Lost in Hollywood

Dungeon Lord

"What do you mean you haven't talked to her?" Demetri gasped, truly shocked, making Eli feel even worse than he already did. "You haven't told her you joined Miyagi Do?"

"I mean I haven't talked to her," Eli muttered, regretting ever starting this conversation. "Like, at all. About the dojos. Or anything."

Demetri shook his head slowly. "Oh, man. That's bad."

"Yeah, well thanks for the obvious."

It wasn't like Eli needed Demetri to tell him this was bad. He knew it well enough. Hell, "bad" was an understatement of the year. From kissing and declarations of love at the doors of the tattoo parlor, he and Sky had gone into not talking to each other in less than a week. This wasn't just bad. This was a fucking disaster.

And it was all his fault. He knew that. But still, he couldn't make himself call her.

It was five days since the attack. Three days since Demetri had found him hiding in the basement playing Dungeon Lord. Two days since he'd joined Miyagi Do. And the first day he was back in school since having his hair shaved.

Being back in school without his mohawk was awful, but still, not quite as bad as he had imagined. Sure, some people were pointing fingers at him, snickering as he walked past them, but he kept the hood over his head, and thus he was simply back to being invisible, just like he had been before he'd ever flipped the script.

He truly was just Eli now. Hawk was dead and gone, and with him, all the dreams he'd had. Like being with Sky.

Which was the reason he hadn't picked up his phone.

"And why haven't you talked to her?" Demetri continued, forcing Eli to continue this dreadful conversation as they walked down the packed hallway. "Is there a specific reason for you to push her away when she needs you the most, or do you just enjoy self-sabotaging so much you can't help it?"

"She doesn't need me," Eli huffed angrily, his grip on the straps of his backpack growing tighter. "I'm a fucking loser. I'm the opposite of what she needs."

"She said that?"

Eli shrugged but didn't reply. No, Sky hadn't said that, not in so many words, but she didn't really need to say it for him to know it was true. Talking went both ways. It wasn't like she had contacted him either, except to ask him to talk to the police. Which he had done, despite it being fucking humiliating. He could tell that the detective had also thought he was a pathetic loser, for letting some asshole grope his girl. For letting them cut her hair, choke her and punch her in the face while he did absofuckinglutely nothing to stop it.

No wonder Sky wasn't calling him. No girl in their right mind would, not anymore, now that he was just Eli again.

"So what's the plan now?" Demetri enquired, as they turned around the corner to the crowded hallway where Eli's next class was going to be. "Never talk to her again? Just go back to pretending that you are not desperately in love with her, or—?"

"It's none of your business," Eli snapped, interrupting Demetri mid-sentence. "Just leave it."

"Fine, whatever," Demetri sighed and rolled his eyes. "Just saying that she's standing over there. Don't you have English with her? Shoot, that reminds me, I need to go, Spanish is on the second floor—"

"Dude, wait—!"

Eli threw Demetri a desperate glance but managed to stop himself before he could actually beg for him to not go. Fucking pathetic— He let out a tense breath as Demetri disappeared into the direction of the stairs, but it didn't help. He still felt like his stomach was trying to climb up through his mouth.