Walls

When Skylar woke up, she was in the nurse's office, lying on a cot. It took a while for her vision to adjust but once it did, she noticed Alex sitting on a chair not too far away. The nurse was nowhere in sight, so she tried to find her voice, but it was strained and her head was pounding.

"Water..." Alex looked up when he heard her voice, and he went to the sink to pour her a glass of water. He handed it to her and sat on the cot.

"How ya feeling?" She sat up and clutched her head.

"Like shit. What happened?" She moved to the side so he could sit next to her, which he did and put his arm around her shoulders. She loved when he did that, she felt so much safer and relaxed.

"You passed out. How much did you drink at lunch?" She shrugged and brought her knees up to her chest.

"Too much I guess. Can I go home?" The nurse chose that moment to return from wherever she had been.

"No Miss Raine. Unfortunately you were drinking at school and I had to inform the principal who called your parents already. They're on their way as we speak. when you're up to it, you are to report to the principals office."

Skylar's face fell and she bolted out of the nurse's office, Alex running after her. He caught up to her halfway down the hallway and grabbed her shoulders, making her face him.

"I'm so screwed. I fucked up. What do i do? They're going to kill me!" She started to panic, especially once her name was called over the intercom. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes but she refused to cry in front of Alex. She refused to keep being so vulnerable around him.

"I'll go with you, come on. Don't worry, I'll be right outside okay?" She nodded and he took her hand in his and led her to the principals office. They knocked on the door and he sat in a chair in the waiting room once the door opened. Skylar stepped inside and was greeted by her parents who she knew were furious beyond belief, but hid it well.

"Miss Raine, you know the consequences of drinking at school. We don't tolerate it. Two week suspension and two month detention after that. The only reason I'm not expelling you is because you're a good student. You get good grades and I don't want to jeopardize your chances of getting into a good college. you just made some bad choices and I understand. You will also be required to speak to the guidance counsellor when you return, although I do recommend you see a real therapist."

As she listened to the principal speak, she looked to see her parents reactions. They just sat there, agreeing that it was a fair punishment.

"Thank you for not expelling her Mrs Locks. We'll see to it that she sees a therapist." That's when Skylar snapped. She stood up abruptly from her chair, and felt the tears returning but they still did not come.

"Suspend me if you have to. Detention? Fine. One counselling session? Great. I understand. But mom? THERE IS NO WAY IN HELL I AM GOING TO A FUCKING THERAPIST."

"Skylar you are a minor, it's not your call." Her parents stood up as well.

"This is so fucking BULLSHIT. I hate you both." She spat the words at her parents with so much venom and hatred. She left the office, slamming the door on her way out. She only made it three steps before the door opened again and her mother caught up with her, grabbing her wrist.

"Apologize." Her mother stared directly in her eyes, anger all over her face. Her father stood next to her with a similar expression.

"No. I meant what I said." And then there was a hand flying across her face, so hard that it would be leaving yet another red mark on her cheek and had sent her flying into the wall.

"FUCK YOU." Skylar stormed past Alex who she had completely forgotten was even there. He had seen and heard the entire conversation.

--

For the rest of the day, nobody had seen or heard from Skylar. Everyone knew about her passing out but only Alex knew about what happened afterwards. He would try calling her but it would go straight to voicemail and she wasn't answering anybody's texts. He decided to skip last class to try and find her but since everyone was worried, they all decided to tag along. They all climbed into Alex and Kara's cars and started driving around town in search of her. They went to all the places they thought she would be; they checked the diner, Towson, Lacey's, her house, the park, everywhere. They were about to give up when Alex's phone started ringing and her name flashed across the screen. Jack picked it up since Alex was driving.

"SKYLAR WHERE ARE YOU?" He could tell she was crying.

"Tell Alex I'm with Cody and to come alone. Please?" He said okay and hung up the phone.

"She said she's with Cody and to go alone. She was crying. I'll call Rian and let them know." Alex nodded and dropped Jack off at home and then continued driving until he reached the cemetery at the edge of town.

He found her sitting against his tombstone, her hood over her face that was streaked with tears, not that he was able to see. He crouched down in front of her and extended a hand. Without looking up, she took it and he helped her to her feet and took her back to his car. He noticed that she wasn't crying, just sniffling every now and then. As he was driving, he waited for to say something, anything.

"I can't go back home." Her hood was still over her face, and she was leaning against the window,staring at her lap.

"I know. I'm taking you to my place. You can stay there as long as you need to." She whispered a thank you and they continued the drive in a comfortable silence.

Once they got to Alex's, she went straight to his room and laid down on his bed, while he was downstairs letting his mom know what was going on. He came back up a while later, on the phone with Jack.

"She's fine Jack, tell everyone she's fine. No I doubt she wants to - Okay fine, hold on I'll ask." He turned towards Skye and gave her an apologetic look. "Jack wants to know if you want to go to a concert tonight with everyone, including Lacey, Zack and Tara." She played with the hem of her sleeve and sat upright. He handed her the phone and she could hear Jack breathing.

