Chapter Text
The clock ticked painfully slow as Skye sat uncomfortably between her parents in the main office of Oliver M. Berry High School. Between her mother’s icy gaze and the tension radiating off her father, it was better to just stay as quiet as possible. The hope was that she would be able to blend into her background to the point where she would disappear.
The slight throbbing from her eye was a quiet reminder of the night before. The whole reason her parents were forced to sit in the middle of some “half-rate school’s” office. The small redhead directed her line of sight to the ground, catching sight of the dark bruising on her left knuckles. It certainly wasn’t her finest moment, she never did have a knack for normal life.
Skye was used to hospital rooms and nurses. She was used to sleepless nights and difficulty breathing and not being able to leave a small uncomfortable bed for days. That was all she could remember since the age of six after she had coughed up blood at some client’s daughter’s birthday party and had to be rushed to the hospital. She spent the next years of her life in and out of hospitals until she was officially diagnosed with chronic heart failure, the only cure being a seemingly impossible heart transplant. Skye had spent years struggling to breathe in a small white room being told over and over again by her parents and by doctors that she was going to die before she turned thirteen, and that was only if she was lucky.
Fate seemed to have other ideas. Skye couldn’t remember if she was eleven or twelve but she did remember being rushed into surgery when a heart had become available. Everything after that felt like a black and white movie coming to life. Skye spent another year and a half in intensive rehab and therapy to acclimate herself to normal life. She finished middle school online and when the doctors cleared her, she was enrolled at Hearst with her brother.
For all of four weeks.
Her brother was the worst kind of bully, but last night he had pushed her too far. He always held such resentment towards Skye since her surgery. Probably because of everything their parents promised him once Skye was dead. Skye remembered all too well sitting in her hospital bed when she was nine and listening to her parents promise Brian that he could turn her room into his own home gym once she “would no longer be using it.”
Last night was simply the last straw. It was one of his football games where Skye had been dragged along by her parents to support him. She watched him from the stands throw trash talk at the opposing school. It was a tech school that Brian had been talking trash about since before they even got into the car to drive over. During halftime he started flirting with the cheerleaders from the tech school and he was getting handsy with some girl who clearly didn’t want to talk to him. Skye wasn’t sure what she was thinking at the moment, but she told him to back off.
“At least no one had to die for me.”
Those words hit a nerve that Skye had tried to avoid. Ever since she woke up with a different heart beating in her chest, guilt had set harshly in her stomach. The only way for her to live was for her to obtain a heart. Someone had to die for the heart to become available. She was only alive because someone died for her. They didn’t even get a say in whether or not they helped her.
Skye doesn’t remember much past the first initial left hook to Brian’s jaw. The next thing she knew she was on her back in the grass with the taste of blood in her mouth and pain throbbing through her head. The fight had resulted in Skye being expelled from Hearst.
How it was her and not her brother was only because her parents were buddy-buddy with Principal Warren.
“Sorry for the wait,” Principal Rivera, Skye recalled her name being walked back through the door with a stack of papers in her hands.
“How long did you plan on keeping us waiting here?” Skye heard her father growl, “It’s bad enough I have to sit here, I have much more important places to be.”
“It looks like we’re all squared away. Skye is officially registered as a student here. On probation of course because of the incidents over at her previous school.” Principal Rivera pasted on a smile and ignored the rude comment as she sat down at her desk. “Here at Berry we have a support group that I think would be a good fit for her. We’d also like to see you join a club dear, something to keep yourself involved in the community here at Berry.”
“Do my wife and I have to sit through much more of this?” Roger didn’t wait for a response as he stood up, “I trust you can get home yourself?”
He directed it at Skye. She wasn’t surprised and just nodded as her father scoffed and motioned for her mother to stand with him. Principal Rivera didn’t show much surprise at this and as soon as the Crandalls’ announced their departure she turned her full attention to Skye. As the Crandalls’ walk out, an older student with dark hair walks in and stands at attention next to the door.
“We have a tour scheduled for you as well as your schedule. Maria here is our Student Council President and she’s volunteered to give you a tour and go over your schedule with you.”
