Before I Forget

Kiss me, Baby

Sky had come into the library to search for a book she needed to write her history paper, but as she was scanning the books on the shelf, she noticed Eli, Demetri, and Miguel sitting at a table nearby.

The boys were talking about Karate and then about superpowers, and Sky couldn't help eavesdropping. The sound of Eli's silent, raspy voice went straight into her gut like a punch, and she pressed the books against her chest, hardly able to breathe.

After Halloween, she'd been avoiding Eli as much as possible.

It had been such a stupid thing to do, to go and talk to him at the dance. Yes, it had been the only part of that evening she had actually enjoyed, but still - these couple of days since the dance had been awful because Yasmine wouldn't stop making mean comments and stupid 'Beauty and the Beast' jokes about her and Eli.

She doesn't know shit! Sky thought angrily. Besides, the Beast was hot in that movie. And Eli is hot too–

And Yasmine was a cruel bitch.

Sky felt miserable realizing that cruel bitch happened to be one of the only friends she had, and even if the thought of what Eli had said at the party - You could hang out with Miguel and Demetri... and me - haunted Sky when she lay in the bed at night and couldn't sleep, she still wasn't ready to take the leap into being a loser and an outcast.

But I really like Eli. Like, maybe I like him more than just a friend. And I think he likes me too. And I want to find out if this is for real. And I want to stop being so scared all the time, scared of something bad happening–

If only she could call Kat and ask for advice.

But she knew what Kat would say - she'd tell her to go for the cute nerd and stop being such a pussy.

She took a deep breath and tried to decide what to do - to go and join the boys, or to walk away before they ever knew she was here, but as she was pondering on this, she saw Kyler and Brucks approaching from the other direction. Sky's gut turned into a tight, cold knot because she knew that whatever they had in mind, it couldn't be good.

I should do something. I should say something–

But she didn't.

She stood between the shelves, holding the books against her chest, her feet glued to the floor.

(A short author's note: I wanted to add the video of this scene here because it's honestly so heartbreaking. And it happened just like this in my fic too, except that instead of Sam, it's Sky who's standing there.)

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She saw how Kyler grabbed Eli, saw Eli's hunched shoulders, and almost tasted the fear in the air. Kyler's fingers gripped Eli's face hard, and Eli winced.

"Look at this freak! Oh, shit! What kind of a girl would ever kiss this shit?!" Kyler mocked, and something shattered in Sky's heart.

How could Kyler say something like that? Something so cruel and hurtful and so utterly untrue?

Eli was kind. He was shy, polite, funny, and cute and she fucking liked him. And she wanted to kiss him so badly, she wanted to feel that rough, scarred lip on her mouth, she wanted to taste his breath on her lips, she wanted to open herself to him and feel his tongue inside of her mouth–