Ripping Boys

Finished for the BCD writing marathon. A story involving a few teenagers preparing for the step from junior high to high school and the mess of feelings that go with it.

I was inspired to write this when my bus passed a skatepark every day and in the springtime I would see teenage skaters tearing it up.  I had no idea what I wanted to write, only that I wanted it to involve a skatepark.  I ended up writing junior high kids, which was surprising for me as previously I always wrote high school or above.  It was pleasant going back to my junior high memories and thinking about how I felt before high school.

 

Picture credit to ColorBlind Images.

 

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“What were you saying?” Audrey, Ms. Eastwood, inquired impatiently as she scrubbed at a particularly difficult stain on one of her perfect, doll-like porcelain plates.

 

“I was saying I feel ignored, Mom,” Macy replied as she watched her mother with sullen eyes. All she wanted to do was whine, but she was a ‘grown up’ now and couldn’t do that. ‘Grown up’ meaning high school. She was apparently meant to be out of her mother’s hair by now. Not that she was noticed even if she was quite obviously there.

 

Ms. Eastwood was tall and imperious. It was intimidating at first. When one got closer and noticed she ignored all that she didn’t like… well, it was less intimidating. This woman had dark brown hair—almost black—that was always tied up in a tight bun high on her head. It was almost never seen down. Her clothing was old-fashioned and made Macy ashamed. Even with the style and hair that Audrey had, she still managed to be pretty with lustrous brown eyes, high cheekbones, a pristine face, and a fit body.

 

She was sure of herself. At least, that’s what she showed the public. After her divorce with Macy’s father Audrey had refused to go by “Mrs. Eastwood” but also refused to give up the last name (there were now two Eastwood ex-wives thanks to Mr. Eastwood, and he was working on a third). Instead she went by ‘Ms.’ It was another of her stands.

 

Macy couldn’t see any shared resemblances with her mother within herself. She looked like her father. Most of the time she thought that maybe that was why her mother hated her so much. Her skin was darker, her hair black, her eyes almost the same hue, and her posture more slouched. She was tall as well. Growing up, her mother had always scolded, “You could be quite a presence if you only stopped ruining your young back!” For once, back then, it was Macy that did the ignoring.

 

The name. Macy. She hated that name more than she hated her mother and father combined. She didn’t always hate them but they sure did make it hard to love them. Everyone was convinced they were being rude if they didn’t call her Macy. Mackenzie, or at least most of the nicknames stemming from it, were not her preference.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry honey I’m just very busy.” The girl snorted as her mother spoke again. “Don’t you have any friends that you could spend the day with?”

 

“Only if you feel like selling me off,” the dark-skinned female retorted as she slouched in her chair and pressed her forehead to the cool tabletop. She felt tired but in all honesty did want to get out of the house, however neat and well-decorated it was. Well-decorated was in the eye of the beholder: the beholder certainly wasn’t a smart arse fifteen year old.

 

Ignored. Audrey moved onto another dish without continuing to acknowledge her daughter’s presence. Perfect. Said ignored daughter stood, glowered, and flew from the room. A smile spread over her lips as she heard her chair fall from the speed at which she stood. Even causing a little disruption in this silent house of hers was an achievement.

 

“Zie! I was just gonna pick you up. Wanna chill?” A shorter girl in baggy black jeans adorned with chains and safety pins, a black spaghetti strap shirt ripped off before the midriff, and black chucks exclaimed as she saw the other female leave the house.

 

Zie paused as she wondered why irony coated her life.

 

“Colt, what are you doing hanging out on my front steps again?”

 

The girl was silent at first as she jumped up the steps—quite a feat in such heavy pants—and hugged her friend. When she spoke again she was amused. “You left the door open when you went in from your bike ride and I heard you talking to your mother when I left for mine.”

