for my mom to be asleep. No such luck. She was up and dressed, looking surprisingly normal.
"You look lovely, sweetheart," she told me. I glanced down at my flare jeans and red shirt with a scoop neck and three quarter sleeves.
"Thanks, Mom," I replied. I was so grateful that Jerry was gone. I didn't want Ike to know that my stepdad was a drunk. He wouldn't have approved.
"Darling, I'm so sorry about last night. I just..." She really sounded sorry. I gave my forgiveness and she wished me a good time. "Stay out as late as you want, kiddo."
I walked out to Ike. We climbed in the car. He sounded very nervous as we decided on a movie and then a late dinner at a little cafe I suggested.
The theater was crowded, but we found good seats in the back. Halfway through the movie, he had hardly managed to put one arm around my shoulders. I decided to move things along a bit, so at the next scary part, I screamed and buried my head in his shoulder.
Ike stared down at me, I stared up at him, and our eyes locked. We moved closer and I felt sparks as his lips brushed mine.
"Sorry," he whispered, moving away. "I couldn't help it. I just have this insatiable desire to kiss you."
I was totally stunned. "Ike, it's okay! I wanted to. Actually, I wouldn't complain if we did it again."
It was his turn to be amazed. "Really?" I nodded and there was no hesitation. We kissed for the rest of the movie. I had my arms around his neck, hands in his hair. One of his hands rested politely on my waist, the other gently rubbing the back of my neck.
After the movie, we headed to the cafe, Moonbeams. I spotted trouble the moment we entered. In a corner booth near the counter sat Matt and a whole group of our friends. I told Ike to sit down while I went to talk to someone. He agreed to do it, but I felt him watching me. I walked quickly over to Matt's booth.
"Skye! Hey, girlie! What's up?" Everybody at the booth called greetings to me except Matt. I yelled back and slapped hands and kissed cheeks, trying to be as natural as possible. I sat down in the chair they pull up for me and talked for a second.
Eventually, I decided that it was time to quit beating around the bush and get to the point. "Matt, we need to talk." He rolled his eyes, but got up.
Another guy, Sam Ludwig, gave Matt a friendly punch on the shoulder. "Hey, man, I'll talk to her if you don't want to." Matt and I flipped him off at the same time.
We stepped a few feet away from the booth for privacy. Matt didn't say a word, but looked at me as if he had no idea what I was standing there for. "Matt, I want to apologize for what I said this morning. I know it was really cruel, but I didn't mean a word of it and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me." I put my best puppy dog face on.
Matt wrapped an arm around my waist and hugged me tightly. Then we pulled a little way apart. "Oh, Skye," he said apologetically, "I wasn't mad at you. I was mostly upset with myself because what you said was true. Are we cool again?"
"Yeah," I answered, "we're cool. Now I'd better get back to my date." He kissed my cheek and I turned back to Ike, feeling rude for leaving him.
As I approached the table, Ike seemed to be in a heated argument with some blond guy. He gestured in my direction and the other guy turned to look at me. To my surprise, it was Tay. He flashed me a smile as I slid in beside Ike.
Ike looked at me with sad, tired eyes. "Was that your boyfriend?" His voice sounds drained, as if he's run out of emotion.
"No!" I nearly yelled. I took a deep breath to calm down. "That's my cousin, Matt. He lives with me. We got in a fight this morning and I wanted to apologize." Ike breathed a sigh of relief.
Tay, on the other hand, looked pissed off. "Is he the one who hit you? Because I will gladly take care of that problem for you. Guys should not be hitting chicks. Ever." I raised a hand to one of my swollen eyes, strategically covered with concealer.
I tried to think quickly. "I wasn't expecting you to see that," I said to buy time.
"Well, how could we help but notice?" Ike asked.