The girl, Maria, flashed a bright smile that reminded Skye of her mother’s political smile but warmer. Maria grabbed the paper that had Skye’s schedule printed on it and ushed Skye out of the office and down the hallway.
Maria was talking animatedly as she led Skye down the halls of Berry High. Bright Berry red lockers lined the hallways covered in posters advertising school clubs. Maria looked over Skye’s schedule and led her around the school to the various classrooms and other facilities.
Skye’s English and History classes were close to each other, she’d have those classes as her first two periods, then various electives depending on whether it was an A day or B day as Berry implemented block scheduling. Then she’d have Art, lunch, and Gym on A days, Computer Science and Theatre Tech on B days. Maria was explaining how everything worked between walking through the library and cafeteria.
Skye felt a bit bad having the girl show her around on a Sunday. She could have enjoyed a nice weekend had it not been for Skye getting expelled and having to enroll. Maria’s chatting about something Skye stopped listening to after a few moments when the faint sounds of voices started to carry through the hall. Skye looked up as Maria smiled and turned a bit on her heels.
“There are two different auditoriums here at Berry. The one down here is used for our theatre classes and the student run Theatre club. They put on two productions during the school year. I believe they’re working on the Fall production now.”
Maria cracked the door open and led Skye into the auditorium. A few of the actors were on stage reading lines. The second the door closes behind them the tall boy seated in the front stands and waved a hand to cut off the actors.
“We’re in the middle of rehearsal.”
The boy had a look of irritation on his face.
“Recruiting for us Maria? Dang,” A tall girl with short dark hair laughed. Maria smiled and shook her head slightly as the taller boy took a few steps closer, eyeing Skye for a moment before speaking.
“I guess we do need new blood,” The boy thought for a second, “Do you act?”
“...No.”
The boy raised his eyebrows for a moment before he schooled his features to a stoic look.
“We also need techs, you know? Set, lights, if you can code that’s even better.”
Skye didn’t really know when it became a job interview as Ajay seemed to weigh where he could place the girl. Skye looked around, she really wasn’t even sure if she wanted to join the theatre to begin with. She did enjoy watching plays on her laptop during her long stays in the hospital when her parents couldn’t be bothered to visit her. And she may have signed up for a tech class because she was curious how everything went behind the scenes… Maybe Mia had seen that on her schedule and decided to try to nudge her into joining.
“Isn’t she the girl who got into that fight at Hearst?”
The whisper caused the entire theatre to fall dead silent. Skye looked briefly at the dark haired girl who had whispered over to her chestnut haired companion who had the decency to look sheepish when a few of the other theatre kids turned to them. Maria clapped her hands, drawing all the attention to her.
“Do you mind if we stay for a few minutes? Jordan is dying to know how everyone is doing.”
The name seemed to cause everyone to calm down. Soon the attention was off Skye and on Maria. A few people called out questions about this “Jordan” who seemed to be important.
“I guess we can run through a scene or two while you’re here. Just don’t distract any of my actors.”
Maria and Skye sit at the back of the theatre while some of the actors take the stage. There really isn’t much to watch as the actors read their lines, giving small movements. It’s an early rehearsal, that much is clear. After a few minutes Skye felt a tap on her arm. She turned to see a girl smile at her brightly. As soon as she had Skye’s attention she handed her something.
“For your eye,” The girl explained after a moment, “it looks like it hurts.”
Skye’s sure her eye doesn’t look great. Last time she looked at herself in the mirror the bruising around her eye was accompanied by a nice sized cut under her eye from her brother’s football gloves. The cut had been a bit deep and since it hurt like hell Skye couldn’t use cover up without it stinging like crazy. At the last second she figured the black eye just meant people would leave her alone.
This girl, however, was smiling at her warmly with the compress stretched out to Skye. Skye awkwardly accepts the compress, it’s warm and the girl smiled brighter.
“I didn’t know if it should be warm or cold, I think warm is better with bruises.”
“Yeah,” Skye muttered awkwardly, not sure what to say to the energy radiating off this girl, “Thanks.”
