EMILY
Sky breezed past me but before I could stop her, she was already standing in front of the boys. Her entire body shook with anger, she kept the knife clenched in her fist, holding it out towards him.
"How dare you?! Haven't you had enough tormenting me for years?"
"You crazy bitch!" He screeched, climbing to his feet and reaching out to hit her.
Luckily, his friends were quick to grab and hold him back before he could reach her. Indie and I managed to seize her waist, but she kept trying to break free.
"You ruined my life!" she continued repeating it.
Whispers had started breaking out in the diner.
The manager, a short, nice-looking lady stepped forward, "Please take this outside."
"Sky, stop it! He's not worth it." I whispered to her. "Let's get out of here."
The evil red-headed bully sniggered when he saw Seth, "is that the boyfriend?"
Seth stood a few feet away with a crestfallen expression on his face. His hands were clenched into tight fists, his expressions deadly. He started walking towards us and I thought he was going to stop but he kept walking until he was standing right in front of the boy's table.
"I'm going to have to ask you guys to leave before things get worse here." He used the same 'you-better-don't-fuck-with-me'tone.
"Do you know who you're fucking talking to?" One of the assholes asked.
"I don't care if you're the president, you provoked a customer and caused her distress so I'm going to ask you to leave. Politely."
There was nothing remotely polite about his tone.
Something about his lazy tone gave off the dangerous vibe. This was a side of Seth that I had never seen. The boys sensed something because the smarter one named 'Owen' calmed him down. They stood up from their seats and walked out of the diner, but not before passing us dirty looks.
Sky had dropped the knife but she looked visibly shaken. Seth grabbed her hand and led her outside of the restaurant. Indie and I were hot on our heels as we followed them.
Seth pulled her to him, cupping her face, "Look at me, Sky. He's gone, okay? He's not going to hurt you."
She circled her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly, sobbing. "You promise?"
"Yeah, I got you." He whispered.
I shouldn't feel anything considering that they had been best friends even before we met but I couldn't stop feeling a pang of jealously crawling inside me viciously. I was truly a selfish person if I was having these thoughts when a friend was obviously in a vulnerable situation.
"I want to go home." Sky said between hiccups.
He pulled away from her, his gaze meeting mine. "I've gotta go. We still have a few hours until it's closing time."
Sky just nodded her head.
"I'll take Sky home." I tossed the key fob towards Indie, "Indie, can you start the car?"
"Sure. Let's go, Sky."
She let go of Seth reluctantly, taking Indie's hand instead. They made their way towards the car.
"Emily, can I ask you for a favor?" Seth asked, scratching the back of his neck, he usually did that when he was unsure about certain things.
"Of course."
"Will you be able to stay with Sky tonight at her place? She needs a friend. What happened inside the diner might have triggered an old memory. If there's no one with her, I'm afraid she might do something that she'll eventually regret."
"Okay. I'll stay with her. You know things about her that I don't, right?"
"Yes. I know a shit ton of things that I'm not allowed to say."
"The guy inside the diner...he used a word to describe her—"
Seth nodded, "Yeah, I recall what he said." He did not elaborate on it further so I didn't think it would be wise of me to push him.
"I guess I'll get going then."
"Thanks, baby. I owe you one."
"You owe me nothing." I rolled my eyes, "and don't thank me. I'm just doing everything that a friend would."
The manager of the diner stepped out and started waving at Seth to come back inside.
"It still means a lot." He walked back towards the diner, "see you tomorrow." He spun around and went back inside.
*~*
I dropped Indie back at his house and drove back to mine. I packed an overnight bag before driving to Skylar's again. Seth had promised to take care of Chanel when he was back from his shift at the diner.
Sky looked at me with uncertainty, "are you sure it's okay for you to stay with me tonight?"
I smiled, "of course."
Her mom was at home and she seemed super excited that Sky had a female friend. As per what Sky told me, she's never had any friends before, she even refused to discuss her old school.
"Well, it's always Seth who used to come over so I really thought these two had something going on."
"Seth is Emily's boyfriend, mom, but even if he wasn't, we were never going to happen because he's not my type."
"Then what is your type, honey?" she asked teasingly.
"Boys who are okay with letting their friends punch me in the face, boys who are cowards to fight back."
Sky's mother let out a gasp and then she quickly recovered. She was as speechless as I was.
"Emily, if you need anything, let me know. I'll be in the bedroom downstairs."
I thanked her and followed Sky upstairs to her bedroom where she slumped onto her bed, facedown with her shoes still on. The room was a lot organized compared to mine.
"I'm giving him exactly what he wants. He wanted to hurt me, and he has successfully done that." She muttered, suddenly getting out of bed and pacing around the room. Her forehead was etched with worry.
"Are you okay?" I tried.
"Malcolm."
"What?"
"He's going to ruin my life!" She said desperately. "He promised me he'd tell everyone!
"Tell everyone what?"
She swallowed, pacing again and staring into the distance.
I settled down on her bed. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"Do you like hot cocoa with marshmallows?" She changed the subject all of a sudden. "I'm making it for myself. Hot cocoa makes everything better." She started making her way towards the door.
