Hard Times

7

Saturday arrived and the weather was cold but dry so Beca, Benji, Hayley, and Taylor decided to go to the skateboard park behind the school to get some fresh air. Beca and Taylor had brought their skateboard that their parents had bought them and Benji had brought his too. He had purchased one with the money that Hayley had once stolen from their parents. Hayley and Beca shared Beca's skateboard.

Benji and Beca were currently taking a break, sitting on one of the ramps and smoking the weed Taylor had brought with him. They watched Hayley and Taylor skate up and down the ramps and round each other. Taylor did a few tricks but when Hayley attempted them, she'd slip off the board or fall. She had a few new bruises and cuts, but hadn't sustained any major injuries.

"Do you think Nathan will be able to convince Stacie to come." Benji asked, watching his sister fall off the skateboard for the fourth time. She slid down the ramp with the skateboard and cursed, snatching it up and jumped onto it again.

"I'm not sure. She seemed to be in a pretty bad mood this morning." Beca said, taking a drag of the weed. "Your sister is pretty resilient."

"I think all the years of our parents not caring and hitting her when she stole money made her kinda tough but most of the time it's an act. She's a wimp." Benji said.

Hayley heard them and as she rolled passed on the skateboard, she stuck her tongue out at her brother.

Beca's cell phone began to ring in her pocket. Her mom had bought it for her a few weeks ago. She answers the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, so Stacie gave me your number. She said she's only willing to come to the skatepark if we can somehow get Aubrey to come. She hasn't spoken to Aubrey since she went to help Lucas tell his mom about the baby." Nathan said into the phone.

"How do we get Aubrey to come?" Beca asked, frowning.

Nathan sighed and listened to Stacie on the other end. "Stacie said you should invite Chloe and she'll bring Aubrey."

"I don't have Chloe's number." Beca said, trying not to laugh as Hayley slipped off the skateboard again and slid down the ramp.

Nathan quickly rattled off Chloe's phone number.

"Too fast, slow down." Beca said calmly, trying to scribble Chloe's number on her arm with a black pen she found in her pocket.

Nathan slowed down and repeated the number.

Beca scribbled the number on her arm. "Okay. I've got it."

"Call me back once you've confirmed she's bringing Aubrey." Nathan said before hanging up.

Beca typed Chloe's number into the phone and held it to her ear.

It rang for a minute before being picked up. "Hello?" Chloe's soft voice came through the line.

"Hi. Chloe. It's Beca. Would you and Aubrey like to come down to the skatepark? We are trying to get Stacie to come but she'll only come if Aubrey is there." Beca said quickly.

Chloe didn't answer right away, speaking to someone on the other end. "Yeah, we'll be there in five."

"Okay." Beca said. "Bye." She ended the call. Redialing Nathan's number, she holds the phone to her ear. "Hey, Nathan, Chloe is bringing Aubrey."

"Okay good, we'll be there in ten." Nathan told her.

"Perfect." Beca said. "See you then." She ended the call.

Benji looked at her expectantly. "So?"

"She's coming. But only if Aubrey is here." Beca said, taking a drag of her joint.