not from here - mid90s

four.

She was looking through the windows of the shop to see if she could see anyone inside, it seemed empty. Weirdly empty. Isabella pushed the door and stepped inside. Motor was a cool shop, skateboards all along the wall and racks with clothes hanging on display.

"Hello?"

No answer and she walked further into the store. She saw a backdoor ajar and heard the familiar sound of wheels against the pavement. She followed the noise and saw them all skating outside. Ray and Fuckshit were skating while the tall lanky boy was filming them. Two younger boys were sitting by the door, watching the others.

"Hey." She said to them. In sync they both said hello back before Ray noticed her in the corner of his eye.

"Yo, Isabella!" She waved at him and the boys skated towards her. 

"What you doin' here ma? Looking for me?" She rolled her eyes at Fuckshit's comment.

"Shut up dude! So guys this is Isabella. That's Fourthgrade with the camera and that's ruben and stevie. And... you've met Fuckshit."

"Hi guys." 

"So you here to skate?" Ray asked excitedly. 

"Nah, gonna leave that to you guys. I'm just gonna watch." 

"Come on, you gotta try it." Fuckshit held out his hand to her.

"I ain't gonna let you fall, trust me."

"I don't know if I do..." A chuckle followed but still she took his hand. It was stupid but there was something about him that seemed to draw her in, even though she tried to act like she didn't care. He placed out his board so she could step up, she kept a firm grip around his hand. Isabella had never noticed just how bad her balance was until then. 

"See, you're a fucking natural!" Fuckshit said with a smirk. A little stone underneath the wheel made her wobble but he was quick to place his free hand on her waist to help her keep balance. Fourthgrade started filming them but Isabella was too concentrated to notice. Her main goal was to not make a fool of herself and fall on her ass in front of them.

"Did I look like that when I started?" Stevie asked the other boys. 

"Uhm..." Ray started.

"Fucking worse! You looked like a big ass clown on the board." Ruben replied.

And that was the first time Isabella hung around the boys. what she didn't know then was that those boys would become family to her, only within a few weeks. She would hang around the shop after school, watch new skate tapes with them and every now and then try her luck on the skateboard. The boys were so different from the friends she had in her hometown. She always had to impress her other friends, always had to push on and do something crazy to keep her place in the group.