I knew something wasn't right the moment I woke up. First of all I wasn't in my room. Hunter and I were sharing a room and I would have heard his heaving snore from the other bed. Instead, I heard light, quiet breathing with the occasional sigh coming from below me.
I really didn't want to wake her, so I slowly crept out the bed. I was only wearing my boxers and shirt, which scared the hell out of me. I looked at her and noticed her bare shoulders, peeking out from under the blanket. Millions of thoughts raced through my head at once. I think I might have hyperventilated for a second, because she woke up with a start, staring at me with wide eyes and messy hair that stood on the top of her head.
"Are you okay?" she asked, pulling the covers back to reveal a tank top and pair of shorts.
"Yeah it's just...I thought that you...or we..."
"Oh, no Shawn," she said staring at me seriously. "Nothing went down last night. Trust me."
I had no reason not to believe her, but reflex made me look down at my boxers. "Then, why?"
"You want a play by play of last night?" she asked, folding her arms with an amused look on her face.
"It'd be nice."
She sighed and rolled her eyes, reaching up to rub the sleep out of them. "Okay, we were at the party and I was like 'Hey guys, wanna watch Cops?' and Hunt was like, 'Hell yeah!' so we all left the club and came back here and we were watching Cops and there was this guy and he had to do an alcoholic test or something cause he hit a sign or something like that and he failed. Horribly."
She stopped for a breath. "So then some other stuff happened and Hunter was like 'I'm going to bed,' and I was like 'Aren't you gonna take Shawn?' and he's like 'Well, no. He can take care of himself, he's a grown man,' and he said it all sarcastically and mean and I'm like 'You're a jerk,' and he's like 'I know,' so I'm like, 'Stop singing that stupid song,' and he's like 'You like it!' and I'm like 'I use to like it!' and he's like 'Whatever, you just want people to think you don't listen to rap music because you're so deep,' and I'm like 'You're such a pretentious jerk!' and he's like, 'Why don't you SPELL pretentious?' and I'm like 'P-R-E-"
"Skye," I said, cutting her short. "Can we move this on?"
"Uh, yeah right," she said. "Sorry. Sometimes I get too into stuff and I ramble and Andy says it can get really annoying so I try to control it but I can't always, so people are like 'Skylar Anne! Get on with the story!' and I'll be all, 'I'm tryin' mama but you keep interrupting me!' and-"
"SKYE!" I yelled. She looked up from her fidgeting hands, wide eyed once more.
"Right. So, you fell asleep and I thought of how uncomfortable it is to sleep in clothes, so I took your pants off. Then I went to change, but I didn't want to sleep naked because I figured it'd be inappropriate, so I slept in this and I was gonna sleep on the floor, but..." her voice trailed off as she looked down again and bit her lip.
"What?" I asked, frowning.
"It's just...nothing," she said. "I'm sorry I didn't wake you."
"Skye, what's wrong?" I asked, joining her on the bed.
"Well..." she sighed. "Promise you won't laugh?" She looked generally worried and bit her lip again. I smiled at her. "Scout's honor."
She rolled her eyes. "Like you were a boy scout. Okay, I have this really scary nightmare where this walking garden gnome, like the one from the travel commercials, chases me around, and I swear I see him all the time in real life. In the closet, in the woods, around catering at the arenas. I think he's stalking me. I wanted Hunter to stay, but he wouldn't. He told me you would, and you were asleep, so, I didn't wake you."
I chuckled a little and her caramel toned skin turned a slight pink. "You promised you wouldn't laugh!"
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just," a laughed a little more. "Evil garden gnome?"
"It's real," she insisted gravely. "And it wants to kill me."
"Alright Skye. Are you gonna be okay now?"
"Well, yeah," she said. "It's bright and sunny outside. He can't hurt me unless it's dark."
"You sure?" She nodded with a big smile on her face. "Okay then. Bye Skye," I said, pulling my jeans back on. "I'll see you later."
She ran over and wrapped her arms around me. "Bye Sparky," she said softly.
