Falling like the Stars

7

Skye’s Point of View

It’s been four months. Four months since the incident. Four months since I first wrote that letter to Jemma. Although it seems like a short amount of time, it feels like an eternity. Every day I walk into first period hoping, wanting, and needing for Jemma to say something to me, anything. I would even feel better if she just yelled at me. Nothing. She says nothing. I glance her way and when she does make eye contact, I see the hurt. The anger. I put that there. As much as I don’t want to admit it, I can’t blame her. What I did, is unforgivable. I know that. Ward has become like best buds with the two of them. He definitely does deserve their friendship. He did nothing wrong. Miles knew not to tell Ward of our plans because he would have put a stop to it. I was jealous of him. Why didn’t I just say no when I realized that Fitz and Jemma were not that bad. Not even at all. When I had realized that something inside of me craved to be around Jemma. I don’t know what the feeling was, or is. All I know is, I want to know Jemma. Have her present in my life.

At school I am considered popular. Everyone seems to know my name. I get at least three different people a day attempting to ask me out ever since I broke up with Miles. Even if I did want to go out on dates, which I don’t, Miles always gives the look of death when people flirt with me. He wants me back. But I just don’t want him. I lost the desire to be with him. I don’t think I ever truly wanted to be with him. It was more so for my parents. When the Brody’s adopted me, I felt safe. They did everything that I had wished my previous foster homes would do. They opened up their hearts and were patient when I told them I never believed in God once I had saw what my dad did for a living. They introduced me to faith. My dad spoke to me about God and I could not help but fall in love with the church. Miles and Wards parents were regulars. They always said when the three of us were kids that I should date one of them. Ward became like a brother to me so that was out of the question. All that was left was Miles. I let myself be with him because it is what worked. It was what made everyone feel happy. Now that we are over and done. I feel so, free. I still hang out with him, but it is different now. I can do what I want without having him hovering over me.

Something is still missing though. The only thing that I have a feeling of what it could be is, Fitz and Jemma. I see them always smiling and laughing with Ward whenever they hang out at school and I can’t help but want to be there to. Ward tells me stories of their outings and conversations together and I just crave to know every detail. I want to feel like as if I was there. But I’m not. I’m never going to be. I will never be friends with Fitz and Jemma. I blew that chance. I blew the chance to get to know, Jemma. Jemma. I want to know her. Knowing that I can’t is probably the reason that I have been acting this way. At the different weekend parties that people from school have, I get drunk to the point of blacking out. I say things to people that I don’t mean. I get into nonsense shenanigans with Raina, Triplett, Miles, and all the others. I have officially taken the role of the bad/popular girl. Ward always mentions to me that he has seen the change and wishes I would stop. My parents have also seen the change. I used to go to church every Sunday. Now I only go once a month. I hate that I am hurting them, but I feel lost. I just go along with what people want me to be.

It is one week away from winter break. I just cannot wait for this first semester to be over. It is a Friday night and Raina had mentioned to us that there was a kid at school who wanted to be a part of us. Now, there is no initiation that any of us did to be a part of the group, but everyone thought there was. Truth is if you were hot and talented at your expertise, the group welcomed you with open arms. The girls name is Maria Hill. According to Raina, she is a future field agent. Triplett invited a couple of his sophomore friends who drove some of the younger ones to the lake. Raina and I drove with Miles and Ward. The lake is only open on certain days otherwise it was always a No Trespassing zone. So of course that’s what we were all going to do. When we pulled up, a couple of the older guys were already out of their cars and passing around beers.

                “Here.” One of the guys said as they tossed a beer to Raina, Miles, and Ward.

                “No thanks. I’m good.” Ward said as he attempted to give back the beer.

                “Oh come on, little bro. Stop being such a little stiff. Take the beer, it will help to loosen you up.” Miles said as he wrapped an arm around his brother’s neck.

                “No thanks. Simmons and Fitz say that it’s bad for training.” Ward said as he pulled away from his brother’s grip.

Great he just had to mention them. I snatched the beer away from Ward and chugged it down. I went to get another one from the older guys. I needed to drink. It was the only time that my thoughts would be elsewhere other than with the thought of Fitz and –Jemma. By the time I finished the second beer, Maria had finally pulled up. She had a motorcycle. In our town you did not need a license to drive a motorcycle. So for her to have pulled up alone knowing she is the same age as me, fifteen, was not that surprising.

                “Well, it only took you about fifteen minutes past the time we asked you to be here.” Miles said as he glared at Maria.

