A Tasty Treat

Poor Skateboard

  Dips between each slab of sidewalk made the wheels of my skateboard clack against the next. I zoomed along the road while remaining aware enough to avoid the people walking here and there. The setting sun in the distance lit the sky as if it was on fire.

  I was on my way home after hanging out with Suki, enjoying the casual ride, and wondering what I'd do for the weekend.

  A teenager with a bike suddenly came out of an alley with pizza boxes strapped to the back of his ride. I shouted a warning to him, but he didn't seem to hear me. I tried to slow my speed, however, I didn't actually have the time to stop.

  Time seemed to slow as the boy finally noticed me and jumped back while abandoning his bike. I groaned and was already cringing since I knew this was going to hurt.

  I went flying forward as my skateboard got tangled in the fallen bike. One second I saw concrete coming at me, the next it was some jersey jacket, and my face collided with it.

  "Oof!" The impact may not have been as bad as hitting bare concrete, but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

  "You punk! Watch where the Hell you're going!" I sat up and turned to glare at the pizza boy.

  "Screw you!" I snarled. "You should look both ways before jumping out with that rusty-ass bike!" The teenager's face went red with anger.

  "Oh, it's you again...." A low voice droned, and I turned back to look at who had softened my landing.

  "Dude, we gotta stop crashing into each other like this." I stated while looking at the purpled-haired stranger. "Though I will admit this time was purely accidental- Don't you fucking dare touch my skateboard!" I yelled at the pizza boy.

  "Oh, you mean this one?" I quickly got off the basketball player and stepped toward the teen with my board.

  "Put it down, and I won't hurt you."

  "You? Hurt me? Don't make me laugh, you're just a girl." He laughed. Oh, I hated hearing 'you're just a girl' so fucking much. First off, I wasn't a girl. Secondly, even if I was, being a girl didn't mean I couldn't beat the snot out of someone.

  I took another step forward, and he took a step back while raising my board over his head. I wasn't going to play his stupid games and just reared back my fist.

  My knuckles dug into his gut, causing him to double over in pain while groaning. My skateboard fell and rolled into the street when he lost hold of it.

  "Pathetic." I mumbled under my breath while going to get my board. Picking it up, I inspected it for damage. There was nothing more than a few scuffs, thank goodness.

  A loud horn blared, and my eyes locked on the grill of an oncoming semi. I felt like a deer caught in the headlights until my legs moved to back out of the way. Had the truck been going the speed limit, I would have been fine, but with it going what looked to be 50 or more....

  A large arm wrapped around my waist and yanked me back just as the semi's horn blared again and sped past. I was breathing heavily from the panic and found that my hands were clinging to my board and my savior's sleeve for dear life.

  "Th-Thanks." I muttered as my feet were dangling just off the ground.

  "....I think you need to look both ways as well."

  "I know! Just put me down before I hit you, too."

  "Mm....no." He droned while holding me to the side like a large stuffed animal as he started walking down the sidewalk away from the groaning pizza boy still holding his stomach.

  "Put. Me. Down. Now!" The purple-haired giant just ignored me, and people were beginning to stare. I glared at them until they looked away but that didn't stop all of the onlookers. "Damn it, put me down! I hope your-" I was cut off by a lollipop being shoved into my mouth.

  "So annoying." He sighed.

  "Put me down, and I can go home and never see you again." His violet irises only glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. "This is cherry, right? Tastes like it." I pulled the lollipop from my mouth to see that it was dark red.

  "Yeah."

  "So why are you so insistent on carrying me?"

  "I....don't know."

  "Do you know your name, at least?" I looked at him with a flat expression while enjoying the free candy.

  "Murasakibara, Atsushi."

  "Oh, right. The mouthful."

  "Where do you live?"

  "Wouldn't you like to know?" He stopped walking and looked down at me. When I realized he wouldn't move until I answered, I rolled my eyes and pointed to a street. "Down there. If you even think about stalking me, I'll beat your ass."

  "Mm." He lazily hummed while not really reacting to the threat in the slightest. Silence fell as we began to pass houses and mailboxes. The dude barely talked, he didn't even give straight answers, so I wasn't going to figure out why he refused to put me down.

  Might as well enjoy the free ride like the lollipop, I guess.

  "Right here." I pointed at the light grey house and saw Mom's little truck in the driveway. The giant lumbered up to the driveway, and I could see her tending to the flowers out front.

  He set me down on the driveway and finally let my feet hit the ground.

  "Uh....thanks again. You know, for actually saving my life....and I guess the free ride home." I awkwardly ran a hand through my hair. What the Hell did people normally do in a situation like this?

  "Oi!" Mom's voice called out from behind me. "Where the Hell have you been?! I thought you left Suki's a while ago!"

  "Some jerk made me crash!" I shouted back.

  "And the man is?" She pointed at the giant with her garden sheers while her other hand was on her hip.

  "From Yosen!" I said after reading his jacket.

  "Am I gonna have to kick his ass?!"

  "No, he helped me!"

  "....Did you make a new friend? Aw, baby, look at you growing up so fast!"

  "Please ignore her." I turned to Atsushi and saw that he didn't look fazed at all by the interaction. "So....you can go home now. I'll pay you back for the lollipop some other time." He gave a slight nod before turning away and walking off. "Such a weird dude."