Peace! My school has an in service day, so I'm on a three day weekend, hallelujah! Now, some of the reviews I've gotten have said; "Ok, because of the gay comment, it can be a girl…". However, the line after that, Baltor said, "You've only insulted yourself." So yes, it can still be a girl. Also, stick around for important messages at the end of the chapter. And…what am I forgetting? Oh yeah!

Disclaimer: Bloom and Sky engaged? Ha, not if I owned it!


There are a few basic signs that your life as you know it is slowly starting to unravel. One is obviously that your best friend found out you weren't doing what you said you were for the last two weeks or so. Another is in order to get said person to forgive you, you either have to;

a. tell them the entire truth, which may result in all of your friends hating you (particularly a certain blonde haired boy from Malibu), or

b. tell them what you've been doing is not under any circumstances important, the person you've been with is not worth your time, and swear to never speak to them again. However, options a and b are useless if your other friends have already found out about the whole deal, and one of your friends is scheduled to be in the Genius Book of World Records for fastest text message ever sent (so that's not true, but Tecna's been thinking of qualifying Stella for it).

In other words, I was screwed. Really screwed. I either had to tell the truth about Baltor, or pretend he didn't exist (which, up until a month ago, I had been fantastic at). So you can already guess that tings didn't go well.

Talk about getting a reality check.


Chapter 9: Reality Check


Bloom

I walked into the Fruity Music Bar at a fast pace. I saw a boy cleaning off the counter. "Hey, is Musa here?" He glanced up at me, smirked, and laughed. "Honey, you're so going to get it."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you have to be sarcastic somewhere else, Riven?"

"Nah, I'm not off for another half hour," he smirked. "It'll give me some extra sleep; I'm working at the bar from midnight to three." Riven also worked in a downtown bar at night; he says the pay is a nice bonus.

I rolled my eyes. "Is Musa here or not?"

"Just missed her actually. But…we were informed of your amazing disappearing act. Hate Sky that much, huh?"

"Riven, you have no idea what you're talking about, ok. So kindly shut up and-" I stopped, processing what he had said, "Who's 'we'?"

"Oh me and Brandon," he waved off, but I knew Riven better than that. I raised an eyebrow at him. He matched my look for a good five seconds before speaking again. "Fine. Musa did tell someone else about what you've been up to lately before she left. Relax though; she said she's not telling the girls yet."

"Then who was she talking to?"

Riven grinned and jerked his head to the patio. "Go find out."

I gave him a suspicious look, and turned and walked outside. At first, it looked the same as always; the stage for performing, tables, the outside bar, and the lights strung up. Then, giving a second onceover, I barley caught sight of a black jean leg and a sneaker under the stage, hooking up wires I guessed. "Um…hello?"

There was a bang, and the leg jolted out a little; I obviously scared whoever it was. "Dang! That'll leave a mark…" the voice laughed as the person got out from under the stage. My blood ran cold and my heart practically stopped at the voice I knew so well. I saw one black jean leg attached to a sneaker, then another, followed by a torso with an old dark blue long sleeved tee. The hands reached out and gripped the stage, pushing the boy (it was obviously a boy) out from under the stage. He effortlessly rolled away before standing up to face me, his blonde hair coated with dust on one side, and his blue eyes with a hint of amusement.

Sky.

His smile faded a little from his face when he saw me. "Oh. Hey Bloom."

I managed a smile and lifted a hand. "Hey. What were you doing down there?"

"Fixing wires." Sky ran a hand through his hair, flinging the dust everywhere. "Roxy's dad has me working around the clock ever since this whole incident when we…"

"Yeah, you told me." I picked up where he trailed off.

"Right. Of course I did." I cringed slightly as he turned and walked to the outside bar. He effortlessly hopped the counter. "You want a drink or something? Strawberry smoothie?"

"Sure, sounds good." I said, walking over there. "I'll pay for it."

Sky was already waving his hand, calling off the idea as his other one poured the strawberries and ice into the blender. "Relax. I'm on tight pay enough. A few more dollars won't hurt."

"You sure?"

"Positive." He said, turning the blender on. The sound of it was the only break in the silence. I reached down and played with the silver bracelet Diana got me for my twentieth birthday, I always did that when I was nervous. Sky knew that, too, but he hardly looked surprised to find me twisting the silver chain. After a few seconds (seconds…hours, I really wasn't sure), he switched it off and grabbed a glass.

"So," I said, desperate to break the silence, "What have you been doing lately?"

He seemed to be absently thinking as he poured the drink. "Well – funny story – according to Musa, these last few weeks I've been to Long Island, Eastern Manhattan, the Italian place on Fifth Avenue, an All American Rejects concert….all with you." I cringed again as Sky set the drink in front of me. "So either I hit my head really hard last night and have a horrible case of amnesia…or you've been lying."

