When Sky woke up the next morning, she was full of determination.

It was a bright and beautiful Saturday morning - and she knew exactly how she would use this weekend.

First - she would start working out again - it was now six months since the surgery on her shoulder, and she'd been a good little soldier and done all the boring physiotherapy exercises three times a week - but today she would fucking kill it. She would go for a run.

Sweating her ass off, was no doubt gonna help with her disturbing Eli obsession - at least she hoped so.

And after the run, she'd go shopping for a Halloween costume - preferably something super hot that would blow Eli's mind—

And I'm NOT going to think about Eli Moskowitz!

A super hot Halloween costume that would blow everyone's mind, she decided. Maybe with Sam, she thought and sent her a quick text to ask if she was free later today. Then, rushing through a quick breakfast of cereal and milk over the kitchen countertop, reading Sam's reply that said she'd be glad to join her shopping expedition, changing into sneakers and sweatpants and she was almost out of the door before Dad noticed she was leaving.

"Where are you going?" he asked, yawning, still in his jammies. "It's the weekend, isn't it?"

"What does it look like?" Sky replied. "I'm going for a run."

"Oh. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"I'm gonna have to start again someday, aren't I?"

Dad furrowed his brows but didn't argue. "Just take it easy. If there's any pain–"

Sky rolled her eyes. "There's always pain, Dad. Fucking always! Just gonna have to live with it, I guess."

And with that she was finally out of the door, inhaling the fresh morning air, her feet suddenly light and restless in her sneakers, the road ahead of her ready for the taking.

She lasted less than 15 minutes.

By that time she was sweating through her clothes, her lungs felt like she was breathing in fire and the shoulder - the fucking miserable, useless, a piece of a shit shoulder was fucking killing her with pain.

She had to stop for a breather, and tears of anger, disappointment, and agony filled her eyes as she leaned her hands to her knees to catch her breath.

Eight months ago she'd been running half marathons. Now she barely managed a mile. And the shoulder wound–

Tentatively Sky pulled up the sleeve of her T-shirt and winced. The spot where the bullet had torn through skin and flesh and bone was bright red, the whole area around it swollen and almost purple in color, which was a definite sign of internal bleeding.

"Shit–" she muttered. "That's not good."

She pulled the sleeve back down and scanned her surroundings. No way was she gonna call Dad! He would freak out as always, and probably lock her in her room for weeks. Luckily there was a 7-Eleven on a closeby corner. Taking a deep breath Sky headed towards it, and not caring one bit about her messed hair and sweaty face, entered the store.

She picked a bag of ice cubes from the freezer, and shambled her feet to the counter, clenching her teeth to manage the pain. Only when she slammed the ice cube bag on the counter, did she realize that she wasn't the only customer.

The two guys who were just finishing their business at the cash were Demetri and Eli.

Oh for the fuck's sake. It's Eli fucking Moskowitz.

And I'm looking like shit.

It shouldn't have mattered, but somehow it did, and for a moment Sky hesitated, thinking that she'd just ditch the ice bag and leave the store - but her shoulder was hurting really bad and she was worried it would get a lot worse if she didn't deal with it right away.

Demetri and Eli both looked at her, wide-eyed and curious as she walked toward them, and Eli finished stuffing their sodas and bags of potato chips into a backpack. Sky decided not to comment on their choice of breakfast.

"Hi." she simply said, as she slammed the bag of ice on the counter and took a 5 dollar bill from the pocket of her joggers.

Eli replied to her greeting with a small smile and a nod, but Demetri took a look at Sky from head to toe and gave a rather theatrical sigh.

"Oh, God. Don't tell me you're one of those people who do sports for fun," he said.

"Do I look like I'm having fun?" Sky snapped and grabbed the bag of ice cubes. "Keep the change," she added to the storekeeper.

"Well, you look like you're doing sports," said Demetri. "But what's with the ice?"

Sky walked out of the store and didn't even look if the boys were following. For once in her life, she didn't even care. She needed to sit down, and soon - or she'd faint or puke all over the place. Her vision was already blurring on the edges, which was definitely a bad sign.

And she desperately didn't want Eli to see her vomiting all over herself.

Thank God there was a bench outside, and Sky fell onto it, her shaky legs giving in. She placed the ice bag on her shoulder, closing her eyes and taking a couple of deep breaths in and out. The shoulder hurt like hell, and she made a hiss that ended in a curse.

"Are you okay?" she heard a voice - Eli's voice, silent and a bit rough around the edges, as always.

"I got this stupid shoulder injury." Sky managed through clenched teeth. "I thought it would be okay by now, but I guess I was wrong."

"Proves my point that sports are actually bad for you," Demetri said, and Sky felt as he took a seat by her side.

"You're an idiot." Sky replied rather pointedly.

