Lost in Hollywood

Days of Future Past

Sky was lying on her bed, wearing her new, comfy Christmas sweater and leggings, trying to read a book, but her mind kept wandering.

The shame had a bitter taste. It left her feeling restless, filled with self-loath. With a frustrated sigh, she put down the book and picked up her phone instead, desperate for some distraction - but it did little good. All she could think about was her humiliation.

Of course, she had known Hawk would be at the dojo. It shouldn't have surprised her. She had known he would try to talk to her, that they would have to train together, but she had thought she could find a way to keep her distance. It hadn't been out of malice that she had sat away from her friends during the snack break like Sam seemed to think. It had been a necessity, for no matter how hard Sky had tried to act cool, the moment she had seen Hawk, all her mental preparation had flown straight out of the window.

The sight of his red mohawk had ripped her heart out through her chest.

And how could someone walk and talk and laugh and train without a heart? It had taken a tremendous effort to even stay at the dojo, to breathe the same air as Hawk did.

It had all been for nothing. The day had ended in a disaster no matter what she had tried. If Hawk had only respected her wishes—

But no. He had had to have it his way, like fucking always, and everything had gone straight to Hell. And now all their friends seemed to think it was her fault.

Sky felt like a crazy person. Crying and screaming and revealing her most horrible secrets in front of her Senseis had not been the way she had hoped to spend this day. Besides, it had proved that everything Hawk once had said about her and her stupid issues, was true. She wasn't only a slut - she was also fucking nuts.

Sky swallowed the bitter tears that burnt at the back of her throat and continued scrolling through Insta, to stop thinking about what had happened, but the phone wasn't much of a distraction. The photos only made her feel worse. Miggy had posted another one with Hawk, one where they were sparring in a garden - Sky recognized it as Hawk's backyard - and Hawk was shirtless. The beautiful, lean muscles of his body were like a work of art, it was impossible to look away. Sky remembered how those toned arms felt when he wrapped them around her, she remembered the scent of his skin, the warmth of his body, the way his heart beat under her touch when she laid her hand over the tattoo, her name carved into his skin—

Except that it wasn't there anymore. Hawk had covered that tattoo with another one, a grim reaper of all things. The symbol of love had been replaced with a symbol of death.

It made Sky's stomach turn, and angrily she closed the phone and tossed it away.

Why do I even care? We broke up months ago. Of course, he got rid of that stupid tattoo—

Suddenly Sky missed Cody so much she could barely breathe. She missed the way he held her hand, the way he listened when she talked. She missed the way he looked at her - like she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen, like he saw wonders in her, things that were invisible to her own eyes.

Her fingers found the pendant that rested against her skin under the sweater, and she pulled it out. It was smooth and warm to her touch, the shape, and weight already familiar to her.

But it was just a necklace. Cody wasn't here. He was still skiing with his family, a couple of states over, and would only come home tomorrow. The sudden longing made Sky's heart heavy and she went to his Insta profile to check if he had posted any new photos, but the most recent ones were still the couple of shots of him with his siblings on the slope he had posted yesterday. All of them wore helmets, they had ski goggles that covered their eyes, but even if Sky could only see the lower part of Cody's face in the photos, she could tell that he looked happy. He was laughing, his smile was wild and carefree and Sky loved to see him like that.