"Wishful thinking, I guess." I smiled at them nervously, trying to find an excuse. "Matt's not the one who hit me. He would never hit me. He's like my brother. I started a fight with this chick in the park this afternoon. She was being a smart ass, so I popped her in the mouth. Well, she didn't like that much, so she got all her little girlfriends to jump me."
I sat there, looking at them and knowing they didn't believe me. But they were such polite boys that they nodded and pretended to accept my explaination. Then Ike gave me the bad news. His mother wanted him home right away, which was why Tay had showed up. How he found us, I never figured out. But he did. Ike offered to drive me home, but it was still pretty early. I asked if he'd mind my staying with my friends.
"Nah," he replied. "But," he added with a mischievious smile, "I'd better get my goodnight kiss, or I will mind." Tay decided to hang out with me and my crew until his curfew.
I walked with Ike to his car. I leaned against the door and he put his arms around me, and we kissed for a few minutes. "Keep an eye on Tay for me. I'll call you tomorrow," he said as he got in the car.
"You better call," I told him as he started the car. He stuck his head out the window and we shared one more kiss before he drove away. I headed back over to Moonbeams, where Tay and I joined my crowd. We all left for a big party right after that.
I woke up the next morning with the world's biggest headache and almost no memory of the night before. Someone was lying beside me in my bed. I rolled over to look. It was Taylor Hanson.
I sat up fast. "Tay, what the hell are you doing in my bed?" I screeched.
"Hey, it's alright." That was easy for him to say. He wasn't the one who couldn't remember anything. "You got really drunk and started throwing up, so I got you a ride home. Your mom was leaving for work and Matt was still at the party. I stayed because your mom didn't want you home alone. You know, she was very cool about the drunk thing too."
I pushed a strand of my dark brown hair behind my ear. "Okay, I'm calm now. You're telling the truth; I believe you. Does Ike know?"
"Yeah," Tay chuckled, "Ike knows. He answered the phone when I called to tell Mom. He wasn't real happy. He wanted to come over, but Mom grounded him for not telling her he was leaving. That's why he had to come home right away last night and I didn't."
I climbed out of bed, noticing that I was in the same clothes I wore last night. Score one for Tay, I thought. "Why don't you catch a shower and I'll cook up something to eat? Then I can drive you home and maybe get to see Ike."
"Sure." Tay stood up and yawned. "I don't know if Mom will let you see Ike, but she might. Since she had to ruin your date and all." I showed him how to work the shower and then went down to the kitchen. I scrambled some eggs and cooked bacon, and at the last second decided make hash browns. I was pouring orange juice when a pair of strong arms wrapped around my waist. Thinking it was Tay, I slammed my elbow back into his stomach.
I turned around to see that it was Ike I had just seriously injured. "Oh, shit. Ike, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it was you. I never would have done that if I'd realized. I'm so sorry," I repeated as guilty tears began to form in my eyes.
Ike was still holding his stomach, but he managed to give me a hug and tell me in a comforting voice, "It's okay, sweetie, don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean to. It's perfectly all right."
I stopped sniffling and we stood in the middle of the kitchen, just holding each other. Ike hugged me even tighter. "I have something I want to tell you." He sounded so serious that it started to worry me. "I love you, Skye." I was in shock. "I know we haven't been friends for that long and I understand if this scares you, but I really do think I love you. Will you be my girlfriend?"
For a second, all I could do was smile. Then I found the words to answer. "Ike, I would be honored to be your girlfriend. I think I love you too."
Our romantic moment was interuppted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Matt and Tay were standing in the doorway, laughing at us. "Shut up," I warned them, "or neither of you will be getting breakfast."
"Alright," Matt laughed. "I promise we'll be good. But no more of this mushy stuff at the table."
"Okay, Dad." We ate so much that I couldn't move. Then I remembered something I had wanted to ask Ike. "Ikey, how did you convince your mom to let you come over here?"
He blushed and glanced at Tay. "I told her how much I loved you and that I needed ot see you." He paused. "And she wanted me to check on her precious Taylor Tot."
