Less than Perfect

28. Live {part two}

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Live

Part Two

MAKING HER WAY up the stone steps leading to the Harper's front door, Skye was careful not to loosen her death grip on her crutches, afraid that if she so much as let up on it a fraction of an inch she'd lose them in the bitter wind that howled past her. During the past few hours she'd spent inside, it had gotten notably colder outside, and the wind had picked up. A very powerful storm was brewing over the horizon.

As she stepped off the last step, she let out a sigh of relief but still didn't loosen her grip in the slightest. Her heart was tapping out a restless beat in her chest, and her head spun from the vast amount of effort she had to put into a task as simple as climbing a few steps—but the way she saw it, no task that involved walking was as simple as it had once been.

With a wobble in her careful steps, she hurried as quickly as possible towards the door, desperate for a little coven of shelter. Pressing herself against the cool surface, she tried to catch her fleeting breath. Come on, Skye, she chided herself. Keep yourself together now. You've got to stay strong. Don't let exhaustion get the better of you. You won't be good company if you're half awake.

Taking a deep, calming breath, she tapped her icy knuckles on the door as hard as her tiring body would allow, and took a small, clumsy step back.

Less than a minute later, she could hear the locks on the door being unlocked and unbolted, and she found herself immediately relaxing. Someone was behind that door. And she could only hope it was Rachel—the best friend that she desperately wanted to talk to.

When the door finally squeaked open all of the way, Skye felt a wave of warmth and happiness wash over her body. Calmed by the sight of her dazzling best friend with the long, golden locks of curls she'd always envied, and the kind of sweet smile that could brighten anyone's day in one mere glance.

"Skye!" Rachel exclaimed, eyes lighting up as she took in her friend's presence. "What are you doing here? I mean—don't get me wrong, it's great to see you—but I just didn't expect to see you here, at my house."

Skye used the support of her crutches to hold her up while she answered her friend. "Well, since I haven't seen or talked to you in the past few days, I wanted to check in and see how you were doing. And you weren't answering any of my phone calls, so I just decided to drop by. I hope I'm not interrupting anything, though; I don't want to be any trouble." Her lips twitched in a small smile.

Rachel's fingers fidgeted with the lace trim of her sleeve that hung just above her elbow, and she giggled sweetly. "You're never any trouble, Skye. You're my best friend, and you're free to drop by anytime—as long as you don't interrupt my beauty sleep, that is." With a quick wave of her hand, she'd managed to discard any traces of unease left in Skye's body. "And about the phone calls, I lost my cell to police custody and the new one hasn't arrived yet. Plus, my parents haven't been screening calls when I'm gone—and as you very well know, I never answer the home phone anyways—so if you left any messages on that line, that's why I didn't get them."

"Oh," Skye mumbled, taking the words in. Part of her found it a little odd that Rachel hadn't called her at all, but the other didn't want to press it. She was going through a lot, too, and even though they may be best friends, there was no rule that said they had to talk to each other about everything. If she'd wanted to talk, she would have picked up the phone and dialed her number. And Skye understood that. "I guess I'm lucky I caught you here, then."