Where the Skies are Blue

Chapter Fifty-One:

I'm walking aimlessly through the empty town. There's nobody around. Everything is closed at this hour. It's eerily quiet. The night is cold. I wish I had grabbed at least a jacket on my way out.

I tilt my head toward the night sky. The stars are so bright. I close my eyes, take a deep breath. I'm so empty inside. So very sad.

Sad for Henry. Sad for myself. Sad for the lives impacted by Katherine's selfish choices.

I desperately want to hurt myself. To punish myself for not telling Henry sooner. For not doing anything at all. Maybe I could have done more to prevent this. I should have spoken up sooner. Instead, I'm selfish, just like Katherine. I only think of myself so often. I didn't tell Henry because I didn't want to be kicked out. Because I didn't want to go back to square one. Everything we ran away from caught up with us here. It follows us.

Headlights inch closer behind me, and I continue walking along the sidewalk. The car slows down as it reaches me before stopping altogether along the curb.

My heart hammers in my chest as I stare ahead at the car that's stopped. It's not familiar. It's a good thing it's not Hunter's, Henry's, or Ender's.

The window rolls down, and a guy leans forward out of it, looking back at me. He waves his hand, ushering me to come closer. "Hey! Are you Auden?" He asks.

I nod nervously and walk toward the car.

"You are?" he asks.

Once I'm standing directly beside the window, I can see the guy more clearly. He looks to be in his twenties, with shaggy blonde curls and light brown eyes. The streetlight cascades down on him, illuminating his freckles across his nose and his tan skin. He looks like the epitome of a surfer. I notice two guys in the front seat. They peer back at me.

"Yeah," I say quietly.

"Where are you headed?"

"Nowhere."

"Come party with us. We're headed to my house right now." He flashes me a bright smile. Perfectly straight teeth.

I get an uneasy feeling. Something in me is screaming at me not to. But the part of me that wants to hurt is taking over. I nod my head again. "Okay."

"Dope, get in." He opens the door for me.

He doesn't scoot over, so I slide across his lap before plopping down onto the middle seat beside him. The two guys in front look at me quietly through the rearview mirror. The car begins moving, and I nervously place my hands in my lap.

"My name is Ty, and that's Fox," he says, motioning to the driver. "and Miles."

"How do you know who I am?" I ask.

"Aren't you the slut who was with Hunter Woolf?" Fox says from the driver's seat, a sneer forms on his lips.

The other two snicker. Ty slides his hand onto my knee. My heart continues to pound harder in my chest. My palms grow sweaty as I shift in my seat. I don't know what to say.

"Want a hit?" Ty asks, handing me a pen of some sort. I assume it has wax inside.

I take it from him and examine where the button is. I'm not familiar with any of this. Drinking is what I've turned to. But it looks like tonight, I'm hurting myself in more ways than one. I inhale a deep breath of it. My lungs fill with smoke before I quickly cough it all back out.

Ty laughs. Fox shoots me a look of disinterest. "Have you ever smoked before?" Ty asks.

I shake my head and take another hit, followed by another and another, until I'm eventually getting the hang of it.