Skinny • Book 1 In The Reality Series

Calum

Stepping out of the darkness and into the dimly lit lobby of the apartment building with an elephant on a makeshift rope leash at my side I found a rather strange assortment of people.

There was an elderly woman in a pale pink rain coat snoring loudly on a chair in the corner, lipstick stains covering her coffee stained teeth.

A teenage girl was sat opposite her, her eyes glued to her phone and her head bopping along to the music which was blaring from her headphones so loudly I could hear it from across the room.

And then there was the odd couple.

The girl was short, shorter then Gracie which I didn't think was possible, and looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six though it was hard to tell through the makeup which was caked an inch thick on her pale face.

Her hair was butt length, curly and the same vibrant, shocking hue of green as a lime. But that wasn't even the weird bit. The thing I found most strange was what she was wearing, or wasn't, to be more specific.

Shoeless, a pair of lacey white socks covered the majority of her legs, stopping at her mid thigh, just before her pink underwear. She wore a matching pink bra, what appeared to be kitten ears on her head and had whiskers drawn on her face. Over her matching bra and undies combo which looked like it cost significantly more than the twelve packs of boxers I bought at Target, she wore a large, black, unzipped sweatshirt which I realized belonged to the man next to her.

Towering over her so blatantly it was almost comical the guy looked like screamo concerts were his second home.

His arms which poked out from beneath his Nine Inch Nails t-shirt were heavily tattooed, as were his hands, fingers, neck and the parts of his legs which showed through the rips in his black jeans.

He had about every facial piercing I'd ever heard of and a few I hadn't. His hair which was black, dyed, I concluded since his roots were coming in blonde, looked like he shampooed it with pizza grease and hung limply down his back.

I realized that I was judging him harshly on his appearance which was rude. For all I knew he could be a children's hospital nurse, however I started judging him again when we stopped infront of him and the smell of Indian food, body order alcohol and something distinctly illegal, wafted up my nostrils.

"You weren't kidding about the elephant?" the green haired girl demanded, turning to Gracie.

"Of course not." Gracie replied quickly.

Her eyes widening, the girl studied Elliot for a moment before allowing her eyes to wander from Sierra, to Katy, to me and back to Katy again. I'd never harbored violent thoughts towards a girl before, however as she continued to stare at Katy I found myself wanting to rip out a hunk of her seaweed looking hair.

"You must be Gracie's aunt and uncle." Sierra said suddenly, shattering the awaked silence, "I'm Sierra. Sierra Signorello you know like the cheese? My grandpa dad and uncles are in all the commercials? You've probably seen them..."

"I don't eat curds of bovine secretion." The green haired girl interrupted dryly.

"Oh." Sierra whispered, taking a small back.

"And I'm not Grace's aunt." She continued, "I'm her sister."

"Yeah," Gracie laughed awkwardly, "Calum, Sierra and Katy this is my sister Corinne and her boyfriend Crusher, he's a scalper and Corinne's manager."

"A scalper?"  Katy whispered looking pale.

"A ticket scalper." Crusher replied in a condescending tone.

"Isn't that illegal?" Sierra squeaked.

Glowering at her, Crusher cracked his tattooed knuckles and she immediately fell silent.

"I'm sorry." I spoke up, "But what's going on here? I thought we were bringing Elliot to your aunt and uncle?"

"We are," Gracie laughed nervously, "Let's just get him upstairs before someone sees."

"How are we going to get him upstairs?" Katy questioned.

"We'll take the elevator," Gracie replied, taking Elliot's leash from me, "Come on."

Walking across the lobby's grubby tile floor, she stopped infront of the metal elevator doors and pressed the upwards pointing arrow. Almost instantaneously the doors slid open. Looking over her shoulder at us and smiling, Gracie led Elliot into the elevator.

Stepping aside, I allowed Sierra, Katy and Corinne on first to be polite. I tried following after them but as I stepped on, a light turned on and emitted a high pitched peep.

"It's too heavy." Corinne informed me.

"What are we going to do?" Sierra demanded, looking to be on the verge of hysteria.

"We'll go up first then Calum and Crusher will come up after." Gracie answered with a shrug.

"What?" I squeaked, "No, no. Why don't I get on now, and then Corinne can ride with Cru-her boyfriend."

"One of us has to go up first to open the door." Corinne sighed, "If a neighbor sees we're screwed."

My heart hammering wildly in my chest I looked between Katy and Sierra helplessly.

"Sierra," Katy said, clearly catching on, "Why don't you wait and ride with Cal."

"Okay." Sierra replied, wiggling past Elliot and slipping out of the elevator.

"Thank you." I breathed.

Offering me a small smile, she reached out and slipping her middle finger around mine squeezed it lightly before pulling her hand away and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Are you kids about done?" Corinne grumbled.

Nodding, I watched as rolling her eyes she reached out and pressed a button. The next thing I knew the doors were sliding closed leaving Sierra and I alone with Crusher.