Lead Me Out of the Dark

Bottom of My Ocean

Deck stayed with me until they discharged me from the hospital, which took a few hours. The second I was free, we went home. I was kind of sore from all the work we’d done to hide Jack’s body. Other than that, I was okay. I wasn’t sure why I didn’t care that Jack was dead. I guess I just didn’t care because I’d seen death before, and Jack was an asshole. That’s all there was to it.

I was thinking about some lyrics from another Mayday Parade song that was playing in my headphones when Deck walked into my room. Does this deafening silence mean nothing to no one but me? It summed up exactly what I’d been thinking and feeling about Jack. I had my eyes closed. I was hanging upside down off the edge of my bed, mouthing the lyrics to the song I was listening to: You Be the Anchor. It was an extremely depressing song that made me feel slightly sick, but I listened to it anyway.

Suddenly I felt myself being flipped right side up. I flopped onto the bed, a small shriek emitting from my lips. I opened my mouth to call for Deck, but he was standing right in front of me. He laughed hysterically at my face. I glowered at him, but I was interrupted before I could yell at him.

                “Skye! Skye! We have to show you something!” Taylor shrieked into my ear.

“Yeah, she has to show you something important!” He repeated. I laughed, mostly because Taylor didn’t even realize that he was mocking her. Taylor lifted up Deck’s phone, showing me the picture that had been taken of me and Deck in the cafeteria.

“I already know. Deck and I were nominated for prom queen and king. It’s exciting, I get it,” I grunted, handing the phone back to her. Taylor shoved the phone back in my grasp.

“No! Scroll down! There’s more!” She said. She jumped onto the bed beside me, using her pink manicured finger to scroll down. There was a video. She pressed play without even hesitating. I winced, wondering how many times she had seen whatever this was.

“The poll results are in for the CUTEST COUPLE! You all voted and apparently the cutest senior couple is…. Deck and Skye! At first, the vote swung towards Jack and Skye, but, as one viewer put it, ‘the fight on the field decided the vote. Deck was screaming at Skye and Jack didn’t even stand up for her!’. Sorry, Tiffany! Now, onto the weather for this weekend. Take it away, Josh!” I sat there gaping at the phone for what felt like an eternity. What just happened? Deck and I had won the cutest couple award? We weren’t even dating! We went to a screwed up high school. I felt the familiar tugging in my stomach. Oh no. My mood was plummeting. This was a part of my mood disregulation- sometimes; I would feel so disgustingly depressed that I wanted to kill myself. That video had triggered a severe dip in my mood. The idea that the entire school could see me on some gossip website… it sickened me.

“Isn’t that great!?” Taylor squeaked. I plastered a fake smile on my face, nodding weakly.

“I’m going to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I closed the bathroom door behind me and locked it, sinking to the floor. I felt sick to my stomach. I only knew that I was crying because I felt the tears tickling my palms. There was a knock on the bathroom door, but I didn’t dare answer it.

                “Skye? Are you okay? You’ve been in there for half an hour,” Linda called from the doorway. I didn’t answer. Linda tried opening the door again before she walked away. I let out a sigh of relief. But then she returned. There was second set of footsteps. Of course she would return with reinforcements. That was so Linda. There was a knock on the door.

                “Skye?” Deck called. I winced. I didn’t want to worry him.

                “Go away,” I begged. To my embarrassment, my voice cracked. I knew I’d worried him because he became more insistent, banging harder on the door.