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"Miss Chandler Quartermaine, I hereby sentence you to 300 hours of community service, to be spent helping the less privileged at the Port Charles Community Centre. Court is adjourned."
As the Judge smacked her gavel, Skye felt her heart sink. 300 hours??? That was 5 spa treatments, 12 shopping trips at Bloomingdales, 6 manicures and at least a few extra hours spent harassing Edward. Agghhh.
"Isn't there anything you can do?" Skye whined, turning to face her lawyer, Lindsay Dole.
"I'm sorry, Skye, but that's it. I'm afraid there's nothing more I can do."
"Ohhh..." Skye sunk back down into her seat, putting her head in her hands. "What do you suppose they'll make me do....read to some kids....maybe pass out some snacks....oh God....you don't think they'll make me...MOP THE FLOORS, do you????"
Lindsay stifled a giggle. "Well, Skye, in all honesty, I don't know. But hey, it's better than a jail term, right?"
"Hah. I guess so...but those little brats better not spill anything on one of my outfits, ohhh oh oh, or I'll...I'll....I'll-"
"Skye, remember where you are," Lindsay said, motioning at the judge, who was glaring at them.
Skye let out a nervous laugh and gave the judge a winning smile. The judge looked away, and Skye turned back to Lindsay.
"Well, anyways, thanks Lindsay. I appreciate everything. Really."
"No problem, Skye. It was good to see you again. It's been too long since those good old days at St. Mary's High."
"I don't remember anything being good about them...well, unless you count ditching bio-chem to go to the beach and hang out with those lifeguards....ohh....what was it....Vince?"
"Mm hmm...and Ryan."
"Ahhhh....well, I know you have a flight back to Boston any minute, so I won't keep you. Give my best to Bobby."
"Will do. And hey, Skye, come and visit sometime, okay?" Lindsay said, giving her old friend a warm hug.
"I'd love to, Linds, but it seems I have a lot of...uh....work to do....heh...I'll call you when the fun-filled three hundred hours are done, how about that?"
"Sounds great. Take care Skye." She gave her friend a smile and then left the courtroom. Skye turned around. There was Ned, smiling back at her. Skye's face soured.
"I hope you're happy."
"Come on, Skye, it won't be that bad."
"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. You don't have to spend every waking minute of your life cleaning up after a bunch of ungrateful brats. I can't believe you made me turn myself in."
"Skye, I really appreciate that you came clean and that you want to help with Kristina, but I'm sorry, I just couldn't let you be a part of her upbringing until I knew that you've been doing something to help clean up your act."
"Well, Ned, I do want to help you with little Princess Brat, but-"
"Sorry, what?"
Skye smiled to herself. "Forget it. Anyways I'd love to help, but for all you know, I could have been tossed in jail!"
"Skye, I knew you wouldn't get anything more serious than a little community service."
"You call 300 hours a little???"
"Hey, it won't be that bad. But really, with your complete confession, my testimony on your behalf, and you having one of the country's best lawyers, I knew you'd get off easy. Not to mention that I dated Judge Collison in college."
Skye rolled her eyes. "Why does that not surprise me."
"But Skye, maybe you should take your sentence as a blessing. This could help you get back on track. You need something to keep you busy while you're trying to get sober, right?"
Skye took a deep breath. "That's true. I haven't had a drink in three weeks, Ned, and I swear...I swear I won't start again. I want to help you with Kristina, and I don't want anything to mess that up. Especially since Alexis...." She stopped herself, not wanting to upset Ned. He had been taking Alexis's death fairly well so far, but she knew that deep down, he was very hurt.
A few days ago, Alexis had gone to confront Sonny at his warehouse, but it was a most unfortunate case of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. The five families had been having a meeting there, and things went very awry. A shootout had ensued, and Alexis had gotten caught in the crossfire. She was struck down by a bullet, as was Sonny, and several others. Four deaths, and countless injuries....it was one of the gravest tragedies to ever hit Port Charles. Carly, Courtney, Jason and Mike were devastated, as was Nikolas. His only remaining relative was now also gone. Custody of Kristina had been immediately granted to Ned; it was the only bit of consolation he had.
Skye put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry."
Ned's eyes were misty. "It's okay. It's not like I'm going to forget that Alexis is gone....." he sighed. "Well, I guess we should just be glad that Kristina wasn't there when it happened."
"Thank God....Well, Ned, I think I have to get to the Community Centre to figure out my hours....I guess I'll see you at the funeral tomorrow. Call me if you need anything, okay?"