The girl grinned and walked back towards the front of the theatre. Skye watched her go for a few seconds before looking down at the compress. Maria hadn’t been paying attention, messing with her phone pointed at the stage.
Skye pressed the compress gently against the bruise on her face, wincing a bit as the warmth eased some of the sting. The girl had hopped onto the stage to start a monologue. She had the script in one hand as she delivered the monologue while moving across the stage, putting emotion into every line. It’s not perfect, even Skye can tell that much. But the girl puts so much spirit into the scene as if it were a real performance, announcing each word and trying to look at the script as little as possible.
Skye felt her phone vibrate and after glancing at Maria for a moment to see if she was paying attention pulled her phone out to see who it was.
Lilith: Hey, wanna see a show tonight?
Lilith was the daughter of some big-wig her parents wanted to impress. They hit it off at the beginning of the summer when Skye first stood up to Brian regarding him hitting on girls. Their relationship was… something Skye had a hard time grasping.
Lilith was a flirt, but Skye wouldn’t say the two of them were dating. Lilith would drag Skye to all kinds of concerts or clubs. If they were dating, it was casual. Skye certainly wasn’t the only girl Lilith dragged to the back of concert venues to make out with.
Skye: I don’t know, I might have to lay low for a bit.
Lilith: Sorry, I forgot about the expulsion thing.
Lilith: You sure I can’t convince you?
Skye let out a bit of a sigh, Lilith wasn’t a bad person, and they did have some things in common. Skye just had days where she didn’t want to go anywhere. This was one of those days, she felt like crap already with everything her parents put her through and she just didn’t have the energy to go jumping around at a concert.
Lilith: Dinner? My treat, I’m dying to see your cute face.
Skye: I’m sure my black eye is real cute.
Lilith: on you? adorable.
Skye shook her head a bit and felt herself give in. What the hell? It was one show and she could use some breathing room from her parents tonight.
Skye: Okay, I’m in.
Lilith sends back a string of emojis as Skye puts her phone away and turns her attention back to the stage. The other actors are around the same place the girl was, but the girl held… something. Skye wasn’t sure what it was, but she enjoyed watching her on stage. Soon the rehearsal was over and Skye found herself awkwardly looking down at the compress in her hand. Skye looked over to see Maria still on her phone, now chatting animated to who Skye assumed was the same Jordon as before. After a moment she slipped away to return the compress she borrowed. The stage hands are still hanging around, talking about the different set pieces and such. A few actors hang back to talk to each other.
Skye slipped backstage, looking around for a few moments before she heard a familiar voice from the little room off to the side, it looked like a dressing room and when Skye peeked inside she saw the same girl as before talking to an qualy animated upperclassmen with wavy brown hair.
“Hey,” The girl looked up at the sound of Skye’s voice, “Thanks again.”
The girl grinned and took the compress back.
“I’m glad it helped. I’m Bailey.”
The girl, Bailey, flashed a more sheepish smile. She wasn’t much taller then Skye, with long blonde hair and lightly tanned skin. Her eyes were a vibrant emerald green as they bore into Skye’s. It took Skye a minute to realize that she should probably introduce herself as well.
“Skye.”
“Are you thinking about joining the Theatre Club?”
“...Don’t know.”
Bailey nodded eagerly while the brown haired girl flashed a smirk. Before hopping into the conversation as well.
“We can always use more techs if the spotlight isn’t your thing.”
“Oh! This is Sydney, she does our costumes.”
Skye nodded as she stood trying to think of a way to leave. Maria solved that issue as she popped her head into the room.
“I just need to show you a few more things! Then we can meet Principal Rivera before you can head out.”
“Okay,”
Skye turned on her heel and followed Maria as she showed Skye the last of the school and led her back to Principal Rivera’s office. Principal Rivera handed Skye copies of her schedule, her locker, combo, school map, flyers for various school clubs, and a handout for the support group.
“The first session is tomorrow after school. I’ve already let Mrs. Silva know that you’ll be attending. It is part of your probation to attend, so I urge you to take this seriously. Understood?”