I gave a small grin. "Would you believe amnesia?"

Sky didn't smile back, something that kept my blood cold; grim did not suit him. "Not at this particular moment." I sighed, and Sky shook his head. "I didn't realize what a good alibi I was."

"You weren't an alibi!"

"Really, because it sure sounds like it."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. "Sky, I…I don't know what to say to you. I really don't."

"Then explain where you've really been. Then I can call Musa and tell her this whole thing was a misunderstanding."

My eyes snapped open. "Is that a threat?"

Sky didn't answer. "Where've you been, Bloom?"

I narrowed my eyes and shoved the drink across the counter at him; I didn't want it anymore. "Not that it's your business, but I've been with a friend."

"What kind of friend?"

"A friend friend. And what do you care: you've spent the last few weeks with Diaspro I'm sure."

"That's not the same…"

"How?"

Sky looked exasperated. He grabbed my drink and took a gulp, obviously realizing I didn't want it. "I'm just worried about you, Bloom." He walked around the bar and jumped up onto it. He was only a few feet from me. "What if this isn't a good person? I don't want to see you get hurt." Sky's voice was softer, and almost caring.

"I can trust him!"

Sky shook his head. "You can never truly trust anyone, Bloom."

"So why should I trust you?"

"Why should I trust you?" Sky shot back.

It was my turn to be exasperated. "What do you want me to do? Say that what I've been doing isn't important at all because it just isn't? I'm supposed to say that what I'm doing isn't important, it's just a worthless waste of my time, and I won't ever do it again because you say so? I'm supposed to just drop it, because you know what's best for me? It's not hard to say." My voice was coated with sarcasm.

He ignored it and shrugged. "Then say it."

I really wanted to slap him. I really, really wanted to slap him. However, I refused to be the weaker person here. "Make me."

Now Sky looked mad at me. I was starting to wonder if the only thing Sky wanted was to control me, or if I had just been so focused on Baltor that I hadn't realized how this might affect him. I was convinced that it was the first one, but before I could speak, something crazy happened.

Namely, Sky jumped down from the counter and in a single smooth motion, yanked me into his arms and crashed his lips onto mine.

I was surprised that I was able to think straight, and my first intention was to push him away. But I could feel it; the desperation, and the pleading, and the…well, everything, in the kiss. I got it then; Sky really liked me. So besides realizing Stella wasn't crazy after all, I saw what he had wanted to say to me all along: Diaspro wasn't important, I care about you.

And that sucked.

Because I realized then I liked Sky. As a friend. And the debating in my head if I had feelings or not for Baltor; I realized I did. I liked Baltor. Heck, maybe I loved Baltor. But after this, there was no way I could say that to Sky. So when he finally took his lips away from mine, and looked straight into my eyes, I closed mine just to avoid his gaze. "Bloom?"

I forced myself to smile, my eyes still closed. "What I'm doing isn't important, it's just a worthless waste of my time, and I won't ever do it again. You know what's best for me."

I heard Sky laugh, and felt him wrap his arms around me. I rested my chin on his shoulder, and gave a silent sigh. When my eyes opened, I saw Riven's reflection in the bar mirror, his arms crossed, staring at me in shock. 'Do you mean that?' he mouthed to me.

"Go eavesdrop somewhere else!" I said to him out loud.

"Dude, come on!" Sky added, sounding annoyed.

"Fine fine…at least Stella will be in a good mood tonight…" he muttered, turning and walking off.

I took a breath. "Riven." He stopped and turning to meet my gaze. "I mean it."

Trying not to think about how stupid this was, how much I wanted another person's arms around me…I tried not to cry at what a mistake I'd just made.

(A/N: Don't kill me. It's not the end of the chapter, but I needed to say that.)

Baltor

I drove in my car for about six hours after I left the apartment, even though it felt more like an eternity. The songs on the radio blended into each other, along with whatever DJ was talking. Barley paying attention, I floored the gas petal, the chilled wind on my face keeping me awake. Of course, the speeding got me pulled over - twice actually, but both cops 'let me off with a warning' because of my 'clean record' (I won't mention I used fake licenses and registrations; heaven knew my personal record wasn't clean). So finally I gave up at two am and stopped at a bar I discovered when I was twenty-three. It felt like the most familiar thing around right now.

"You're out of it tonight, huh man?"

Unfortunately, familiar also meant annoying. I glanced up to find a red haired, magenta eyed boy looking at me. I gave him a slightly evil smile in response. "I have no idea how you manage to stay awake at two am, Riven."

"What can I say?" he smirked. "I'm a night person. You on the other hand, look tired."

"Tired? I'd go with stressed."