"For sure. Thanks Skye." He hesitated for a moment, then gave her a hug. Skye was a little startled; she and Ned had never been close, although they had slowly been making their way to being friendlier cousins in the past few weeks. She was really starting to like and respect him, and was glad that it looked as if she would have one more family member on her side.
"Oh, and Ned," she continued, after they pulled out of their hug, "if Tracy starts to give you any shit tomorrow, just let me know and I'll take care of her. She may be the oldest bitch in the family, but I'm the latest and greatest." She smiled and patted him on the shoulder, feeling a lot better when she saw him return the smile.
"See you, Ned." She turned and left the courtroom for her car.
It was raining as she drove to the PCCC. "She may be the oldest bitch in the family, but I'm the latest and greatest." Skye felt a tear slip down her cheek. If only she knew that were really true....last week, Tracy had told her that she had genuine information that Alan was not her father. She wanted 5 million dollars, or else she would share the news with the rest of the family. Skye had dismissed Tracy's claim as a lie on the surface, but deep down, she feared it was true. She had been passed around like a hot potato so many times that it was hard to keep track, so what was one more round? She didn't know what she should do- pay Tracy and keep living what was possibly a lie, or tell her to go to hell, and risk losing everything? Despite her constant struggles with the Qs, Skye did cherish her position in the family. Alan was a good man, and when he smiled at her and told her he was proud of her, it meant more to her than anything. AJ, as wily and stupid as he often was, was the best friend she had ever had. Their scheming together was truly the only fun she had ever had in Port Charles. Lila was the sweetest woman ever, she was just starting to get to know Emily again, and even the verbal sparring with Monica and Edward was enjoyable, Skye had to admit. She didn't want to give all that up. But she had to know the truth.
Skye wiped away another tear and turned the radio up. She had called Rae and asked her to come to PC as soon as she could, so she figured she would find out soon enough.
Miss independent
Miss self-sufficient
Miss keep your distance, no
Miss on her own
Miss almost grown
Miss never let a man help her off her throne
So, by keeping her heart protected
She'd never ever feel rejected
Little miss apprehensive
Said ooh, she fell in love
What is the feelin' takin' over?
Thinkin' no one could open the door
Surprise...It's time
To feel what's real
Skye pulled up at last at the community centre. She parked and quickly dashed to the door so as not to let the rain mess up her perfectly arranged hairdo or her red Gucci strappy sandals. Her day was going pretty horribly as it was; no need to add a fashion emergency to the list.
She met with Janice Stewart, the lady who ran the centre. They arranged her schedule for the next week, much to Skye's disappointment. She had to start Saturday morning at 7. 7!!!!
"Well, I'll see you in two days, Ms. Stewart, thanks-"
"Actually, Skye, we're kind of short-staffed today. Would you mind staying for a few hours?"
Skye looked around at the very nosiy, overcrowded room. She winced. She was about to say no but then she remembered the judge's glaring face, and her pact with Ned. She sighed. "Sure. What should I do?"
"We need someone in the gym to supervise the children's volleyball game. We only have one volunteer in there today, and we want to make sure no one gets hurt. You wouldn't mind, would you?"
Volleyball? As in sports? Oh God.
"Sure, no problem," Skye said with a phony smile. I better not break one damn nail.
"Great, that's perfect! Thanks Skye. Just turn down this hallway to your left, and it's the second door you'll see. Good luck!"
Skye trudged to the gym. This was going to be interesting. She opened the door a crack and peered in. A bunch of kids were smacking a volleyball back and forth over a slightly sagging net, while still more kids sat on the sidelines watching, cheering. Taking a deep breath, she entered the gym. Please, God, don't make me actually play with these gremlins.
A young teenaged girl with short dark blonde hair made her way to Skye, a pleasant smile on her face.
"Hi, are you the other volunteer?" she asked.
"Yeah, although I'm not quite sure why they assigned me to this part of the centre. I'm not very into sports."
"Well, that's okay, you can just watch and make sure no one gets hurt. It'll be fine....oh, silly me, I didn't introduce myself. I'm Georgie Jones," she said offering her hand.
Skye shook it, her brow furrowing. "Georgie, eh? So, why are you here, honey? Skip class too many times?"
Georgie's face became one of confusion. "Uh, no, I'm just volunteering because I like to help out kids who need it. Why would I be here as some sort of punishment?"
Skye's cheeks reddened. "Hehe....I'm, uh, I'm just kidding. Well, why don't you show me what I should do?"
Georgie smiled once again. "Sure, Skye. I think you'll have a lot of fun here."
Skye smiled back. Here goes nothing...
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