𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐂𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐘, 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐓

TWO: THE BOYFRIEND

hawthorne, california | year of 2009

the next day, it was just tyler, taco and jasper. they went to the skatepark and messed around for a couple of hours. other wheels besides theirs glided on one of the ramps.

"not that bitch again," jasper muttered under his breath.

tyler turned and looked up to see-scarlet. he looked back at jasper and furrowed his eyebrows. "whatchu got against her, nigga?"

jasper laughed and shrugged. "it's nothing against her but it's you who start sitting there tryin' to bag a bitch that won't even date you."

"shut it, fag," tyler retorted and brought his attention to scarlet. "yo, scarlet!" he called.

she looked at him, an expressionless look on her face. she was wearing a nicely fitted, black turtleneck with baggy blacks jeans and vans. she came to a stop and walked up to tyler. "hey."

"i see you've found the skatepark," he says to her. something about this girl made him change his demeanor.

"yep." she didn't make direct eye contact with him and seemed a bit timid and tyler noticed but he decided not to be a creep and didn't ask. it got awkwardly silent and footsteps started to approach the two of them. scarlet look to the side and tyler noticed she gulped. "hey," she said softly.

the taller dude clenched his jaw as he looked at her and then at tyler. he kept his gaze on him as he opened his mouth to speak. "ready to go?"

"i just got here," scarlet protested, but her tone was still low. she looked up at the dude and tyler could see fear in her eyes and looked back at the guy. he leaned down and whispered something in her ear. she nodded and he walked off. scarlet turned to tyler. "sorry, i-"

"is that you're boyfriend?" he asked, even though it was painfully obvious. tyler put his skateboard on the ground and just stood on it, waiting for her response.

scarlet nodded. "yeah." she didn't sound too excited. her bruises were hidden from the turtleneck. he sighed a little. scarlet looked behind him and saw his friends horsing around. "wanna get out of here for a little? skate around?"

tyler wasn't letting that offer fly out the window. "sure." they both pushed off and went at a moderate speed as they got onto the street. nobody drove around often, it was safe. "where you movin' from?"

"florida. tampa, florida," she answered. she slowed down and tried to do an ollie but failed and almost fell back, but caught herself. "shit...so, you're friends... they seem to be-"

"assholes? yeah, all of us are." both of them laughed. "it's all love. i just refuse to take shit seriously."

"personalities like that are attractive," scarlet says. she pushes off again and rides calmly. tyler didn't know what to say. he would feel stupid to interpret it as flirting but then again, it wasn't that wild of a thought. it got quiet but it was comforting. it didn't feel awkward. the sun was setting and the sky was a mix between a dark magenta and orange. the clouds looked like an orange smoke. "isn't it beautiful?"

tyler turned and looked at scarlet. he had to admit, it was beautiful. he really did like sky views but always felt embarrassed to say anything to the guys because they would think he was sus. "yeah, it is. it's free, too. i take pictures."

"of the sky?" she asked, biting on her lip.

tyler pushed off to get more speed. "nah, but i like taking photos of me and my friends at the skatepark. like...yeah, it's stupid." he let out a frustrated sigh.

"it's not stupid to capture a memory. somewhere along the line you won't have all of this anymore. things are gonna change and you should hold those pictures close to your heart," scarlet opposed. her words made tyler smile like an idiot. a phone was buzzing and it was coming from scarlet's pocket. she stopped herself as did tyler and she reached into her pocket, pulling out a motorola droid and cursed under her breath as she looked at it. she answered it and turned her back to tyler. she was timid as she spoke, her voice shaky and cracking as she put emphasis on certain words. the call ended and she looked back at tyler with glassy eyes.

"are you okay?" tyler began to ask, seeing the obvious, distressed look on her face, but scarlet cut him off.

"i gotta head back, don't follow me though. wait a little while or take a long way. he can't see you." before tyler could get another word out, she got on her board and pushed off, floating away. tyler sighed heavily. the girl had something about her that intrigued him. something was going on in her life and he really wanted to find out.