"You want a beer?" I had only known Riven for a few months (I met him when he started working here, and the two of us are pretty good friends), and if you were over 21, a beer was Riven's answer to everything.

"If it'll make you happy," my voice was dripping with sarcasm, "MGD 64." I named Riven's favorite.

"Ah, Genuine Draft, good man," he said, turning to get one, "So where have you been lately? Haven't seen you around."

"It's been a week."

"Exactly," I heard a small crack and the familiar pop of the bottle cap, "Compared to my friends lately, you're the best dose of sanity around."

"I'm not sure if I'm flattered or you're just gay."

"Serving smoothies and shakes by day and a bartender for three hours at night," he placed the bottle on front of me, "One can only stay straight for so long."

"Should I even ask?" I took a long drink, the familiar-ish burn of the alcohol running down my throat. It was exactly what I needed.

"Probably not…"

"But you're going to tell me anyway?"

"You know me so well," Riven smirked, "Friend drama. Stella may live on the stuff, but I'm considering selling our story to MTV. One of my friends has been acting really off lately, is all."

"Sounds fun."

"Hell yeah. And of course Musa had to go off and tell Sky everything. The look on his face was priceless," I had heard Riven talk about his other friends, I'd even met Brandon, but Sky…Sky sounded like a blonde pretty boy anyone in my 'circle of friends' could have thrown off a cliff in fifteen minutes flat. "But his girlfriend obviously set him straight."

I raised an eyebrow. "Isn't he single?"

"That's what I thought. But I snuck a glance outside and found him trying to suck her lips off. And of course, she didn't look like she wasn't enjoying it." Riven shook his head as I lifted the bottle back to my lips. "It's all I'm going to hear about all weekend. Gotta admit, I was kind of surprised. Bloom never seemed like his type."

I chocked on the drink, managing to gulp it down, then coughed and sputtered trying to get it down the right way. Finally I was able to breath. Riven watched me with a raised eyebrow. "Are you ok?"

"Oh great, I try to find ways to kill myself almost every other day. Keeps life interesting." Riven rolled his eyes as I continued, "What did you say about that girl?"

"Not his type, and with his ex and all –"

"Her name Riven, her name."

"Bloom? She's a friend of mine from that suburb Gardenia – well, she grew up in Utah or Colorado, somewhere like that. You know her?"

"Depends. What does she look like?"

"I'd say a few inches shorter that you, red hair, blue eyes…"

"Sarcasm can annoy the hell out of you?" I couldn't help letting the sarcastic comment slip out.

"So you know her!" he grinned, "You wouldn't happen to know what's been up with her lately, have you?"

"Can't say so," I decided it was best to keep what I'd been doing a secret, "I haven't talked to her in a while. But last I knew she wasn't with Sky."

"Ha, well then you haven't talked to her my friend. And after the kiss she said something like, 'What I'm doing isn't a big deal, you know what's best for me,' or something like that." He shrugged, "I don't know."

I put a hand to my head. "She said that? With a straight face?"

"Yep. But hey, I'm putting work before this whole load, but the whole thing was just so –" he stopped abruptly. "I'm gossiping, aren't I? God, I am turning gay. I'm getting Bloom and Sky for this one."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to ask Bloom personally about it," I reached into my pocket for a ten to pay.

Riven gave me a surprised look. "Sure, man. Try to talk some sense into her while your at it."

I handed him the bill. "I'll do that. See you." Stalking outside, I tried to fight the headache I felt coming on. I felt like I was still chocking on the beer, too. How did this even happen? I knew that for the longest time Bloom had had a crush on me (Daphne forced it out of her when she was eleven and then told me), and I had never really thought about it until recently. However, she must have gotten over it the night I ran that red light and crashed into Oritel and Miriam's car. Obviously.

I'm putting work before this whole load. Riven was right, that's what I needed to do. I grabbed my phone, pressed six, and green to go. It rang three times before I was met with a sarcastic voice. "I'm not in hell yet, sorry to disappoint you."

"I'm not disappointed, I've been a flipping moron. Tell them we'll have her tomorrow night."

"You serious?"

"Deadly. I've got a plan to get us to California. And this time, no sidetracks."

Ha ha ha! So getting out of my evil author stage, I would like to (again) say that I am so so so sorry! I know half of you want to kill me, and I don't blame you. But (yes, there is a but), this is all going to work out in the long run, trust me. So here's how I'm making it up to you in the mean time;

I'm announcing the mystery person in the next chapter, but, if anyone who reviews (hint, hint) can correctly guess who the person is, I'll send you chapter 10 a day in advance! It's only for the first person who correctly guesses, because I'm not sending advanced chapters to five or six people (Remember, it can still be a boy or girl). Good luck (and don't kill me!)