Anarchy Ladder - {H.S} au

Chapter 4 - A Social Construct

Lennon

Stickers.

From different bands ranging from the early '70s to today's favourite '90s, a middle finger which seems typical, different brand titles of skatewear and skate gear, a peace sign, a heart with a lightning bolt straight through the middle.

He had way too many stickers on his dashboard to even count, my eyes didn't know where to even focus.

The moment I had hesitantly sat down in the passenger seat, the smell of cigarettes and an odd hint of lavender filled my nose. A very different combination that somehow seemed comforting.

He also did not say a word to me the entire drive into downtown Echo Park, instead, he decided to drive like he owned the road, changing gears aggressively and screaming to Like a Stone by Audioslave.

If he wasn't such a raging asshole, I would think he was pretty damn cool. But because I'm stubborn and will never let anyone walk all over me, he will never see me giving him the satisfaction of boosting his ego.

Instead of trying to make conversation, I stared straight ahead through the windshield the entire ride, mentally battling with myself as to why I even decided to go on this little excursion with him, or why the hell was he was willingly taking me to get a proper board, and why the fuck was I so quick to agree as if I wasn't shit-talking him 24 hours ago.

Beats me.

My thoughts had been completely ripped out of me when he decided to abruptly pull up to the curb along the very lively street, not having a care in the world for the poor pedestrians nearly shitting their pants from his sudden action of his tires hitting the curb.

"I didn't take you here for you to just sit in the car, come on, " he muttered as he ripped the keys out from the ignition, adjusting his hat that sat perfectly backwards on his head before leaping out onto his feet.

I bit my tongue as I felt the sharpness of his tone, before following his lead, of course, not waiting up for me as I trailed behind his long strides to the front entrance of the shop.

I paused in my tracks in front of the barred door, examining the outside. The skate shop seemed to be just this little dingy hole in the wall, with nothing much to offer than a broken window that was patched up and a big red neon sign above the door frame that read Axles.

I glanced down to the entrance to see Harry standing there with the door held open, eyebrows raised in annoyance as a silent way of telling me to hurry up.

"Do you ever get tired of having that stick lodged so far up your ass?" I asked before walking past him and into the small shop, trying my best to hold in a laugh. My lips twitched at the corners when I heard him let out a huff behind me.

The inside of the place definitely made up for the outside. There were a few plants scattered around with eclectic light fixtures hanging above us. Each wall was filled up entirely of different boards from brand new to second hand, a single feature wall near the back dedicated to a beautiful piece of graffiti art.

"Pretty sick huh?"

A low voice to the left of me caught my attention and my eyes fell onto the front counter.

I swallowed harshly when I recognized the guy sitting on top of it, his long legs swinging back and forth with a sucker stick sticking out from the corner of his lips.

"Don't flatter yourself, Juda, " Harry snickered as he made his way behind the counter himself as if he worked here, rummaging through the glass jar of stickers placed neatly against the countertop.