Taylor glared at his brother. "Don't call me that," he whined, sounding miraculously like a four-year-old. "You know I hate that name.
We laughed over Tay for a little while before we started cleaning up. Before I knew it, the kitchen was sparkling clean and Ike and Tay are gone. Matt and I had promised to meet them at their house around three or four.
I hopped into the shower and cleaned up. Matt and I settled on the couch to watch a little daytime TV before heading over to the Hanson household.
Matt flipped to MTV just as the "MMMBop" video came on. I started screaming. "Matt, my boyfriend's on MTV!" I started singing along and dancing around the den. I had never been a big Hanson fan, but I always found "MMMBop" to be amusing. I stopped suddenly. "I wonder why they're showing this. It's pretty old."
Matt yawned and stretched. "It's Hanson day, you dorkus. This is the day their video premiered on MTV in '97. Even I know that."
I stared at Matt, dumbfounded. "How did you know that? I thought you didn't care about Hanson."
"I didn't. I think the guys are pretty cool now that I know them, but the music still sucks. Anyway, Tay told me when it was playing earlier." Everything came crystal clear.
"Oh, okay. Are you ready to go? I wanna go see Ike and Tay now." He sighed and tossed the keys in my general direction. We skipped out to my car together, humming the tune to "The Wizard of Oz" loudly.
I knocked gently on the Hansons' front door, hoping we won't be mistaken for fans. A pretty blond girl answered. She was around thirteen, I figured. So it had to be Jessie. Zac came flying down the hall on Rollerblades. He braked just in time to avoid slamming into his younger sister.
"Hey, Skye. Remember me? Oh, hi. You must be Matt. I'm Zac, Tay and Ike's brother. This is our sister, Jessie. Jess, this is Skye and Matt." He talked faster than I knew was possible.
Jess looked down at his Rollerblades pointedly. "Zac, you know what Mom says about skating in the house." Then she looked up at us shyly. "Hi." She fluttered her eyelashes and gazed adoringly at Matt. He seemed a little uncomfortable with that, but not entirely against it.
Jess asked Matt to watch TV with her while I went to look for the guys. As they walked off, I heard him ask how old she was and if she had a boyfriend. I smelled romance.
I wasn't surprised when Jess and Matt became a couple. Even Diana seemed to think they went well together. Ike didn't seem very happy though. I couldn't understand why he didn't trust Matt. I knew that he was suspicious because Matt was fifteen and more experienced than Jess, but his fears were unreasonable.
Ike and I and had been going out for a little over a month when we decided to have a little 'get-together'. Basically, we decided that we would go to his house and invite Tay, Zac, Jess, Matt, Tay's girlfriend Heather, and Zac's girlfriend Airian to watch a movie.
Tay, Zac, Airian and Heather were sitting in the living room, arguing over what movie that we were going to see. Ike and I went into the kitchen to get drinks. Jess and Matt were just coming in. They had been carrying in Matt's CDs.
I paid no attention to them, focusing on getting Ike into the whole kissing thing. He seemed to enjoy it, but there was no passion there. After about thirty seconds of attempting to distract him, I opened my eyes and looked at him. He was busy keeping track of Matt and Jess, still standing in the hall.
I pulled myself away and went to get my Dr. Pepper out of the Hanson's refrigerator. I returned to Ike, only to find him spying. I peeked around him just in time to see Jess scoot closer to Matt.
She put her arms around his neck and he leaned over, kissing her gently on the lips. They were immediately involved in a major liplock.
I groaned silently. A twelve-year-old was having better luck with men than I was.
Ike's eyes slowly widened as the kiss continued. A flash of tongue was visible, just for a moment, but that was all he needed. He flew out of the kitchen and literally yanked them apart.
"What the hell-" Jess exclaimed.
Ike didn't answer as he tossed her across the room and proceeded to punch Matt in the face over and over again. Tay and Zac were on him in a second, dragging him away.
