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

to forgive him and that made him satisfied. “Want to dance with me some more?” He asked her.
She nodded but twisted away from him. “Sure, just let me use the restroom first.” She told him, her gentle voice slightly above the echoing music.
“Of course, just don’t think about me too much.” He said slyly.
Skye faked a smile and squeezed passed him, his eyes trailing after her. She placed her cold hand against her cheek, her entire body was growing cold—despite the overwhelming heat and humidity in the building—and the side of her face seared with fiery pain. Her arms were sore from his vicious shoves and grabs, and her eyes stung with welt up tears. She was fighting tears, fighting the oppressing anger of realization that it had happened again.
Skye ducked into the restroom and saw two giggly girls. The girls snapped out of their giggling the moment they saw Skye, there expressions filled with surprise and confusion. She drew back for a moment and dropped her hand. My cheek, my eyes, I must look like a wreck

. She thought instinctively. She hadn’t even realized that water had made its way out of her eyes and was trickling down her cheeks. Blinking the tears away in embarrassment, she ducked into the closest stall and slammed it shut—sliding the lock in place.
The two girls started giggling again as they left the restroom, their giggles had changed into louder and abrupt laughter before they were all of the way out. Skye leaned up against the stall’s door and sighed, tears trickling down her cheeks again. She let the crying come; she was in too much pain to try to banish it. A few minutes of thought would help her get away from it all. Her birthday’s had never really turned out the way she planned, the more years that things went wrong the less she cared about them, her birthday is just another day in her mind. For the most part, the day of her birth she doesn’t enjoy thinking about, especially because she knew that it had something to do with Leah and Skye’s biological-father’s separation.
She wiped at her eyes after a couple minutes of crying and pulled out a compact from her purse. She examined her face in the mirror where she saw that her eyes were red and the side of her face had swelled up into a bruise. This is just perfect, how am I supposed to explain this to Mom?

Skye always had to cover for Bryan and Johnny’s anger. The last time she covered for them wasn’t too far into the past; it had only been a few weeks earlier. She ended up covering for both Johnny and Bryan after coming home practically unconscious. It was one of those days that had been incredibly unexpected in going where it went. The day started off as any other, she went to Bryan’s house after school—something they both did a lot during the school year—but that was when things got a little out of control and Bryan took all of his anger out on her, lashing out on her until she begged for mercy. Before she made it home that same evening, Johnny found her and became infuriated by the evidence that he thought he had left, beating on her already numb body.
She tried to stay away from thinking about the past beatings, for she could still feel the pain it had all created. She snapped out of the past and back into reality, ache tainted on the windows of her heart. She covered the bruised side of her face with cover-up so that the skin was refreshed and the bruise hardly noticeable, and sighed heavily as she breathed a deep breath of the clear air, letting the events of the night fall away.
Skye peered out of the stall and let out a quick breath of relief—the restroom was vacant from the looks of it. She dropped her purse on the counter and washed her hands clean of the cover-up. She quickly dried her hands off and leaned her hands and body against the counter, staring at her reflection in the mirror. Her hand slid up to her swollen cheek and a mumbled sob escaped her lips—a sob of regret. She hated that she kept giving into Bryan even though he didn’t truly love her. The regret was overwhelming.
“How could I let him do that to me? I should have just left, I should have just left

!” She sobbed as she dropped her head into her hands. “I don’t want this anymore,” she breathed, her suddenly quiet voice muffled. Her knees buckled and she fell to the ground, her vision had blurred and there was a sudden dizziness swirling the entire room. She reached up for the counter and tried to pull herself back up; but it was a loss, her arms were too weak.
On the far side of the restroom the last stall opened and a blonde-haired girl walked out of it. She washed her hands, but when she saw Skye, she gasped and ran over to her. “Skye! Oh my gosh, what happened?” She said hastily, crouching down to her knees and gently pushing Skye’s raven hair out of her face.
“Nothing, I’m okay, Rachel.” Skye whispered.
“Are you sure? I can get you some help if you need it, where’s Bryan?”
“No!” Skye snapped at her, “No. I mean, I don’t need him right now.” She added hastily.
The girl—Rachel—regarded Skye with slightly surprised eyes. “Okay, Skye, whatever you say.” She shook her head and chuckled but there was a sort of nervous tint to it. “Here, let me help you up,” she added, gently helping Skye up by her shoulders. Skye used Rachel as support and whimpered when she rubbed her bruises against Rachel’s arms. “Hey, what happened to you?” Rachel said when they were both standing.
Skye’s vision had gone back to normal and she was regaining her steadiness. “Nothing happened to me, I’m just really tired.” She told Rachel around a smile. It was true, she was tired, but even so, the rest was far off.
“Well, you should go home and get some sleep than; I would hate to see my best

