Lost in Hollywood

Flying

At first, Sky didn't feel anything.

Silently she leaned on the wall next to the bathroom door and wiped her nose with the back of her hand. The music was still echoing from downstairs, a steady, fast beat, but over that, she heard someone laughing in the hallway. Yasmine - laughing loud and carefree and unashamed, her heels clicking on the floor as she ran past Sky's door. After her came another set of footsteps, slower, longer steps of sneakered feet that could only belong to Demetri.

"Come on, the guest room is here—" Yasmine laughed, and soon Sky heard the door opening and closing at the other end of the hall, and Yasmine making a surprised yelp that ended in a giggle.

Sky let out a sigh and closed her eyes, leaning the back of her head on the wall. Not that she wasn't happy for Yas and Demetri, but still. Their love was so pretty - Sky couldn't help but compare it to her own love life, the mess of it all, her heart that was stained and dirty and treacherous.

"Looks like the guest room is taken," she noted to Luke who was crushing another pill with the spoon. "You'll have to wait if you want to hook up with Joey."

Luke took the rolled-up bill from Sky's fingers and glanced at her over his shoulder. "Joey is hot and all. But you know no one normal will ever love us. It's just the way it is."

Sky didn't say anything to that. There hardly was much to say, she knew he was right, but still, his words felt like an arrow through her heart. Had she fucked up her life herself? Was it her own fault that she didn't deserve anything nice or normal, the kind of love Yas and Demetri had? Her nostrils were itching, but she kept breathing in, fighting the urge to blow her nose. She felt numb, there was nothing inside of her heart, nothing but emptiness, and a desperate need for the drug to kick in already, to kick in, kick in, kick in—

Silently she watched how Luke snorted the powder into his nose with such ease that told Sky he had done it a thousand times before.

"So? How fast will it kick in?" Sky asked when he straightened and wiped his nose with his sleeve, leaving some fine, white powder stains on the black fabric.

He shrugged his bony shoulders. "Faster than if you'd swallowed it. But give it a couple of minutes.

Sky gave a silent nod. The anxiety was still gripping her chest with an iron grip, making her breathing fast and shallow, her palms were covered with cold sweat and she wiped them in her skirt, the layers of her stupid, pink, lace dress. She was still drowning, feeling like her lungs were filled with murky water. Luke's scent of burnt plastic and sugar filled her nose with every inhale, turning and twisting something in her chest. She wondered what he had taken before - Oxy didn't have a smell, not even if injected, at least she didn't think so.

"So, you want to talk about what happened?" Luke asked softly, leaning on the wall next to Sky.

Sky shrugged, fidgeting with the frills of her skirt. "Nothing. Everything. It's just... Cody's Mom hates me. His friends hate me. And I walked on him having cake with Jess. It was just... weird. Like something was going on."

"Who's Jess?" Luke frowned.

"One of Cody's friends. I think she's in love with him." As she said it, she realized it was true. It wasn't surprising - but what did surprise her, was the way it made her feel. Like someone was stabbing her in the heart. "I just hope... I hope he's not cheating on me."

Luke laughed. "Come on, he's not cheating on you! That boy fucking loves you."

"You just said that no one normal would ever love me."

"He isn't normal, though, is he?" Luke said. His eyes were foggier than before, his voice was soft and melodic. The drug was clearly starting to kick in, smoothing all his edges. "He's just as fucked up as we are. But— are you jealous? Cause it kinda sounds like you are?"