Being McKenzie Prince ✔

Chapter Twelve

Skye paced up and down. He kept telling me about this amazing date he had with Natasha tonight and it felt like I was going to go insane. I am not blind and I can clearly see that he really enjoyed it so I was desperately trying to keep my opinions to myself. I swear I could feel my eye twitching.

I spent the whole week avoiding school. I would sneak in and out of the house during the day to go surfing. I had to borrow Tyler's surfboard since mine is nothing but a pile of ashes in the junkyard somewhere.

It felt so amazing to be able to be in the water again. It was the only thing that I was looking forward to recently. It was like I never left and the ocean welcomed me back with open arms.

I cannot show my face at school again. All the bravado I had in the Red Flag about not caring about what anyone thought and about being brave is now a distant memory. The reality of the situation has begun to sink in. I had to get a new cell phone number just to stop the phone calls and texts. I deleted all of my social media accounts; Twitter, Instagram, SnapChat and Facebook because people kept leaving degrading messages and pictures on my profiles. They started to harass me online constantly. I just needed a break. How can people be so cruel? Did they not all attend the same cyberbullying seminar we had in the beginning of this year?

I spent most of the week rereading some of my favorite books while I sat on the beach or in the Red Flag; The perks of being a wallflower by Stephen Chbosky, Hate List by Jennifer Brown and 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher.

I kept getting this feeling like something big was about to happen in the next few weeks. Something life changing, or maybe I was just silently praying that we could have a new start somehow.

Skye told me about how Natasha and he, they went to this old public park and they spent hours drinking take-away coffee and talking. It sounded innocent enough, but there was something that he was not telling me. I could see it in the way he appeared more relaxed; the way he was talking way more than usual, and the fact that when he got home he went straight to the kitchen to get something to eat. I knew the signs. I have lived with my mother long enough to know what they mean. My brother was using. After seeing how completely messed up my mother is; how could he do that to himself willingly?

"Okay. What did you take?"

"What? Nothing. Why would you ask that?" His fingers twitched involuntarily. I sat on the matrass below the staircase in his room that was in the garage. I spent most of my time hiding here if for some reason I was home during the day. I tried to stay out until Skye got out of school. That way I did not have to risk to be alone with Goliath.

"You are talking to me Skye. So just tell me...I am going to find out in anyway."

He gave a loud sigh and bit his lower lip as he looked at me.

"Just do not freak out, okay?"

"Tell me" I lifted up my one eyebrow.

"Fine...I may have...Sort of...Been smoking weed the last few days, but that is it. I am not going to take anything stronger. I promise." He sounded like our mother. That was how she started.

I choked on my own spit and sat up straight.

"You did what!"

"Come on. You said you would not freak out!"

"No I did not!"

"Yes you did!"

"No I did not and weed, seriously? You know this is only the start."

"It was only a few times. It is no big deal."

"So you are telling me that you have not done anything else other than weed? You did not drink alcohol with it? Or maybe take a few pills?"