Skye nodded and Principal Rivera held her gaze. It was clear she wanted a verbal response. Skye was used to that look.
“Yes ma’am.”
Principal Rivera nodded and dismissed Skye with a wave of her hand. Skye left the office with a stack of papers and walked through the halls trying to remember where Maria had said the exit was. The halls weren’t as hard to navigate as Hearst’s were and within minutes Skye pushed the main door open and walked out into the cool air.
Her phone vibrated in her pocket and Skye pulled out her phone to see a few more texts from Lilith asking her to meet her at the usual spot and she would drive over to whatever venue the concert was at.
The usual spot was the entry gate of a graveyard. It was a decent walk away and Skye sighed a bit at having to make the trek with a handful of papers. The sun set as Skye made her way through Cedar Cove. Despite having only walked around the town for the last two years of her life, Skye felt like she had a pretty decent feel for where everything was. As she turned the corner to the graveyard, she quickly noticed Lilith’s black Buick parked by the sidewalk. As she draws closer the older girl steps out of the vehicle with a smile.
“Hey beautiful,” As Lilith draws closer she noticed the bruising on her face, “wow, you weren’t kidding about the black eye.”
Lilith raised her hand to Skye’s chin, moving her gently to get a better look at the bruise and cut by her eye.
“Maybe we’ll avoid the mosh pit today,” Lilith smiled as she opened the passenger side door for Skye. Skye tossed the papers into the back seat as Lilith made her way around and hopped into the car, “I can’t wait. Toxic Kitten is headlining.”
Skye wasn’t much of a Toxic Kitten fan, but she forced a smile as Lilith pulled onto the street. The venue was about forty five minutes away. Lilith spent that time singing along to the songs on the radio, her wind brown hair getting tossed with every light-hearted and vehicle safe headbanging.
Lilith always wore that smile. That carefree grin that almost made Skye forget about everything going on at home. The time flew by and soon they pulled up to a crowded parking lot with Lilith bouncing in her seat as she wildy pulled into an open space on the outskirts of the lot.
Lilith is first to leave the car, running around to get the door for Skye.
“God you can feel that bass from here.”
The venue is a nightclub that Skye can’t remember the name of as soon as they walk inside. The bass pounded in her chest as the entire club lights up multiple colors and harsh music. Lilith pulled Skye closer as they got closer to the dance floor, flailing limbs and quick jerking motions to the beat greeted them as Lilith threw Skye off balance into a spin before pulling her close.
“Dance with me.”
The beat is horrid. Skye focused more on keeping more in sync with Lilith as she moved across the crowded dance floor. Lilith pulled her close until Skye could feel her dancing against her, a hand tangled into her hair and pulled her into a hot kiss.
This was how all their dates went. Lilith was always moving, always thinking of the next adventure. Always this close, but not quite there. Sometimes Skye felt like she couldn't keep up with the fast pace of the older girl's life. Loud music, dancing and kissing.
The pressure lasts a few moments before Lilith pulls away. Skye’s drawn to the warmth like a moth to a forest fire. Lilith felt like the only kind warmth that existed in Skye’s life. It held a danger to it. An addictive danger.
But… There was something missing from it that Skye couldn’t place.
Lilith's smile grew as the song changed. Her hands laid across Skye's shoulders, fingers playing with messy red hair as she danced to the beat.
"I love this song" her breath is hot against Skye's ear when she leaned in, wild hair tickling Skye's face. It was Skye's favorite part of hanging out. Just being able to be close to someone, to feel their warmth.
Her skin chilled as Lilith suddenly pulled away abruptly.
“Hey Lils!” The voice hollered over the music as Lilith plasted a smile, a flash of panic in her eyes. She got that look sometimes and Skye had learned over time that the look meant they had been caught,“Didn’t know you were coming out to this show.”
The guy strides up with a few other people, similar in age to Lilith. One of the girls looked over at Skye.
“Who’s the kid?”
Skye snorted, she hated being called a kid by some kids a few years older than her. Lilith ignored the noise if she even heard it to begin with.
