Sky by jewel crotan (early readers .txt) 📕

would have to avoid Bethany and Seth at school because I didn’t want to see them and I didn’t want the whole school whispering about us. There was absolutely nothing either one of them could say to me to make things better.



***



We graduated a couple of weeks later and in those weeks, both Seth and Bethany called me and texted me non-stop. I defriended both of them on Facebook and didn’t return any of their messages. I meant it when I told them they were dead to me. I spent the summer with my other good friends, stayed as busy as possible and I was really looking forward to the next chapter of my life. It took a couple of months for the pain to subside, but it wasn’t totally gone.



Every now and then I felt sad about what Bethany and Seth did to me, and sad about the relationships that were ruined, but I kept reminding myself that I was better off without them. No one needed friends like that. My friends told me that Bethany and Seth had not seen or talked to each other since the day I caught them, and in a weird way I found that sad. They ruined our relationships for nothing. I didn’t see Bethany or Seth the entire summer and I was okay with that. I ended the summer on a good note, spending the last weekend with a bunch of my friends and it felt really good to have people I trusted around me. I had no desire to date any guys even though a few asked me out over the summer. I had a concrete wall protecting my heart and I vowed to myself to never allow anything like that betrayal to happen to me again.



It was going to take a very long time for me to trust new people and I was okay with that. I would go off to college, probably meet a few nice girls, stay away from the guys, and focus on studying. After what I had been through with Seth, I had no desire to let anyone near my heart, not for a very long time. It was a perfect plan, or so I thought. My first week of college I would quickly learn that there are some things you just can’t control.



chapter one

 I was so excited to go away to college that I almost forgot my silver ring the day I was leaving and I would have been devastated if I had left that behind. It was nothing expensive or fancy, just a thin, simple, sterling silver band with tiny sunflowers etched all around it. My dad gave it to me for my 8th birthday, it was the first piece of real jewelry that I had ever gotten and I wore it on my pinkie finger almost every day. Some days I wore it on a necklace if my fingers were too swollen. It used to fit on my index finger, but as I got older I found that I had to move it down a finger until the pinkie was the last stop. It was one of the things that helped me get through the whole Bethany/Seth thing.



I remember the day he gave it to me, it was after my birthday party and he came to my room to say good night. My mom had already kissed me goodnight so he and I were alone. He sat on my bed and placed a tiny pink box in my hand.



“Daddy, you already gave me a birthday present!” I couldn’t stop beaming at him because I was so excited to get another present.



“I know sweetheart, but this one is extra special and you are my little princess. Go ahead, open it.” He had a grin on his face that was as big as mine as he sat waiting for me to open my gift.



I carefully opened the box and gleaming up at me was the prettiest ring I had ever seen. I flung my arms around him and I think I must have kissed his cheek 20 times. We didn’t have a lot of money but my parents always managed to make my birthdays special.



“Thank you daddy! It’s so pretty!”



He hugged me back and kissed the top of my head. “You’re welcome sweetheart. When you wear that ring I want you to remember that even though I might not be in the same room with you, I will always be in your heart.”



My dad and I had a really special relationship. I know it was different than the one he had with my older brother and sister, I could talk to him about anything and loved being around him. I spent a ton of time with him and I think my mom felt a little left out sometimes, but I loved them both the same. The only time I took my ring off was when I took a bath or shower.



My dad died in a car accident the next year and I didn’t think I would ever be able to get out of bed again. I cried for days. The only thing that helped me get through each day, aside from my mom, brother and sister, was the ring that I clutched tight every time I thought about him.



My mom remarried a really nice man named Jay three years later, and while I had a good relationship with him, I still missed my dad every day. My step-dad told us that he would never try to replace our father but he wanted all of us to know that he loved us and he would be there for us whenever we needed him. He was a grade school science teacher and he didn’t have any kids of his own, but he treated us like we were his own kids.



My mom and step-dad were driving us to the airport that day, the car was all packed and we had just started to drive away when I rubbed my pinkie finger, feeling for my ring, which was something I did mindlessly all the time. I didn’t feel it there and I started to panic. I definitely had to have my dad with me for my first day of college and there was no way I was going to leave without my ring.



“Mom! I forgot my ring, I have to go in and get it!”



My step-dad stopped the car and pulled back into the driveway.



“Okay honey, but hurry, we don’t want to miss our flight.”



I ran to my room and grabbed my ring off of my dresser. As I slipped it on I smiled to myself because I could feel my dad watching me. I hopped down the stairs and locked the door behind me taking a long look at our house. We lived in a small bungalow on the north side of Chicago and while it wasn’t big or fancy, it was perfect to me. I had a lot of good memories in that house of Christmases, birthdays, and my first date. I would miss it but I was excited for what was ahead of me, and so happy that I could feel my dad watching over me. I spun on my heel and trotted off to the car feeling that I now had everything I needed to start this new phase in my life. It was time to close this chapter of my life, leaving thoughts of Seth and Bethany behind, and start fresh and new, and I couldn’t wait.

chapter two

 I had gotten a full ride to a top university in Massachusetts, and although I was excited to be away from home, I was also a little bit nervous. I had never been that far from home before and I was kind of worried about not having my parents right there if I needed them, but it was time for me to grow up. I was going to make this an incredible time in my life that I would never forget.



When we arrived at my dorm, my adrenaline was flowing as the excitement coursed through my veins. There were tons of people arriving on campus and there was this awesome buzz of energy in the air. My mom and step-dad stayed for a couple of hours and helped me get settled in my room and then it was time for them to head back to the hotel. They were going to fly back home the next day and my mom looked a wreck as she hugged me goodbye. I kept reassuring her that I would call home all the time. She finally let go of me after a couple of minutes and my step-dad kissed me goodbye and put his arm around my mom to comfort her. I was the last one of my siblings leaving for college, my brother and sister had graduated a couple of years before, and the days leading up to it were really difficult for my mom. Even though my dad wasn’t there, I was really happy that my mom wasn’t alone after she dropped me off at college because I don’t think she would have been able to handle it without some sort of support.



When my parents left I sat on my bed for a bit and let it sink in that I was really at college. After a few minutes I started unpacking my stuff, wondering what my roommate was going to be like and hoping that we would get along. My dorm was really busy with students unpacking and goofing off. I was putting some of my clothes in my dresser when I heard someone coming in.



“Hello?” A friendly voice called out and I turned to see a gorgeous bubbly blonde with a huge grin plastered on her face holding a big box. She was about my height, had shoulder length hair and had a really pretty face. Her parents were smiling at me as they helped her carry some of her stuff in.



I smiled back at all of them and quickly helped her carry the box.



“Hi! Oh, let me help you with that.”



“Oh gosh thanks, this thing is so heavy! I’m Katie by the way and these are my parents Kathleen and Tom.”



“Hi, I’m Skylar, but my friends call me Sky. It’s nice to meet all of you.”



“Skylar, where are you from?” Katie’s mom had a sweet smile on her