Young Love on Wheels
Alex swiped at the sweat beading on her forehead with the back of her hand, cleaning the other off on her tattered jeans. She'd been outside for nearly two hours, already emptying three big gulps from the corner store and yet still felt the summer heat sticking to her like the uncomfortable grimy lick of a mange-ridden dog.
She let a grimace unfurl when the sweat settled into the dampened dishwasher curls around her neck, sighing.
She'd spent the better part of the two hours applying new grip tape to her skateboard, barely getting started on waxing the wheels when her stomach growling became a little more than bearable, and the disapproving pile of blue reflective wrappers that clued in her current obsession with cool ranch Doritos. There were a few brave Blow Pop wrappers disfigured from the sun and Alex's fist that made it into the heap, as well.
Resigned to the fate that she will either procure heatstroke, or die of malnourishment on these potholed covered streets that hadn't seen the tax payer dollar since the founding of its bonds, Alex heaves her supply of trash and skateboard items up into her arms, poking a tongue out from the corner of her blue-raspberry stained mouth to provide a sense of balance. Alex knew exactly where to place her feet on the rotting wood that served as some form of step to the trailer she called home, giving a solid kick to the door with the nose of her converse to find it open, bereft of the lock no one had bothered to fix since it broke during her stepdad's drunken rampage of Christmas, throwing it open and dropping the items with a huff.
"Hey, no leaving your things on the ground." Susan chastised from her spot in the kitchen, slicing up some carrots and pointing the dull blade at her with silent accusation.
She could feel her body unwind at the sight of her mother, still in her waitress outfit and more skin over wiry muscle than much else, dutifully cooking up something that must be edible with half expired vegetables, despite the sunken circles around her eyes begging for sleep.
"Yeah, move your shit."
Alex whirls her steely gaze from her mother to her stepbrother, shirtless and smoking a low haze around the room that wouldn't do much to the aged ambience. Still, his noxious sneer shot over the couch head was button-smashing at least, and anti-button-fascism at worst.
"Fuck off..." Alex grumbled out in response, kicking her board up into her hands and making her way around the kitchen aisle to steal a carrot. "Where's your lovely husband tonight." Her humour was dry, and Susan shot her a look for it.
Rick took a long drag from the cigarette he had just lit, speaking around the putrid cloud of toxic smoke. "At the bar, probably getting so fucking shit faced he doesn't remember your worthless slut of a mother."
Alex tried her hardest not to scream and hit him, biting her tongue and gripping the tail of her board
The lights flickered ominously above their heads- drawing three sets of eyes. "Step dearest can't bother putting some new fixtures in...?"
Her mouth was quicker than her brain, her skin paling as Rick shot up and spat on the floor. "You fucking bitch. Get over here, you ungrateful little shit-" He moved faster then Alex knew what to do with, and lifted up her board again just in time for his fist to land with a splintering of wood and grip tape.
A bulb overhead bursted like a balloon, confetti in form of glass shrapnel raining down on the spot Rick just occupied. He jumped back, checking his shirtless skin over for any wounds.
There were a few superficial scratches, that would unfortunately not hurt for long. Maybe he'd get some lemon or salt thrown at him when he inevitably pisses anoother girl off.
Alex stared down at her split board, her eyebrow twitching with barely bottled anger.
Susan sighed heavily- abandoning the vegetables for a dustpan. "Alexandra will you please go reset the breaker."
Alex clicked her jaw into a line, eyes slanting as she glared.
"Yeah, Alexandra." Rick mocked, gaze unforgiving atop the curl of his glare. She suddenly wished every other light in the house to explode and wipe that shit stain off his neck, his bloody fist wrapping around his smoke.
"Go fix it."
Alex turned to her mother, "But the breaker is all the way by the creek-"
"Go, Alexandra."
"Why can't Rick?" She grunted, throwing the useless wooden pieces aside. "Its flooded, and he's the one with the truck and my board is broken--"
"She said to fucking go, you fucking brat. So listen to her and get the fuck out here!" Rick shouted from where he went back to laying, face unforgiving. Alex's stomach curled into itself as her mother smiled that god awful placating smile she always had reserved for moments like this.
