Ugly Girl (Aston Creek High 1)

His face drops as horror seeps into his eyes. “You’re lying.”

“Nope. Maze said so herself. What you want to do with that information is your business.”

“Fuck. I don’t want no clinger.”

“Then fuck around with someone else, better yet, don’t fuck around at all.”

“What about Maze?” Blake questions as a devilish grin slowly spreads across his face. “Did you get her number today?”

“Don’t even think about it,” I warn him. “She’s the only person on my side at this damn school. Don’t fuck that up for me because of your sick need to constantly get your dick wet.”

“Okaaaay,” Shaylee’s disturbed groan comes from the door of my bedroom. “I’m going to do my damn hardest to pretend that I didn’t just hear that.”

Blake cringes and throws a sharp glare at me for always needing to run my mouth. He gets up off my bed and stalks toward the door. “Well, this just got too awkward for me. I’m out.”

Blake stalks past Shaylee and she laughs at his back before bringing her questioning gaze back to me. “Where’s he going?”

“Chilling with some of the boys on his team, but don’t worry. I gave him a curfew. He’ll be home by ten.”

Shaylee raises a brow, looking doubtful. “Will he really?”

I nod. “Yeah. Blake might be a brat at times, but he’s respectful and doesn’t like me to worry. He’ll be here, though he might push the boundary by fifteen minutes.”

Shaylee turns back to where Blake had just exited my room and a fondness creeps over her features. “Oh, good. He seems like a good kid.”

“The best kid,” I correct.

“So, he made some friends today? Was everything alright with his coach and getting what he needs for the team?”

I shrug my shoulders. “I guess. He would have mentioned if he had any major problems, but he’s pretty independent. When it comes to Blake Daniels, his problems are his own. Unless it’s important he’d never ask for help. Though things might start changing for him now that we don’t have the same kind of financial backing that came with our old life. I don’t know. I think he’ll be alright though. I worry about him.”

“I know you guys are different from the children I once knew all those years ago, but from where I’m standing, you’re both incredibly strong. Blake can handle himself. I don’t think you need to worry about him.”

“I know,” I sigh, glancing away. “Old habits die hard, I guess.”

Shaylee presses her lips into a tight line and nods, giving me a moment to collect my thoughts. “What about you?” she questions softly, leaning against the doorframe. “How’d your first day go? Did you run into any problems?”

Slade’s face instantly flashes through my mind and I do my best not to let my disdain show. “Nothing I can’t handle,” I grumble under my breath, mostly to myself.

A heavy sigh comes from Shaylee, and I could be wrong but it almost sounded heartbroken. She pushes off the doorframe and welcomes herself into my room. She perches herself on the end of my bed, right where Blake had been two minutes ago. “You don’t have to do that, you know? You don’t have to hide, not here. You can talk to me if there’s something you’re struggling through.”

I look away, unsure of how to react in this situation. The home life I had growing up was not rainbows and flowers. My ‘parents’ never taught me how to communicate in this way and I honestly don’t know what to do about it.

Instantly, I go into shut down mode. I curl in on myself as a wave of awkwardness comes over me. “I’m sorry,” Shaylee murmurs, seeing my obvious freak out. “I just wish we could find that carefree, loving relationship that we had when you were a little girl.”

I look away with a cringe. “I…I’m sorry, but I don’t remember it.”

Shaylee’s eyes drop to the ground. “No need to be sorry,” she tells me. “You were only four years old and already had the weight of the world on your shoulders. I don’t expect you to remember much from that time.”

Her words have that familiar nausea creeping up on me just as it does every time I’m thrown back into the past and see the images of my parents drowning in their own blood. As if not noticing my inner turmoil, Shaylee continues. “I hate that you had to go through all of that. Ben and I were your only family and we failed you. We should have kept searching, we could have saved you.”

“There was no saving us,” I say bluntly. “No one could have saved us, not even God himself.”

“Sky,” Shay says, hurt. “I’ll never be able to apologize enough. You and Blake went through so much, but all we can do now is help you two move forward. I honestly wish there was more we could do for you. I don’t know…somehow help you heal. I just wish you would give me some sort of clue as to how we can do that. You’re so closed off with such a chip on your shoulder. I wish you’d open up to me so I can help you get through this.”