Remnants of Shattered Innocence (Unedited First Draft)

Chapter 14 (October 4, 2004)

Skylar met up with Stacey right around lunch time. They walked to the cafeteria with Stacey talking the whole time. It annoyed a lot of people, but Skylar didn't mind it because it kept her mind off other things.

They sat down to eat after shoving their way through the crowded lunch lines. Skylar looked down at her plate and couldn't remember why she fought so hard to get through the line for mystery meat.

"So, anyway, back to what I was saying," Stacey rambled on. "I don't like gym class because the teacher is weird. I think he's a perv. Every time I look at him he's staring at one of the girls. He chose the phys ed uniform and of course he chose short shorts for girls!" she complained, playing with her food.

She made a disgusted face.

"I hate school lunches. Where's Katie?" Stacey asked, realizing she wasn't sitting with them.

"She went to Puerto Rico with her mom," Skylar said, sighing sadly.

"Oh, so we can hang out all week," Stacey said excitedly.

It was no secret that Stacey and Katie shared a mutual disliking of one another. The only reason they put up with each other, it seemed, was for Skylar. Skylar couldn't understand why they couldn't give each other a chance. Frankly, it annoyed her. It also annoyed her when Stacey acted as if she were better than Katie.

Sometimes she'd say things like 'I bet you never have this much fun with Katie.' Skylar always just ignored it, because the truth was she had more fun with Katie than anyone else.

"Actually, I'm grounded this week. So unless you can convince my mom to let me come out, it's not going to happen," Skylar said, sipping her water.

"I'll see what I can do."

Skylar felt better after lunch. She didn't eat very much, but her nausea went away. Fidgeting through the rest of her classes, she kept looking at the clock waiting for 3 o'clock. It seemed like time was standing still. Finally the bell rang and she jumped out of her chair so fast that she almost knocked it over.

Her mom was waiting outside for her to make sure she came straight home. Skylar rolled her eyes when she saw the car. She got in the car and didn't say anything. Of course, her mom tried to act like nothing was going on.

"Hey hun," she chirped as Skylar closed the door. "I was wondering, have you chosen what you're going to be dressing up as for Halloween?"

"Probably a ghost," Skylar said without looking at her mother.

"Really?" Her mom asked surprised. "But that's so plain, usually you pick something unique."

"Yeah, well I'm not really in the mood for anything unique this year," Skylar said, feeling like she already was a ghost.

"Well, this weekend, do you want to go out shopping for costumes? It can be me, you, Gwen, and Amber. We can have a girl's night and your father can watch Jeff," she suggested hopefully.

Amber got pregnant at Skylar's age. She now lived on her own in the only apartment complex across town that accepted families on welfare. It also happened to be right next to the house that Jimmy's apartment was in.

"Sure," Skylar said, hoping her mom would forget by Friday.

When they got home, Skylar went straight to her room. She told her mom she had homework to catch up on. She was glad her mom didn't pry, otherwise she probably would have figured out that Skylar finished her homework in school, like she usually does.

She went up to her room and spread her books and notebooks out on the bed on one end. Kicking off her sneakers, she laid in bed on her stomach. She picked up her chemistry book and began flipping through the pages, trying to look busy.