"Hurry along before it gets dark out, Alexandra."
He showed off his teeth, and she flipped him off as she trudged out the door.
The creek wasn't readily accesible-- hence the trip of what felt like overcoming Hellmouth it was to endure. She first had to get through the yard, which was usually overflowing with Rick's weird friends that weren't shy with their wandering hands and slurred come-on's, but also through the thick stack of sheet metal and whatever scrap the asshat and thrown over his shoulder instead of taking to a junkyard. Usually, she could go without the tetanus, but perhaps tonight would be the night for a wondrous trip.
No, Alex, no suicide... Cam owes me 20 still..
Overcoming the homemade obstacle course, Alex came face to foot with the infamous dip in the land. The creek was overfilled with shrubbery and thick with sludge as she came to a stop on one side, sighing at the path she had made weeks prior that was now deep under the surface from pipe back up and rainwater. Alex leant down, cuffing her jeans up to the knee and undoing the laces of her scuffed up sneakers to toss over her shoulder. Her socks weren't worth the save; holes and frayed seams barely sticking together like the .
She braced her elbows on the dirt mound, sliding awkwardly down the divot in the creek side, inhaling sharply through her nose at the biting cold reaching up to her knee and leaving a gross, murky residue including clumps of something dark and... not worth the thought when it waded away. The sludge at the bottom squishing around her feet and worming between her toes was even more unpleasant.
She chucked her stuff up on the other side, eventually finding the scrap metal tubing she had implemented as a gripping system a few weeks back, using her liminal upper body strength to hoist herself up the flat and over-hanging side with trembling arms and sucking her teeth when her feet slipped trying to find purchase, gashing her knee on a piece of rebar loose from the fray of random shit that the creek had as lifeblood.
The breaker was half a mile out- a stupid place to put it and often caused power outages or surges and Alex desperately wished they'd cut a path in the thick grass so she could ride her board (rest in piece) every fucking time she was forced to fix it, but then again, tax paying dollars had no business on this side of town. Resigning herself to the weeds licking at her hips, she risked whatever lay in the field of greenery that might eat up her feet.
To distract herself, she hums some broken opening notes that usually blasted through Cam's speakers when her gang of friends would get together to fill their bodies with carbs and carbonation. It helps, because surprisingly she ends up to where the structure is falling apart-- three walls, no roof, and a stairwell partially obscured by vines and debris. But she knew it like a second home by now, and forced her body through the heavy weeds until she was shot free like a bullet, groaning at the sudden blood flow to her aching thighs.
It was fenced off-- mainly, in a dozen previous lives from where the Do Not Enter, spray painted red on a piece of wood lay weathered and flat nearby, and she rounded it to head down the story of half broken concrete steps when she fell fully flat on her ass at the heart attack-inducing scare she'd just encountered.
A girl with short dark hair stood there, all heavy black eyeliner and combat boots and a trench coat that was brushing the floor. And eyes-- oh man, those deserved a cautionary tale of their own. She stood amongst the cobwebs and long forgotten litter on a pair of... roller skates?, staring at Alex curiously and with a frown.
"Are you alright, Alexandra?"
"How do you know my name?" The girl fires back, looking from her frazzled, half filthy and half sweaty outfit to the stranger as though she wanted to impress
The girl blinks. Says nothing. Right, then...
"Alex. It's- I'm Alex." She corrected, hoisting herself up and moving tentatively down the steps, stepping around the brunette who's eyebrows furrowed so harshly there would be age lines in time on perfectly smooth skin, if this was a habit. Alex stuffed one hand in her back pocket, and the other fiddled with the locked metal door to avoid the desperate itch her fingers took on to smooth out the displeasure.
"Uh, did you... turn the breaker off?"
She fiddled with her keys, finding the one to open the rusted panel door. The girl didn't answer her, the obvious lack of tampering with the stiff lock sense enough.
her voice was soft and muffled as if she was face to face with the concrete wall.
