Here's the next chapter peeps. I hope you enjoy it. & remember, don't be shy to tell me what you think about it :)
Thanks for the reviews angelshavetheirwickedschemes, EshaNapoleon, & my girl Menaji. Tawny & Taker down, now Breakeven up next. I miss Erin & Lena.
Ch. 9: Mermaid's Ember
Punk's POV
"I swear she's gonna be the death of me, man." I chuckled as I flipped through the channels on the hotel's little TV. I'm chatting with my old bud, Jug.
"Here we go again. Damn, dude. Skylar's your kryptonite." Jug chuckled. "Nah, man. It's not that bad. I mean, she's still a sweetie. When she wants to be." I rolled my eyes at the thought of that.
"Okay, so she's the Catwoman to your Batman?" He teased.
"I'd say that she's a combination of the sneakiness, seductiveness, and sexiness of Catwoman; and the perceptiveness, psychosis, and the determination to aid Joker in his schemes, of Harley Quinn."
"Ah. That's exactly how she is. And you're her Joker. You know she's ride or die for you, man. If I find a girl that's that hardcore for me, I'm wifing her." I sighed. "Hold up. Who said anything about marriage? I'm still trying to figure out whether I still love her or not." Jug burst into mocking laughter.
"And here's where Catwoman Quinn's perceptiveness comes into play. She knows you're still in love with her, bro. You're in denial. And that's why she fucking teased your ass the other night. Don't worry, when I meet up with you in Cali, I'll bring you to your senses." I groaned.
"I'm not in denial. My heart and my mind are just having a little tiff. It'll be over soon." I sighed, hoping that what I said will eventually happen. Jug chuckled. "Whatever, Phil. So, where is your little Catwoman Quinn, anyway?" He asked.
"She's with Shelly. I'm telling you, you're gonna love her." I chuckled. "I'm already in love with her. All I gotta do is work my charm on her and she'll be my ride or die just like that." I heard him snap his fingers into the phone.
"Yeah, good luck with that, bro." I sighed, settling on some random medical show on the Discovery Channel. "But I thought that luck was for losers?" Jug sarcastically rebutted. "Exactly my point. Later, bro. I need to get in my hour of silence before Skylar comes back." I chuckled. "Ha. Well, when Ms. Catwoman Quinn comes back, tell her I said hey. And I'm not a loser, you punk. Later."
And now to get lost in my thoughts again. I don't normally overthink things, but now I kinda have no choice. I sure as hell can't ask my other best friend about it. And Colt's in the UK right now, ugh.
The last few days have been pretty much a blur to me. Me and Skylar's little conversation from a few nights ago was pretty much all that's been on my mind. It's been on replay, actually. I was real close to giving in that night. Real close. And she knew it, too.
But she stopped it. I still can hardly believe that. I mean, Sky's the freak of the universe, well, when it comes to the dragon she is, so that was major.
Then there's that random ass 'I'm-fighting-my-heart-on-loving-the-bed' comparison she made. Yeah, I bet that made perfect sense in thing language.(Yes, Skylar is still very much, a thing.) In human comprehension, she meant that when I finally come to my senses and stop fighting my love for her, she might have moved on.
What if the guy she moves on with is that annoying ass Hardy boy? I can't even imagine her settling down with that guy. Well, I can't imagine Sky settling down, period. Yet another reason why I need to cut off these feelings I have for her.
But what if she does get tired of waiting for me? I mean, Hardy's her type. Wild, stubborn, and confusing as hell. I don't think I want to be around her if she gets into a serious relationship. I'll admit it. I'm a jealous ex. But I'm not a crazy one like Sky. But I must admit that I'd be a very unhappy Punky if that were to happen.
Aww, who am I kidding? Not to be cocky, but she's whipped. No matter who else she hooks up with, I'll always be in the back of her mind. Well, that's a totally cocky statement. But it's the truth.
Dammit. Now I sound like her. That little voice in the back of my mind is starting with the 'maybe she's right' shit.
Ugh, fuck this. I got a whole new set of graphic novels yesterday. I'm not gonna dwell on this situation when I should be relaxing.
"I'm thinking about next week. I don't trust anyone but Luis when it comes to my body." And after a little more than three hours of peace, Skylar comes back. She waved at me and took a seat on her bed. Yeah, we made sure we booked a room with two beds this time.
I rolled my eyes at the thought of the Luis she was referring to. He's Sky's Dominican friend she grew up in Cali with. Yeah, he eventually became her first. Do to a big fuck up from me, according to her. I met him once in '97, before he deflowered her and he was nice enough. But he had this arrogance about him that pissed me off. I didn't mind Sky and him remaining friends because she made it clear that they weren't into each other like that.
"No you pervert. Luis is a childhood friend of mine. Good thing he became a tattoo artist." She laughed as she held the cell phone to her ear with her shoulder. I already know who she's talking to. I'm guessing pervy Jeff was wondering about Luis's relationship with Sky. Guess some things are too private for him to know. Surprising, since she's been an open book with him.
She was starting to untie her shoes. Sky's so nerdy, she loves the knee-high socks with the individual toe holes, or whatever the hell you call them. Today, they're light blue with some purple stars on them.
