But It's Better If You Do

Fragile

Kurloz was quiet. For as long as I had known him he'd always been quiet. He had seen a lot of things in his life; things that have a permanent effect on a young person's psyche, and because of that, he was quiet. His quiet disposition and large, almost threatening stature made him intimidating, mysterious. No one outside his tight-knit circle of friends knew much about him and there were plenty of rumors about all the things he had seen and done, but no one was quite sure if they were true.

I watched from the corner as Kurloz sat in the back of the class with his headphones on and a pencil clasped gently between his fingers. He was probably drawing again. He rarely participated in class choosing instead to allow himself to be distracted by whatever could ease his mind at any given time, but he always had the highest grades. I stared blankly in his general direction so lost in thought that I didn't notice Talia trying to get my attention.

"Wow, Abby, you were really out of it this time." Talia gaped bemused.

"Shut it. You know I hate it when you call me that." I growled irritated that she had pulled my focus away from the boy three seats ahead of me.

"Right. Anyway, I was wonderin' if maybe you wanted to do lunch with me." Despite the fact I always turned her down, she sounded hopeful.

"I can't, I have to cram for a test next period," I replied brushing her off as per usual.

"Maybe next time." she sighed returning her focus to the whiteboard.

The teacher droned on about the science of volcanoes until the bell finally rang; half the class was gone by the time I finished putting away my "notes", and by "notes" I mean random doodles. I headed to my locker to put my books away. I was about to grab my bag when I felt hands gently placed on my hips. I turned around slowly to see Mituna.

"Tuna, what the fuck? You scared the shit out of me!"  I exclaimed trying to slow my erratic heartbeat.

"Hehe, sorry." he laughed unapologetically.

"We're still on for lunch today, right?" I questioned once both of us gathered our bearings.

"Yeah, out in the court by the big oak tree. I'll meet you there, I'm gonna try to find Loz first," he assured me as I tucked my bag away and closed my locker.

"Later, Skater." I ruffled his hair before I walked off.

I wasn't really hungry and I really didn't want lunch today so I went straight to our meetup spot. When I got there I pulled on my headphones and grabbed a book. I bobbed my head along with the beat as I flipped through the pages. When I looked up I noticed Kurloz was sitting across from me once again with a drawing pad in his hands.

"Sup?" he spoke without looking up.

"Hey," I responded awkwardly and that was the end of our conversation thus far. After a moment I looked up from the pages of the book again.

"New Tattoo?" I asked noticing the mark on his arm. He nodded silently.

"Capricorn." He stated never lifting his eyes from his sketchbook. I looked to the left and spotted Tuna boarding between tables and chairs to get to where Kurloz and I sat. He flipped the board up and tried to grind it against an unoccupied table. "Tried" being the operative word here. Mituna flipped forward and landed on his back; Kurloz and I rushed to help our friend up and make sure he was okay. Before we could offer any assistance Tuna jumped up and giggled.

"That was fucking awesome." He lisped. Kurloz and I exchanged confused glances and shrugged. Kurloz went back to his sketch pad and I picked up my book. Tuna sat in the middle of both of us and pulled off his helmet.