"He's an ass."
"Oh," Alex nodded absently, leaning her weight on a forearm against the wall as she finally pull open the breaker door, letting out a victorious whoop as she stumbled a bit from its powerful swing.
"Yeah, that's an understatement."
These was nothing wrong with the wiring or circuits, and Alex blinked a few times to make sure the heat of the summer wasn't making her delusional.
"The fuck?" She murmured, checking for any water damage. But of course- it was the butt fuck of summer and, besides the cough-inducing amount of dust accumulated, it was perfect. So she made the journey out here for no reason- and the sky was darkening rapidly.
"Fuck!"
She sighed heavily, closing the door, turning, and nearly shitting herself as that brunette- with nearly black eyes, Alex noticed- was nose to nose behind her.
"Jesus christ, dude!" Alex grappled with her own body, forcing herself to move from the entrapment despite her hearts protests. "Ever heard of personal space?"
"Space?" The girl tilted her head. "Hm. Space is very cool. So many things up there. Do you like stars, Alex?"
The way this girl said her name made Alex's legs wobble like jelly, swallowing thickly against the swarm of butterflies threatening to break from their nest in her belly.
"I- wha? I-" she shook her head lamely to clear herself of her own stupidity, suddenly sounding just like her idiot best friends when she had first met them. Floundering, dorky kids.
She was not a floundering, dorky kid.
With new resolve, Alex pushed her shoulders back and huffed- trying to add that familiar edge of irritation she always kept with her. "It's late- and I'm already going to be breaking my own legs just trying to get home so, I better be going."
The girl, fast as lightening, caught Alex's wrist and fixed her with eyes so deep Alex felt like she was sinking in the creek.
"No." The girl said, simply and with far too much meaning in such a small syllable.
"What- no? Who the fuck are you to tell me what I can and can't do?!"
Alex yanked her wrist free, glaring at the brunette with renewed anger. Everyone was so hell bent on controlling her... even a fucking stranger. Even a fucking stranger with eyes that could capsize ships and bright blue roller skates that creaked as she shuffled back.
The girl had the sense to look apologetic, putting her hands up in surrender. "I am sorry. I am not very good with people. You are my first!"
Alex's eyebrows furrowed, sizing the girl up again. Her clothes seemed three sizes two big, and she was starkingly pale like she hadn't seen the sun for a while.
"First what?"
The girl's face lit up. "Friend!"
Alex felt a flush spread from her neck to her ears, rubbing awkwardly at the back of her head for something to do with shaky, clammy palms.
She didn't say anything until after the brunette's smile upturned, and she seemed to collapse in on herself. Alex stepped forward, gesticulating wildly. "That's not- friends are different then just meeting someone" she explains, hurriedly.
The girl cocked her head adorably the side, eyes wide. "How?"
"Well, um. They usually know each other's names and hang out, for starters."
The taller girl giggled, leaning forward as if revealing the biggest secret ever. "Your name is Alex. And we are hang-ing out."
Alex flushed even darker at the proximity, looking anywhere except at smirking lips. She focused on the frayed green of the girl's laces, that hung loosely and with some miracle, she hadn't seemed to trip on them yet.
"I don't know yours. And this hanging out. We're just... in the same place at the same time, for whatever reason..."
The girl nodded, stepping away enough to finally let Alex's lungs release their vice grip as she thrusted a hand out. "I am Art."
Alex chuckled, shaking the hand that felt like a spark shooting up her arm. "Art. This still isn't hanging out, though."
Art seemed to mull the words over, nibbling on her lip in deep thought and briefly Alex wondered what it would be like to take that same lip between her teeth-
"You come with me!" Alex said excitedly, practically thrumming with bottled up energy and dragging Alex up the stairs and in the opposite direction of her house, into the tall grass with clunky, rolling steps.
Alex dug her heels in, chuckling despite herself. "Woah- woah G.I Jane. Can't just steal someone and not tell them what's going on."