I pulled her in closer. "Bye Skylar."
I walked to the door and opened it. "Oh, and Shawn?" she called.
"Mm-hm?" I asked, turning back around.
"Kick Hunt in the balls for me, 'kay?"
I smiled again. "Okay."
Later that day...
I sat on the bed, watching an old episode of The Cosby Show. Rudy's fish had just died and they were having a funeral for it. Keisha Knight Pulliam was adorable as a kid.
A knock at the door snapped me out of my thought. Now who could that possibly be? I asked myself. I opened the door to reveal Skylar Anne grinning up at me. She had a plastic bag in her hand with food containers in it.
"Hey Sparky," she said, inviting herself in. This kid.
"Skye, why are you here?" I asked, still standing at the door.
"Because you are," she said, placing the items in her hands on the coffee table. "And I told you before, no one should be alone on Thanksgiving." She picked up the remote and flipped through some channels before stopping on a channel with a little blonde haired cartoon character running around with this...thing. I'd remembered this show. The kids used to watch it all the time.
"Skylar-"
"Look, don't start with me Sparky," she said, pointing at me. "I'm staying here, and we're going to have Thanksgiving dinner together, got it?" She pulled out the food containers and opened them. The aroma of sausage, rice, and shrimp met my nose, mixed with carrots, potatoes, and hot rolls.
"Okay, so, I'm not the best cooker," she said, scooping food onto two plates. "But Joelle taught me how to make one hell of a Jambalaya."
I had to admit, it looked delicious. "Joelle?" I asked, joining her on the couch.
"My mom," she said. "She likes being called by her first name. Apparently it remind her of our 'family roots'," she said, making air quotes.
"Let me guess," I said, taking the plate from her. "Cajun?"
"Close," she said. "Creole. Straight from Haiti."
"Really? Andy never told me that."
"Well, that's because she sucks," she said, taking a bite. "As I'm sure you've figured out, I'm the cool sister."
I laughed. "So, you two were born in Haiti?"
"Uh-huh. We lived on Tortuga until we were thirteen, then our mom married Ted, and we moved to West Palm Beach with him and Teddy Junior."
"Wait, your mom married Ted, as in Ted DiBiase?" I asked, shocked.
"Yeah Shawn," she said laughing. "Why do you think Andy is so spoiled?"
"And how is Mark your uncle?"
"Well, he's not our biological uncle," she said, scrunching up her nose in thought. "He and our mom were really good friends back when she wrestled. He always took care of her like a younger sister. Dude, you should know this, you wrestled when our mom wrestled. She retired in '95 after she had our baby sister."
I thought for a minute. I didn't remember a lot from back then, thanks to overused amounts of cocaine and pot. Apparently, Skylar knew this because she looked at me confused for a minute and then widened her eyes in realization.
"Oh right. Well yeah. She married Ted and we moved to Palm Beach. Awesome surfing, too. We should go surfing together!"
"Skye," I said placing my empty plate on the table. "I don't get it."
She sighed. "It's very simple, Shawn. You see, it's like skateboarding, but on water."
"No Skye," I said shaking my head. "Not that. You."
"Oh," she said. She looked at her hands, then back at me. "I...uh...I don't really get me either...so...I can't help you with that. I mean, I know I can be a lot to handle, but I try, I really do!"
"No, it's just..." I struggled for the words. "Why are you so nice to me?"
She looked at me for a minute. "Because you're nice to me. And plus, I've looked up to you since you started wrestling. I'm your biggest fan."
I stared at her for a second. I didn't even know what to say. I mean, sure I'd heard that from countless kids and adults alike, but never from someone...close.
"Look, I don't exactly have the best reputation around here, okay? I don't think it'd be a good idea for us to hang out-"
"Shawn, I don't care what other people think, okay? I think you're cool, and if they don't like us hanging out together, then they can pull their heads out of their asses and get over it. Now, can we just watch TNA?"
"TNA?" I asked. "The enemy?"
"Ch-yeah!" she said, flipping the channels. "The enemy is hella sexy!"