Castaways

twenty-six

L u k e

Making my way upstairs, I played a thousand different scenarios in my head, and they all ended badly. I looked inside Mike's room, where Sierra hadn't left since her fight with Angelle. It felt like a solid ten minutes before I worked up the courage to finally speak up.

"Si." That's all it took. One word, spoken so brokenly, was all it took for Sierra to storm to the doorway, and slam the door in my face.

"Jesus," I whispered. "C'mon, Sierra. We need to talk. Please open up, baby."

The next second, Sierra was swinging the door open. "Do not call me that. Let's get that straight. I am not your baby. Maybe Angelle will let you call her that, but not me. Not now."

"Ok. That's fair." I nodded, taking a deep breath. "But, please, just let me explain. I just wanna talk. Just let me in, and you can yell, and hit, and kick, and punch, whatever you want. I deserve it."

Sierra didn't look convinced, nor did her face hold any less venom, but she didn't slam the door again. She gave a single, stiff nod, and gestured for me to come in.

"You have five minutes." She cocked her head, arms crossed over her chest.

"Sierra, don't be-"

"Ooh! Now, it's 4 minutes and 56 seconds."

"Ok! I'm sorry, Sierra, I'm so fucking sorry. But don't blame her, it's my fault. I'm the one who tried to kiss her. She stopped me."

"Ok..." She nodded, gripping Mikey's bedpost. "Can I ask you something?"

"Yes, please. Ask me anything." I replied because this was progress. This is, at the very least, a conversation.

"Do you like her?" Sierra asked, trying to show no emotion.

Except that.

She looked at me through watery eyes, and I never felt the kind of pain I felt when looking in her eyes in my life. I could see almost every emotion in those eyes. Betrayal, hurt, pain, loneliness. Sierra was strong, but her eyes always gave her away.

"Honestly?" I asked because I wanted to tell her 'No, of course not. I love no one but you.'

I wanted to tell her that, but the last thing I wanted to do was lie to her.

"Yes, please. If I gave you an out, right now, would you take it? Would you take it and go to her?"

"I don't know."

-

After that, we didn't say anything. She kicked me out a couple of minutes later.

"I think you should go."

"Okay."

I didn't fight her on it, and she didn't stop me.

I decided to check on Makayla because I hadn't seen her since she squeezed the life out of my hand. That is the worst physical pain I've ever felt in my life. I've literally been punched in the face (multiple times), and I still had never experienced such pain.

I peeked into the room, seeing her still knocked out. I sighed, pulling up one of Mike's gaming chairs next to the couch. "Hey, Kayla." I ran my fingers through her knotted hair, "Um... Kinda wish you were here. I've made a big shitload of a mess, and I don't really know what to do. You've always been able to cheer everyone up, and we all need that right now, especially me." She all but purred and leaned into my hand. "Okay, so I'll see you when you wake up, I guess." I stood up, kissing her forehead before leaving.