Before I Forget

Easy to Love

Sky didn't go to school for a week.

The first couple of days she barely left her room. Her bed was her safe haven, the heavy drapes shielded her from the world, but they did little to block out her inner demons. Awake or asleep, she could hear the waters of River Styx at the edge of her consciousness, the calling of the rapids and shallows and she knew it would take weeks, months, maybe a lifetime to silence the whispering of the other side.

Not to hear the calling of the dark waters, she listened to music 24/7. Too much Lana del Rey and Taylor Swift, Sia, and Mirel Wagner. Too many heart-breaking songs that did nothing to make her feel better, but at least they drowned the voices she didn't dare to face.

Dad moved the mattress back into her room and kept an eye on her around the clock. They ordered food in and watched Star Trek and Babylon 5 side by side on the living room couch, drinking coffee and hot chocolate off huge mugs until it was 2 am and Dad forced Sky to try and get some sleep.

But she couldn't sleep. She lay awake in her bed, staring at the canopy, listening to Dad's breathing and other sounds of the night - a dog barking somewhere far away, a bird crying with a weird, haunting voice, an ambulance on the highway miles away from her home, the soft whispering of the black river. It was during the nights that she thought about Hawk. She thought about his smile, the way it lingered on his lips when he looked at her. She thought about his hands, his hot, calloused palms, his long, slender fingers, the way he slowly slid his hands down her back when they kissed. She thought about his arms around her, the warmth of his body against her own, how safe he made her feel. And thinking about all that made her cry, so she cried alone as silently as she could, soaking the pillowcase with her tears until Dad heard and woke up.

He would read a book to her on those nights. The Wizard of Earthsea, The Lord of The Rings, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ronia the Robber's Daughter - any random book he picked from her bookshelf, that was so familiar to Sky that listening to it made her fall into a river of memories that had nothing to do with Hawk so that finally she could fall asleep for a couple of restless hours.

The days were as bad as the nights.

Waking up to a new morning felt like a slap on the face, and Sky wanted nothing but oblivion, nothing but to stay under the sheets all day crying and listening to songs that made her cry even more, but apparently, Dad thought enough was enough. After three days, Saturday morning, he walked into Sky's room and announced she had a visitor.

"I don't wanna see anyone," Sky muttered, burying her face into the pillow that was wet and sticky with her tears.

"Too bad," Dad stated firmly. "Your friend is here to see you and I'm not sending him home. It's time to start living again."

Sky groaned and sat up, running a hand through her hair. She hadn't washed it in three days and it was gross, nearly as gross as her pajamas. She knew she was in desperate need of a shower and was just about to say so when Dad pushed the door of her room fully open, and Demetri walked in, carrying something huge in his arms.

"Howdy," Demetri greeted awkwardly. "Where can I put this?"

Sky frowned. "Depends. What the fuck is that?"

"This–" Demetri said, and not waiting for permission he placed the thing down on the floor next to Dad's mattress. "--is our science presentation. When Mrs. Darrell found out it... got broken, she gave us an extra week to fix it. A week, of which three days have already passed, if you don't mind me saying, so we are on a bit of a schedule here."

The science presentation.

Suddenly a memory of Hawk laughing as he stood in the middle of the destruction holding his soccer ball in his hands, hit Sky again like a dagger in the heart. The pain made her eyes tear up, it took her breath away.