A/N: Hi! I've returned! This is a kind of eccentric chapter, and it'll be switching POVS a bit, which will be marked by the line breaks. Anyways, I RECOMMEND listening to 'She's Leaving Home,' by The Beatles while reading this. Review please! I don't own Warriors!
Skyler tip-toed up her cabin's stairs, clutching her phone. The click of footsteps rang through the hallway, and Thalia appeared. Skyler quickly bent over and erupted into a very convincing, but still fake, flurry of coughs.
"Hey, Thalia," she groaned in a raggedy voice. "I just felt, um, a little sick, so I think I'm going to go get some sleep." Thalia's face softened at Skyler's lie. It was easy to believe after she had barfed all over herself. She probably did need some sleep.
"Oh, ah, alright, Skyler," she said sweetly. "I'll just excuse you from class, okay? Feel better!" Skyler smiled to herself as Thalia retreated to class. She needed some time to think, all by herself. It wasn't that she exactly regretted leaving her home (she enjoyed everyone else's [Brandon's] company far too much for that), but she wasn't completely heartless. She knew she was loved back at home, and that her parent's life would be changed forever. And Leah was so furious with her… She just needed to explain herself a little bit.
Her laptop sat open on her knotted, wood desk that matched the mahogany walls of every building on campus. Already, a five-paragraph essay filled the screen, detailing the reasoning behind every action of Skyler's, and how Leah was obviously always the favorite, and Skyler just needed to get out… But it still wasn't enough. Somehow, everything made so much more sense when she was talking to Brandon about it. On paper, the arguments looked silly, and childish, easily defeated by more educated approaches to the situation. Like when she was fighting with Sean, and he was telling her how everyone loved her… She ran a hand through her messy hair, thinking to herself.
It wasn't that she hadn't received enough at home; she received everything she wanted. There was just so much more than material things to life. Deep down, Skyler knew that her family tried, and that maybe they thought that this is what she wanted. Yet, their good intentions didn't change anything, and Skyler's needs were left alone, forever overlooked for things like social functions and award ceremonies. Granted, the dresses she got to wear to those were adorable. Just not enough.
Leah didn't understand what was going on. Well, that wasn't right. She understood that her sister was wrongfully having a funeral due to some petty need to break out of the family, and that her parents were sobbing in front of her while people she'd never met talked about how very nice Skyler was. She just didn't understand why. Tugging at her modest black shift, she sighed, trying to work up some tears. People were watching, like always, and the facade, though ridiculous, needed to be kept up. Or Leah would end up looking like the heartless bitch in this situation.
Truthfully, none of it made any sense. How could Skyler want a better lifestyle? She got everything! Designer clothes, the latest phones, tons of music for her extremely up-to-date iTouch. and how could she search for that better lifestyle in some mystery school in England? She was causing so much heartache, it couldn't possibly bring her happiness. It was just impossible. At least, to Leah it was. She was beginning to learn that the world didn't really work that way anymore, and some people were, for lack of a better word, batshit crazy.
"I-I just can't believe we lost her," Mrs. Finlay howled. Yeah, right, Leah thought to herself. Hello! They still had a daughter. Sure, this would be upsetting, but why not worry just a little about Leah? Oh, right, because it would be almost blasphemous to even acknowledge Leah as a daughter, seeing as Skyler just needed all the attention. All of it. Didn't she know that people had dreams? Her mom and dad could have done a lot more with their youth than scrounge the streets for money so Skyler could have the best. Even Leah was still worrying about her sister, caught up in all the games like they were a whirlpool. What more could Skyler want?
Brandon contentedly surveyed the room around him, watching his new friends babble about life. His eye caught subconsciously on Skyler, taking in her sparkling eyes and bouncing step. Now that he saw her like this, he realized. She wasn't having fun being the perfect daughter at home. It was a necessary precaution, the part she was expected to play. At least when Brandon messed up, he wasn't destroying his entire family. Everyone already hated them.
Brandon didn't just tell her to stop throwing up because that's what you do when someone's bulimic. He actually was finding it easier and easier to understand Skyler, perhaps even more than her family did. And he was paying attention. Call him a nerd, but he knew about bulimics and their… methods. (Thank-you, freshman year health project.) They usually ran to puke fifteen minutes after a meal, and Skyler hung out with everyone for a while now. Plus, she ate really well, so it wasn't like she went on a binge. It seemed as if just being accepted was all she really needed to quit that nasty little habit. And maybe, just maybe, that was the one thing that money couldn't buy.
A/N: I thought that that was going to be better than it was. Anyways, I just thought the song fit Skyler really well, so, I tried to squeeze it in before it was too late. You like?