Ross's POV
"Riker? Are you okay?" He said, "I'm crazy." He was sitting on the edge of his bed. He turned his head to the right so he was looking at me. He was in shock, he said, "I saw Sky and Charlie just, walking down the street."
I said, "Oh?" He said, "Yeah, I ran after them, but once they went around the corner, they were gone." I said, "Riker, they are gone." He suspiciously said, "Are they?" I said, "What are you saying?" He said, "You left your phone at home, I saw the screen light up, you changed someone's contact name to Sky. It's Renee isn't it? You changed her name to Sky so it would feel like you were talking to Sky. You don't want to think they're gone either."
I couldn't tell him, he'd be heart broken, so I lied, "Fine, yes, I didn't think anyone would see it." He said, "You need to let go too. We all do. I'm working on it, I know how hard it is. She's just some girl we knew." I pulled him off the bed by his shirt and slammed him into the wall, I was so enraged. I got up in his face, “Never say that! Don’t you ever talk about her like that again! You want to know why I can’t let go?”
I cracked, “Because she’s not gone!” He said, “Yes she is Ross.” I said, “No, she never even left!” I started to crumble. I slowly fell down to the floor, I brought my knees to my chest. Riker squatted down so we were eye level. He said, “Ross, what are you talking about?” I said, “She’s still here, she’s alive and so is Charlie.” He said, “I don’t know if you’re crazy and I need to call mom and dad or if you’re telling the truth.” I was so confused, I said, “I don’t know either.” He walked me to my room and onto my bed, he tucked me in and I passed out.
I woke up to the sound of ukulele. I sat up, Sky was sitting at my desk, playing Renee’s uke. I sat up, “What are you doing here?” She said, “I saw you crying with Riker. I know he saw me and Charlie. So I got here before he got home and hid in your closet. Then Riker came home and he went right into his room.” I said, “Wait, how did you even get in the house? Your key doesn’t work anymore, we moved. How did you even get this address?” She said, “You have so many questions, and I promise they will all be answered. Oh and I got the address from Dylan, he’s been talking with Renee who told him you lived next door. And I got in, because your living room window was open.”
She sat down next to me and we both laid down. She reached across my chest and closed my curtains. She hugged me and put her hand on my chest. It felt nice to have her back. I put my arm around her, I said, “Why’d you close the curtain?” She said, “Renee just walked into her room. I think she had a little crush on you.” I said, “Had?” She said, “Ross, you called her a replacement.” I said, “But I told her it wasn’t true and she forgave me.” She said, “You really think she’s okay?” I said, “Sky, why do you have to leave?” I tried my best to change the subject.
She said, “It’s not safe here.” I said, “Do you remember how when we were twelve, we said that when we grew up, we’d get a log cabin back in Colorado, in the middle of nowhere? We’d make music every day until we lost our voices, and we’d just, be happy.” She said, “I remember.” I said, “Why don’t we just run away together? Just go, I’ll get my money and we can get that cabin, you get your instruments and mine, and we could just go. We could bring my brothers, Rydel, Ratliff, Kelly, oh, and Charlie and Dylan.” She said, “Who’s dream was that Ross?” I said, “It was yours.” She said, “You hated that idea all your life. You said, ‘I wanna grow up and be on TV and the radio. I wanna do it with my family, and we would be rock stars.’ And you made it, you got your dream, you should be as happy as you could possibly be. Why the change in thought?” I said, “Because I’d go anywhere, just to be with you.” She smiled, “But I’d go anywhere to keep you safe.”
I said, “Please don’t leave me again.” She tried to change the subject before we started hugging. “Why do you have Renee’s ukulele?” I said, “How’d you know it’s hers?” She said, “Because I gave it to her.” I said, “Well she threw it off the roof the night she lost her hearing.”
Sky said, “What do you think she’s going to talk to Cameron about? I don’t think he’ll listen.” I said, “I don’t know, but I’m nervous.” She said, “You need to tell Riker you didn’t actually see me, you went back to the diner and saw Renee working, and you could have sworn it was me. But you knew that it wasn’t.” I said, “Oh, so I act like I’m insane?” She said, “Ross, you can’t know me anymore. I don’t exist.”
I said, “So, you started over. What’s your name now?” She said, “Charlie picked Jenna, but please keep calling me Sky, I hate Jenna.” The next few days Sky and I snuck around, going to lunch, the park, breakfast, dinner, walks, anything.
