Lost in Hollywood

A Thousand Butterflies

Sky followed Eli, as he made his way through the crowd of partying people. He had said he wanted to talk, and yeah, Sky knew the wise thing to do would have been to turn him down, but—

It wasn't just that she was very bad at doing the wise thing. It was something about Eli, that made the sharp, annoyed words die on the tip of her tongue. There was something different about him tonight, something she hadn't seen in a long time, and whether Sky wanted it to or not, it called to her. So when he asked if they could speak in private, she said yes.

After a short search, they found an empty room on the second floor. The first couple of doors they had tried were locked, and Sky suspected they were bedrooms anyway - and in no scenario was she getting into a bedroom with Eli. So when the third door they tried led into something that looked like an office or a small library, she followed him in. The room was somewhat comforting - the music and the sounds of the party diminished into a dull background noise, blocked out by the thick, hardwood door and numerous bookshelves that framed the space. There were a lot of books on the shelves and on the desk, which briefly confused Sky as Stingray sure didn't look like a bookworm— but that drunken thought quickly slipped off her mind as she noticed the huge leather couch against the back wall.

That couch— Sky's cheeks grew hot and she swallowed hard. That couch sure looked a lot like the one they had at home, the one where she had made out with Eli countless times, the one where he had laid her down and fucked her oh, so fucking deep—

— that awful day when she had cheated on Cody.

That arrow through her heart quickly killed any arousal the previous thoughts might have caused. She was a slut. A whore. A monster. She had cheated on the boy who loved her, and by doing that she had fucking killed him. His death was on her, so no, she had no fucking right to look at that couch and think about Eli (his hands on her skin, his lips on her neck) or about how fucking hard her heart was beating in her chest now that they were alone in this room. As if her whole body was alive with his closeness.

She made a mental note to stay the fuck away from that couch. Not that she was about to jump Eli, but still. Just in case. Because she was drunk, and she didn't trust herself.

"I didn't know Stingray had a house like this," Sky said, to break the awkward silence that had fallen into the room after Eli had closed - and locked - the door behind them. "Or this many books."

Eli scratched the back of his neck, looking nervous. He stayed by the door, whereas Sky was standing next to the desk - as far away from him and the couch as humanly possible in this small room.

"Umm— I think this is his sister's house."

"Oh. Makes sense."

"Yeah. He used to live with his Mom, but she kicked him out, so—"

The end of that sentence melted into the background noise and the muffled music and a rather awkward silence fell in the air between them. Eli was swaying a little on his feet, and his restless hands found their way into the pockets of his pants. Sky couldn't tell if he was just nervous, or if he was drunk, but it didn't really matter. Either way, he didn't seem to be able to get on with the thing he had wanted to tell her.

Slightly annoyed, Sky opened the can of Bud she had snatched from downstairs, and took a long gulp. "You wanted to talk about something?"

"Yeah. I just—" He shifted on his feet, cleared his throat. "I hope I didn't interrupt anything. I mean— with your friends."

"You didn't," she lied. "I was getting a drink anyways, so."

Another short, awkward silence followed her words. Eli looked down at his feet, the black tips of his shiny dress shoes. Sky sipped on her beer and looked at him. Inside of her chest, something was fluttering, like the wings of a thousand butterflies.