Page 45 of Race to Me

I gesture to the door. “Just get in. Let’s go back to my place.”

“Fuck that.” He shakes his head. “I’ll walk.” He hands me my keys, and I can feel something breaking inside of me.

I look around the now dark Liberty City, worried about him. “Your bike is at my house! Please, just ride back with me.” I beg.

His slams his hand on the frame of my car, his eyes dark and sinister. “I’ll get my fucking bike later.”

I try to reason with him. Opening my car door, I say quietly, “Do you even know where you are? This is a horrible part of town, Foster. You shouldn’t be here at night.”

“I’ll be fine. Worry about yourself.” He sneers.

Lights and sirens zoom by, and then I hear a gunshot in the distance. I’m not leaving him here. “This place is a shithole, Foster. Come back with me ... please.”

Foster whips around to face me. “I know this is hard for you to believe, but I grew up here, Sky.” He gestures to the dangerous city surrounding us. “This place you call a shithole raised me, so you must think I’m garbage too.” I cup my hand over my mouth again. I didn’t know, but I never should have said that, anyway.

I sounded like Mom just now, judgmental and awful. “I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize,” He waves me off, “we’re too different, and this showcases just how much. The sky is the fucking limit for you, and I’m so fucking happy that it is, Skyler. I really am. You deserve to have a beautiful life, but my limit is here.” He gestures to the paint chipped buildings on either side of the street. “I can’t offer you anything.”

When he walks away, I follow him. “Foster, please.”

He stops walking but doesn’t turn to face me. “Stop calling me that.” he snaps. Then, Foster begins his trek away from me again. He turns his head to the side, but he doesn’t stop himself from walking. “Just go, Sky.”

I don’t know what else to do, but the moment I crawl back into my car, the tears flow freely down my cheeks.

I find myself calling Kate, telling her I’m coming to Brett’s party. I feel like shit, and I need to do something before I break.

Get drunk, forget everything.

I mean, it is my birthday after all.

Seventeen

When I walk into Brett’s house and see the massive group of partygoers all dressed up and having the time of their lives, I’m extremely grateful that I swung by Kate’s dorm to change so I could fit in a little better. She wasn’t home, so I quickly grabbed the first thing that caught my eye: a small black dress and a pair of gray velvet heels.

I’m not sure why that’s what I chose, but I feel good about it. Plus, it’s my twentieth birthday, so I wanted to dress up.

So, now I’m here, in a dress that barely covers anything, fueled by sadness and anger for so many things. The only bright spot of my night so far was that Envy wasn’t at the dorm.

“Skyler!” Kate rushes towards me, a bright smile plastered on her face. “Happy Birthday!” she exclaims, tossing her crimson hair over her shoulder. I’ve always been so jealous of her vibrant locks. To be honest, I’ve always hated my hair; the way I get compared to a barbie doll, further projecting a ridiculous sense of perfection on myself. Barbie’s not even that cool, and my hair turns green whenever I go swimming.

“Kate!” I grin when I see a little homemade banister equipped with my name written in cursive with the words, ‘Happy Birthday!’ Tears threaten to spill at the gesture, but instead, I bring Kate in for a hug.

A surprise party during a normal party. I don’t even care; I have thebestbest friend in the world.

Her arms wrap around me tightly, but her eyes pan behind me. “Where’s Ghost?”

My heart sinks, and curiosity takes over. “Well, he’s not coming. Did he help plan this?” I begin to feel more guilty, but I don’t think that could be possible.

“What? No!” Kate laughs, gripping my dress. “Oh, I love this on you! And I don’t trust Ghost enough to know about your surprise party. I just figured since you were with him earlier,” She winks, most certainly wanting to know all the details of our little study session.

Football jerseys rush by us, giving a much-needed distraction for Kate’s eyes. “What were you going to do if I didn’t show up?” I ask.

“I would have kidnapped you.” She giggles, clutching my arm. “Do you like your party?” She gestures out to the hundreds of unfamiliar faces with a proud gleam.

“It’ so sweet that I don’t even care that I don’t know ninety percent of these people.” I joke, walking through the crowded room.

“Minor details,” Kate says, grabbing my hand. “Let’s party!”

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