"Yeah, that pierced heart isn't the only tattoo that I have. I have a few others, but they can be concealed very easily." She casually chatted. So fucking annoying. I continued to pretend to look at my novel while I really listened to her little conversation.
"I bet you do want to see them." She chuckled, completely in her own world. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she gently rested her head on her pillow and got comfortable.
Gross, I think I'm gonna puke. "Stop it you perv." She giggled all kiddy like. Ew. I'm really getting nauseous. And I know that she's doing this on purpose. "Why in the holy hell would I get a tattoo there? That's so tacky. Totally not artistic at all." She continued her jabber.
"What kind? I have a few stars and bubbles on the right side of my thigh. I have an obsession with mermaids and bubbles. Don't ask. And I also have a thing with stars." Sky explained.
Damn. Just hearing her say the word mermaid took me back to high school and also to '04, when dating her was fun.
Sky's always had this thing with ocean life. I guess that's another reason why I click with her. Anyway, she loves water. And she loves mermaids. Sky's very artistic, and she always would be writing stories if she wasn't drawing.
She told me that when she was five, she started to dream about a mermaid that she called Ember. As she got older, the dreams stopped. But when she moved to the Chi, they started back.
She used to spend break with our crew, at school. We would be goofing around, putting each other in chin locks and whatnot, while she wrote and drew of her alter ego's life underwater. I guess it was somewhat her escape.
See, this might sound a little childish, but the way she wrote it was magical. I used to get lost in the everyday life of Ember and her friends. I remember the first time we went swimming together. She was still the same Skylar, but there was something different with her. She was freer.
There's something angelic about Sky when she's in the water.
From what I know, I'm the only one who knows about Ember. But it sounds to me like Hardy's gonna get to know that side of Sky, pretty soon. And that makes me loathe him more. So much for the private stuff staying private.
"I'm thinking more of the side area." She continued.
I let out a loud groan. Apparently, it annoyed her because she threw her pillow at me. I grinned at her frowning face and politely threw it back at her. "Bastard." she growled as she harshly threw the pillow at me again.
I started to laugh at her scowl. "I was talking to Phil's dumb ass." She explained to Hardy, making me laugh even harder.
"Ugh. Will you quit being annoying?" She yelled at me as she turned her back to me. "Sure. Just as soon as you shut the hell up." I replied, still laughing. "When you're on the phone with one of your bitches, I let you talk in peace. You asshole."
She's being hilarious right now, and I'm very much enjoying irritating her while she's on her phone with her little boy toy. "Okay. First, I don't have any bitches. And second, I'm quiet as a mouse when you're reading." I grinned, holding my novel up to her back.
"Fine then. Jeffy, I'm gonna have to call you back later. Phil's having one of his bitchy moments." She growled as she angrily hung up her cell phone.
"Oh no. Don't get off of the phone on my accord." I teased, still laughing. "I swear, I hate you." She mumbled. "You do? How sweet." I replied, getting more comfortable by crossing my legs at the ankles.
"Gimme my pillow." She said after a few minutes of silence. "Oh. I thought you were trying to make sure my head was elevated." She turned her head back toward me and frowned. "Hell no. I want to kick you in the head. I could care less about it being elevated. Now gimme my freaking pillow!" She demanded.
"Ooh, so demanding. Watcha gonna do if I don't?" I peeped over my novel with a smirk to see her scowl. "You absolutely play too damn much. First you ruin my phone call. And by the way, if it were you and your precious Amy, and I rudely interrupted, I'd be the biggest bitch in the world. Consider yourself lucky that I'm not kicking your ass right now." Whoa. She's mad. Her cheeks are red and everything.
I sighed. "You really like that Hardy, don't you?" I asked, dropping my playful smirk to get serious. After I spoke, her scowl turned into a knowing smirk. Oh great.
"So… that's what this is about." She shook her head at me. "What are you talking about, Sky?" I asked, genuinely confused. "Don't play dumb. You're totally jealous of Jeff." She started to chuckle as she sat up. "No. I'm not. What reason would I have to be jealous of him?" As soon as I spoke the last word, I realized that I very easily fell into her trap.
Dammit!
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I'm the reason." She grinned. "Sky, please. From what I've heard, you two aren't exclusive." I said dryly. "Yeah. About that… he put the ball in my court with the exclusive deets. I kinda wanna make him my number one. Would you be okay with it?"
I was playing it cool, but when she said that, I shot up. I stared at her pretty face for a few seconds. She was no longer smirking, but she had that look in her eyes that let me know that she was testing me. I took a deep breath before I answered. "I'm cool with it." I nonchalantly replied. Now this time, she's the one staring at me. She had a look of confusion on her face.
"Really? So you're just gonna act like you didn't feel anything when we kissed the other day? That you didn't want me the other night in the hotel room? That you weren't about to tell me that you were still in love with me last week? Get fucking real, Phil." She yelled, blinking rapidly. Great. She only does that when she's holding back tears.
"Skylar, lets not do this right now, okay." I calmly spoke to her red face. "If not now, then when? When I'm married with three kids and old?" She squealed angrily. I didn't respond.
