The Skylar Experiment : Dead Ending (second draft)

Chapter Forty-Four - Good (Fucking) Morning

RILEY

I ROUSED AWAKE and light flooded the room through the gigantic window. For a moment, I didn't recognize my surroundings. Then, last night replayed from my memories. The first thing I noticed was the lack of body warmth that lulled me to sleep. Luc was gone. 

Starting to sit, I banged my forehead against the window ledge and whined. Dark, swarming smudges threatened to have me fall. I had no choice but to ease up slowly and use my arms to gently lurch into the posture. 

I rubbed my lids with a yawn. If it weren't for school, I'd crash back on the pillow and drift to dreamland. But I swung a leg off the plushy edge, then another. My bare feet skimmed over smooth, polished floorboards. 

Today marked day one where Luc and I shared a roof. 

Painted white against the morning sunlight, mountains rose high and mighty, sinuous hill roads striated the south view. I padded to the door and opened it. There was no noise downstairs, no TV blaring or microwave beeping. 

My steps were heavy. The crisis must have drained me more than I anticipated, because my mouth was dry, I moved in slow-motion, and my mind was hollow... completely hollow. I'd expected to regain some spirit by now, but if anything, I was empty. 

I crept to the kitchen, searching past the living room. Luc was nowhere to be found. I reached the counter and plucked an apple from the fruit bowl. 

Being alone in this house was a whole, uncomfortable new feeling. I didn't dare to rummage through cupboards or the fridge for something more substantial. Cellphone in one hand, I sent Luc a text to see where he'd ran off to, but of course he didn't reply. Instead, half a dozen texts from Ben and Devin bugged the device. 

One of them came from Kennedy, as well. 

He was asking us all who did it this time, or rather demanding, and I could feel his anger emanating from my screen. I couldn't—wouldn't discuss the wreckage in the girl's bathroom, so I left a read. How would I make it to school, anyways? My clothes were all at home with everything else I needed to get ready, including textbooks and homework. 

I was hunched in the window seat corner, munching the apple, when I spotted dark, wavy hair poking out of the treeline. Luc was carrying a large bag and a backpack over one shoulder. With agile jumps, he scaled the stairs in no-time. The entrance door squeaked open, letting in a chilly breeze. 

"Sunshine?" he called in the hall. 

"Over here," I said meekly. 

God, my energy was low—so low I could lay my head on the cushion and nap. 

I heard him kick off his boots and he appeared in the living room and presented the bag to me. I set down my apple. It was a hefty bundle, seemingly keeping many objects inside as it dragged across the floor. He flung off the backpack and it slid down his arm all the way to the ground, resting against the wall. 

I identified it as mine with its blue stripe. 

"What... did you go get it?" I asked, looking up at him. When I did, silly heat diffused in my cheeks. It's just that we shared a bed again, and in hindsight, it was strange, especially as I faced Luc now. Hours ago, I'd been shamelessly sprawled over him, breathing in that wonderful smell of forest and citrus. 

"I stopped in your room. Figured you'd need the essential for today, but I didn't take a lot. I thought you'd know better what you want."

Meaning that I'd have to return home to extract more items. I swallowed, eyeing the bag. I didn't want to let him see my expression, so I bent down and delved in. Inside were elastics and my hair brush—thank God—along with jeans and a woolly sweater.