Less than Perfect, S. J. Evans [classic literature books txt] 📗

water to drop it.

He started walking over to her, holding his hand up, his bright eyes bold and shining. “Skye, hand over the phone,” he told her steadily, his lips tipping at the corners into a stern smile.

“Or, I could hand it over to the waves. Unless , of course, you’re ready to give me my phone back.” She raised her eyebrows, challenging him.

He chuckled lightly, lowering his hands as he walked through the small waves at his feet. “How about we end this? With a truce,” he offered, shooting her a full smile.

She thought about it for a moment, but shook her head, stepping back a little.

“Okay…you asked for it,” he mumbled, grinning vibrantly and charging at her. He wrapped his arm around her stomach as she squealed and turned to run, failing at the attempt. She was about to give the phone a toss just as he snatched it from her hand with his free hand. “Uh-uh, no tossing the phone.” He laughed, quickly stuffing the phone in his pocket and wrapping his arm around Skye.

She giggled as he lifted her high above the tides, her arms flailing at the quick movement. Her hands gripped his arms as he quickly grabbed her from underneath her knees and cradled her. She screamed when she realized what he was about to do.

“No, Bry, not the water,” she shrieked, trying to sound as stern as possible. She didn’t want to get wet, she hadn’t prepared to get wet except for her feet. “Bryan Michael Echols, stop this instant!” She cried, her voice going from slightly amused to slightly annoyed.

They were far into the water already; Bryan’s shorts drenched with water along with the end of his shirt. “Too late!” He announced, grinning down at her and looking out across the water. He tossed her into the water, her hands flailing at the release, and laughed as she screamed a quite piercing scream.

When she came above the water, she glared at him, brushing her hair out of her eyes. “You little—”

He held up a hand, staring her down. “Hey—there are little ears around,” he teased.

She gave him a smile, trying to convince herself that it was fake, though it wasn’t. “Bryan, you know I wasn’t going to say anything.” She grinned, splashing him.

He flinched, taken aback by the cold water, and made a face. “My turn,” he said. He was being completely playful as he ducked under water and pulled her with him, her only reactions falling under the water with him, wrapped in his protective arms.

When Skye came out of the memory, tear stains painted her pale face. She hated memories like those; the memories that brought so much pain and sadness because of what had been. She missed those days that replayed in her memories; but they were already long gone and all she knew was the pain.

Turning her head to the side, an object caught her eye, challenging her to pluck it up. Even though she knew it wasn’t what she needed or should even want

in that case, she couldn’t resist the tearing urge to take it.

Walking over to the tub, she plucked the object and examined it. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, screaming at herself for having those kinds of thoughts in the first place. Before she could stop herself, she sliced the razor across her wrist, wincing. She wanted to cry out in pain, the fierce burning pain inflaming her wrist, but she didn’t. Even though fresh tears poured down her cheeks from the misery of it, she knew that was what she needed. She needed the feeling of being in control, whether it meant hurting herself to get it or not.

Covering her fresh wound with her hand, she wobbled over to the sink and ran cold water over it, gasping from the pain. It was inflamed, causing her eyes to water and her body to crumble from the pain. She wanted to scream. The pain was so dark, so cold, she couldn’t decide if she hated it or wanted more.

It was wrong—the way she felt—but she couldn’t deny the part of her that enjoyed the terrible pain.

She was in control for once.

Suddenly, a gentle knocking brought her from the dark thoughts that had started to eclipse over her and she fell against the sink, startled.

“Skye sweetie, are you alright?” Leah said, her soft voice echoing through the door.

Skye sighed, closing her eyes and trying to forget about the pain in her wrist, and turned off the water. “Sure, Mom.” She opened the cabinet above the sink and pulled out a few bandages, unwrapping them and slapping them over her wound.

“Are you sure? Because if you’re not, I can stay home today and take care of you.”

Skye winced as the wound still throbbed and pulled her arm against her chest, as if she was protecting it. “Don’t stay home, Mom; I want you to have a
good day. Besides, I was actually thinking about inviting Rachel over. I wouldn’t be alone.” She replied quietly.

Leah sighed. “Is everything alright, though?”

“Yes, Mom, everything is just fine. Now, go wherever it is you want to go and do whatever it is you want to do.” Though Skye sounded sincere and calm, she was secretly hoping that her mom didn’t leave her alone. She knew that she could evade Bryan’s company but that didn’t lessen her nerves. She was going to talk to Rachel, but whether or not Rachel wanted to be around her was another story.

“If you’re sure,” Leah hesitated, waiting for Skye’s response.

“I’m sure.”

“Okay sweetie, Johnny and I will be back later. Take it easy okay? The doctor’s said you need to be careful.”

Skye sighed, standing up and tossing the bloodied towel in the hamper. So she’s going with Johnny,

She thought. Of course she is

. Despite her own feelings against Johnny, she tried to sound happy for her mom. After all, she was just going out on a date with her husband

; she had no idea that the man she was married to was an abusive man who takes every string of anger out on his underage step-daughter. And how could she know? No one could speak a word of it to her.

