A/N: Quick note! I'd like to give Scourgefan22 for name and character ideas for Rawdon, Mr. Bledego, and now… Bridget Hening! She doesn't appear in this chapter, but she's Brightheart! Thank-you for all the great reviews and ideas! This one's from Skyler(Squirrelflight)'s POV. Hope you enjoy! PS. Still don't Warriors.
Skyler flicked her pen back and forth between her fingers, hitting the paper in front of her every so often. Ratty green sweatpants with a huge tree on them covered her toned legs, and she wore-God help her-her old brown, rectangular glasses. She had long since gotten contacts, but when she got home late, it was easier to take them out and just tolerate the glasses. The clock rang out one long stroke, and she whipped her head around. Smooth, red hair fluttered out of her bun and into her eyes. 1:00. Wasn't that a new extreme homework time?
The truth was, Skyler Finlay was stressed. Yeah, she was gorgeous, had everything she could ever want, and was good at basically everything, but that weighed down on you, believe it or not. It nettled her that no matter how perfect she was, someone could always find something… wrong. She tried to be nice, but she ended up being a bitch. (Don't lie, you've totally thought it before.) She tried to be pretty, but she was never quite thin enough. She tried to be smart, but math still looked like chinese to her. She bet Blair could speak chinese.
Blair Jackson was Skyler's mini-idol. Even if Skyler was easily more popular than her, she didn't feel happier than her. Blair smiled all the time. She made every joke. Like, ever. Everyone got all pumped up listening to her, which was convenient because she was the varsity captain of field hockey and lacrosse. Of course. It kind of inspired Skyler, watching her. It also kind of sucked watching her. Jealousy was totally overrated.
The point was, it wasn't fair. She grew up in the family of this… child prodigy who was the first kid from Four Oaks to gain a national title, much less at football, basketball, lacrosse, baseball, English, and Spanish! And her mom wasn't a complete unknown, either. It was a fairytale love story, you could say. Girl hates boy, boy hates girl, boy saves girl's life (but it really wasn't as dramatic as that), girl loves boy, boy loves girl, boy marries girl. But she knew everyone expected something fairytale out of her, too, and she didn't know if she was fairytale material. The door to her bathroom was wide open, and she stared at the toilet longingly.
No. Just no. That phase was long behind her, now. It was disgusting to even… think of doing that to yourself! Plus, if anyone found out what she'd done… She wouldn't be able to stand the way Dad would look at her. Or Mom, or Leah. She wasn't a psycho, emo, troubled kid. She was just a teenager, and teenager's did not throw up after every meal, unless they had cancer! Besides, she was strong now. It felt exhilarating to be this healthy all of the time. She could feel blood coursing through her veins, doubtlessly pushing her to live. It was reassuring. But something still hurt.
Obviously, this wasn't the biggest issue with bulimia, but maybe it was that no one… noticed. She'd read all these books where suddenly someone noticed, and everyone threw you a party, and everything became okay. But that just wasn't how it went. Did they not care about her enough to pay attention? Did they hate her enough to want her to die? A soft bleep took her out of her thoughts. Swiftly, she clutched her phone to her.
Still working on homework? Ashton. How would he know that? She tapped in a reply.
Yesss… How would you know that tho?
Just got back from party. i see ur window ;) Study hard. Party HARDER! surprised u weren't there. He noticed? Wow.
don't know if i should be taken school advice from a guy who got held back twice.
Point takne. want help? i have learned it like five times… That could be nice. Ashton was really nice. Everyone loved Ashton! Sure, he was kind of a moron. But, he seemed sweet enough.
If u want to com over, feel free! my door is open. Skyler darted up to the door, and twisted the lock on her knob. Thinking quickly, she pulled a sweatshirt over her hole-filled t-shirt. Just in time, the door flew open.
"Guess who!" Ashton flung his hands in the air, and enveloped Skyler in a hug. "Hey, tiny dancer! Elton John song, right?" Skyler nodded; that had been her pet name ever since freshman year when she got the solo in that song.
"Yeah! So, um, how was your day?" Was she nervous? Oh God, she was. This was a first. She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet. He glanced around her room. The doors were a rough purple that had always reminded her of unfired pottery. Her black and white swirled bed-spread was messily thrown on her mattress. Mahogany frames held pictures of her sister, friends, and parents. There was even one of Ashton perched next to the cork-board filled with postcards of every vacation spot she'd been to, her favorite quotes, and scribbly sticky-notes holding stupid messages. She felt self-conscious immediately, and smoothed out her sweatpants. Wait, it was like, 1 am. What was she thinking? A guy, in her room, with pajamas? Weird.
"Actually, do you want to go to the common room? It's kind of… stuffy here."
"I'm okay." Skyler felt her frustration growing.
"Well, I'm glad, but I'm not. So, let's go down." She swerved around Ashton, but he grabbed her shoulders.
"That party was pretty crowded. We wouldn't want to be interrupted by anyone just getting in."
"Curfew's soon; they'll already be back."
"How can you know that?" Skyler rolled her eyes, and crossed her arms angrily.
"You just shouldn't be in my room, Ashton! Besides, you're probably drunk." He looked outraged at the accusation.
"What, you think I'm gonna rape you? Last I remembered, you invited me."
"Ashton, you texted me asking if I wanted help."
"Could've said no!"
"Just, leave. Please? We can do this tomorrow. Or even now, just in the common room." He shook his head, a little bit of scorn in his eyes.
"Nah. Text you tomorrow, Skyler." He trudged out of her doorway dejectedly, and she stared moodily after him. She'd confused herself. She did kind of invite him over, but she kind of didn't. And she wanted him to be there, really. She just didn't want what went with having a guy in your room at 1 AM. Not with Ashton. Right?
A/N: Hope you enjoy! It's kind of short, but I have lots of stories to catch up on! Thanks for reading! Review, and let me know if your opinion of Skyler has changed at all, or anything. Personally, I love Squirrelflight. I mean, Brambleclaw would've kept something from her for Tawnypelt, especially if they got to be closer and share the same clan! And she's so independent! I thought it would be cool to explore what would go with having a super famous family. Let me know if you like!