“Oh, this is Skye, she’s a friend.”
Skye feels a little whiplash at the comment, but this was how it was. Lilith never said if their relationship was official, and sometimes when Skye tried to ask about it Lilith would wave her off and Skye would get scared that if she pushed too far, Lilith would leave. She eyed the group for a moment.
“Skye, these are my friends from school.”
“Isn’t it a little late for you kid?” The guy asked as he turned to Skye, he looked to have the intelligence of a hamster, “You’re in middle school yeah?”
“High school.”
“Damn, you got whacked.” The other girl stated as she pointed to the bruising around Skye’s eye, “Rough time in the mosh pit?”
“Unrelated charge.”
“You should be careful Lil, people seeing you hang out with some twelve year old, you can get into a lot of trouble,” The hamster guy hollered over the music.
Lilith ducked her head and Skye felt a strange guilt settle in her bones. This happened a lot when they were out together. If Lilith bumped into people she knew, they always pointed out Skye's age. Skye understood to an extent, she looked younger than Lilith.
“We were gonna bounce anyway, this band sucks.”
Skye’s a bit surprised at the comment, but doesn’t question it when Lilith started walking away. Skye gets two steps within following her before-
“Lilith sure doesn’t make out with me at concerts like she does her other younger friends.”
“Don’t be a dick man.”
Lilith is silent the entire walk back to the car and doesn’t make a move to open the door for Skye before they pile in. The car starts up and Lilith starts to drive back towards Cedar Cove. The silence is unbearable. Skye could feel Lilith’s embarrassment from being caught with her at the concert.
The age gap wasn’t unknown to either of them. Lilith was a senior, she was turning eighteen in May and Skye was a few months short of fifteen with a punk complex and recently expelled trouble student.
“I don’t think this is working.”
The words cut into Skye’s core. Lilith was clearly frustrated, she ran a hand through her hair and glared out the windshield like she was trying to figure out what to do.
It was Skye's fault in the end. She was the reason they were giving Lilith a hard time. Skye understood it would be a lot easier for Lilith if they stopped hanging out.
“I’m sorry.”
Skye’s apology was quiet and she wasn’t sure Lilith heard her until she saw the girl jerk and turn. Lilith looked over at her for the first time since the concert. Her mouth hung open for a moment before.
"It's not your fault-"
"It is. Pull over."
Lilith hesitated for a moment before Skye heard the click of the blinker and felt the car pull over. Lilith didn't cut the engine, only lowered the soft music playing on the radio.
"Skye, look-"
"Don't give me that tone," Skye snapped a bit, this was painful enough she didn't need to hear Lilith's tired tone of voice like she was trying to pacify a child, "you said this wasn't working, so we don't have to keep hanging out."
"That's not what I meant."
This was stupid. This wasn’t fair. Why was it always like this?
"You don't have to stick around just because you feel sorry for me. I can handle things on my own."
It's such a lie.
Lilith hesitated long enough for Skye to grab the stack of papers and duck out of the car. She walked quickly down the street, she heard Lilith's voice ring out behind her, but she ignored it. It was better this way.
Everytime Skye had something that she cared about it was taken away. Everyone around her ended up having something happen to them because of her. Her parents had the misfortune of having a kid with a heart condition that lived . Her brother ended up having to deal with having a sister instead of half the stuff their parents promised him if she died.
And now, she had embarrassed Lilith.
The one person who had shown her any kind of human compassion in her life besides the doctors and nurses she lived with in the hospital, and they had only been nice to her because they were paid to be. Lilith was nice to her because she liked Skye.
Skye doesn’t want to go home and she knew she probably should get something to eat since she wouldn’t be having dinner with Lilith like she had originally planned. Skye looked around at the row of stores and such until she noticed the word “Grill” light up a sign on the corner. Now for the tricky part.
Skye felt rather uncomfortable eating by herself. She felt like people were looking at her. That was the worst part about having to go anywhere by herself. Skye pulled her phone out and typed in the name of the place, checking to ensure they did take out orders. The website also had a link to the menu, which Skye greatly appreciated as this would make the entire process go much smoother.
