Chapter 24 - My Best Friend

I pretended to be asleep at first, but before long she just opened the door and walked in on me lying on the couch, my eyes wide open. Huh. Guess I hadn’t locked the door . . . oops. Skye looked really pretty. Her golden hair was tied in a loose bun, and a few strands of hair had fallen out. Her lips were coated heavily in shining lip-gloss, and her eyes were framed with mascara and eyeliner. Her shirt was frilly and had sparkly beads around the collar, and her skin-tight jeans hugged her legs perfectly. I was so jealous. I knew I looked bad. I’d slept on the couch, fighting the urge to roll over and kill myself. I probably had vomit on my clothes, if I was unlucky.

 

Skye stood beside the couch, her hands on her hips, poised to begin yelling.

 

“Hi, Skye,” I said weakly.

 

She opened her mouth to say something, when she jerked. She plugged her nose. “Drey, have you been drinking?”

 

Tears rolled onto my cheeks before I had the chance to stop them. “I . . . I just tried it.”

 

Skye leaned down and hugged me tight. She began crying, too, and just held me for about five minutes. Then I sat up and we leaned into each other, the way best friends do.

 

“Skye,” I sniffled. “What did Chase tell you?”

 

She squeezed her eyes shut. “You guys kissed?” I could tell she was straining not to cry more because her voice was really, really high. She always did that when she was struggling with something.

 

“I’m so sorry, Skye, I promise I’ll never do it again.” I needed to her to be my friend right now more than ever.

 

She nodded. “I know . . . but how could you?”

 

“He kissed me.”

 

She nodded again. “I know.”

 

I hugged her closer. “Skye, please don’t hate me.”

 

A sob escaped her lips. “I don’t hate you. I hate myself, for losing the only boy I’ve ever really wanted.”

 

I don’t know how much time we just sat there on my couch, crying and hugging. But the whole ordeal made my forget about my hangover, and by the time I remembered I was supposed to be in pain, I wasn’t.

 

“Skye, why aren’t you mad?” I asked when we were both done crying.

 

“I don’t know. I was. But I guess seeing you helpless and hungover made me realize you’re my best friend, and I needed to put away my stupid feelings for yours.”

 

I choked on my reply, “You are the best friend ever.”

 

She smiled. “I know.”

 

“So what about Chase?” I asked.

 

She sighed. “I guess I’m just going to pretend he ever told me anything. I think that’s the best way to go.”

 

I squeezed her hand. “Good job, Skye.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

 

When Skye left, I threw away the bottle that once held alcohol. I swore to myself I’d never take another sip. Ever. I cleaned up the entire downstairs area, because there were lots of puddles of vomit everywhere. I couldn’t let my grandma know I’d been drinking . . . she’d kill me. I cleaned up any evidence of my night of shame and then decided to take a nap. Exciting, I know.

 

When I heard the door unlock, I rushed to meet my grandma.

 

“Hi, Grandma!” I said cheerfully, trying to make it seem like I hadn’t been drunk twelve hours ago.

 

She hugged me. “Hi, Andrea.”

 

“How’s mom?” I asked.

 

My grandmother sighed. “She’s alright. She’s still bitter she was sent away . . . but she’s apparently responding to the treatment.”

 

“That’s good news.”

 

She nodded. “Yes, I think so.”

 

An unusual awkward silence settled between us. I rocked back on my heels, desperate for her to say something, but she never did. She just stared at me, as if she knew I’d tried the horrid liquid that had ruined my mother. And maybe she did. She always had had good intuition.

 

Someone knocked on the door. I rushed to it, and my heart sped up when I saw who it was. Nate. His hair was clinging to his face, and he was breathing heavily. His eyes were wide and scared.

 

“Nate?”

 

“Andrea, I need to talk to you.”

 

He grabbed my hand and pulled me outside, yanking the door behind me.

 

“What’s going on?” I asked.

 

He ran a shaky hand through his hair and sighed nervously. “I . . . I got possessed today.”

 

Oh. Flashbacks of my first time rush back. I hadn’t understood what anything meant, but I had been scared. That awful pull when the possession was starting and ending was scarring. It was the worst part. I shivered. Nate looked shaken, and I sympathized with him. I noticed our hands were still joined.

 

“Are you okay?” I asked.

 

He looked at me, hidden fear in his eyes. “Not really.”

 

“What’s your favourite thing to do?”

 

“I don’t know . . . eat?”

 

Typical. “Where’d your favourite place to eat?”

 

“Uh, any fast food place.”

 

I sighed. “Okay, well we’ll go to the nearest one.”

 

“What? Why?”

 

“It’ll make you feel better. That’s normally what I do after a possession.”

 

“Eat fast food?” Smart-a*s.

 

“No, do my favourite thing. And since eating fast food is your favourite thing to do, we shall do that.”

 

His eyes lit up. “Really?”

 

“Why not?”

 

I didn’t give him a chance to reply and opened the door again. “Grandma, I’m going out, okay?” I yelled.

 

She was standing just around the corner, I suppose, and grabbed me. She pulled me inside the house, and shut the door behind me. Much like Nate did.

 

“Who’s that boy?” she asked, clearly excited.

 

“A friend,” I said neutrally.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Out.”

 

She made a disgusted noise in the back of her throat, one that said “I can’t believe you won’t tell me!”

 

“Well, be home before dark.”

 

“I will.”

 

“And be safe.”

 

“Grandma, I will.”

 

“Use protection.”

 

“Grandma!”

 

She laughed to herself, and I knew I was blushing. I grabbed my purse from the hook near the door and stomped back outside. Nate was waiting for me, a huge grin plastered on his face. I hoped to God he hadn’t heard any of what was said between my grandma and I. 

Author's Note

Skye's awesome...can we all agree? i love that I end almost every chapter on a semi-cliffhanger. anyways, sorry its short again. next one will be good. next one will be interesting...

Reviews

[No name]

yes Skye is cool and i love how good of a friend she is. i love this chapter, the best was the grandma " use protection ". LOL great write.

[13ReasonsWhy]

Skye is amazing. i can vouch for that. anyone who disagrees... well, they have trouble coming... :P lol. kidding. but really she is amazing. and i can see a little something going on in the Andrea/Nate thing. Nadrea. dont like it. Ate. not much btter. lol. and im glad she didnt drink more!!!