Earlier that day:
"Has anyone heard from Sky?" Cody asked, slamming his tray on the table and taking a seat without asking if he could, making Hawk's glance snap up from his lunch. "Cause I've been trying to call her for days and she's not picking up."
Hawk glanced from Cody to his friends and back, as a weird feeling overcame his chest, destroying his appetite. If Sky hadn't taken Cody's calls, something bad might have happened to her, which made Hawk's stomach clench into a tight knot of anxiety. But then again - it could also mean that she just didn't want to talk to Cody.
A faint flicker of hope fluttered in Hawk's chest, but it was smothered by the worry for Sky's wellbeing.
"Wait, what?" he rasped. "When's the last time you saw her?"
Cody's glance that stopped in Hawk's face for a short moment was cold, like black ice.
"Sunday. After the funeral. You haven't seen her since, have you?"
Hawk shook his head, and looked down, suddenly feeling guilty even if there was no reason for it. He hadn't tried to call or text Sky again, not after the disaster it had caused at the party. If she wanted to be in touch with him, she would reach out, surely. But these past couple of days in the school had been pure agony - Sky's empty seat in the English class felt like a punch in the gut, her absence at the dojo was a raw, open wound.
He missed her more than ever. They had barely started getting close, talking, being friends again, and now—
She was slipping out of his life once again.
"She hasn't been in school or at the dojo, so no, I haven't seen her," Sam said in a tense voice, drawing Hawk's attention back into the moment. "After the party— Sky sent some text to me the next day but I— I didn't reply. I haven't heard from her since."
Sam's words made Hawk frown. "Why didn't you reply to her? What did she say?"
Sam sighed and shifted on her seat, a blush of embarrassment or annoyance creeping up her cheeks.
"The same as always. That she's sorry and all that. I just— I didn't know what to say to her." A short silence fell into their small group, making Sam look incredibly awkward. She brushed her hair behind her shoulder and kept her eyes down as she continued: "It's just— what happened at the party, sucked. It was awful. But it was awful for all of us, and it's just her who's skipping school and karate again. It's not the first time she's acting like this - like she's the only one who's affected."
"What are you saying?" asked Miguel with a frown. "That we shouldn't be worried?"
"No. I— I'm worried too, obviously. I'm just— tired of the drama. Bad things happen to everyone, but it's like Sky draws the drama to herself. Sometimes I feel like she wants to be the center of attention, like she wants us to rush to her house again to make sure she's alright."
"Right—" Hawk snapped, barely controlling the anger in his voice. "The center of attention? Like when Tory almost killed her when she was trying to save your ass. Twice."
Sam looked down at her food, her cheeks burning. "I'm— sorry. That came out all wrong. I didn't mean—"
"Yeah, well then stop talking shit about her," Hawk snapped. "She texted you and you didn't even bother to reply?"
"Enough," said Miguel, his sharp tone shutting Hawk up mid-sentence. "Sam's right. Luke's death was awful, for all of us. But it's not getting better if we keep pushing each other away and fighting. That's not how we get through this. Besides - Sky's the one who was actually friends with Luke, so of course it's hardest for her."
"it's not just that, though," Sam muttered, staring at her unfinished meal. "Sky lied to my face about doing drugs. And that was before Luke OD'd, so there's no excuse."
"She relapsed. Of course, she lied about it, knowing how pissed everyone was gonna be." That was Cody, his tone cold and sharp. "Addicts lie. Better get used to it."
"How am I going to be friends with someone who keeps lying?" Sam confronted them all, her blue eyes burning with emotion - hurt and anger. "It's not okay. I want to be able to trust her, but—"
"You can never trust an addict when it comes to drugs," Cody replied, letting out a tense breath, his shoulder sagging. "Sky's always going to want to get high. Always. And you're just going to have to decide if you wanna help her in that fight or make it harder for her. It really isn't that complicated."
A short silence followed his raw, honest upburst. He stared all of them down, until one by one they all looked away. Sam picked up her fork with a slightly trembling hand, and started pushing her food around her plate, her cheeks still burning.
"Coming back to school and the dojo would be a good start," she muttered after a silence that had lingered on for quite a while. "If Sky really wants to try and get better, of course, I'm gonna be there for her. We all are."
Hawk opened his mouth to speak but swallowed his words at the last moment and closed his lips again. When he had gone to see Sky at her house, she had said "I don't think I can come to the dojo anymore." He wanted to tell that to Sam, to tell her how awful Sky had been feeling about everything, how much she had feared her actions had ruined her friendship with Sam, but—
Cody probably doesn't know I was there. I can't let that slip.
He looked down and kept silent, not wanting to cause Sky any more problems with Cody. His texts and calls on the night of the party had been bad enough. He still felt guilty about them, as if he was carrying a cold stone in his stomach.
