Golden Threads

Chapter 5: Back To The Boardwalk

The Rocker's name continues to allude her, and her being too shy to just ask him, not wanting to admit she forgot, Mallory continues to rack her brain on what it could be.

And to add to her guilt at forgetting, he drove surprisingly careful.

Oh he's wild to be sure, jumpy and can't seem to sit still, but it wasn't half as wild as she expected it to be, he at least slowed when he rounded corners.

They had parked further down the lane and closer to the beach. They joked about the surfer Nazi's big "macho man" act and how quickly he'd folded, her mothers willingness to flay her sons for their foolishness, and what she may cook them. Mallory giving her theories and taking requests.

It somewhat shocked Mallory how quickly she relaxed around them. They spoke to each other like they'd known each other for months not minutes.

But they had all seemingly went quiet when Mallory froze, the knowing had waited until she was comfortable, had waited until she wasn't ready before overtaking her mind like a wave and showing her images of a magenta skirt, lovely curls, a young boy in a strange uniform, and an illuminated boardwalk sign.... And her own brothers.

When coaxed to voice what she saw, a voice she would distantly recognize as Dwayne's, he informed her that that's their "little brother" and she smiles as she rips free from her mind and says they will be coming out from under that sign... along with her brothers.

So they ended up parking closer and waiting.

"So!" Marko... yes his name is Marko, exclaims as he maneuvers his position next to her. "What's the deal with your eyes?"

"What? My eyes?" Mallory blinks. "They're blue."

"Yeah and my hair is golden." He scoffs and pulls at his blonde curls.

"Your hair is quite pretty." Mallory stated helpfully.

Marko shoots her a look. "Yeah, but it isn't golden, and your eyes aren't "blue". Who gave you your purple eyes côxani?"

'Screw it' she thought, wanting to tease. "You see, I stole them off of a corpse who fell victim to my magical powers." She holds up her hands and wiggles her fingers at him in an eerie manner.

The rocker poked his head up at that. "Seriously?" Looking a little too eager at the prospect of her fantastical eye theft.

"No."

They stare at each other before Mallory starts laughing.

Who were these guys?

"No, I was born with these, though we don't know whose genetics contributed to this particular shade." She waves her hand dismissively at her eyes.

"You must've been pretty popular." David drawled lazily, stretching languidly on his bike.

He reminded Mallory of a cat. Those capricious ones who purr one second and hiss the next.

Mallory shrugs, "If I didn't have my weirdness, maybe. Zoning out while someone is attempting to badly flirt with you, and then telling them something they thought was a secret..." She gives a bit of a bitter smile. "It doesn't exactly inspire desire amongst the masses."

"And for kids in school. Rumors spread fast. Popular? Maybe. But not in a good way." She chuckles and raises her arms above her head in a stretch as she swings her leg off of the Rockers bike to stand.

"Luckily for me," she continues, "The prospect of being able to see secrets kept the worse of the potential bullying away." She then looks at the sky as she snaps a finger, recalling a memory. "Though one boy did attempt to use me to warn him of rivals vying for his position of football captain... I had to appreciate his tenacity."