The Bright Side

Chapter 6 - Part 3

TRISTAN

Mum and Rory both went to Lyme today and for me that means, that I have to stay as far away from our house as possible. There's just no way I'll look at Mum's face, which will be reproachful at best, or listen to why it would've been so important for me to accompany them. I have no reason to ever set foot on Lyme soil again since Carrie dumped me, and no amount of bugging me will ever change that. So, I made other plans. After waiting in front of the cinema forever though and since Sky is not answering my calls, I guess I'll have to go all the way across town to check out what he's up to. I pick route number nine to get to his house for tonight, which is my favourite, because I get to pass the schoolyard without being seen myself and I can also catch a glimpse of the old fishing harbour, which is beautifully illuminated by night.

"Sky's not home, Tristan." Sharon says as she opens the door.

"Huh."

"He said something about going out for a drink."

"Umm, alright. Night, Sharon."

I get on my board and make my way back through town again. Sky going out for a drink. That seems a weird choice of evening program for him. He doesn't drink.

There are a few pubs in the town centre, and I decide to check if I find him in one. I can't deny that I'm curious why he stood me up to go on a pub crawl. It's Sunday night, Seaford is basically a ghost town, but the pubs always hold the few people that think they'll come across something that's more exciting than their home life. The door of McMillan's is blocked by a group of guys with beers in their hands; they seem to have gone through quite a few already. I poke my head inside and there are mostly old men sitting at the bar, searching the bottom of their glasses for a silver lining in their lives. No Sky. It's the same at The Groundhog. And in Morey's Tavern, too. I'm not so sure anymore, why I thought he'd go to a pub for a drink. For Sky, that's a way too public place to do something with such an unforeseeable outcome like drinking. I can think of only one place left where Sky could be, so I go all the way back to East Coast. And there he is, a dark lonely figure sitting with his legs criss-crossed and his back rested against the wall I taught him the Dark Slide on. The friction of my board against the ground carries and Sky jerks his head up.

"Tristan!" he cheers as I come closer and lifts a quarter empty whiskey bottle towards me. The inappropriate volume of his voice reveals that he's already drunk. He's smiling, but it's a fake and totally unconvincing smile. Like he forgot how to display his Sky Face and tries to replace it with happiness. He's not happy. Something's up. He takes another sip.

I stroll over and sit down next to him.

"Tonight, my friend, we're celebrating!" Sky says and hands me the bottle.

"Great." I take it and hold it in mid-air between us. "What are we celebrating?"

He gestures me to drink and then the liquor burns its way down my throat.

"I'm not a rent boy," he says.

"Good for you."

"I think I put that wrong." He takes a big gulp from the bottle. "O'Sullivan did not think I was a rent boy."

"Alright." I'm really lacking the connection between him getting drunk and being mistaken for a prostitute.

"He's the father."

Sky lips twitch from insecurity; he tries to cover it up by patting them with his fingers.

"No!"

"Yup." He pushes his beanie from his head and crunches it, leaving the hair on the back of his head stand up. "Showed up at my door today. Said he wanted to introduce himself properly."