Lost in Hollywood

Perfectly Al Dente

"You've been drinking," was the first thing Nicholas said when he laid his eyes on Sky.

They had just walked in the front door. Eli hovered nervously in the doorway, but Sky was already kicking off her sneakers, a bit unsteady on her feet, making it obvious that her Dad was right.

"Two beers," she sighed, and Eli could almost hear how she rolled her eyes. "With a huge pizza. What, you gonna ground me now? It's not like I'm going anywhere as it is."

Eli's mouth fell open as he searched for something to say, but found nothing. He wished he could disappear into the wall and reappear sometime later, when this awkward encounter was done and dealt with, but no such luck.

"I'm not going to ground you," Nicholas groaned, frustrated. "I'm just worried. Your drinking is getting out of hand. First the prom, and now this? I don't want you to replace one addiction with another, Sky. Do I need to send you to rehab again? Is that it? You'd rather be there than home?"

Something sharp flashed in Sky's eyes as if she was going to throw a nasty comeback at Nicholas' face, but it was gone in a heartbeat. She let out a long sigh, let her backpack fall to the floor, looking deflated.

"No. I'm sorry. I just—"

"And what's that in your clothes?" Nicholas interrupted, noticing the red, ugly paint stains on Sky's skirt. "And your hands? That's— it's not blood, is it? Sky, what happened?"

Sky drew in a sharp breath, let it out slowly. Her shoulders sagged as if there was an invisible weight on them. Standing there in the middle of the hall, one sneaker on, one off, she looked small, tired, exhausted— and Eli's heart ached for her. He wanted to go to her and pull her close, wrap his arms around her and tell her it was okay, that she was safe, that he was never going to let anyone hurt her again— but that probably wasn't the best idea, considering the circumstances. In fact, Eli was beginning to wonder if he should have come at all. It didn't particularly look like anyone wanted him here.

"Nothing," Sky looked down at her toes, then shrugged. "Everything. Just a bad day. I— I'm gonna take a shower. I just— I need a moment. Eli, you can tell him what's what."

Nicholas turned to look at Eli, as if only now realising he was there too. Eli felt his cheeks heating. Slowly, he shuffled his feet inside and shut the door behind him, embarrassed that he hadn't made his presence known until now. Of course, he should have said something. He knew he was pretty good at blending into the background if he just kept his mouth shut. Years of avoiding Kyler and other bullies had taught him a thing or two about how not to be noticed.

"Eli," Nicholas said, rather dryly. "And what's he doing here, if I may ask?"

"Staying for the night, I guess. Ask him," Sky replied bluntly, while making her way up the stairs, one pink sneaker still on, another one abandoned near the door. She was dragging her backpack behind her so that it hit every step with a dull thump.

Nicholas' expressive brows formed two remarkably high arcs on his forehead, as he turned to look at Eli again. "Oh. Staying for the night, you say?"

Eli wished the floor would open up under his feet and swallow him. He felt exactly like the first time he had met Nicholas, and he had pointedly told him that there should be no funny business in Sky's room. Which had done nothing to stop him. There had been all kinds of funny business in Sky's room that day, and many times since.

"Cat got your tongue?" Nicholas said, when Eli failed to produce any answer. "I suggest you find it. Sounds like we have things to talk about."

"I guess so, Sir," Eli coughed out a reply. His throat felt thick. It had been one thing to convince Mom that he was going to spend the night at Sky's (he still couldn't quite believe he'd managed that), but it would be another thing entirely to convince Nicholas.