"Jess, Matt, maybe you'd be better off to watch TV upstairs," Zac commented.
They nodded and moved quietly up the steps. Matt looked quesy and his face was bloody and bruised.
Rage flooded through my body. I shook with the pressure of trying to control the anger, but I couldn't take it anymore. I lost that control. I stepped up to Ike, punched him and left, hardly noticing that my hand came away bloody. I didn't look back.
Three days had passed since Ike attacked Matt. Ike apologized both to Matt and Jess, millions of times, and he even sent me roses. I couldn't forgive him. Matt and Jess (funny how that seems to be one word) forgave him easily. They were closer than ever. Tay and Zac came over to tell me how bad Ike's hurting.
I suggested to them that he take anger management. Then I had a party with my best friends Cinder and Jack. Jack Daniels.
Even after that, I continued questioning my decisions. Had I been wrong? Should I have forgiven him? Or should I continue as I had done for three days, making him suffer?
On the fourth day, I woke with a yawn. As I laid in my bed, staring at the ceiling, I realized something. I missed Ike. I had to give him another chance.
I took a shower and scribbled a quick note to Matt. Then, before I could change my mind, I got into my car and drove to Ike's. He was pulling away from the curb as I turned onto his street. My mental voice told me to follow him, so I did, careful to stay behind a little way.
I followed for nearly fifteen minutes before he pulled up to the curb in front of a small house in a not-so-good part of town. A teenage girl, younger than me, was standing on the porch. I parked a block away, close enough to see, but far enough away to be hidden.
He got out of the car and went up the sidewalk toward her. She jumped off the porch, flinging herself at him, and grabbed his face. When they started kissing, I felt that I had seen enough.
"Fucking bastard," I muttered, wanting to scream it.
I hurried back to my house, determined to not be jealous. Matt was lounging on the couch when I opened the front door. I grabbed my purse off the hall table. "Hello, Matthew. I'm heading over to Hot Topic to get some new clothes. Come with?"
"Yeah, I'd love to. Let me grab my shoes." He flicked the TV off and stood up.
As I waited, I kept talking. "You up for the Dungeon tonight? I'm gonna call Cinder and some of the others and we can all go over there together. You know, just chill for awhile. And of course, we'll invite Jess too," I said. Those were the key words.
"Awesome. I'm gonna invite her brothers too. Can I tell you something, Skye?" He hesitated. "People...well, people are talking. About you, actually. About how you went from completely wild to completely preppy the minute you met Ike. And nobody, not even me, likes it."
I sighed with relief. "Me either. What are you trying to say?" I asked. "How can I fix it?"
Matt bit his lip. "I guess what I wanna say is...go back to the way you were. You used to be fun and carefree, living for every minute, all that. But since you and Ike hooked up, all you did was be with him or wait to be with him. And you were always pretending you were one of those good little girls. I hated it so much! Quit pretending. If he can't accept the not-so-innocent parts along with the rest of you, he's not worth shit."
Matt was right, of course. He was awfully smart for only fifteen. "Let's go then, Matty me boy. New clothes are only the beginning."
Only ten minutes later, I was rediscovering myself. I realized, as I looked for something to wear, how much I missed the old me. I missed the black clothes, the funky makeup, the smell of incense and candles burning in my room, the witchcraft books, everything.
Finally, I picked up a short black skirt with slits in the sides, a silver corset-type thing, a black sheer shirt to go over it, and black captoed combat boots. I changed in the dressing room and opened the door to get Matt's opinion. Tay was standing with him.
"Well, what do you guys think?" I did a runway walk and twirl in front of them and waited for an answer.
Tay whistled. "Damn, Skye. Did you know I'm single now? Maybe we could go out sometime."
"Anytime you want. Just call," I replied with my most flirtatious smile. Then I remembered Ike's little girl. "Who's Ike's new scank?"