The place was bright .
It was busy for a Sunday night and it was quick and almost entirely painless for Skye to place the order and hide away in the corner of the waiting area for it to be ready. She glanced at her phone the entire time, hoping that maybe Lilith would text her and let her know that it’s okay. Her phone remained silent in her hand for a time until Skye felt someone walk over.
“Here’s your order.”
Skye looked up at the voice and was surprised to see Bailey smiling at her dressed in a red waitress outfit consisting of a skirt, white button up, and red vest. She handed Skye a to-go bag and a cup. It takes Skye a few moments to really process it, and even longer to remember that she had forgotten to order a drink her first time around.
“I didn’t order-”
“I know,” Bailey smiled a bit softer, “but you looked really upset, so I thought it might help.”
Skye stared blankly, not really sure how she was supposed to continue from there. Eventually her brain caught up and she took the bag and cup from Bailey.
The cup is incredibly cold and it surprised Skye for a second before she managed to force words out of her throat.
“Thank you.”
It’s a little more sincere than before. This was the second time Bailey had wordlessly done something nice for her for no reason. She didn’t even know Skye, but she was going beyond to do something nice for her.
“So, uh, you work here?”
Skye doesn’t know why she asked, but she didn’t want the conversation to end just yet. She didn’t want to be alone. The loneliness was suffocating these days, and Bailey… was there.
“Oh, my parents own The Golden Grill, so I help them here after school sometimes.”
Skye nodded, fumbling over her own tongue to try and have something to say. Before she could figure something out a man a few tables away called over. Bailey flashed her an apologetic look.
“I’ll see you at school tomorrow?” Bailey asked gently as the man who called her over rolled his eyes and muttered something when Bailey didn’t immediately go over to the table.
“Yeah, see you tomorrow.”
Bailey gave a shy wave before turning to the tables she was responsible for waiting on. Skye moved back out into the cool air and started walking down the street to the park. It was usually quiet in the evenings without elementary school sports going on in the back fields. Skye slumped down onto one of the vacant benches and dug into the bag of food. She took a sip of the drink Bailey offered her, the cool strawberry flavor catching her off guard for a second until her brain pieced together that it was a milkshake.
So much better than the pre-packaged chocolate milkshakes that used to come with kids meals sometimes at the hospital.
The food is good, almost good enough to make her forget about her… break up? Her whatever with Lilith. Skye let out a sigh before she heard something rustle from her left. It sounded like someone stepping closer to her. When she turned she jumped and moved back against the bench. The white animal sitting next to the bench tilted it’s head in response.
A dog?
A really fluffy white dog. It sat there holding her gaze for a few moments before it pushed it’s nose closer to the burger on her lap. Skye held still for a moment before looking down at the food the dog was begging for. Skye tried to push down the childish urge to pet it. Back when she lived in the hospital, the volunteers would bring service dogs from time to time to the children with terminal illnesses to cheer them up. They were Skye’s favorite childhood memories. There was a big dog that would come visit Skye a lot. He had been so soft with big floppy ears.
Dogs ate cheeseburgers right?
Skye ripped a chunk of burger and dropped it on the ground for the animal. The white fluffball’s tail wagged excitedly as he ate the chunk in two quick bites before sitting down closer to Skye. His tail wagged happily as Skye ripped another piece of burger from her meal and gave it to him.
The dog got closer and closer with every piece until he was resting his head in Skye’s lap, tail wagging. Skye hesitated for a moment before resting her hand on his head, rubbing at pointy ears and soft, tangled fur.
“No one wants you either huh?” Skye asked softly as she pulled a few french fries from the bag and fed them to the dog, “I feel that.”
Skye ran her hand down the dog’s back, not feeling a collar anywhere. A stray probably. Her mom had complained about the number of stray cats one night at dinner after her private driver slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting one on the street. Her mom’s makeup had been smudged terribly and it took everything in Skye not to laugh as she screamed at the driver as if it was his fault that she had chosen to do her makeup in the car.
The fries go quickly and the dog waits as Skye puts the garbage into the brown take-out bag.