"Come on, Phil. You know you felt something when we kissed. You wouldn't have kissed back if you didn't." Her big green orbs were filled with wet tears, but she's determined not to let them fall.
"I'm not gonna lie to you. I did feel something." I admitted. Shockingly, a soft smile crept on her sad face. I was expecting an 'I-knew-it' look. "Care to elaborate?" There's the look. I'm always in her trap. Always.
"No. I just wanna read." It's obvious that I'm not getting any sleep tonight. I'm a borderline insomniac, so even the tiniest of distractions in my mind takes precedence over sleep.
"So that's it? You're just gonna let me hook up with Jeff when you're still in love with me?" Damn. She's starting to shake and her normally alluring voice has an eerie tremble to it when she speaks.
"Danny, I never stopped loving you. But… ugh. It's complicated, and I don't want to upset you. Can we just drop it?" I begged her. Her bottom lip started to quiver when I called her Danny. Her middle name's Danielle, after her dad, Daniel. I'm the only one allowed to call her that just like she's the only one I allow to call me PJ.
"That Danny shit is not gonna work. I know why it's complicated for you. I just don't understand why." She sighed and freed me from her teary eyed stare by looking down at her wiggling toes.
"You're not in my head Skylar Danielle. You don't know shit." Damn, I shouldn't have said that. She frowned up at me. Her piercing glare full of anger. "I'm not in your head. You're right. But I know you, Phillip Jack. I know your heart. I freaking own it!" She quickly wiped away a rogue tear that dared escape her eyelids.
I didn't respond to her bold, yet very true statement. "Or am I not the owner of your heart? Am I just holding it hostage and you want it back?" Now I'm the one with the look of confusion on my face.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I asked. "You're in love with me. I know that. But I also know that you don't want to be in love with me. Why? I don't know." For once, I'm speechless. I guess I underestimated how smart Sky really is.
"Is it because I dropped out of college? Is it because my uncle's sexually attracted to me? Is it because I'm not straight-edge?" She trembled.
"Hell no, Sky. We're a match made in polar opposite, dysfunctional heaven." I sighed.
"Well, what's the problem, then? I'm nowhere near perfect, but the love I have for you is. I'm not scared of it. And I damn sure don't wish that I wasn't in love with you. Now please, Phil. Tell me what's so complicated." Now I feel like utter shit. Whenever I do see her cry, which is rare, it stuns me. And right now, the tears are free falling from her beautiful, angular face.
"We're too dysfunctional, Sky. I have no other choice but to deal with mine. But mine and yours is a little much for me. And half of your dysfunction is self-made. " Great. Now my eyes are getting watery.
"You're talking about my drug and alcohol habit, aren't you?" She asked as she shakily stood up. "Well, yeah." I had to look down. I couldn't take staring at the hurt expression on her wet, red face.
"Okay. I can respect that. I guess Amy is the perfect amount of dysfunction for you, huh? A little cheating never hurt anybody, right Punky?" She scoffed as she walked to the bathroom. But not before she harshly kicked my shin. "Amy and I aren't dating, Skylar." I had to clear that up. I really don't want her thinking that Amy was the real reason why I didn't want to get back with her.
"Aww. That's too bad, ain't it?" She growled as she quickly exited the bathroom with her blowdryer in hand.
"You're not gonna hit me with that, are you?" You can never be too cautious with Skylar. She dryly laughed at me. "No." She emotionlessly answered me as she placed the dryer into her suitcase.
I watched in silence as she packed the rest of her things. "You leaving?" I asked in a whisper. "Yep. Later." She calmly replied as she lugged her suitcase to the door. The only trace of her tears was her red face when I looked at her again.
"Why do you always run from our problems?" I almost yelled at her out of frustration. Her head snapped over to me.
"What problems? You got it all sorted out, Phil. I love you and I want to try 'us' again. You love me but you don't want to be in love with me because I'm an alcoholic druggie. You deserve better, Phil. I'm gonna give you your space." A shaky smile crept on her face.
"Because it worked so well the last time." I mumbled loud enough for her to her. Her smile went away and she walked over to my bed.
"Don't do that. It's hard enough trying to walk out of that door. Don't make my last memory of your face tainted from tears that I made appear." She sat beside me and cupped my face with one hand and wiped the tear from my cheek with the other.
"Where are you going? We got a show tomorrow." She chuckled at me. "Oh no. Your track record with chasing me down is impeccable. I'm a big girl. You'll see me tomorrow." She gave me a kiss on the tip of my nose before she got up to head for the door.
"You don't have to leave, Sky." I know that isn't gonna do any good. When Sky's mind is made up, it's over. "Now you know what that'll be like. You'll be Eve, the dragon will be the conniving snake, and I'll be the apple. Too much temptation." I rolled my eyes at her. "You still don't have to leave. I pleaded again.
"Yes I do. See what my love has done you? You're begging. You never beg, Phil." She smirked. "And you're being obnoxious." I rolled my eyes. "Maybe. Now before I go, let me give you some advice. Call Amy back and give her a chance. She really does seem sweet. Just be careful. Don't bring her around Jug or Colt." She winked at me before she opened the door to leave.