SKYE'S POV

"YOU!" I spin on my heel furiously - to face Holden, the most frustrating boy ever known to mankind. "You always ruin everything for me! I can't believe I-"

"You can't believe what?" Holden cuts in, raising an eyebrow challengingly.

"I can't believe for even a second I even thought you were just a little bit decent! It turns out I was ENTIRELY wrong! First, you ruined my-"

For what seems like the thousandth time, he cuts me off with a kiss. I shove him off angrily. "No, Holden! That's not how it works! You can't just kiss me and expect everything to just magically repair itself! That only happens in stupid chick flicks, which, by the way, are incredibly stupid, and you should never take advice from! You need to do some serious research on how to get the girl, because everything you're doing is not working out for you. Just, leave me alone." I push past him, running from him - and the huge crowd that had gathered around us without my noticing.

"How am I supposed to get the girl if I have to stay away from her?" Holden yells at my back, as I make the final stretch to my
mother's office.

"Skye? Honey, are you okay?" My mom looks up from her paperwork with a startled expression.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" I stammer out, my voice unstable from too many emotions crammed into my system at once. This is honestly too much to handle.

"So, wrong question. What happened?" My mom was never good at comforting people - she was good at the strict, regal composure. Which is probably why she's a principal.

"There was something I've never told you about." I take a deep breath, preparing myself for what I'm about to tell her.

"OH GODS ARE YOU PREGNANT? Don't tell me you're on drugs...?!" She stands up from her desk abruptly, tipping over her chair in the process. Her eyes narrow into tiny little slits and she stalks around to meet me on the other side of the table.

"No, mom! I swear on my life that I am a virgin in both pregnancy and drugs!" I yelp, backing up nervously.

"Okay, good. I was about to activate my evil stare. That could've gone bad."

"Mom, are you sure you're mentally stable?" I question, weirded out by her strange behavior.

"I'm just a bit giddy, that's all. I just got off the phone with your father, he's coming home in a week!"

"Really?" I squeal, entirely to excited, forgetting the current ordeal in the process. I had always been a daddy's girl.

"So, what was it you needed to tell me?" My mother remembers, as always. She has an unusually clear memory - which is not always the best for me.

"Uh, so remember right before we moved here, I was always like really sad all the time?"

"Yes, you didn't seem quite yourself those days." She recalls.

"That's because I was getting intensely bullied." I sucked in another deep breath, afraid of her reaction.

"Why, I'll track down the little fu-"

"Mom!" My eyes widened, and I was a little scared for Holden's safety.

"What? Anyone who hurts my daughter deserves to receive the full wrath of the mighty Principal Johnson! Now, my question is, why didn't you ever tell me, or anyone else?"

"That would just make it worse!" I yell, exasperated that no one would ever understand what I went through.

"Honey, everyone knows that that's just in the movies. In real life, you tell the adults so they can kick a-"

"Mom."

"Booty. I was going to say booty."

"Right." I offer a weak smile, wiping the slight tears off my face. She pulls me into a gigantic hug.

"It's going to be okay, sweetie. Just give me the name and address of your bully and I'll make sure that they are exterminated by tomorrow morning."

I roll my eyes at her ridiculousness - under that uptight rule-following facade that she puts up, there's a side to her that I never knew was there. It only made me love her more.

"Mom, that school is like ten hours away! Luckily, by chance, he also HAPPENED to relocate to this town also! Yay!" I throw as much sarcasm as I can into my last word.

"Alright. Who is it?" A gleam of mischief dances around her eyes.

"Holden Jones."

HOLDEN'S POV

How does she always manage to get the last word, even when she doesn't say anything? Just by doing one thing, I managed to screw three people over. Go me. Maybe Skye is right - maybe I do ruin everything. Maybe I should just go home, surrender.

Although, that would mean leaving two people totally screwed up because of me.

For once, I should do the right thing.

For once, I should help Skye and not totally ruin her chances at anything and everything she does.

For once, I shouldn't hold her back from love.

For once, I should give up the girl.

I should let her go.

a/n: so this totally hasn't been updated in like 3 months but I was looking back through it and found this really nice comment by @silent_care and it inspired me!! so, here you go!! hope you liked it, comment any thoughts <3