Tay's eyes clouded over at the thought. "Her name's Veronica. She's such a bitch."
"Oh, well." I went and changed back into my clothes. We walked around the store awhile longer. "Tay, we're going to the Dungeon tonight, a whole bunch of us. Do you wanna go? Like, as my date?"
"I'd abso-fucking-lutely love to." His smile widened. "But there is one thing you have to promise. You can't play it all innocent like you did with Ike. Deal?"
"Deal." He took my hand and we sauntered over to Matt, who was examining hair dye. He tossed a package to me. Flaming red. "Thanks, Matt."
I paid for my stuff at the counter. We offered Tay a ride and started toward the exit. As I passed the piercing and tattoo place where I got my belly button done, I noticed a sign offering a special on nose rings. A light bulb went on over my head. "Guys, we have to go in here. I'm getting my nose pierced."
"Cool," Tay said. "I want a tattoo. Let's go." We decided that I would pierce nose, Tay would get a musical note tattooed on his bicep and Matt would have his eyebrow pierced. I signed for Matt, even though I wasn't turning eighteen for a month. We emerged soon after, pierced and tattooed in all the right places.
We invited Tay over to the house to hang until it was time to leave. He agreed to meet us there in an hour, along with everyone else who was coming.
I opened the door, ready to go, and stepped back to let everyone in. Tay came in and kissed my cheek, commenting on how good my flame red hair looked, followed by Zac, Airian, Jess, Ike and...could this be Veronica? Man, he had some nerve to have brought her.
I flashed my sweetest smile at her. "Hi, you must be Veronica. I've heard so much about you. I'm Skye." I pivoted and pointed to the people in the living room. "That's my cousin Matt, my best friend Cinder, Sam, Julie and Joey. I wish you could meet my mom, but she works an all-night shift."
I finished up introductions and sat down on the couch, squeezing in between Tay and Matt. Tay put an arm around me and I hugged him tightly, ignoring the way Ike was staring at us.
Tay looked extrememly hot in baggy black pants and a wifebeater. Ike, on the other hand, looked about the same as always. It made me wonder if that boy had any colored clothes in his wardrobe. The only colors I had ever seen him in, not counting TV and magazine appearences, were white, brown, and tan.
Cinder and I exchanged a sly glance, a look that only she and I were part of. "Skye, how's about a little pre-rave drink? Got anything special in your stash, sweetie?"
"Of course I do!" I gave her the best shocked expression I could muster. "You are talking to Skye, the one who never has an empty stash. I'll go see what I can whip up for us, Cin."
Ike stood up. "I'll help you." I rolled my eyes, but he followed me into the kitchen anyway. The moment the door swung shut behind us, he spoke. "Skye, why are you doing this to me?"
"Doing what to you?" I fought to keep my voice calm and even. "I am hanging out with my friends, doing what I have done with them for the past five years. This isn't anything unusual for me or any of my friends. It's not new for Matt or Tay or Zac or Airian or even Jess."
"You're acting like a completely different Skye than the one I know. The Skye I went out with would never drink or dress like that or dye her hair that color or go to a club or anything. She was a nice girl." He glared down at me.
What could I say in a moment like that, when I really didn't want to tell it like was? "You're right, Ike. The Skye you went out with wasn't me." I glanced at him to make sure he was getting it. "This is me. When I was with you, the whole good girl thing, that was acting. This is not. Surprising as it may be, yes, I really dress like this. I was tripping on acid the night I met you. I drink. I do other drugs. I dye my hair all kinds of strange colors. Before we went out, I went to the Dungeon every Friday night. I'm not a virgin. I'm not this good little girl that wears pink dresses and Mommy's pearls and drinks tea with her grandma every Sunday after church. I'm not the girl you want me to be. If you can't deal with that, fine. You can leave. But don't try to tell me who I am or am not, because you wouldn't know. You never knew me or anything about me."
"I know a lot about you," he protested helplessly.