“I will,” She promised. “Goodbye Mom, love you.”

Leah smiled from the other side, grateful that her daughter was feeling alright. Only, that was all that she thought. She had no idea that her daughter was aching inside, stressed and terrified. “Goodbye, sweetie, love you too.” She said before leaving.

Skye could hear her mom descend down the stairs and it broke her heart to hear that she was going out with Johnny. He may be Leah’s husband and Skye’s step-father but that doesn’t give him the right to do anything he wants with Skye. She dropped to her knees, ignoring all of the pain in her body and the ringing in her ears. She wanted to see Jules, to have him hold her and comfort her like he had tried to before. She regretted that decision as much as she regretted the past night’s decision. If she had only let Jules comfort her maybe none of that would have happened. If she had taken his offer for a ride, she never would have had to worry about Johnny, she never would have found out the painful truth.

Skye cried silently, letting all of her regret slip away, and stared through the blurriness of water at her hands. The same hands she had laced through Bryan’s hair and fingers, the same hands she had held Leah’s hands with when she was little, and the same hands that never held her father’s hands; the scarred hands of a girl with a broken soul.

Skye pulled herself upright and dampened a clean rag. She scrubbed the floor and around the tub where her blood had spilled; the evidence had to go away, far away and out of the picture. Washing any off her hands, she stared into her own eyes, drenching herself in the cool gray eyes. She tried to smile with satisfaction of herself, but couldn’t. She still continued to feel that everything was her terrible fault.

She wobbled out of the bathroom, holding her newly wounded wrist, and walked into her bedroom. With the towel still wrapped around her, she opened her dresser and pulled out clothes for the day. As she got dressed there were only to things on her mind. One: She needed to work things out with Bryan. Two: She needed to talk to Rachel, to get out of the house. Rachel wouldn’t have to know about how she got the wound.

Skye dialed the only number she knew to call. On the other line a girl with a sweet voice sang into the phone. “Hey Skye, what’s up?”

“Hi, well, I was actually going to ask you that. Are you doing anything today?” Skye said quietly. Her voice quivered as she talked, the last time she had seen Rachel hadn’t gone too well.

“I’m not doing anything other than Oliver’s party tonight. Do you want to come with me? He wouldn’t mind if you came, trust me, we’re really close

.” Rachel’s voice spoke kindly. She had always liked Skye, she was the one friend Skye really ever made at the pathetic school.

“Actually, that would be great. Do you mind picking me up?” She completely ignored Rachel’s hinted joke.

“No problem, just leave it to me. I’ll be there at seven, okay?”

Skye exhaled. “Sounds perfect, thanks.”

“Well, I will see you later than. We definitely will have to talk, bye hon.”

“Goodbye, Rachel, see you tonight.” Skye pushed her finger into the end button and sighed as she sat on the bed. She let the world drift away as she closed her eyes and pictured Jules, standing beside her with his eyes peering deep into her soul.


Skye sat down on the porch’s main steps, waiting for Rachel. Leah and Johnny were inside and she couldn’t care less about what they were talking about. Skye just needed some space and time out of the house. She needed something to occupy her mind. Rachel pulled her truck into Skye’s driveway and honked the horn, the sound snapping Skye out of her reverie.

“Hey, you ready?” Rachel called out of the passenger side window.

Skye faked a smile and walked stiffly over to the truck. She got herself inside and let all of her worry about Johnny slip away; with her out of the house he couldn’t harm her. “Thanks.”

“No problem, it’ll be fun, I promise.”

“Yeah, I’m actually looking forward to this.” I’m looking forward to getting away from Johnny.

Skye hoped that Bryan wouldn’t be anywhere near her either; she couldn’t face him. She never wanted to face him again but knew that she had to eventually.

“Good,” Rachel suddenly looked uncomfortable as she drove out of the driveway and onto the main streets. “Can I ask you something, Skye?”

Skye’s heart started racing and she felt her breath catch. “Sure,” she said with some trouble.

Rachel kept giving Skye quick glances, trying to keep her eyes more so focused on the road. “I’ve heard some things…”

“What kinds of things? I thought you had a question,”

“I do, I do, it’s just, I don’t know how to say it.” Rachel wasn’t looking at Skye, she couldn’t even give her glances anymore.

“Does this have something to do with Bryan?”

“Kind of, um, yes it does actually.”

Skye took a deep breath and felt the pressure in her lungs clash with another. She could hardly breathe, she knew what was coming. Bryan had already been talking.

“You see, some people heard that you were in the hospital, and those same people are getting this idea.”

Skye closed her eyes, she couldn’t look at Rachel anymore, and she knew it was hard for the both of them to even talk around the subject. “Please tell me you’re not one of those people,” she sighed.

“No, no, I’m not. Although, I do want to get the straight story from you. What were you really doing at the