Moving on

3. He's got a Name

                  

I walked into the café, spotted Darrin, and sat in the seat directly across from him. I practically shoved the Monster in his direction, the idiot just smiling smugly in response.

"So how awesome am I?" he asks, grossly slurping on his drink.

"A solid 8, not bad." I answer, referring to the skater dude.

"Yeah whatever, did you get his number?" he asks, looking curious.

"Well no, but he was wearing a Northlake shirt so I know he goes to our school." I announce with a small smile.

"You're crushing." He teases subtly. I get a bit embarrassed and shake my head.

"I just met the guy." I defend.

"Skye, you've got the 'crush smile' as Piper would say." Darrin says with a 'don't gimmie your shit' look.

"That's just how I smile."

"You got those crush eyes that Kenny gets too."

"I'm just thinking about stuff. That doesn't necessarily mean it's about him."

"Skye, you're getting the crush vibes and nothing you say is gonna make me think otherwise."

"It's Skylar!" I whine pathetically. "And what if I say I'm in love with Kenny?" I ask in mock seriousness.

"I'd say hell's frozen over. And that's not funny." he says, flipping his chocolate brown hair. He did not just do that. God why is he so lame?

"Ugh, I don't have time to fight you on this. Despite the fact that I sort of denied it three seconds ago, I'm crushing on half-pipe dude so I'm just gonna stick with focusing on that." I declare, scooching out of my chair. Darrin smirked knowingly.

"He's gonna be good for you Skye. I can already tell because you haven't spaced out thinking about Piper since he talked to you. Maybe you'll start to go back to your old ways and ask me if I can help you hotwire a car or some shit. " He half jokes, missing the flash of hurt passing through my face with the mention of Piper. Putting on a brave face, I waved goodbye to him and sauntered out, seriously considering the hotwiring a car thing.

-

I was seated at my usual bench at the half-pipe, but shot up at once when I located the boy I met yesterday. Taking a deep breath, I confidently made my way over to him. Noticing someone was behind him, the boy turned around and smiled.

"Hey, Skye right?" He asked with a teasing lilt in his eyes.

"Cute, but it's Skylar." I corrected.

"Right. I'll remember that. So what brings you here?" He asks, picking up his board. I noticed he had personalized it with the name 'Rocket Boy' on the side in metallic silver paint.

"Rocket boy?" I ask with a snort, unintentionally ignoring his question. His expression turned bashful for a second before looking fond.

"Yeah. You remember that show Rocket Power? It's kind of old but it's about riders?" He asks. I nod. My little sister used to watch it when we were younger. Suddenly the nickname Rocket boy made sense.

"Well my friend, the one that moved away, when we first met, he said I reminded him of Rocket Boy so it just stuck. I have a sister that he called Rocket Girl even though she's not exactly into skating." He explained with a shrug.

"Yeah, that's way more creative than half-pipe dude." I admitted with a nervous chuckle. Rocket Boy gave me a confused look.

"Oh! Right. Yesterday, you never told me your name, so when Darrin asked me what I thought about you, I referred to you as half-pipe dude. Speaking of, what is your name?" I asked with a giggle.

"You and Darrin are pretty close, huh?" he asks, frowning and ignoring my question.

"Oh yeah, but don't worry, he's not like my best friend or anything so you don't have to worry about that happening. My best friend is a girl." I assure him. That seems to put him at ease and relaxes.

"Interesting. Well then how about you guess?" He offers.

"Guess?" I ask, confused.

"My name." He clarifies. I make an 'oh' shape with my mouth and think.

"Hmm...you kind of look like a Charlie." I say. He gives me a weird look and shakes his head. Okay, I only guessed that because I was crushing on Charlie Malbury, but it was a guess nonetheless.

"Absolutely not." he says.

"Give me a hint." I demand.

"It starts with a 'J'." he reveals.

"Justin?"

"Nope."

"Jeremy?"

"No."

"Jared?"

"Do I look like a Jared?"

I narrow my eyes at the sarcasm and he snorts.

"J-uh, Ji-nope. Um, Jack?" I try. He gives me a thumbs down.

"Give me another hint." I huff. He shakes his head and smiles encouragingly, telling me to guess at least three more times.

"Jake?"

"Pft. From State Farm? Not even close."

"Jerome?"

"Fuck no."

"Jasper?"

"Jasper? What the hell Skye?" He asks, laughing in amusement.

"Well it's hard! And my name is Skylar, not Skye! Anyways, there's a lot of names in the world." I defend.

"Not that start with a 'J'." he counters.

"Okay well I'm clearly not guessing it anytime soon so unless you want me to keep calling you half-pipe dude or Rocket Boy, I suggest you just tell me." I warn him.

"I'm cool with Rocket Boy." He says with a playful smile.

"Got it. half-pipe dude it is." I say sweetly.

"Got it. Skye it is." He mocks, smirking victoriously.

"You little-

"Yo Jayce, get over here. Some EastWood idiot thinks he can skate better than us. Keeps bragging about his hot new wheels." Some blonde haired guy calls. It takes me a second, but I blink in realization and smile, pointing accusingly.

He groaned and glared back at his friend. "Fuck you Dylan." He says, flicking the boy off. I smile smugly for two reasons. One because I figured out his name and two, he seemed mad that we were interrupted. Okay so maybe it was because Dylan said his name, but I like to think it was the former.

"So Jayce. That's a nice name." I comment.

"Thanks I guess. I wanted it to stay a mystery though. You would've been more eager to know." He says, actually sounding kind of angry. Wow. Anger management much?

"Anyways, I gotta go teach that wannabe who apparently thinks he's better than me, a lesson. Fucking wimp has no idea who he's messing with." He says, the glare resurfacing. Admittedly, I was a bit afraid of Jayce. He seemed like he was easily angered and while it was hot as hell, it was a bit scary. Maybe it's only when he's skate boarding because he seemed okay before. In any case, I hightailed it outta there and awaited the next day, figuring I'd see him again tomorrow.