Believe Me

Ch 9: Suddenly, Pineapples!

Sky's POV

I let out a sob as I shoot up into a sitting position on my bed. No, no, not Ty. Ty is dead, I- What will I do without Ty? How am I expected to go on without Ty? Ty is my everything. I can't continue without Ty.

I sniffle a bit and glance around my house, which is terribly cold. We're getting into the winter season, I suppose. I swallow hard. Ty and I used to sled down trees. It was fun. It defied physics. We loved it.

I loved him.

I still love him.

Crap.

A weird, choked noise escapes my throat, and I silently curse myself for being too emotional. Dang it, Sky, Ty was Seto's friend, too, and they were really close. I don't have the right to-

My phone buzzes, and I wrinkle my nose. Who on earth would text me at 3 a.m.? I rub my eyes and then unlock the phone.

"Ty did his dream, it didn't make sense. Mind coming in so I could analyze yours?"

I furrow my eyebrows. Wait... What? But that-

"The dreams!" I realize, jumping out of bed, because I have to be sure, I can't just go off my faulty memory with this.

I throw on a thick hoodie and run out the door. He'll still be awake, right? Seto just now texted me, so they must've just finished discussing it or whatever. A minute later, I'm just around the corner from Ty's house when someone suddenly bumps into me, causing us both to fall to the ground.

"Ow," I frown, pulling down my hoodie sleeves to go over my hands.

"Sorry, I'm sorry, I need to find- Sky!"

I look up to see Ty staring at me with wide eyes, and, not a moment later, we're hugging the life out of each other. "Ty, Ty, you're okay," I breathe, pressing my face into the crook of his neck.

"I thought you were- Notch, Sky!" Ty mumbles, rubbing soothing circles into my back.

"I'm sorry for running into you," Ty apologizes after a while. I pull back so I can actually see his face. Notch, he's alive.

"Geez, Ty, I don't care. You're not dead, what else matters?"

"The fact that you're not dead, either."

"Hmm, fair enough. Ty, I'm... I'm sorry for kind of being a total jerk to you today, I..."

"Yeah, no, it's fine, Sky. Just... Stay safe, okay?"

"I can do that," I whisper, pulling him back in for another hug. "Hey, would you... Like, would you mind if I... Innocently, you know, like..."

"It's okay, Sky, I won't judge."

"Thanks... Could I sleep with you tonight? Please?"

His eyes widen. Hmm, he wasn't expecting that. "I- yeah! Yeah, of course, Sky, sure! No problem."

I giggle slightly at his short ramble, and he sends me a playful glare before hauling himself to his feet and holding out a hand for me to take. "Home?" he asks.

I smile softly as I take his hand. "Yeah."

"Okay, I'm ready to do the dreamy thing, Seto," I announce as I stroll into my sorcerer friend's lab. I ran back to my house for new clothes when Ty and I woke up, and then he went to Ashley's house for something while I walked here. "How's it work?"

"Oh, hi! Uh, we'll just hook you up right here, it won't take long."

I nod as I walk over to his machine. "So, Seto, I... I, um, could you, like... Not tell anyone about my dream..?" I ask nervously, fidgeting while he hooks me up to the thingy.

He frowns. "Um, sure, I suppose the content of your dream doesn't matter all that much, so long as we figure out the ratios."

"Right, thanks, Seto," I reply, noticeably relaxing. "Where's Brice?"

"With Annie, trying to learn how to control his powers. I can't believe he hasn't blown anything up yet - if I go too long without using my powers, something explodes."

"Maybe he's secretly taking midnight flights around the city."

"If so, I may have to go out after him each night for damage control."

I laugh. "Maybe so." He pats my head awkwardly, and I laugh again as he walks around the machine to look at the screen.

"All right," he says, "clear your mind..."

Clear my mind? Swish, swish, I think, waving an imaginary windshield wiper across my brain. This is fun. Haha, lots of fun. I should tell Ty about this! We could do it together-

"Ow, what the crap, Seto!?"

"Sorry," he replies, "it does that." Would've been nice if you had informed me of it, though, Seto.

"Okay, ratios. Yours are... Um. Sky..?"