 

“Oh. Well, what’s up?” Zie asked as she snaked a hand inside onto the welcome mat—ironically kept inside and to the right of the door to keep shoes from muddying up the mud room—and grabbed her shoes. She watched Colt as she laced up her own chucks, one blue and one purple. Colt was a late riser; the only time she was up before noon on a summer day was if her house was on fire. Her name was Caitlyn but she was a horse-freak that everyone just called her Colt. Her hair was medium length and dirty blonde, tied back in a ponytail with a few strands escaping and framing her face. She had relatively grey eyes, which Zie thought was completely kick-arse. She was the curvy sort, as well, with a relatively short stature—at least in comparison to Zie, the ply board.

 

“Door cancelled again. Seriously, I want to break up with him and crush his little heart. You know what he puts me through,” the blonde growled as she plopped down on the step and looked up at Zie. Door—true name Doran—was Colt’s boycritter, though only in name. They hadn’t had a date in three months and they’d tried, on average, 40 times to get together.

 

The taller girl nodded and winced sympathetically then slapped her knees when she was done tying up her chucks. The clothing she was in would do—a black tee sprinkled with bleach spots and torn at the sleeves, black shorts cutoff just low enough to be appropriate, her chucks, and the jelly bracelets and armbands she had slept in that night. Her hair was fine pulled back in a loose pony-bun.

 

“Got steam to blow?” she offered as she rested against her smaller friend.

 

“Oh, you bet your toes on it! Skatepark?”

 

“No doubt about it. I could only catch Mom’s attention for three seconds today. That’s an all time low. I want to rip some boys.” Zie didn’t have a vulgar mouth, it was just crude sometimes. 100 intentional, as well. She had practiced her phrasing in front of a mirror for hours. It would listen to her when her mother wouldn’t.

 

Zie jumped up and trotted off to grab her board, skates, bike, and helmet—she’d learned on her own that though they were dorky, the protection was worth it. Her skates went in a backpack tilted up against a rough wooden table with an odd assortment of wooden and metal trinkets. Her skates had hung from a nail above the table, her board resting rear-end on the tabletop and top-wheels on the splintering wooden wall. The board she secured in a little rope cradle she had on her backpack.

 

Colt watched from the doorway and laughed as she shook her head. “You’re the only chick that rides with a helmet,” she commented as she seemed to hug the edge of the garage doorway.

 

“I’m also the only chick that doesn’t have ‘head bruise’ or worse on the list of injuries.”

 

They chuckled at that—it was quite true—and took off on their bikes. Colt’s was new; she’d gotten it for her birthday. Zie’s was old but faithful. Her mother complained about it constantly but the girl just wouldn’t give it up. There was even a new bike rusting away a corner of the garage. The dark-haired girl didn’t want to admit to others that half of the fun was hearing her mother complain about the bike, but she knew it was true.

 

“Zie! Colt! Get your pretty little asses over here, we’ve been waiting all morning!” a petite-looking blonde boy called from the far corner of the skatepark. He was at the long pool, where the oldies hung out if they weren’t interested in going vert using the half pipe or going freestyle with the ground course.

 

“You know Colt doesn’t wake up ‘til the sun’s at its highest!” Zie hollered back. The good spirit was returning to her again. These people didn’t ignore her—she was a star at the skate park. No one could deny that this girl shredded it to pieces alongside her good best friend but underling, Colt. Half the fun was all the challenges from the new boys on the block thinking they could beat the “puny chicks”.

 

Colt rode up close, poked Zie with an extended arm, and pushed the speed up a few notches to race up to the boy.

 

“Heeeey, Cleaver. Long time no kick.” She laughed as she threw her leg off the bike while it was still moving then jumped off and tackled the boy. He was taller than her by two heads and only an inch or two taller than Zie, who had just arrived and was grinning like the Cheshire cat.

 

“Any new challenges?” The tall girl inquired as she set her bike up against the chain-link fence and unclipped her helmet, allowing her chin some freedom and the straps the ability to graze her skin as she moved.