                “Yeah. Sorry. I had to sneak out of the house and my brother refused to give me the keys to his motorcycle.” Maria said as she attempted to sound cool about the whole thing.

                “Oh leave the girl alone, Miles..,” Raina said as she slapped Miles shoulder playfully. Although she thought I never noticed, I knew Raina had a crush on him. It was just more obvious now that we weren’t together anymore. “…Are you ready to do this?”

                “I think so.” Maria responded.

We all walked down the dock and hopped a fence to get to the edge of the lake. There was construction going on at the lake for a little fast food restaurant that was going to open there. One of the machines in particular was the one that lifted you high like a ladder. The plan was to take her all the way to the top, or as high as the machine would allow, and have her jump. If she did, then she was one of us. When we explained it to her, she seemed a little bit frightened. Miles and Triplett really needed her to be a part of the group because the girl is seriously amazing at fighting. For her to not join the group wasn’t an option. This is how I ended up agreeing to go with her to calm her nerves. We both stripped to tank tops and shorts and boarded the machine. It was a little higher than I thought when we reached the top.

                “Have you done this before?” Maria asked as she was looking down at the water below.

                “Uh, Yeah. We all have…,” That’s a lie of course. But in order for her to actually jump, she needed to believe that we all had done it too. “…Don’t worry. It feels like a rush once you hit the water. And you’re not doing it alone. I’m jumping with you.”

                “Come on ladies. We don’t have all night. Jump already!” Triplett yelled and the others started to laugh.

                “Okay on three. Ready?” I said as I looked at Maria.

                “Yup. I mean as ready as I’ll ever be.”

                “One. Two. THREE.”

The both of us started doing a little jog forward, but I stopped once we got to the edge. I heard the splash and looked down as I seen that Maria had jumped. Everyone below started cheering and laughing. I as well found myself clapping because she not only jumped, but she jumped alone. I had lied to her so she definitely deserved the cheer. I noticed that the little waves from the splash started to disappear, but still no Maria.

                “Oh my god.” Raina said as she looked at the water.

                “Skye get down here! She is hurt.” Ward said as he saw something floating in the water.

I looked back down to see that Maria was floating upside down. I got down as quickly as I could and jumped in the water. I swam to her and flipped her over. She had a gash in her head. I felt something below my feet and immediately knew what she had hit.

                “There’s a huge rock down here. She must have hit it!” I screamed as I started to carry her to the dock where the others were.

                “What's going on down there?” Someone had said in the distance as they flashed a light toward us.

                “s**t. Hurry up Skye, its security!” Miles had noticed who was glaring the light.

                “Shut up Miles. I don’t see you in the water. Come on guys help me.” I had managed to finally reach the dock and needed help to get her up and out of the water.

                “We’re going to need police down here ASAP. There are a couple of trespassers.” I could hear the security guard speaking into his radio.

The guys had helped me get her up. I pulled myself out of the water and hovered over Maria. Everyone was freaking out. They all started saying that they needed to get out of there once we all heard faint sirens getting louder and louder toward us.

                “Come on. We need to leave.” One guy said to the group and most of them agreed and started running to their cars.

                “Miles, we need to leave we are going to get caught.” Raina began to tug on Miles shirt.

                “Alright. Alright, I know. Come on Ward. Let’s get out of here.” He said as he started walking away.

Ward was kneeling down with me as we were trying to help Maria. She was conscious and kept repeating how her head was hurting.

                “Their right Skye. We need to go.” Ward said as he stood up.

“No. Just go, get out of here. I’ll be fine. I promise, just go.” I knew that once they left I would not have a way to get out of there, but I could not help but feel fully responsible for this whole mess. The sirens were a lot louder at this point. Ward went off with Miles and Raina. They took off and I was alone.

                “Okay. It’s okay. You’re going to be alright.” I said as I looked down at Maria. The sirens were getting closer and I felt a rush of fear. I looked back past the dock and seen Marias motorcycle. I had a chance to escape.

                “Please, please don’t leave me.” Maria had noticed that I was looking at the motorcycle.

I did not want to be that person to just leave the poor girl bleeding, but I also did not want to get arrested. I had to make a choice.

“I’m sorry. I just…I can’t. Sorry.” I got up and ran to the end of the dock where the motorcycle was parked. She had left the keys in the ignition. The police had spotted me and without another second passing by, I started the motorcycle and drove off. Two cop cars were chasing me and speaking through their intercom telling me to pull over. I began to speed up and was slowly gaining speed over them. I could do this. I can escape this. Another police car came in front of me out of nowhere and I had no other choice but to jerk the motorcycle to the right. I felt a rush of pain throughout my body. I crashed.

