BOYTOY

~ Chapter 10 ~

*okay so before I start I wanna say I will be posting the rest of the chapters for this book I had them written also so I can update every couple of days but I'm uploading them all!♥️
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The 88 was blasting through my earphones, my iPod bumping up and down in my short pockets. My feet beat steadily over the concrete, timed with my breathing and the pounding of my heart. It was late afternoon, the sky a crisp blue in the corners and blending steadily out to pink and purple and then to the dark roan of night. There was a certain taste in the air; blooming flowers and the sizzling scent of a roasting barbeque.

I mouthed along to the words. "All I want to do is make you mine. I said I'd love you honey anytime..."

I was smiling and I was running; usually the two weren't put in the same sentence, but steadily jogging around the neighbourhood had always made me feel good. Energised and excited, with adrenalin pumping in my veins and my chest searing with the cool, fast air. Running made me feel healthy, even though I'd scoffed down two serves of nuggets from McDonalds that afternoon and slurped down a McFlurry while trying to drive at the same time.

Amber had clutched at the dashboard the entire time, whimpering whenever I crossed into another lane, screwing her eyes shut when I stopped suddenly at the traffic lights. For some reason she didn't like my driving; she dreaded getting into the same car with me, even if I wasn't the one behind the wheel.

Apparently I had a bad case of Back-Seat Driving.

I argued against such accusations, rightfully. It wasn't my fault that every other driver except me had atrocious car-manoeuvring abilities.

I turned into the next street, the one directly parallel to my own. The night was now almost fully upon us; I liked to think it was twilight. A purple sky, tinged with pink and blue, with the air heavy and silent and sweet.

I kept running. My feet thumpthumpthumped along the pavement. My heart thumpthumpthumped in my chest. I breathed, in and out, in and out, always silently singing along to the song sliding through my ears. "Now listen to me baby, if you can't sit still, I know your sister well..."

It was all going well; me singing and running, my feet slapping the cement, my rhythm steady.

And it was still going well right up until I almost tripped over a skateboard that suddenly materialised in front of me. I stumbled, I pin-wheeled my arms in a Saturday cartoon parody, I gasped as my foot stepped onto the board. The wheels slid away and I yelped as I lunged forward.

Luckily I managed to right my footing before I could plummet to the dewy grass. "Whoa!" someone shouted. "You almost went down!"

I glanced over, frowning, to find the smooth Japanese features of Nathan Kimbi. I looked back at the skateboard, lying innocuously upside down on the pavement. Sailor Moon looked up from its belly. "Ah." I pushed my sweaty fringe from my face, looking back at Nathan. "I guess that was your fault?"

"My fault!" He shook his head, dark eyes wide and glittering in the glow cast from the streetlights. "It was my board's fault, man! Hit some gravel, started wobbling, and BAM! It was gone!" He gave a whoop of cheery laughter. "How weird that you were coming past at that exact time! It was, like, fate or something."

"Yeah." I looked behind him, taking in the other few scattered people lounging in front of the house, with a stereo playing lightly crackling metal music. There were a couple others on skateboards in the driveway, doing tricks and laughing. "What's going on?"

"A rave." He nodded and seeing my disbelieving face, added, chuckling: "Not one of those raves, dude. This is just me and my buddies, some beer and some tracks, chilling." He nodded and flashed a cheeky grin, his brilliantly straight teeth exceedingly white even in the darkness of almost-night. A car came growling up the road and its headlights hit us full-beam. "Oh, I know you!"