Lost and alone with no hope of finding herself again, April Driscoll attempts to navigate her way through the last two years of college.
{season three - season four}
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Why do we do the things we do?
Was there someone or something controlling every action that we do?
Do we bend willingly or against that control?
April didn't understand what had possessed her to waste Cook's pound on a call to the woman who had walked out of her life eight years ago. She couldn't understand what had led her to that choice. It would've made more sense if she called Katie, even if the girl hated her. Jeanne had no part of April's life anymore but she'd decided on a whim to call her.
"April? April, is that you, Dew-drop?"
Dew-drop. April's grip tensed around the receiver at the childhood name that only Jeanne called her. Dewdrops were a flower that represented prosperity and good luck but they were also those annoying drops of perspiration you found on grass in the mornings that make your shoes all soggy when you walk on it. Dewdrop -an annoying reminder that April was an annoying stain on Jeanne's perfect life that she left the first chance Jeanne got to not get her shoes soggy each morning.
"April?" Jeanne said again.
April took a deep breath, her voice trembling as she let out a weak: "Yeah."
"Oh, Dewdrop. How are you? Are you alright?" Jeanne said, her voice delighted that she could hear her daughter's voice.
"I went mad." April said solemnly.
"What?" Confusion came from the other end.
"I went crazy and hit a girl with a rock because she was dating a guy I liked. So I'm on the run." April deadpanned through the phone. She heard Jeanne take a breath to speak but she cut her off. "My best friend died. I went to the hospital and was put in intensive care, then they put me in a padded cell and straight jacket to stop me from killing myself. I drink alcohol and smoke weed. I do drugs and steal t-shirts from the shopping mall. I stopped eating for a month once and nearly died then too."
"Dewdrop." Jeanne began to say.
"I hear voices. They tell me I'm not good enough. That no one cares enough to stay. And it all stems from you, Jeanne. If you hadn't left me, then I'd probably be fine. I'd be normal. I wouldn't constantly watch my weight or make myself sick. I wouldn't cut myself, hoping that the pain would stop. If you loved me, I'd know how to handle what that feels like. But you left because you were selfish. You got away with breaking Dad's heart because you had that power over him. Well, now I have that power. I never want to see you again. I never want to hear your voice again. I'm not your Dewdrop anymore. Stay out of my life."
"Dewdrop...April listen to me." Jeanne sounded frantic as if she'd been crying listening to her daughter's story of suffering that she'd traced back to her act of leaving.
"It shouldn't be too hard, you've done a bang-up job of it already. Goodbye, Jeanne and fuck you!" April slammed the receiver down before Jeanne could say another word to her.
April rested her head on the side of the telephone booth as Cook walked out of the diner. "You okay?"
"Fine." April said turning to him.
"Let's go." Cook said holding up the waitress's car keys. He'd swiped them after the waitress became interested in flirting with him when April had stepped out to make her damning call to her mother. April smiled following Cook to the car, a Toyota to be exact. Hopping into the passenger's seat, she glanced at Cook as he drove them off down the road to their blissful ignorant world.
*
A blur. The next five weeks were a blur.
April and Cook. Cook and April. Turning every town they stopped at red.
The drugs were nonstop as was the drinking and somewhere down the road April had let Cook fuck her and the sex had been constant as a checklist. They would fuck in every town in England until the whole of the United Kingdom had a seed planted by the 2009 Bonnie and Clyde tour.
April forgot about her phone call to her mother, she forgot about her life in Bristol and her worrying father. She forgot about why she left Bristol and the voices for once weren't talking. She was free. Cook had freed her and it was exhilarating. For one in a very long time, April was happy. Until she wasn't when reality gave her a hard jolt and reminded her of everything she'd done to get to where she was.
She'd lied. She'd stolen. She'd manipulated. She'd cheated. She'd hurt people that she loved. She'd hurt herself. She'd destroyed anything and everything she touched. She'd been selfish and cruel and murderous at times. All because she could. Because there wasn't anyone to tell her no. Tell her to stop. April wanted to stop. But if she stopped, they would come back and take her away again. April couldn't go away again. She couldn't.
April shifted out of the little spoon that Cook held her in feeling something hard sticking into her back. Groaning softly she sat up, her eyes bloodshot from last night's events that like the recent days had been a blur. Days and nights merged in a kaleidoscope of confusion and ecstasy. April dug around in her pocket for a while before pulling out the last of her cigarettes from their last gas station rush and placing the stick in her mouth, her lighter flicking open and lighting the end. Cook groaned beside her sitting up with a loud yawn.
"Morning, slugger." April greeted, through a cloud of smoke
"Where are we?" Cook yawned again, looking to survey their surroundings.
"Thought you were the man with the plan." April said humorously.
"I am. I am." Cook reassured her taking the cigarette from her. April leaned back on her palms.
"It's been weeks, Cook. One small shitty town after another." April said tiredly, running her hands through her matted hair.
"Oh, Rills, it's not about the destination. It's about the journey. '09 Bonnie and Clyde. Outlaw tour of Britain. That was your idea." Cook said reminding her that she started them on this road to nowhere.
"I'm serious, Cook. Where are we going?" April said ignoring that he'd come up with a nickname for her infamously un-nicknameable name.
"We're here. This is it." Cook said nodding to the town in front of them.
"Here?" April asked confused as to why they were stopping here instead of going through the shitty-looking town.
"Here. This town." Cook confirmed.
"Why?"
"Because this is where my dad lives." Cook told her getting up and walking off, leaving April sitting confused looking at the town before her. This was where the'09 Bonnie and Clyde tour ended. The back arse of nowhere. Ironically the same way Bonnie and Clyde's careers ended in a car full of bullet holes in the middle of the Louisiana State Highway - May 23rd 1934.
A/N: You get two updates in one week, you lucky things. We're on the last leg of Skins Volume Three. Last episode, I'm excited. You should be.
Another huge thank you for all your support guys and your patience. I only have so much time to spare to get these out to you, but this will be a consistent schedule from next week. Updates on Tuesdays. Thursday at the latest. Kira x
