SkaterGirl

Chapter Two

"You're home early," I said as I walked up to him.

"Got fired," he slurred.

"That sucks, I'm sorry," I said.

"Why do you wear that awful hat, and ride that ugly board?" He asked.

I bit my lip. "I like it."

"You need to be more like your mother was. She didn't raise a boy," Dad slurred.

I rolled my eyes and walked past him and into the house.

-

I watched the blood drip from my skin and felt satisfaction. With every cut, I felt better. It was a silent scream that I didn't have to do. But I didn't cut my wrists. I cut my upper thighs. Easy to hide. I wasn't abused or anything, but he seriously couldn't be nice to me.

My phone buzzed and I dropped the comb and picked it up. It was a text from Danny.

Hey, hope ur ok. Come meet us for lunch

Yeah fine. Where?

McDs girl! Haha see ya soon

K, see ya

I cleaned myself up and left again. I skateboarded to McDonald's and the boys had our table waiting for me. I put my skateboard in my bag and sat down.

"Aren't you gonna eat?" Vince asked.

I shook my head. "Not hungry."

"Here, have my fries," Kyle said.

I huffed and took five fries out of his pack.

"No, have all of them," he insisted.

I took his pack from him and looked at the boys. I raised an eyebrow at them. They were unusually quiet.

"Abs, we love you," Kyle said.

"But do you have an eating disorder we should know about?" Danny asked.

"No, I just don't get hungry," I partially lied.

"Are you sure?" Vince asked.

I nodded.

"Well, hey, there's a new family in my neighborhood," Vince said. "They have two kids in our age range. Should we see if they're skaters?"

"Yeah, sure," Danny and Kyle said.

They looked at me.

"Yeah, sure, I don't care," I shrugged.

"Let's go," Vince stood and we left.

We hopped on our skateboards and followed Vince. When we made it to the house, Vince knocked on the door while Danny, Kyle, and I stood a few yards away. It was our "protocol."

A middle aged woman opened the door and saw us. Vince was talking to her and then she yelled for her kids whose names were Cayla and Luke. They appeared before us and Cayla looked a little girly to be a skater but Luke could fit right in.

Vince brought them to us and they were happy to meet us. Cayla seemed shy-ish, but still too girly. Red hair that was curled with a curling iron, makeup perfectly done, definitely not the skater type. She looked at Danny and averted her blue eyes away. She started twirling her hair and bit her lip.

Luke wasn't the average beanie wearing skater. His hair was blonde, eyes were blue, and wore a white v-neck. I looked at the boys and they seemed like they liked Luke and Cayla.

"Why's everyone being so quiet?" I whispered to Kyle.

"I'm not sure," he chuckled back.

"Well, that's Danny and Kyle, and this is Abigail," Vince introduced us. "This is Cayla and Luke."

We waved to them and I stood there awkwardly.

"So who's the best skater here?" Luke asked.

I pointed to Danny, Vince pointed to Kyle, Kyle pointed to me, and Danny pointed to me. I looked at Danny and Kyle and they shrugged. "You're really good. Better than us."

I wasn't sure what to say. I looked back to Vince, Luke, and Cayla, surprise practically written on my face. Luke chuckled and everyone dropped their arms.

"Hey, Cayla, why don't you chill with Abs here so us guys can get to know Luke a little more," Vince suggested.

She nodded and the boys took off. We walked slowly behind them--so they could be far away from us--and I attempted to strike a conversation.

"So why'd y'all move here?" I asked.

"Scenery change. We never stay in one place for too long," she shrugged.

"Hmm. So are you and Luke, like, twins?"

"No, he's a year older. I'm seventeen," she said.

"Me too," I said.

"That's cool."

"Yeah I guess."

"Yup."

"So I saw the whole googly eyes towards Danny," I said.

"What, he's cute," she blushed.

"Well, Danny isn't exactly oblivious. He'll know if you like him. Unless you can keep it on the DL."

"How do you know?" She laughed.

"Cause I've known him a while," I said. "He's pretty street smart."

"Do you think him and I will ever have a shot?"

"I don't know. And if you constantly move, why go for it?"

"Because it's worth it. I don't ice people out."

"Hmm."

"It seems that you do though," she said.

"Yeah, well, I don't extend my trust and life story to a lot of people," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I don't," I said.

"Okay, okay," she surrendered.

"Hey girls!" Kyle waved to us. "Come on!"

We caught up to them and sat on a half pipe. Luke and Danny were talking. Danny was pretty much the "group leader" so I guess Danny was evaluating him to see if he was a good fit for the group.

"You think Danny'll let him in?" I asked Kyle.

"Maybe. Luke's pretty cool," Kyle said.

I looked down and fiddled with my charm bracelet.

"You okay?" Kyle asked.

I nodded. This was all I had of my mom and I looked to it when I was nervous, sad, confused, or bored.

"Hey, so Cayla cool?" Vince asked.

I looked at him. "Yeah, she's fine."

He nodded and sat next to Cayla. Luke and Danny were still talking, so that left me and Kyle awkwardly sitting.

"Wanna skate?" I asked.

"Nah, just feel like chillin," he shrugged.

"Well, I'mma skate," I stood and started riding around the skate park. I couldn't let my feelings get to me.