Chapter Text
“Jax, how did you escape?”
That’s the first question Ribbit, now known as Skye, asks, the car stopped while waiting for a red light to change. We’ve only just reunited, and I understand that she wants answers, but that’s going too far.
“Try again,” I say, staring out of the passenger seat’s window. It’s a clear night in south Florida, and if I squint my eyes I can make out around 15 stars staring back at me, greeting me, as if they had been waiting for my return.
In the corner of my eye, I can see Skye frown. What good does it do to frown? I wonder as a truck next to us honks their horn, waiting for a probable young driver on their phone to turn left.
“Okay. Where have you been living the entire time?” she asks after a few moments of silence, craning her head to get a better look at me. I must look like a mess. My hair hasn’t been brushed and I haven’t had any spare clothes to change into, with my current attire, a purple sweater with dark blue cargo pants, nearly ripping apart at the seams.
“At a warehouse a few miles south of the Publix,” I answer, biting my lip. An abandoned one, to be exact. I hadn’t really had anywhere to go after I escaped the circus, and I, not wanting to be seen by anyone, had fled immediately to the closest deserted building the second I stepped foot out into daylight.
In retrospect, I could’ve just stayed in that C&A office, but I did not want to wake up every day next to the same headset that had gotten me into all of this.
“Jax,” Skye puts a hand to her face. “You can’t be serious.”
I shrugged. “I only slept there for a couple weeks, if it makes you feel any better.” Not entirely a lie, but to say I was sleeping would be an overstatement. I just didn’t want to upset Skye, they had enough worrying to do that wasn’t over me.
Apparently, in the 2 years that had happened since she had “abstracted”, Skye had enrolled in a public university, and was already almost half-way through getting her bachelor’s degree in creative writing, with a final exam in less than a month.
It was pure luck that we had bumped into each other at the supermarket. She had the excuse of it being spring break, shopping for typical things like ramen packets and hot chocolate mix. I had just wanted to try and smuggle some Mentos back to the warehouse so that my breath wouldn’t stink. Also, Mentos were delicious, sue me.
My head perks up as the traffic light changes colors, and we continue on our journey to their college’s campus. Skye sighs. “How did I end up with you?”
I stretch my arms behind my back, letting a grin show on my face. Some things never change.
“Who knows? Maybe fate wanted you to meet me again!”
“I highly doubt it,” she scoffs. “I don’t even want to meet you again.” Skye’s smiling just as well as she says it, and I feel a sense of satisfaction blooming in my chest. It’s been so long since I last saw Skye, and even Pomni couldn’t make me feel the same they had back before they left.
“Come on!” I pout, trying to give her puppy dog eyes. “You’re breaking my heart over here, Hop!”
“Eh, you’ll live.”
We pass by a park, Skye says we’re almost there, and I can’t bear to tear my eyes away from the kids playground, bright reds, yellows, and blues a harsh reminder of the circus I had spent half a decade stuck in.
As the rest of the world blurs, the stupid swings and slide set becoming all I can focus on, I can almost hear Caine’s voice in my ear.
“That’s right! Only one of you will win, and in turn get the reward!”
Zooble speaks up first. “Caine, what the [3#3#]!”
“Yeah,” Pomni tags along. “What do you mean, only one? We all decided to press the button!”
The AI zips up both of their mouths. “Shut!” he says, snapping his fingers. I startle as the floor starts to shift underneath our feet. “Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?”
“We’re here!” Skye’s voice is the one that breaks me out of the illusion. I blink as my mind is torn away from that past reality, waiting for my vision to clear up again.
For such a big college on such a dark night, it would make sense that they’d at least have the common sense to put up frequent street lights to make it easier on their students. Nevertheless, it’s hard to make anything out as Skye drives around FIU, making a left, and then a right, and another left.
I silently memorize the combination. I don’t know if I might need it later. Finally, the car pulls into a parking lot; Skye fishes their keys out of their pocket and unlocks the car with a soft click!.
“My dorm’s ground level, so we won’t need to worry about climbing up the stairs.” I catch her gaze flickering to my right leg before she can look away. In my hurry to flee the C&A office, I had caught it on a sharp door hook.
I had bandaged it well, but the wound had still bled through my clothes, making it look very concerning other people, including Skye. I insisted that I could do things myself as she opened my car door for me. They shook their head.
“Nope, I am not having you pass out from pain or something before we even get you to my room.”
I laugh as she escorts me by the hand. “So chivalrous, I’d think you were trying to get my hand in marriage!”
Stepping out, the chilly night air soaks through the fabric I’m wearing, and I let out an involuntary shiver. Skye’s playful look quickly morphs into one of concern as my body shakes, and her lips form into a straight line.
“I’ll give you one of my spare blankets when we make it,” she says, dragging me through the half empty lot.
“A lot of people must be gone for break, huh?” I change the topic. Once again, she doesn’t need to worry about me. We’ve made it to the entrance of the brick building now, and she pulls the glass doors wide open with ease, pushing me inside.
A blast of warmer air hits me, and my shoulders instantly relax. The warehouse hadn’t sported any type of conditioning, and I had relied on the minimal body heat I held to keep me from freezing the past month.
“Almost there,” Skye says, pacing through the halls while carrying me along.