"What concert?"

"Alex, did you just have a sex change? Your voice sounds so much more feminine." Jack's humour was always able to make Skylar laugh, no matter what. Alex smiled at the fact she was laughing, even if it was at his own expense.

"It's Skylar, not Alex you freak. What concert?"

"It's a surprise. So are you coming?" She could hear the excitement in his voice and had to admit she needed a night out to forget the troubles of the day.

"I guess so. See ya soon Jack!" She hung up the phone and gave it back. Since it was only 5, they still had a few hours before the conert so they just laid on Alex's bed together. An hour later, Skylar felt like she needed to confront Alex.

"Alex? About friday night..." She trailed off, hoping she wouldn't have to remind him which one.

"Yeah?.."

"Did it mean anything to you?" He looked over at her and frowned.

"Let's see. I lost my virginity to the girl who means the most to me. Even if we were both drunk, yeah i'd say it meant something. I haven't been able to think of anything but you since then. I know we've been friends for years, I just never imagined we'd ever be more. Why? Did it mean anything to you?" She couldn't help but smile at his words.

"I don't remember some of it, but yeah, it meant more to me than you'll ever know." She rested her head on his chest and listened to his heart beating faster and faster. It was silent again for a while but now it was Alex's turn to break it.

"Skye? Are we really just friends? Is that all we'll ever be?" She looked up at him now, into his brown eyes that were filled with wonder.

"I don't know Alex. It all depends." He tilted his head to the side.

"On what?"

"On whether you let me all the way in. You can't build up walls around yourself and expect me to be okay with it." She glanced at the clock and realized she had to get ready to go to the show. She got off the bed.

"I want to let you in Skye, and usually I do, but there are times when as much as I want to, I just can't." She sighed and grabbed her purse and jacket, ready to leave.

"Then yeah, Alex, This is all we'll ever be." He sighed, grabbed his things and followed her out the door. They climbed into his car and drove with the stereo on to avoid an awkward silence. But during the entire ride, all either of them could think about was how they wished it was more.

--

They had picked up Kellin and Jack, who was overly excited, more so than usual. He hadn't even noticed the weird vibes between Skylar and Lacey. They were standing by the car in the parking lot, Skye was smoking, the others were simply chatting . Kara pulled up not too long after them, with Rian and then Zack arrived with Lacey and Tara. Once everyone was there, they all headed inside the run down bar. It was the kind of bar that didn't care about your age as long as you didn't look like a complete child.

Inside, there were both teenagers and people in their early to mid twenties standing by the stage and at the bar. Skylar immediately went to the bar with Lacey and they took some shots, Tara and Kara joining them soon after.

"So do you know what show this is?" Lacey shook her head as the bartender filled up their shot glasses again.

"Only Jack and Alex know. They won't tell anyone, they just said we'll be surprised and we're gonna love it." They took a few more shots until the lights dimmed so that the stage was in complete darkness. Then music started to play, and when the lights went up again, Vic and Mike were on stage with two other guys.

"What the fuck? They have a band?" Alex and Jack grinned, and started a mosh pit with some of the other crowd members. The girls hung back, still consuming their drinks. Skylar could see Zack linking hands with Lacey and she smiled, remembering that she still needed to talk to her about that. They continued watching the band, and when it was over, they all left the bar. Skylar stood by Alex's car with Lacey while everyone else was a few feet away.

"Are you and Zack together or what?" Lacey smiled and took a drink from the flask in her purse.

"Yep, since the party." She looked up at Zack and he shot her a smile. "What about you and Alex? How's that going?"

"It's not." She glanced up at Alex, who was laughing at something Jack said. She pulled the hood of her jacket up and also took a few swigs from her own flask.

They kept drinking in the parking lot until their heads were spinning and they couldn't contain their laughter over absolutely nothing. It was when they started singing Blink 182 songs and managed to get a hyperactive Jack to join them that the guys decided to take them home. Skylar and Jack were still singing in the car until Alex dropped him and Kellin off. Once they were gone, Skylar smiled to herself and leaned back in the seat, almost instantly passing out.

Alex carried her inside when they arrived at his house. He set her down on the bed and tucked her in. When he was positive she was asleep, he went through her purse and removed the flask and cigarettes, throwing them out, and putting the flask at the back of his desk drawer. He couldn't let the flask keep ruining her life like this. She had already been suspended and forced to see a therapist because of it. He crawled in beside her and listened to her breathing. Shutting off the lights, he could feel her move around and finally lay her head on his chest so he did what he always did; wrapped an arm around her and kissed her forehead, whispering a goodnight. He was about to fall asleep before he heard her mumbling.

"Goodnight best friend." And that's when he realized that he had to try and let her completely into his life. He didn't want to be 'just friends' with this girl.