Chapter 9
After school, I drove home to my empty house still wondering if I should have brought Luke with me. He was still shaken up and feeling guilty about the whole Payton thing, and I wanted to help but he insisted on being alone. So that meant me also being alone too.
I pulled out my phone from my pocket and checked my messages...none. There was no word yet from my father, so I decided to send him word first.
Me: Hey dad.
I texted him something simple and then waited, I waited for an hour but there was no answer. Maybe it was the time zone, I really didn't check that yet. Stuck in the house and feeling closed in, I decided to leave and walk down to the beach. It was only two miles and I could definitely make the trek. I quickly changed into my black two-piece with little red and white stars all over it, and put on my white mesh cover up. I dropped my phone on my bed, slipped on my flip-flops and started out to the beach.
As I walked I noticed the weather was a little more overcast than usual, but it was good enough for me. When I got there, it was little to no population on the sand, which was nice. I sat down and dug my feet into the sand as I watched the endless waves crash lightly onto the shore. I breathed in time with the waves, a technique someone taught me to calm down, one I used quite often after my mother had died. I sighed in frustration, I wish there was something I could do to help Luke, I thought as I laid my head back onto the sand closing my eyes. The sound of the waves grew louder, I wasn't sure it if was because my hearing sense heightened because my eyes were closed, or they were just getting closer but either way I liked it.
"Hey." A soft familiar voice greeted me in a whisper. I opened my eyes smiling slightly when I saw Luke standing over me with his hands shoved in his pockets. I sat up.
"Luke. Hey." I said. He sat down next to me looking out at the ocean, "Are you okay?" I asked him out of pure concern. He looks down and starts playing with the sand, picking it up and letting it fall through his fingers.
"I just feel like I could have said something to her. I feel like I let her down, even though we were not actually dating, I just..." He trailed off not being able to express his thoughts clearly. I nodded, not exactly understanding his perspective on this whole situation but I wanted to. If it meant helping Luke, then I wanted to understand.
"I'm sorry." I told him. He stopped playing with the sand and looked up at me confused.
"Why are you sorry?" He asked.
"I'm sorry you're sad." I said. He gave me a weak smile before looking back out to the ocean; I looked at his profile briefly before leaning my head against his shoulder and looking out onto the ocean as well.
"Jamie! Jamie! Oh- Luke! Jamie and Luke!" A faint voice called from behind us. I turned to see Skye running at full speed towards us flailing her hands in the air. Luke turned when Skye got up close, she heaved trying to catch her breath, she must have ran from Ashton's especially since she did not live around here. She stood in front of us her back facing the ocean.
"Skye are you okay?" I asked her. She just held her knees hunched over and held up a finger, indicating to us to hold on. I sighed my patience running thin as I tried to figure out what she needed to tell us.
"Payton has bipolar," She said before taking a deep breath. I looked over at Luke whose eyes were wide with shock, "That tantrum she had in the cafeteria was a side affect of one of the meds she is on." She explained further.
"How do you know this?" Luke asked.
"Ashton works as an office aid for his last class." She explained, "And those men who gave her that shot or something, they were psychiatrists hired by the school to handle situations like that." Skye finished up finally taking normal breaths.