                “Don’t move…,” One of the cops got out of the car and approached me, “….You have the right to remain silent…”

I had to stay overnight in the police station. Given the fact that my dad is the beloved pastor of the town, the police gave me a pass. My parents took me to the emergency room. I had a cut above my eye, scratches, bruises, and a minor fracture in my ankle. When we got home, my parents gave me the whole we are so disappointed in you/you are going down the wrong path speech. My older brothers just wanted to hear the whole story of how I tried to escape the cops.

On that Monday I had arrived a lot earlier to school than normal. One of the punishments from my parents was that I had to get there when they wanted. Which meant less sleep for me. Oh well. This was the last week and then we get a month off for winter break. I had seen the group hanging out in the middle of the school like normal.

                “Well. Well. If it isn’t the wounded wanted fugitive.” Raina said as she saw me coming on my crutches.

                “Damn Skye. You look worse than I thought.” Ward said as he moved from his spot on the bench so I could sit down.

                “Well thanks Ward. Don’t you just have a way with words?” I smiled at him and shifted myself to sit down.

                “You didn’t rat us out to the cops did you?” Miles asked.

                “No Miles. I didn’t rat you guys out to the cops…” Wow. I knew Miles wasn’t that bright, but the questions he ask are just getting more and more dumb. “…If I did, you all would be in jail by now.”

                “So, what did you tell them?” Trip asked.

                “I just said it seemed like a nice night for a walk. I had passed by the lake and seen the poor girl bleeding. I went to go see if I could help and when I heard the sirens I got spooked. I seen the motorcycle and I tried to take off before anyone would think I had anything to do with the situation. They just gave me a pat on the wrist.” I was definitely impressed with myself that I had come up with that nonsense story at the station, but they believed it.

                “Damn. Who would’ve known you were that good of liar.” Raina had said through her laugh.

                “What did they say about Maria? Is she okay?” Ward asked.

                I got a little more upset at the situation, “Ugh yeah. They said she has to be in the hospital for a couple months. The hit was pretty bad.”

Just then Jemma and Fitz arrived on campus. They were smiling and laughing with each other just like always. She has such a nice smile. Oh god, Skye. Stop staring. Ward waved at them and motioned for them to head over. He started to pack up his stuff so he could leave with them.

                As they were walking over Miles said, “Jeez. I know they are nerds but they don’t have to dress like it. Someone needs to help them out with that.” Everyone started busting out laughing except for Ward and I. Ward’s face filled with anger and I could tell he wanted to hit him just as much as I did.

“I’ve already asked you not to make fun of them. They are nice. Maybe you would know that if you just gave them a chance.” Ward said as he left to go with Jemma and Fitz.

Skye Bennet to the principal’s office. Skye Bennet to the principal’s office. Agent Coulson said over the intercom.

                “Good luck. I heard he is a hard ass.” Triplett said as they all got up to head to class.

I sat down in the chair that faced Coulson. He looked at me with no expression and I knew I was in huge trouble. He grabbed something from under his desk and came back up. He placed three empty bottles of beer right in front of me. After a few moments of him just glaring at me, he finally said something.

                “A couple of students came forward and said they saw some teens drinking at parties. More specifically this past weekend at the lake. Now, you can understand why I would think it was you.”

                “Yeah. I understand.” There was no point in me arguing. I got caught and I deserve whatever punishment I have coming.

                “Your parents have already agreed with what the consequences are going to be. You will be asked to sit at the front row of every one of your classes. For the rest of this year you will be helping the janitorial staff after school--"

                “With pay.” I interrupted him.

                “No, not with pay. You will be doing it out of the kindness of your heart.”

I just rolled my eyes and nodded for him to continue.

                “Lastly, you will be participating in the drama club and asked to be in the upcoming play.”

The drama club had put up one play already. Ward and I went and I found the actors to be amazing. I thought about joining the club for a brief second, but I heard how much time it takes in rehearsals and immediately changed my mind.

                “Don’t they normally start rehearsals like five months before hand?” I asked him a little confused.

                “Exactly Skye. The play will be performed in May. Which means that they start rehearsals and all that this Friday all the way until their performance.”

                “They start this Friday? That’s when winter break starts. Are you telling me that I am going to miss break just for this club?”

                “They work hard for the performances they put up Skye. So yes, you will be here at school during break for three days out of every week. Have fun with it. It is time that you start hanging out with different kinds of people. And do not mess this up Skye. You’ll regret it if you do.”

