Chasing Broken Colors

Part 1

9:32 am. It smelled like spring. Dead worms mixed with shattered pavement. It had been raining all night. I rolled over on the filthy plaid couch, almost falling off. Surrounding me were alcohol bottles and ash from the night before. I groaned as my second alarm went off. 9:45 am. I lay there staring out the basement window as I tried to remember what had happened just hours previous. 10:00 am. I finally muster the strength to sit up and throw a couch cushion at Miles who was passed out in a heap on the floor. A muffled murmur escaped his mouth. 

Dragging myself off the couch, I headed to the bathroom. I locked the door behind me. Sliding to the floor I took a blunt out of my pocket and lit it. After taking a long drag of it I slowly got up and trudged over to the sink. Bracing myself against the sink I looked in the mirror Miles shattered months back. The remaining shards glistened under the spotted sunlight, causing my reflection to glow. Without thinking I turned on the faucet and stuck my head over the rushing water.  

A few moments pass and all of a sudden there was pounding followed by yelling at the door, accompanied by a loud thud. Before I had the chance to react, I felt someone grab a fistful of my hair and yank my head backward. Falling onto the floor I glanced up to see Miles standing above me. 

"What the fuck were you trying to do!? Drown yourself!?" Miles shouted at me while bringing me into a hug. "For fucks sake Seth, you gotta be more careful".

"Oh come on man. You know I was just playing" I laughed while pushing him away. I couldn't remember what had just happened but I was too scared to admit that. 

 As we were leaving the bathroom he tossed me my pill bottle. "Maybe you should actually consider taking those one day" Miles suggested as he headed upstairs. 

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Once I get to the top of the stairs, I'm greeted with the sound of clanging dishes and laughter. As I walk into the kitchen I see my little sister helping Miles clean up our pile of dishes from last night. I grab a dish towel and toss it next to her. 

Lucy turns around and signs "What do you want?" while continuing to wash the dishes. 

"Go get ready for the beach." I sign back to her. "I can handle the rest of our mess." Lucy grins as she tosses me the sponge and heads to the back of the apartment. 

"Did you give any thought to what I said earlier?" Miles asked me while drying off a plate. 

It took me a moment to process he was talking about the medication. I hand him another plate as I replied, "Yeah dude. Don't worry I took it." He glanced over at me with an expression of skepticism before shaking his head.

"Come on man, let's get ready for the beach." Miles jeered as he walked away. 

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After ten minuets of walking the three of us make it to the beach. Lucy makes a beeline to the water where her friends have already begun surfing. I stand there watching over here for a few moments.

"Come on man, she'll be fine like always." Miles stated while lighting a cigarette. "And look at that" he gestured over to the lifeguard stand. "Logan and Mia are on duty. You got nothing to worry about."

Even though most of the locals know my sister is Deaf, it still makes me anxious to leave her alone in the ocean. Water can be unforgiving even to the strongest of swimmers. "Alright yeah, I guess you're right." I comply. "Let's go skate."

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A couple hours into our skate session, a person I had never seen before enters the skate park. While our park is accessible, I had never seen a person in a wheelchair use it before. As long as I have been alive and going to this spot, our town had never even had a wheelchair user before. 

I joined Miles on the deck of a half pipe as we checked out the new person below. "Holy shit, Seth check out their tattoos!" Miles exclaimed. "Two full sleeves with some neck tats. Damn." He shook his head while lighting another cigarette. 

We watched this person roll around for a bit, doing different tricks off of rails, pipes, and ramps. "Goddamnit I want to be friends with them." I muttered to myself. Seconds later I felt a shove and before I knew it, I was sliding to the bottom of the half pipe. 

"Hey man, are you, like okay?" I open my eyes and above me is the mystery person staring down at my face. "Here, let me help you up." They extend their hand out to me, and I take it graciously. "I just moved here. Maybe I'll see you and your friend around?" They nodded their head up to Miles. 

"Probably, yeah." I stuttered. I couldn't believe I was actually talking to them. I glanced up to see Miles grinning like an idiot. I flicked him off when my new acquaintance turned their head.  

"Oh shit, I gotta leave man. What are your names?" They looked at me with wondering eyes.

"That's Miles." I gesture to the top of the deck. "Am I'm Seth." I looked at them one more time before they nodded and turned to leave. "What's your name?" I called out before they were out of earshot. 

"I'm Ash." They smiled and rolled away. 

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