“Sorry, that’s all I have.” Except for the milkshake, but she wasn’t sharing that and she was pretty sure dogs couldn’t have milkshakes, “I’d take you home if I could, but my mom would kill both of us.”
The dog didn’t move it’s head from her lap and Skye hated that her curfew was coming up.
“Tell you what, if I see you again I’ll buy you another burger.”
The dog raised his head to Skye’s voice and wagged his tail as if he understood. Skye scratched his ears one final time in a way of farewell.
“See you later.”
***
Monday morning came too fast. It was a day of “Introduce yourself to the class” over and over and over again. Skye was going to go mad before lunchtime. People kept whispering about her. Hearst this and that and did you know she was Brian’s sister? Skye inwardly cursed, if there was one thing she wanted to prevent it was the knowledge of her as Brian’s sister. He was the most hated guy at Berry and she was sure to get backlash because of it. Skye opted to keep her head down, keeping to herself all day until she had to meet with the support group.
They met in the theatre room after school. A woman named Mrs. Silva ran it according to the flyer Principal Rivera had handed her yesterday. When Skye walked into the room to be greeted by a few people seated in chairs in a circle. A kind looking woman smiled the second she saw Skye.
“You must be Skye, Mrs. Rivera told me you’d be joining us.” The woman smiled brightly, “please take a seat, we’re starting in a few minutes.”
The hard part about staying hidden when the chairs were in a circle layout, leaving no hiding spot where she couldn’t be seen. Skye settled on a chair off to the side, hoping at the very least no one would sit directly across from her.
She was proven wrong quickly when a boy with black hair and glasses sat right across from her. He looked familiar. It took her a few minutes to place him as the guy from the theatre club. The bossy one with a loud voice. He seemed rather disinterested himself, so maybe it wasn’t so bad that he had chosen to sit across from her. The teen next to Mrs. Silva was from the theatre club too. They played one of the lead roles. The rest of the members trickle in, there’s about ten of them in total. Mrs. Silva looked around for a moment before smiling and wheeling herself to the edge of the circle.
“Nice to see everyone tonight. I see we have some new faces so I want to take a moment to introduce myself. I’m Brenda Silva, you kids can call me Brenda if you like. I have breast cancer, currently being treated and this here is my helper Rory. They’ll be attending meetings with me because us old people need some extra help sometimes.” Mrs. Silva has a really bright smile, she made the room feel warmer, a little more comfortable as she glanced around, “How about we go around the room and introduce ourselves. Name, age, fun facts, and diagnosis if you feel comfortable sharing that.”
Crap.
Skye’s not going to remember anyone’s name. The circle starts and social anxiety seems to get the best of her as she zoned out almost immediately while at the same time being hyper aware of how close each voice was coming to her. The space between her and the person talking shrunk every time someone spoke up. Their names and ages and issues felt like a dull buzz in her head. It makes the space between them feel even more hollow. The chair next to her to her left is empty, and it felt more so as people exchanged sympathies around her.
“Ajay Bhandari, seventeen, my leg’s made of metal and I’m the director of the Berry High Theatre Club.”
Skye has no idea how his voice broke through her consciousness. She looked up to the otherwise bored looking older student as he leaned back in the chair. Looking down towards the ground she noticed how his right ankle did, in fact, appear to be no more than a metal rod.
“I suffered from osteosarcoma when I was in middle school. Been in remission for three years now.”
“No need to sound cocky about it,”
A round of hushed chuckles fell over the small crowd as Ajay rolled his eyes, a bit of good-nature flashing in his eyes as he tried to look more annoyed. Skye tried to pay more attention as people introduced themselves. A few brave souls told of their diagnosis. Cancer, diabetes, illnesses terminal or otherwise. The group was a strange modge podge of people. The boy, two empty seats away from Skye, spoke up just as the door opened with a loud creak.
“Sorry!”
Skye looked up, recognizing the voice. Her eyes widened in surprise as the girl slowly made her way into the room. She fidgeted awkwardly for a moment, flashing a nervous smile.
Bailey?