"AVIGAIL FINN! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" My mother's shrill, yet strained, voice echoes emptily up the stairwell, unfortunately flowing into my bedroom.
I roll my eyes, biting my lip before adjusting my lime green cap and shouting back down to her, equally as loud.
"COM-MING!"
I sigh, thundering down the stairs and grabbing my skateboard from the hallway corner before poking my head into the kitchen.
"Gotta head to the skatepark, Mom. See you at two!" I call softly, my mom turning and smiling softly at me before waving and returning to her book.
"Have fun! Be safe!" Her voice calls after me as I slip out the door, releasing my skateboard from my hold and biting my lip again- yet another habit that I should stop.
Funny how my mom's moods change so often. One second, she's frustrated and screaming, the next, she's sweet and carefree. Kind of annoying, actually, if you asked me.
I push off from the ground, my long brown hair flying behing me as I swerve around people in the carpeted floors of the apartment building's lobby, chewing my gum thoughtfully as I burst out onto the streets of Boston.
I make it to the Hyde Park Skatepark, hopping off of the skateboard and scooping it up as I saunter towards the cement inclines, a confident smile on my face as I snap the gum in my mouth. Boys, some older, turn and stare as I stride past, taking in my long brown hair and petite figure with raised eyebrows. In return, I raise my eyebrow, a trick that I had taught myself to do at age 7.
They glance at the ground and I continue my walk, my hazel eyes searching desperately for the familiar blonde tousled hair.
"Avi! Over her'" My schoolmate, Ram, waved his hand as he skated flawlessly around the bend, hopping off with a grin on his face as he met me by the pot of bush.
"'Ello." I mumble, rolling the skateboard back and forth across the ground with my silver Converses as I impatiently waited in line.
"Ay, mate!" His Australian accent popped as he dropped his board to the pavement, tapping his Jordans on the top. His family had moved here from Australia at the beginning of the school year, and we had made a slight connection when I had spotted the shy guy at the local skatepark. And here we are now.
He suddenly reaches behind me- in plain sight, mind you - and taps my shoulder. Pretending to be surprised, I turn, widening my hazel eyes in mock shock as he snatches my lime green skater cap off of my brown curls, and I immediately turn, placing my hands on my hips in a disapproving gesture.
"Gimme my hat, Ramsey."
"Come and get, Avishi."
"Nuh-uh. Gimme."
"Jump, Avi."
I crossed my arms, sticking out my bottom lip in a fake pout. He was tall for our age - 6 feet, 2 inches, as he told me when I first met him- and I was small. Five foot one.
"Don't make me do this, Rammers."
"Do what, little A?"
"This." I mumbled as I stomped powerfully on his Jordans. He yelped in pain, relinquishing his hold on my beloved hat, and I snatched it out of his fingers, plopping it back onto my head with a sweet smile.
"What was that for?" He mumbled incoherently, and I smiled innocently, giggles blooming like flowers as I tried to hold them back.
"Your face."
He scrunches up his face in distaste.
"Aww, come on mate! That face joke is so old!"
'Not as old as yours!" I say, suppressing a smile as he mockingly made his face darken.
"I'll get you some day, little Gale!"
I smirk.
"Go ahead and try." I hop onto my skateboard and push off, speeding away with my curls flying behind me as I swerved around the loops and bumps of the ancient skate park.
