Chapter 61

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POV: Darleen

"We shouldn't have left her alone." I towel-dry my wet hair.

"She needs to think." Kenzie puts on her face mask next to me in the mirror.

"She doesn't think, she shuts down. She self-destructs. We should go check on her." I say in worry.

"Forcing ourselves on her won't make her come to us; it will just push her farther away." She points out.

I sigh and set the towel down.

"She'll call when she's ready to talk," Kenzie assures me.

Just then, my phone rings.

I grab and see Skylar's name.

"That was fast," I show Kenzie.

I quickly answer it.

"Sky?" I say when it's silent.

"Darleen," she sobs.

I stand up straighter, every hair on my body going on edge.

"What's wrong? Where are you?" I demand.

"I need you. Please," she sobs.

"I'm on my way. Are you at home?"

"Yes." She sobs.

"I'm on my way, don't move." I quickly run to my room to get dressed.

"Skylar? What's wrong?" Kenzie takes the phone from me while I get dressed.

"No! Don't come, I don't want you to see me like this." She sobs.

"See you like what?"

"Don't come, Darleen, don't let her come." Skylar sobs.

"Okay," I take the phone again as I pull up my wet hair. "Kenzie, wait here."

"But—"

"I'll be back." I peck her on the lips and run out.

I get to Skylar's apartment and once again let myself in. Ace whimpers by the bedroom, his tail tucked. The cats also linger near the bedroom door, their fur fluffed; they are clearly agitated.

"Skylar?" I quickly walk over there.

She sobs.

I push the door open and see her curled in the corner, a bloody mess. The remnants of her laptop are in a bloody pile in front of her.

"Sky, what did you do?" I sigh.

"Can you take me to the hospital?" she asks, showing me her bloody hands.

"Come on," I walk over and help her up.

She sobs.

I help her get her shoes on and wrap her hands in a towel before taking her to the ER. I call Kenzie when we get there.

"I'm bringing her home once they let her out," I say to her when she answers.

"What happened? Where are you?"

"At the hospital, she hurt herself again."

"Again? How?"

"I told you she self-destructs; she did this before when Jade first left her. She punched things until she broke her knuckles. Now, she smashed her laptop into a million pieces until those pieces got lodged into her hands. She was a bloody mess."

"Skylar," Kenzie says sadly.

"This is my fault. I was too hard on her." I shake my head.

"No, this is something Skylar needs to deal with. She can't keep it bottled up like that. It's destroying her."

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