Art tilted her head, eyebrows furrowed. "G.I Jane?"
Alex shook her head, laughing hoarsely. "It's- never mind. Where are you taking me? Pretty sure cops would call this kidnapping."
Art grinned that thousand watt smile, actually jumping around in excitement. "My dad is a police! We are going to my dad!!"
"I- why?" Flashes of scattered bruises from Rick's hand, screaming matches that made the walls shake all flickered through her mind like a flash bang went off. Art smiled softly, interlacing their fingers and squeezing.
"It is where I live. And you said to be friends we need to hangout. So we are hanging out!"
Art let their hands hang for a second, before her eyes widened with realization. "We can share!" She said, dropping down without a second thought and yanking one of her roller skates off, grabbing Alex's ankle with fast hands and shoving her cut up foot into the shoe that oddly fit perfectly.
Alex shrugged- figuring if she was going to be murdered, at least it would be by the owner of a heavenly smile, soft skin and bouncing curls. Better that than by Rick, anyway. She gives an experimental push with her free foot, finding that though she was lacking in a few inches and had to stand with a bend to the knee, it was like riding her board.
Art beams, hopping up and imitates Alex's action before re-lacing their fingers.
They waded hand in hand through the grass like that, Art weaving over rocks and through tight tree lines gracefully, while Alex was busy tripping over her own feet and trying to calm her pounding heart every time Art's fingers gripped hers a little bit tighter when her roller skate would slip on the grass, or the brunette would hum into the open sky, littered with stars and the moon almost as breathtakingly bright as Art's strange but welcome presence.
The boys would be smacking her for just heading off into the woods at night with a random girl. And she in every other circumstance would be slapping herself, too. But Art was warm and friendly and her brain felt like it had melted into a puddle.
The grass broke off into trees obstructing even 10 feet in front of them. Alex gulped, looking at the barely visible strip of a path at her feet. Art continued on without a care in the world, while Alex continued to narrowly avoid having herself beheaded by the low hanging branches and-
"Tripwire."
Alex ran into Art's back, as the girl pointed down at the barely visible silver string that glinted ominously in the light. Art let go of their hands, lunging over pointedly, and smiling as she didn't wait up, pushing forward on her one skate into the even forest.
Alex swallowed thickly, the darkness swallowing Art almost completely as she stepped over the trap.
"Why do you guys have a tripwire out here?"
Art turned, moving backwards without a single worry or glance back. Just that idiotically beautiful smile.
"Keeps out the bad men."
Alex looked around nervously, "Bad men?" stumbling a few steps as the cursed lace caught beneath her, and flushing under Art's amused expression.
"Yes."
"You mean like- murderers."
A dark shadow crosssd over pale skin, a frown painting her lips.
"They are maybe worse."
Alex tilred her head, but her questions fell short after they passed into a small clearing with a dark cabin peering out from in front of leaves.
"Home!" Art exclaims, pushing forward and nearly getting caught on the loose lace. Alex catches her by the shoulder, tugging her back and pointing at the shoe.
"Let me teach you to tie your laces before you break your pretty head."
"Pretty?" Art asks as Alex stoops down, tying a bunny knot in both their skates. Alex nods jauntily, focusing on the task at hand instead of on the overwhelming lance in her heart.
"Uh- I mean, yeah? Your head is- it's a good one, y'know. Wouldn't wanna crack it-"
Art stoops, too, eyes kind as they find Alex's. "You have a pretty head too, Alex."
Alex gapes, uncertain when a light flickered on in the dark, and a big burly man appears from the home, backlit by a hearth. "The hell you got there, Art?"
Alex stumbles back to her feet, offering an awkward wave and half-assed polite smile that the man probably knows is new for her, given his slight grimace. "Alex, sir. I'm Alex."
Art swoops around, bounding toward her dad with a bright grin.
"She is Alex! I found her, dad!"
The man nods, looking down at his phone, voice gruff below his thick eyebrows. "Oh, alright then- mind telling me why the hell is there an ABA out on Alex?"