"I'm really not–"

But Eli interrupted him mid-sentence: "Sky, umm. You're looking kinda pale. Are you sure you're okay?"

"Gonna be fine," Sky muttered, pressing the ice bag on her shoulder. "Just give me a minute."

Still keeping her eyes closed, she leaned back on the bench and concentrated on breathing for a while. She felt how Eli took a seat too, on her other side - close enough for her to feel his warmth, to breathe in his scent of boy and books. It both grounded her and made her high-headed at the same time.

"So, you guys aren't into sports, I take it?" she asked to get something else to think about.

"Are you kidding? Haven't you seen my biceps? Here, take a look at all this awesomeness that was built on days and days sweating at the gym and sniffing steroids up my nose–" Demetri started, and Sky forced her eyes open to see how he showed off his nonexistent muscles.

Eli's mouth turned into a grin - a sight that made Sky's heart do a little dance in her chest.

"Right, Mr. Universe," she said to Demetri. "But seriously - it would do you good to do some sports. Take it from someone who knows."

"Because you look totally healthy right now."

"Idiot." Sky snapped. "This is just an injury. Sports are still good for you."

"Now you sound like Miguel," Demetri replied with an eye roll. "That's all he's been going on about lately, that Eli and I should join this karate dojo he goes to, and get some kick-ass Karate skills."

Sky arched her brows and glanced at Eli, who simply shrugged as if to confirm what Demetri was saying.

"A Karate dojo?" she asked.

"Don't tell me you're into Karate too," Demetri said. "I feel like it's all everyone is talking about lately, since Miguel started there and gained enough confidence to stand up to Kyler."

Sky arched her brows. That was a story she hadn't heard yet but definitely wanted to hear.

"I still think that was cool," Eli noted.

"Yes." Demetri agreed. "But that's not my point. I'd rather spend my afternoons watching Netflix than getting kicked in the face."

That actually made Sky laugh. "It's not that bad," she said. "Not that I have tried karate, but... I used to do capoeira a lot. And other stuff too - cheerleading, dance, acrobatics, circus. Stuff. But capoeira the most, and it was awesome, even if I got kicked in the face a lot."

"Capoeira?" Eli asked.

"It's a Brazilian martial art." Sky replied. "Kinda combines dancing with lethal kicks."

"That sounds bizarre," Demetri noted. "But I am intrigued."

"I think I have a video somewhere..." Sky said and dug her phone from her pocket with her free hand. "Let me see."

She quickly went through her photos, until she found out what she'd be looking for. The video of her and Kat sparring, right before the last tournament she'd attended. It was filmed about a year ago, showing her somewhat more child-faced, but still recognizable with her flaming red hair on a tight braid on her neck, wearing black yoga pants and a tank top. And Kat–

Sky fought back the tears.

Kat looked so beautiful. The tall, ebony-skinned goddess she was, always so goddamn graceful and elegant and at the same time looking like she could fight off a fucking army.

Sky didn't watch videos of Kat often. It hurt too much. It was easier to just forget and go on living, one day at a time. Memories were a deathly swamp that could drown her if she gave them the power to do so.

The video wasn't long, only a couple of minutes, and it showed them first laughing and chatting, but then the music started and they were doing amazing backflips and cartwheels, and fierce kicks aimed at each other's faces, until Kat managed to land a blow that took Sky down to the mat.

"So yeah," she said when the video ended. "That's capoeira. I used to be kinda good, but of course, that was before this stupid shoulder happened."

"Your friend totally kicked your ass," Demetri commented.

"Yeah, well. She used to do that a lot," Sky agreed. "But I wasn't too bad either."

"That was awesome." Eli breathed, and she turned to look at him. As their eyes met, Sky once again experienced the sudden freefall into an emotion she couldn't quite name. She just knew that she could look into Eli's blue eyes forever and ever and ever, and she wanted for him to look at her just like this for all the days to come. Like she was beautiful and amazing and everything he had ever dreamed of.

Sky felt her cheeks heating, and she cut the eye contact, stuffed the phone back into her pocket.

"Takes a lot of practice," she said. "Did it for ten years."

"Are you gonna get back into it, once the shoulder heals?" Eli asked.

Sky shook her head.

She hadn't stepped foot into a capoeira studio since what had happened, and she couldn't imagine doing that ever again. It had always been something she had done with Kat. Hell, they had practically grown up together at the Capoeira place Kat's dad had owned, learning to kick and do cartwheels as soon as they could walk. Without Kat, Sky couldn't see the point of doing that anymore.

She had lost the other half of her soul, and compared to that, losing Capoeira felt like a minor blow.

"I don't even know if it's possible here," she said. "Besides, with this shitty shoulder, I probably won't be able to cartwheel anymore."