"So no one's heard from Sky since— what, Sunday?" Cody asked, forcing them back into the subject.
"Sunday was the funeral, right?" Asked Demetri, speaking for the first time. He had been uncharacteristically silent throughout the conversation - and now that Hawk thought about it, he had been quiet all this week, ever since the disastrous party, quiet and sulking and sad.
It made Hawk feel like crap. A great friend he was. He should've been there for Demetri, these past couple of days, instead of obsessing about Sky.
Cody let out a tense breath, meeting Demetri's eyes. "Yeah. The funeral— Sky took it pretty hard. I thought she'd need some space after that, but— now it's been days, and— I even called her Dad yesterday but he just said that Sky was sleeping and wanted to be alone—" Cody shrugged, looking absolutely miserable. His lower lip was trembling slightly. "I just— I guess I just wanted to know if I'm the only one she doesn't want to talk to, or if it's all of us."
His voice broke at the last words. He looked down at the table as if embarrassed that he had said too much.
"I think it's all of us," said Demetri after a short silence. "I mean— she hasn't replied to my texts either. Or Yasmine's."
"Okay—" Cody rasped, running a hand through his dark hair and finding his voice again. "Okay, fine. That's all I wanted to know."
With one, swift motion he stood to leave, and an awkward, tense silence fell on their small group as they watched him walk away.
"That was— weird," said Demetri. "Should we do something—?"
Hawk wasn't really listening. Cody might have left, but his emotion still lingered, making Hawk's stomach tie on a tight knot. The food on his plate was getting cold, but his appetite was long gone. A memory from last summer slithered into his mind, making him nauseous.
He felt like it was happening all over again. He was standing outside Sky's house, under her window, calling her again and again and again—
Sky's lifeless face, her blue lips, the stench of vomit. The sounds of Nicholas' strangled cries. Napoleon circling his feet on the street when they watched the ambulance drive away.
Hawk drew in a sharp breath, and in a heartbeat, he was on his feet and going after Cody.
"Cody, wait—" he called, catching up with him in the hallway right outside the cafeteria.
"Moskowitz. What the fuck do you want?" Cody groaned, exasperated, and continued walking, barely glancing at Hawk who adjusted his strides to Cody's swift steps.
Hawk swallowed and pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
"I just— I wanna make sure Sky is alright."
"Not your concern. Leave it."
Cody's voice was like ice. He kept walking pushing his way through the crowded hallways, and Hawk followed, realizing they were heading towards the front doors. He frowned. Was Cody going to leave school to check on Sky?
More than anything Hawk wished he could do that too. The anxiety was taking his breath away. He wanted nothing more than to go to Sky's place, to see that she was fine, alive, okay, breathing— but Cody would probably strangle him to death if he suggested they went together.
"Sam was full of shit, you know," he rasped. "I get that she's upset, but she was wrong. Sky doesn't like the drama, she hates being the center of attention. It's not like that—"
"I know."
"You know she tried to kill herself, right? Last summer—" Hawk's voice came out broken, raw. "She— she tried to overdose."
Cody glanced at Hawk, his eyes cold and hard like ice over black water. He didn't reply, but Hawk saw in his eyes that he knew what Sky had done, and also why she had done it. Sudden shame and regret made Hawk break eye contact and his cheeks heated.
"Just saying that— she might try something like that again, if— if things are hard." Hawk forced himself to continue. "She isn't alone, is she?"
"Her dad is home."
They had reached the front door, but Cody didn't stop, just shoved the doors open with force and strode through them into the bright sunlight, heading towards the parking lot. Hawk hesitated only a moment, before following and catching up with him near his car.
"You're going to check on her?"
"Yeah."
"Does she have any more drugs?" Hawk's voice broke. He stopped walking, his words forcing Cody to stop too. "Anything she could use to— to hurt herself?"
"Look—" There was steel in Cody's voice as he turned to face him, dangling the car keys in his long, thin fingers. "I want to say that I appreciate your concern— but I really don't. She's my girlfriend. I'll deal with this."
"No, I know that— I just—"
"I'm not an idiot," Cody's voice was exasperated, thin, and stretched. "You— you're still in love with her. I fucking know it. And this concern of yours…. you're not fooling me. You think that you can just wait for the moment I turn my back, or that I fuck up, and then you make a move and she's yours again, but— it doesn't work like that. It's not your decision who Sky wants to be with. It's not my decision. It's hers, and you have to respect that, and not try to— to sabotage her happiness every fucking chance you get."
Hawk swallowed, turning his gaze to his feet. A bitter taste lingered on his lips.
"If this is about the texts, I am sorry."
"Right. I'm sure you are," Cody replied, his words suddenly thick with sarcasm. "I don't have time for this."
With that, he unlocked the car and stepped in, taking the driver's seat. He didn't even glance at Hawk again, as he steered away.