I showed up at the gym after school. My little janitor job started immediately. I got assigned to sweep up the place and I found it absolutely ridiculous given the fact that it was hard to sweep with crutches. When I walked in, there were a couple of clubs having their meetings. Other janitor staff were there as well helping to set up tables and the others throwing away garbage. Looked like I would have to start getting to work too.

Looking at my surroundings once more, I found myself shocked to see Jemma and Fitz. They were both talking to a group of students giving them a lecture about space. I looked to what the banner at the table said. It was the Stars and Planets club. Well to others it was the science club because they also did all sorts of experiments, but they mainly focused on space. I moved closer to the table. You know because it was dirty over there.

                “Okay, this is a very simple device made out of plastic wrap, wire, and a coat hanger. Can any of you tell me what it is?” Jemma said as she looked expectantly at the small group of people.

No one seemed to know the answer. I had a love for stars ever since I first got into the foster system. I knew exactly what it was so I could not help myself.

                “It’s a star frame.” I said from behind Jemma and Fitz.

Fitz turned around and smiled like he was amazed that I knew the answer. Jemma turned around with a blank expression. She looked me up and down before returning her attention back to the crowd.

                “This is a star frame. It helps to locate stars and planets with the naked eye.” Jemma explained to the group.

I moved away from the table far enough for no one to be suspicious as to why I was sweeping the same spot, but close enough for her to be in visible range. I saw from across the room that Miles, Ward, Raina and Triplett were coming in. They all made eye contact with me and started to mimic the movements of sweeping. Those Jerks. I just rolled my eyes and kept sweeping.

                Miles noticed Jemma and Fitz. He obviously just couldn’t resist the urge to say something to them. “So tell me British Girl, can you see Angels up in space too?” He started laughing and turned to walk away.

                “Actually, there are some things that can be called miraculous…,” Jemma said to him and they all turned to stop and listen, “…Einstein said the more he studied the universe the more he believed in a higher power.”

                “Well, if there is a higher power, how come he can’t get you some new outfits.” Miles said and Raina as well as Triplett started laughing. Ward punched his shoulder and rolled his eyes. He was lucky I was further away because I would have punched him too. In the face most likely.

                “It’s probably because he’s too busy looking for your brain.” Jemma said raising an eyebrow. Fitz and Ward both laughed in unison. Ward gave Jemma a high five and turned to look at all the stuff on the table.

Miles, Raina, and Triplett rolled their eyes and proceeded to walk toward me. I had a giant smile on my face that had followed after my laughing attack. Miles deserved that clever little comment. The fact that it came from Jemma made it that much better.

                “Relax, you guys. It was a joke. Laugh.” I said as they approached me.

                “Whatever. Come on lets blow this joint. We’re going to go and get ice cream.” Raina said.

“I can’t. Coulson said if I mess this up I’ll regret it. I’m guessing he meant expulsion. Go ahead I’ll be fine.”

They all left after a couple more jokes. Ward stayed behind to hang with Jemma and Fitz. Also because I kind of mentioned to him earlier that I wanted him to stay to keep me company. I was glad that Jemma and Fitz were there to keep him occupied. I was not good company with me over here sweeping. Plus Ward always seemed to manage to get both Jemma and Fitz to laugh and smile. I loved seeing that girl smile. Thank you Ward.

“I heard that none of these people are easy to get along with. That they like to stick to their own kind. How am I supposed to get to know different kinds of people like Coulson asked if they are going to be difficult?” I asked Ward. We had made it through our last week of our first semester. He was driving me back to the school grounds on that Friday so I wouldn’t miss the first day of rehearsals.

                “Will you just relax? I became friends with you when we were younger so fast that we were practically siblings within five minutes. People will like you Skye, I promise. Besides I am sure there is going to be at least two people you will want to get to know.” He said with a very suspicious grin.

                “What do you mean by that exactly?”

                “You will see. Now get out of my car, cripple. I will be back right at seven to pick you up…” he said as I got out of the car with my crutches, “…Remember Skye, keep that smile on!”

                “Shut up Ward.” I gave him a large cheesy smile and he drove off.

I walked into the performing arts center and noticed a couple of familiar faces from around school. None of which I talk to or would even attempt to talk to. I looked to see that Agent May was the director which made me feel somewhat better that it was a teacher I knew. I sat down to wait for the rehearsals to start. There were two people that walked on stage to talk to Agent May about something. It was Jemma and Fitz. At that moment I knew what Ward and Coulson meant. This was my chance to get to know different kinds of people and I am not going to blow it. 

Actio