Harrington 3

Ride On

~Three weeks later~

"Looking good, Stevie!" I call out to my brother as he passes me outside the bathroom door, fully clad in his Scoops Ahoy uniform and a grumpy expression. I continue to fiddle with my hair, a smirk on my face as Steve flips me off and rushes down the stairs. He's late for his shift, which isn't a surprise as that's usually the case. Three weeks working there and he's already on his 'last straw'. The boss is pretty laid back though, so it's not really a problem. He's been given a lot of 'last straw's.

Today is my last day before Dustin gets back. It's been a month. One, glorious month.

It's not like I hate the guy, it's just I definitely needed a break from him. I dealt with three months of him telling me he hates my boyfriend, then three more months of him referencing moments of my previous relationship that went horribly wrong.

For example, a month after Jonny and I had broken up, Dustin compared our relationship to a bunch of rats eating a dead squirrel we walked by.

"Look at how desperate and pathetic that one is. That's Jonny. Disgusting . . . and hopeless with women."

"Dustin this has nothing to do with anything. It's a bunch of rats eating roadkill how does this relate to my love life?"

"It's a perfect analogy."

I roll my eyes just at the memory. The guy got such a kick out of ridiculing my failed dating life it shocks me to this day. Will thinks it's jealousy, but I don't see how that would make any sense. Dustin never liked me that way, and if he did, that was all ruined when Max came along. It doesn't matter anymore, because seeing him obsess over me and Jonny made me realize that it's absurd I ever had the slightest feelings for him.

I huff and leave my hair a mess, not really caring about my appearance on account of the Whatever Code I live by.

In the past year, my wardrobe has definitely improved. Especially with the opening of the mall, it gives me the opportunity to buy clothes that aren't hand-me-downs from Steve, aren't super big for me, and don't make me look homeless. Of course, I don't have a lot of money, so my wardrobe is still very much limited, but I'm working on it, that's for sure. I currently wear a polka dot black and white T-shirt that I bought last week, along with jean shorts that Steve gave me for my birthday. I picked them out with him, because he's a hopeless gift giver otherwise.

My hair sits in tangled waves down to my armpits, and my tired green eyes stare back at me in the mirror. The cuts that are on my face are faded, as my father has a job now and the old ones are still healing. The scars on my arm from two years ago are still there, and so are the ones on my chest. I ignore them most of the time, because scarring is badass so I don't really mind. 

My broken arm healed quickly, and now I'm just waiting to break my other arm and other leg so I can collect the full set. Except I'm not allowed to say that in front of Steve anymore because he gets mad. I still say it though.

I head downstairs for breakfast, if you can call a box of raisins and a glass of orange juice breakfast, then head outside to meet with Max at the skateboard park.

Ever since Max and I became good friends, I've told her that she needs to teach me how to skate, and she kept telling me that if I can't even walk without falling down, then I'm hopeless on wheels.

But I eventually persuaded her, and I'll have you know I'm extremely good at it.

Not.

I've been learning for a month and I still can't even stay on the thing longer than ten seconds. I can barely turn, and am too scared to go down hills, let alone try an Ollie.