Page 6 of Indigo Sky

Because that was how it always was with him. He told me to do something, and I listened.

"I'm gonna make this shit better."

He uncapped the little bottle and poured half of its contents into my cup, the other half in his. He handed the cup back to me. I sniffed and was immediately hit with a burning sensation in my nostrils.

I wrinkled my nose. "Really, dude? I don't wanna drink."

"We're notdrinking," he insisted, already taking a sip. "It's one little shot of vodka. Come on. It's not gonna do anything."

And the crazy thing was, if it had been anyone else, I would’ve told them to shove it up their ass—or, you know,something to that effect. But Nate? Nah. Itrustedhim—more than I should’ve—and drank, surprised that it didn't bother my throat as much as it had bothered my nose. Hell, the more I drank, the more I even thought it wasniceto have that warmth sloshing around in my belly. It was comfortable, like a fuckin’ hug, and by the time I finished my cup, I was raring to find Becky and tell her all about how often I thought about her and her boobs while lying awake in bed at night.

The cup was dropped into the garbage can beside me, and I turned, determined to find the girl of my teenage dreams, only to realize that not only did I not see Becky, but I didn’t see Nate either. He had been beside me two seconds ago, and then he was gone.

Oh well, I thought.He’s probably just looking for a girl to dance with.

And, man, I couldn’t tell you why that was the first thought to pop into my head when I had never seen Nate dance, nor could I imagine him starting with some random chick from our high school. But, hey, if I was two seconds away from doing it myself, thanks to a cup of booze and punch, then maybe he was too.

I made my way through the throng of classmates, but not without having my feet stepped on a dozen times. I looked around relentlessly, trying to find either Nate or Becky, but found neither.

“Hey, Revan.”

I turned at the sound of my name to find Joe Weston, my former best friend from before I lost my eye. I kept my lips pressed into a thin line as I stared at him, and he offered a sheepish, apologetic smile.

“You looked like you were trying to find someone. I thought you needed help.”

I was about to thank him for the offer when Nate barreled past Joe and grabbed hold of my arm.

“Dude, that bitch Becky—"

Joe’s eyes narrowed with suspicion and defense. “Uh, Becky isn’t a bitch. Don’t call her that.”

I glanced first at Joe, then gave Nate my full attention. “Wait, what? What happened with Becky?”

“I was just on my way to the bathroom, and she grabbed me and kissed me. When I said to stop, she said she was gonna tell everyone I made her do it.” Nate was talking a mile a minute, and I was barely keeping up.

Like, what the fuck? Becky had kissedhim? She didn’t evenknowhim, not that I knew of. Why the hell would she kiss him?

“What?” Joe was as disbelieving as I was.

“Look!” Nate pointed to the right of me, and I swiveled my head to see Becky, talking to the principal. “She told me she was gonna tell someone, and that’s exactly what she’s doing!”

My stomach felt hollow as precisely what Nate had said would happen played out in front of me.

Principal Robbins walked right up to Nate and asked him to leave, and when Nate told him what he claimed to have occurred, Principal Robbins said, “Then, I will insist that youbothleave. But let me warn you, Mr. Manning, if you don’t leave, I will have to suspend you from school for assaulting another student. Do I make myself clear?”

Assault?I knew that word, yet I’d never heard it used in regard to a kid my age, let alone my best fuckin’ friend.

He wouldn’t assault anyone. He said some messed-up shit sometimes, butassault? It felt insane.

But that was before I knew what I know now, but … we’re getting to that.

“Mr. Robbins, he said he didn’t—"

“Mr. Waters, I would advise you to refrain from making any commentary,” Principal Robbins replied, eyeing me with a stern glare. “This doesn’t concern you.”

I bit down on my tongue to keep myself from speaking, but itdidconcern me, didn’t it? I liked Becky. I wanted her to kissme. But she had kissed my best friend instead. A jealous ache crushed painfully against my chest, and I hung my head, unable to believe my horrible fucking luck.

“Come on, Rev,” Nate said, already turning to leave.

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