"Then maybe you should join Migel's dojo, Cobra Kai," Eli said. "Switch to karate."

Sky shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe when the shoulder is better. Right now I can't even do an easy jog down the street without it being a bitch, so."

But her mind was already wandering. She needed a hobby, didn't she? If for nothing else, then at least to stay out of that fucking memory swamp that tried to drown her. Maybe Karate would be fun - once her shoulder got used to the exercise. And maybe Eli would join that dojo too...

Miguel had asked him to do so, right?

Sky didn't know Miguel all that well. She shared a couple of classes with him, but as he mostly hung out with Eli and Demetri, and in school Sky tried to stay with her new friends, Yasmine, Moon, and Sam, they weren't really interacting.

Now she wondered why, though.

She had much more fun with Eli and Demetri than with the girls she called friends. And she had revealed much more about her true self to these kids in five minutes, than to Moon and Yasmine in two weeks.

Maybe she should reconsider her choice of social circles, and actually, start hanging out with people she liked.

That's what Kat would say if she could ask for her advice. She'd tell her to ditch the shallow bitches, and hang out with these cute nerds instead.

But Sky shook off that thought.

She wasn't going to think about Kat. Kat was gone, as was her old life. This was a fresh start. This time, she would have to choose her own fate.

Whatever that would mean.

The pain in her shoulder was diminishing, so she removed the ice bag - the cubes were melting anyways - and ditched it into a nearby trash bin, rolling her shoulder tentatively - it still felt stiff and swollen, but there was nothing new there. Maybe tomorrow she could try another run, and little by little it would get used to exercising again.

"By the way, are you guys gonna go to the Halloween dance?" Sky asked, suddenly remembering the coming event.

"Maybe," Demetri replied. "But you know, being as popular as we are, our event calendar is kinda full."

She turned to look at Eli instead.

"What about you?" Eli asked with a nervous smile, making Sky almost lose her balance. For a moment she thought about replying that she'd go if he went with her–

But asking him out would be madness.

Absolute frickin madness. No matter how darn cute he was.

"Thinking about it. Sam said she and the others are going as Laker Girls, and I don't know..." she shrugged. "That's not really my thing. I want a cooler costume."

"Cooler than Yasmine as a Laker Girl?" Demetri sighed. "That's a lot. I mean, Yasmine is so hot–"

"Geez, try to decide if she's cool or hot, will you?" Sky asked with a laugh.

"Oh, she's hot." Demetri nodded. "Definitely. Too bad she doesn't even know that I exist."

"I think she knows," Eli said silently. "She couldn't be so mean to us if she didn't."

His remark made Sky suddenly feel very guilty. She'd silently watched by, while Yasmine had made fun of Eli and Demetri on daily basis. She'd hoped the boys didn't mind it, but she should've known better.

At least Eli seemed to mind, and suddenly that felt like a knife in her windpipe, but she quickly swallowed down that guilt knife. It sure wasn't her responsibility to stop all the bullying in the world, was it?

"You'd better have a kick-ass costume, then," she said to Demetri. "If you wish to impress Yasmine. You got one already?"

"A necromancer," Demetri stated. "And Eli's gonna go as a surgeon."

"A plastic surgeon." Eli corrected.

"Sounds nice." Sky commented. "Any ideas on what I should wear?"

"Oh, plenty," Demetri said.

"Do I want to hear them?"

"Probably not," he said, making Sky laugh again. "But you're going to look awesome anyways."

"Don't get your hopes up," Sky muttered. "Maybe I should just go as a Laker Girl. My costumes suck every time. A couple of years ago I went as Hermione Granger, and everyone kept thinking I was Ginny, because of my stupid red hair. But that wasn't as bad as the year I went as Jabba the Hutt, and my costume fucking exploded."

Eli laughed out loud, and the hoarse sound of his laughter made something jump in Sky's chest.

"Oh my God," Demetri said. "You might be an even bigger geek than the two of us combined. Jabba the Hutt? For real?"

"Don't ask." Sky said. "And more importantly - don't tell anyone or I'll have to kill you."

"With capoeira?" Eli asked with a small smile on his lips.

"Or Karate." Sky said and stood up to leave. "Who knows?"

As she walked away, she glanced over her shoulder once, and Eli was looking after her with a wide smile on his lips. That smile went straight to Sky's gut, it was an instant high and she almost stumbled and fell, barely managing to keep on walking.

This Eli problem was getting really bad, and Sky knew she should be worried. But instead, she felt excited - for the first time in six months. Eli's smile had made a swarm of butterflies flutter their wings in her belly, and she breathed in that feeling, letting it fill her from head to toe.

Now I have an idea of what to wear for the dance. And fuck, is it gonna blow Eli's mind!

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