friend having a bummer of a birthday because she’s tired. Happy birthday, Skye, it’s about time that you are seventeen, geez girl, I felt like I was crazy old.” Rachel said, her perky personality slipping out.
“I’m good, Rachel, Bryan’s here with me; but thank you, even though you didn’t need to mention it.” Skye said in response, an actual smile tipping around her lips.
“Yeah, he’s out there waiting for you, I’m sorry that I wasn’t the one to hangout with you on your ‘special’ day. We could have had some good fun.” She grinned and played with her curly hair; the curl bounced when she pulled it down and let it go. “Bryan’s a good guy, I’m glad that it was him who took you out, you definitely needed a break. How are things at home? Things with Johnny,” She let the words hang as a question, the name sending chills down Skye’s spine.
She was forced to lie, forcing the words painfully out of her mouth, “Things are not all that bad, Johnny’s been a good help for Mom, and he’s a great guy.” She swallowed hard on a lump in her throat, the lump from thinking about both Bryan and Johnny again. “Rachel, there’s nothing wrong with you having your own plans, though, Bryan has done an excellent job with giving me a good time; besides, I don’t really even need a whole lot of celebration and you know that.” She suddenly couldn’t smile but she also couldn’t frown and go back to thinking about both men.
“Good, that’s very insightful.” Rachel let go of her hair and tapped her friends shoulder. “Skye, you really need to think about your birthday as something more, but I guess if you want to push it away like it’s nothing then go ahead.”
“Thank you, Rachel, I didn’t know that I needed your permission but it’s good to know that I am free.” Skye said mockingly.
Rachel laughed abruptly and patted Skye on the back. “You bet, but I should get going, I have someone waiting for me. It was good seeing you, Skye. I will call you soon, okay?” She told Skye kindly, hugging her with a gentle force.
“I don’t even want to ask who the guy is now, do I?” She remarked, hugging Rachel back. Rachel pulled herself away her hands still on Skye’s shoulders, and shook her head playfully. “Good-bye, Rachel, be careful.”
A smirk crept up Rachel’s lips and she leaned in as if telling Skye a secret. “Oh, trust me, I’ll be careful.” She winked and strutted away from Skye, waving daintily before she left the restroom.
Skye chuckled at how free-spirited Rachel could be; although, she sometimes envied it. Rachel always had been carefree and gentle, a kind and beautiful character. She remembered what Rachel had said about Bryan and sighed heavily, he was waiting for her. She grabbed her purse and started to leave the restroom.
A couple scurried past her on the way out, laughing mischievously and holding hands. Skye looked after them before making it clear out of the restroom, and all that she saw was the couple passionately throwing each other against the stall and making-out.
She rolled her eyes and walked clear away from the restroom. She glanced around the club and could swear that it had gotten even more crowded, though it didn’t seem possible. She looked around for Bryan but when she had no luck, she went over to the bar and sat down, exhaustion weighing her down.
A few stools down, the blonde pretty-boy from earlier on sat, his head bent down as his hands held a glass of soda. The moment Skye laid her eyes on him she lost her breath, she couldn’t believe that she was only a few feet away from him, as close as she had wanted before. She was somehow utterly drawn to him; although, she didn’t know if it was because of his looks or because of the vibe he set off.
The boy tilted his head up and chuckled. She wondered why he was chuckling, the bar was dull, and there weren’t any drunken drinkers around to fire things up, so why would he possibly laugh? Suddenly, a thought dawned on her and she examined him closer—he was slightly looking at her.
She drew back, shamefully embarrassed, and felt that her cheeks were flushed. She kept her eyes on the counter, trying her best not to look at the boy, and sucked in a sharp breath. The boy enchanted her though, with his fascinating emerald eyes that were shadowed by shaggy golden-hair and his smile that took her breath away. He entirely took on the definition of beautiful.
The boy stood up from the stool he was in and walked behind Skye—which made her uneasy—only for him to end up taking the seat next to her. She didn’t dare to look at him, didn’t dare to give in to the charming smile and bright eyes. He grinned and laughed more audibly when he noticed that she had scooted in the slightest away from him. She let herself fall under temptation and looked at him, his charming grin hitched high and showing his very white teeth. He really is the most beautiful boy I have ever seen before

. She thought passably.
He raised an eyebrow and his grin turned into a smirk, almost as if he could read her thoughts. He scooted closer to her until she was practically off of the