“Aw, you didn’t even answer my question!” I give a lighthearted frown. “It’s rude to not answer a guy’s question, Hop!”
They freeze suddenly, and I know we’ve reached the destination. “Here it is,” she announces, letting go of me. “Room 157!”
She opens the door, and the first thing I notice is the soft pink glow bouncing throughout the room. When I peer further, it seems to be coming from a lava lamp shaped light sitted on the corner of her desk.
The second thing I notice are the drawings.
Canvases are hung up on every wall, covering almost every spot of white wallpaper. Some are landscapes, some are portraits, some are just random scenes, but I recognize all of them.
My hand traces over the one to the right of the door, the first one you see when you walk in. 3 characters: one a clown, one a frog, one a bunny, hold their mugs of whipped cream-topped cocoa in the air, all three coming together to meet in the middle. It’s not visible, but a doll is holding the camera from just out-of-frame.
“You painted all of these?” I ask, the breath nearly taken away from my lungs. Skye nods from right next to where I’m standing,
“When I first woke up,” she explains as she sits down on her bed. “I tried to convince myself that it was just a bad dream.”
“But everything felt too real, and every memory was just stuck in my brain and refused to leave,” Skye says, rubbing her temples. “I knew it had happened, but I was scared of forgetting. I didn’t want to forget, I didn’t want to lose all of this.” She gestures to either the painting next to me or just me.
“So you captured it all,” I say, coming to sit beside her.
“Yeah.” Skye lets out a harsh laugh. “Cheaper than therapy. Easier too.”
I stay in my spot as she stands up, grabbing an electric kettle from under her bed, filling it with water, and plugging it into the wall. “I’m making some hot chocolate for us both, you must be cold as fuck.”
I hum softly as a reply, leaning against the wall. “Fuck. Swear words sound so nice to say after they’ve been banned for years.” I let out a string of expletives, feeling how they roll across my tongue.
“If any of my neighbors are still awake, they’re going to be really confused,” Skye says as the light on the kettle turns blue. They pull out 2 coffee cups out of their drawer and fill them both halfway.
“Here, don’t burn yourself.” She dumps the mix in, gives each cup a straw, and passes me one.
“Best of luck to me,” I joke, giving it a mix.
The room feels strangely intimate as we both blow on our respective drinks. The moonlight from outside passes through the windows, highlighting Skye’s soft features. In the context, her light blonde hair seems almost silver as it flows and abruptly cuts off near her shoulders.
I take my mind off of the thought, trying a sip of my hot chocolate. Scorching, as expected. With a hiss, I try and toughen up by drinking all of it in one swig. My throat burns as I look Skye in the eye, and her horrified face makes the pain worth it.
I laugh, feeling a wide smile break out on my face. “You look like you’ve just seen a ghost!” Skye rolls their eyes, staring at my empty cup.
“You’re crazy!”
“Of course I am!” I say, setting the paper down on the floor. “Is there a trash can I can put this in?”
Skye points to a small bin in the corner of the room. In typical Jax fashion, I smash the styrofoam in my hand and throw it across her dorm. I watch as it flies through the air and misses by a mile.
“Too easy.” I stretch my arms behind my back and go to pick it up, yawning. The lack of sleep must be getting to me, I think.
I plop myself back onto the bed and we just stay like that for a few minutes. Neither of us moving but both of us content. Skye’s put up glow in the dark stars on the ceiling, and I make a point to try and form new constellations.
“That one looks like a book,” I state, pointing to 4 tiny dots that make up a rectangle.
“What are you going to name it?” Skye asks, eyes pinned on the same group of stickers.
“Book.”
“Creative,” she says sarcastically, the corners of her mouth seeming to be tugged slightly up as she stares at me. “I like it.”
“You have your life all figured out,” I say suddenly, not even realizing the words were trying to escape from my mouth until they had. Skye blinks back at me, her expression unchanged.
She shuffles on the bed until me and her are pressed side to side, and she takes my hand. “We got given a second chance.” She gives it a squeeze. “I don’t know about you, but I want to make use of it.”
I feel something turn in my stomach, light and panicky. The emotion is new. I don’t want it.
I become hyper-aware of the fact that some of our skin is touching, and, in order to get rid of the problem, I stand up quickly.
“We should get some sleep,” I declare, laying down on the floor and crossing my arms so I’m in a coffin pose. I can hear Skye let out a held breath from outside my view.
“M’kay. There’s a blanket under my bed frame, grab it.” I listen and, after bumping my head into the metal structure at least twice, I gain a fuzzy comforter.
“Are you sure you don’t want to trade places?” she asks, looking down at me with concern. “Or we could share a bed if you-”
“No!” I shout far too quickly, getting goosebumps at the thought of it. I am not going to gain feelings for her right now, I chide myself. Pomni might’ve been gone, but that didn’t mean that I could move on from her, especially with Skye.
Skye’s my friend. Nothing more, nothing less.
I drape the blanket over my head and feign quick sleep. Skye says nothing more, even though I know she doesn’t believe my act for a second.
At least I don’t have to fake for much longer. Before I know it, my eyes grow heavy and I can feel myself being pulled down to blissful unconsciousness. A place where you do not have to feel nor think. I smile, and sleep takes me under quickly, a reprieve I do not deserve, but crave.