Lost in Hollywood

Black Mirrors

Eli couldn't draw his eyes off the door.

Sky had rushed through the room and thrown herself out of it just moments ago, and every instinct Eli had was screaming to go after her (she is drunk and having a panic attack, she shouldn't be alone, it's not safe—) but she had made it pretty clear that she didn't want him anywhere near her. Running away from him, crying so hard she could barely speak— yeah, if he followed her now, it would only upset her more. Maybe it was best to give her some time to calm down.

"I'm giving her five minutes," Eli muttered to himself, trying to calm the nameless worry that was clenching his chest. "Not a minute more."

The annoyingly handsome tall guy whose name Eli had already forgotten, glanced at him and made a face. He didn't look like he was about to go anywhere - not that Eli had expected him to, after all that "I'm not letting Sky leave this party with some guy" nonsense, but still. Were they really stuck in this together? What, did that dude expect that they'd share a beer while waiting for Sky to clear her head?

Eli would have rather gnawed off a limb.

The feeling was clearly mutual. The boy looked at Eli with quiet disdain, his lips forming a slight downward curve.

"What are you looking at?" Eli groaned, bringing a hand up to brush his mohawk for comfort - only to realize the familiar spikes weren't there anymore. His fingers met the short, pathetic buzz-cut, that he knew made him look like an idiot. As if he didn't look stupid enough with his missed buttons, a head shorter than the flawlessly dressed guy next to him.

"Nothing," the guy muttered, turning his eyes away. "So, are you Sky's boyfriend, or what?"

Awkward.

So they were really going to have this conversation? Now? Here, in Stingray's living room, in the middle of the party, the music, the dancing girls, and the guys playing beer pong? Eli wished he were somewhere else. Anywhere else. He wished he were more drunk than he was. Maybe getting another beer wasn't such a bad idea after all?

To avoid reaching for the cooler, he pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name?"

"Caleb," the tall kid replied. "And you are?"

"Eli."

Not Hawk. Never again Hawk. But what had felt so good just moments ago, now felt like an unbearable burden. Hawk would have known how to act in this situation. He would have shown that other guy who was the boss, the most badass, the most confident one, the one who got the girl. But Eli—

Eli was nobody. There was nothing he could say or do to convince that guy that Sky belonged with him.

"So, you dating Sky?" Caleb repeated his question, with a hint of steel, clearly determined to get an answer. "Because I thought she was single."

"That's— complicated."

Caleb arched a brow. "Complicated?"

For fuck's sake—

"We used to date, but then—" Eli shrugged, hoping a hole would appear in the middle of the floor and swallow him whole to save him from this conversation. It wasn't like he was going to explain his whole dating history with Sky to this dude, but then again, he had to say something that would convince him not to go after Sky. If he lost her again, to this guy, he would fucking kill himself. "--then we broke up and she started dating Cody. And— well, you know what happened to him. But— we are kinda getting back together with Sky, have been for a while."

I hope. I hope we're getting back together, but what the fuck do I know? She just ran away from me, crying her fucking eyes out.

"Right," Caleb said, not sounding convinced at all. "You used to have different hair, didn't you? Spiky? Red?"