"I'll have some too then, thanks."
Ten minutes later, we were comfortable in her bed, holding steaming cups of the beverage and she hadn't said a peep. I was genuinely worried about her.
I could only imagine what Malcolm had done to her.
After she finished her drink, she disappeared into her closet and spent another eternity shuffling through things. I could see a cardboard box peeking from behind the open door. She returned to bed moments later with a few pictures in her hand. These pictures were snapped from a polaroid camera.
As she placed the photos on the bed face down, her hands shook and I wondered what she was so scared about.
"Before I tell you everything, I want you to know how important this is for me, telling you the truth, I mean."
I placed my hand over hers. "We all have some secrets that we don't want to tell anybody. I can assure you nothing can shock me anymore," I said. "Not after everything that Seth told me about himself."
Tears trickled down her face, "You're my best friend, probably my first real female friend. I can't lose you."
"Trust me, you won't." I took both her hands in mine and she held one tightly as she flipped over one picture with the other and pushed it towards me.
I picked it up. There was a tall lanky guy with shoulder-length hair and an identical smile like Skylar's staring back at me. Even though he was smiling in the picture, I could tell there was something he was hiding deep inside. It was Sky's dead twin brother.
The picture seemed like it was taken on a holiday. Did the Malcolm guy hurt him?
"He looked like you. Identical twins?"
She stared at me with red-rimmed eyes. She wet her lips before talking, "I lied to Indie. I don't have a twin brother." She pointed at the Polaroid in my hand, her finger shaking, "that guy in the picture is me."
I was flabbergasted. Shocked wasn't even the word that I could use to describe the feeling.
"It's you?"
"Yes. I'm a transgender woman." She confessed. "I was born male, I used to be called Sawyer then but I hated that name for some reason. I knew from an early age that I was supposed to be Skylar...I don't know if that makes sense."
"When did you transition?"
"Three years ago, when I was fourteen." She said, "I used to go by the name Sawyer in my old school. Owen used to be my best friend."
"The guy who tried to say hi to you?"
"Yeah, him. We used to be buddies, he came over almost every day and we played games and stuff, and then..." her voice faltered.
"It's okay, you don't have to tell me anything."
"I have to." She continued, "It was a weekend. We were home alone, playing on the PlayStation. That day Owen...he kissed me and told me that he liked me. I was happy because I felt the same way and it was like I was living in a dream. A guy I liked said that he liked me back."
"He convinced me that he didn't want to come out of the closet, didn't want his football buddies to know that he was bi. I supported him as a good friend and as his boyfriend at the time. Then Malcolm started picking on me, throwing the f-slurs around, it was straight-up bullying and Owen didn't do anything to stop it. I've had enough so I broke up with him and moved out of town.”
She looked up at me finally, gauging my reaction. "I thought it's only fair that I tell you the truth. I've always been a girl, you know. Always," her voice broke, "I don't care what anyone else says."
I couldn't hold it back anymore. My eyes were brimming with unshed tears. "I believe it took a lot of courage for you to tell me that even though you didn't need to. Thank you."
She broke down into tears, holding my hands in hers, "I was so scared about what you would say.”
"Did you think I wouldn't want to be your friend after this? I mean it doesn't change anything. You're still a very beautiful girl, Sky, no matter what happened in your past."
I pulled her into a hug. I had not expected this when she told me she had things to say. Nothing had changed. I just saw her in a different light. She was a very strong girl.
"I transitioned in my early teens. It was hard, going through surgeries and the confusion that it caused inside me but it was worth it in the end. After Owen noticed that I had turned into Skylar, he began texting me again. He said he wanted to get back and since I was a fully transitioned girl now, things would be better between us. He didn't need to stay in the closet to be with me."
“Owen is a selfish asshole.”
She laughed, "He is. He's a coward and he doesn't deserve me."
"You'll find better guys. I promise you."
"I don't think I need a guy right now in my life. I'm happy being single.”
“Seth knows about this, doesn't he?”
She gave me a nod, "He's the only friend I confided in and it was when he found out about it from somewhere. I was shocked how he never reacted to it. He just said ‘Oh cool. Wanna grab lunch on our way home?” she smiled at the memory. “He’s been very patient with me. Whenever I was having one of my anxiety attacks or when I needed someone to talk to, he was always there.”
“That’s Seth for sure. He’s so easygoing.”
“And now I have you.”
“You do.”
She chuckled, waving her hand in the air, “It’s getting a little heavy around here, isn’t it? How about we watch that new trashy thriller movie that came out.”
“Let’s do that.”
I got a text on my phone. I picked it up and checked the screen.
Seth: Is everything okay, babe?
Me: Everything is great, don’t worry.
Seth: Seriously tho, thanks.
Me: Hmm…there are other ways that you can be thankful.
Me: Alright, forget what I said. I sound like a horndog.
He didn’t respond to me. Seconds later three dots were appearing on the screen.
Seth: I’ve gotta tell you something. It’s important.
Seth: Can you meet me tomorrow after school?