Ah, he must've gotten to the part about my Ty-less existential crisis. "Oh, yeah, just, uh... Just ignore that. Not a big deal."

"But Sky-"

"Please, Seto, please don't get involved," I plead, putting my hands together like I'm praying.

"But-" He sighs. "Okay. I won't get involved. Your, uh, your ratios are 2:31, 5:7, and 6:2. Any ideas as to what they mean?"

"No, none at all," I say, sighing in defeat. "I sure would love it if they'd end, though. Some of these things are traumatizing."

"I can see," Seto mutters, printing out a copy of my dream and then turning the machine off. He shakes his head as he unhooks me from it. "You know, you really should tell him-"

"No. He's not interested anymore. I am not going to bug him."

Seto's eyes hold a million questions as well as a clear sign of protest, and I hurry toward the door. "Sky, wait, I- Ty-"

"Please don't," I whisper, and then I run out the door. Maybe I can find Tyler and hang out with him...

Ty's POV

"I really think you guys should try to be friends," Ashley says, and I glare at her one more time.

"You're kidding, right? Tell me you're kidding."

"Come on, she's nice when she isn't trying to kill you!"

"I don't think you understand how messed up that sounded."

"Just give her a chance, Ty."

I wince. Why did I come over here, again? "I..." I sigh. "And she's taking her medication?"

Ashley squeals. "Yes, always."

"...So she's completely sane?"

"Totally!"

"And she's no longer 'in love' with me?"

"Eh, so-so..." she mumbles. I spin around and walk towards the exit. "No, wait! She's holding back because Skylox, I swear! She won't bother you."

I stare at her for a long time before Ashley finally breaks out the puppy eyes and I give in. "Fine. Whatever, Notch. What are we gonna do?"

"Just play some videogames with her, bond!"

"Bond?"

"Yes! I want you two bonding."

"Why?"

"Because... Yeah." She smiles apologetically.

"Right. Okay. Whatever, where is she?"

"Living room. I'll be out in the city~"

"Stop talking to me, oh my Notch."

"Fine, sure! Bye, Ty!"

"See you, Ashley," I mutter, watching as she exits and then sighing loudly on my way to the living room. Oh, boy, here we go. "Alesa?" I ask as I push open the door.

"Ty! What's up?"

"Ah, nothing, I... Are you playing Fable?"

"Yeah, wanna join me?"

"Yes, please," I reply, eyes glued to the screen. She hands me the extra controller, and I grin and load in my character from Xbox Live. "So, are you..."

"No missions. I'm about to go on a murdering spree in Bloodstone, actually," she admits, equipping her meat cleaver.

"Why?"

She shrugs. "Why not?"

Pssh. totally sane, my butt.

...

"Let's do it!"

You know, Alesa really isn't all that bad. Sure, I don't entirely trust her, but...

"Hey, Ty, you should get a husband."

"Hmm. Can second players get married?" I ask, turning my head to look at her.

"Eh, doesn't matter. I'll buy you a ring and a house, even propose so he'll follow us around, and you can take it from there."

"Hmph. How do you know I want to go after a boy instead of a girl?" I ask.

"We can even nickname the guy 'Sky,' if you want," she suggests. My face turns bright red.

"I hate you," I grumble as I turn back to the game.

"Hmm, suuuuure," she laughs. "So, who are we going for?" she asks, running in circles around Bowerstone town square.

"Uh... You pick one, I don't really care. None of them look identical to Sky, so..."

Alesa coos at me and then crawls over to sit closer to me. "Maybe you should just go after real life Sky instead."

"As if. He's over it," I huff.

She frowns. "'Over it?'"

"I, uh... yeah."

Alesa senses my discomfort and quickly moves on. "Hmm. Well, just- he cares about you, remember that. Whether it be as a friend or as more than that, he cares."

I nod, and when I swallow, it sounds horribly loud. "Sure. Yeah."

...

"Suddenly, Pineapples!" my phone shouts, and I nearly fall over. Alesa giggles.

"That's, uh, that's Sky's text tone, I should, um..."

"It's okay, Ty," she huffs out in laughter. "Hey, meet up again soon?"

"Yeah, I... Yeah. Sure. Friday..?"

"Sounds great," she replies, and I walk out the door with a smile.