"Okay," I said. "Answer these questions for me. What's my favorite color?" No answer. "Black. How long has Matt lived here?" No answer. "Seven years. Where is my father?" No answer. "He's dead. Suicide. Who found him?" No answer. "Me. Where's my mom?" No answer. "She works as a maid in an office building. She's married to a stupid bastard who is a drunk. He beats me sometimes when I do stupid shit. So don't tell me you know me. You don't." I grabbed a bottle of Sour Apple Pucker from the cabinet.
Ike suddenly stood in front of me, glaring down with those big brown eyes. "I hate you," he whispered fiercely.
FLASHBACK
"I hate you!" my mom screamed in my dad's face. Then she ran out of the room crying. He looked down at little me, only eight years old, and collapsed in his desk chair.
I crawled into his lap and wiped a tear from his cheek. "Daddy, why are you crying?"
"Because, sweetie," he answered, "nothing hurts more than when someone you care about tells you they hate you."
END FLASHBACK
I stared at the floor, remembering that moment. Only twenty minutes later, after my mom had left, I had heard the shot and ran to his work room, only to find his brains splattered on the wall.
"You're right, Daddy." I faced up to the heaven where I knew my daddy had gone. "Nothing hurts more."
Ike had left me standing in the kitchen, eyes tightly shut against the tears. Tay and Cinder entered together, looking worried. "What the fuck did he say to you?" Tay asked furiously.
"Nothing," I mumbled, "nothing at all." I was lying, they knew I was lying, and I knew they knew I was lying, but none of us said so. We just pasted on our biggest smiles and walked back to the rest of the gang, as happy as we could pretend to be.
Ike and Veronica sat next to each other, not touching at all. As I watched them, I squeezed Tay's hand, intertwined with mine, and felt a smile fill my face. He made me happy.
"Let's get out of here, people!" Cinder yelled. We couldn't help but laugh as we seperate and pile into mine, Cinder and Ike's cars.
The Dungeon was packed as always. As we wove our way through the crowd, I saw familiar faces. People in every corner called to me, welcoming me back and teasing me about "going prep". It was a great feeling, to be in a room with a hundred people and know that every single one of them loved you.
I wasn't assumptious enough to introduce Tay as my boyfriend, just as "Taylor", but people seemed to know that we were together. My usual dancing partners didn't issue any invitations, so Tay and I got out on the floor to bust a move. He was quite the dancer.
The whole time, I kept an eye on Ike and Veronica. He didn't try to make any physical contact with her once, just leaned against the wall and sipped on a Bud Light. Yes, straight-laced Ike Hanson had a beer in his hand. Meanwhile, there was Tay and me, staying as close as possible and sharing a bottle of vodka.
Tay moved closer and put his mouth by my ear. "Skye, you are the hottest girl here. I am so glad that you asked me to come with you."
"Me too," I told him. "We'll get through our breakups together, you know. You'll get over Heather and I'll get over Ike, and we'll stick together."
"I think I'm already over Heather but I'm really not sure. See, there's this other girl. And the only way I'll be able to know for sure, is to kiss this other girl. Do you think I should?" I nodded as he pressed his lips to mine. I opened my mouth a little further, allowing him to slip his tongue in. We pulled away breathlessly.
"I'm sure now." He gave me the sexiest look I've gotten from him since before me and Ike hooked up.
"I'm sure too," I replied. But just to be completely sure, we had to try it a couple more times. We wouldn't want any mistakes, would we now?
Ike watched as his brother and his exgirlfriend kissed again. Then his eyes drifted to Veronica. Sure, she was cute, but she was cruel and bitcy. Besides, he loved Skye and didn't understand why he had said he hated her.
"I apologize later," he told himself once again. "And then I'll leave Skye and Tay to be happy together. She deserves better than me."
The End Of The Beginning
Here We Go Round Again: A Sequel To "Nothing Hurts More"
