"This is the shit man."
His voice seemed electric. Like, if one were to get to close, or if he were to whisper in one's ear, the person might get shocked. That wonderful deadly voice. It boomed, reaching the far end of the dark pavement, of the faded yellow lines that usually housed cars, now empty apart from one or two. Probably janitors.
August looked around at the glowing street lights, cars, and bold-lettered light up signs for restaurants and businesses. They flashed past him as he went in circles on his skateboard. His friends were off a few yards away from him. He could hear Liam's electric voice again, getting hit by it's shockwaves. His friends laughed, catching up to Liam.
"Hey, man, you liking your first night out?" Gregg. He was the first to start skating. Age 5. Now he was 15, and all his friends knew how. Apart from Liam. But Liam was learning.
"Yeah, how you liking that scooter?" Ash, however, was the person to convince everyone to start skating. He said it would bring them together. He wasn't wrong.
Liam blushed, but continued to smile.
"It's fantastic! If this feels this amazing, I can't imagine how radical the board must feel!" These words felt foreign on his tongue, but he liked them. He felt like all his friends. He felt like he belonged.
August kept doing donuts and figure-eights on the tar, trying to go fast so the wind in his ears would block out Gregg and Ash's babbling. Their voices were flat and repetitive, not like Liam's at all.
"August?" the electricity ran through him, getting his attention. It was more overwhelming now. Closer, for sure. Looking up, August saw Liam, his chocolate skin illuminated by the street lights. "Oh, hey Liam. How you likin' that scooter?
"Dude, it's sick!"
"You don't have to try so hard, you know. You can talk like you normally do. You don't need to prove anything to us. We...We love you how you are." August shifted his posture, clearing his throat in his hand, casually. "We love you just the way you are, dude."
Liam's cheeks got hot and he stepped off his scooter.
"Thanks. Wanna get out of here and grab some Midnight McDonalds?" He looked up. "Alone?"
August gulped, taken aback.
"Why not?"
YOU ARE READING
a boy filled with stars
Teen FictionHis mouth sank at the corners, the skin under his eyes a dull blueish-purple and shiny. His skin was a soft alabaster bending here and there, with freckles scattered all over, like the constellations. He never slept. The stars in him were too busy...
