Age of Consent

Everything Falls Apart

"Someone take these dreams away
That point me to another day
A duel of personalities
That stretch all true realities"

It was always hot in the valley, but this past summer had been excruciating, so much so that I yearned for the start of school. If our trailer had some type of air conditioning it would had been better, the last one had died just before the heat wave had enveloped Reseda, and I knew there was no money to get a new one. My father hadn't been home in months, him and my uncle had ventured off South towards the border. I suspected they were doing something highly illegal, not just because of the direction but also because it was a commonality of him and his brother to break the law. My older brother Rain also had this tendency, I did not know if my mom did seeing as I had never had the opportunity to meet her, and my dad would be thrown into a fit of rage if she was brought up. The most illegal thing I did was smoke pot, I had no desire to end up like my father or brother and I did well in school and kept a low profile, but pot calmed me down and made me forget all my anxiety about life. I wanted to go to college but did not know if it would be possible, we barely owned the trailer we lived in, how would I make tuition? Sometimes the thought kept me up at night, especially now when I was starting my senior year at West Valley High School. 

I had more acquaintances than friends, I couldn't really have anyone over because of the on goings that occurred in my 'home', and I never had money to do anything. The only real friend I had was Bobby Brown, his dad knew mine and had taken pity on my brother and I and frequently invited us over for dinners, holidays, etc. They talked to us about church but my brother and I dismissed any of their offers for us to attend services, my father was vocal about disliking any organized religion. When Bobby had started practicing karate at his local dojo we rarely saw each other, I understood why he would want to hang out with boys his own age but I do admit I missed the companionship. 

I was stoned and walking towards school at a brisk pace looking forward to the air conditioned building, I was simultaneously looking at my schedule and didn't notice the boy in front of me until I collided with him. "I'm so sorry!" I exclaimed grabbing his bike and picking it up off the road, I noticed his black eye. " Oh my God your eye!" I said gesturing to my own, "Are you ok?" The boy dusted himself off and nodded forcing a kind smile, "Hey don't worry about it, it's not everyday a cute girl knocks me off my bike." He said in a heavy New Jersey accent, I blushed at his comment not use to any attention let alone from the opposite sex. "Well either way I apologize." I said forcing a weak smile, "Are you on your way to school too? At West Valley?" The boy nodded in response, I could feel him checking me out and suddenly felt somewhat self conscious about the shortness and low cut neck line of my red polka dot dress. I was in a rush to get on my way to school, I had lost track of time smoking a joint, I hadn't noticed how the dress had hugged my newly acquired curves, now I was regretting my choice. "Yea I'm new, we just moved here from Newark, New Jersey. My name is Daniel by the way." He said throwing his leg over the bike. "I'm Crystal, it's nice to meet you, I hope you like Reseda so far." I said politely, he gave me a short laugh in response. "Well yesterday wasn't so great, but today looks like it's going to be better." He gave me a flirty grin, "You wanna ride on the handlebars? We'll get there faster." He suggested gesturing to the front of the bike, I blushed again. "Oh you don't have to, I don't want to be trouble." Daniel shook his head, "It's no trouble, that way I don't have to show up by myself. So that's how I arrived at school the first day of my senior year on Daniel LaRusso's handlebars. He told me a lot about himself during the ride to school, and about the events that occurred at the beach the night before.