 

“Forgot to glance at the bulletin board on your way in…?” Cleaver replied with grin as he tutted and waggled his finger around as if scolding her. He then used it to signal ‘one minute’ and leaned over to take his black band tee off. It was tight and boys didn’t have to wear shirts if they didn’t want to. Zie was known for throwing off her shirt and going in a sports bra but she didn’t feel like it today. “Yeah, you guys got a challenge from two guys who want a rematch on the half pipe. They haven’t shown up yet, though, so if you guys want to go up and talk we could kick the newbies off.”

 

They all looked over and saw a group of young kids—maybe just leaving elementary school—attempting to use the half pipe. They started in the center and went about three inches up one side, then three the other. One boy attempted to drop in but fell and slid down on his side.

 

“Yeah, good idea. They look like they’re going to break an arm,” Colt agreed as she dropped her board—black with a skull and some signatures in paint—and put a foot on it to wait.

 

“Totally. We’re doing them a favor,” Zie added as she unhooked her board from her backpack and threw the bag over by her bike. She didn’t know if she’d even use her skates today. The girl threw her board as well, but forward and smoothly so she could run after it and hop on. She did and the others followed.

 

“Hey kids, mind letting the big kids sit around like boring farts for a while? We’ll give you tips later…” Cleaver bribed as they arrived at the half pipe to the side of the skatepark. Cleaver was always the best with kids; he was left to deal with them and seemed to thoroughly enjoy it.

 

“Only if you show us that awesome move you showed our friends last week!” One—the ambitious one that had tried to drop in—exclaimed excitedly. There was a twinkle in his eye. That kid would amount to something and Zie knew it.

 

“Sure thing, kido,” Cleaver replied with a genuine and soft smile. He got up onto the wooden perch and set up his board in the middle. He dropped in with the grace of any professional, went up the other side, and turned in order to do his trick when he went up the other ramp. As this happened he grabbed the coping, lifted up his board, and held it. When he started losing balance—only someone with a good eye would be able to tell—he let the board fall and only held on to the coping until he knew he would land. With that his hands were free and upon reaching the other side of the ramp he grabbed his board one-handed in the air and landed with bent knees on the other landing.

 

“That one?” He shouted down to the kids. They gaped and clapped, screaming “yeah” and “uhuh”s. Colt and Zie laughed and pushed each other before climbing up the ladder and joining Cleaver on the half-pipe landing. They all sat at the edge and settled down with their feet hanging into the ramp and boards resting against the rail on the edge of the landing.

 

“Can you believe we’re really gonna be in high school?” Cleaver asked as he scuffed the heel of his skater shoes against the wood of the half pipe.

 

“It’s kinda unbelievable,” Colt piped in with a grin. She nudged Zie with her elbow. “Maybe I’ll get a reliable boyfriend for once, y’know?”

 

Zie laughed but choose to look up at the blue sky. “I think you should worry a little more about your schoolwork, miss anxious. Personally… I’m nervous.”

 

“You sound like my mom!” the girl with dirty-blonde hair responded. Her eyes twinkled all the same. “But yeah, I guess I should care more. It matters in high school. At least, that’s what my dweeb of an older sister says.”

 

Cleaver nodded along but then looked over at Zie. “I’m nervous, too. What if everyone there thinks I’m gay again?”

 

Zie shrugged. Cleaver wasn’t gay and that was that. “Don’t they have a term for it? I mean, like, ‘acting gay’ but not actually being gay? I think it’s pretty stupid to have to put a name for it—being yourself and not given horse dung for it would be nice—but I think I remember looking it up.”

 

The boy looked at her with a curious hunger in his eyes.

 

“Yeah, it’s called a poser,” Colt joked. She slung her arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Personally, I wish you’d just be my f*g.”

 

He laughed at that but kept his eyes questioningly on Zie as he replied to the other female. “Oh, but I’m far too in love with you!”

 

They all laughed as Zie raked her memories for the name. It sounded like a form of transportation…

 

“Metrosexual.”

 

Cleaver slowed his laughter and looked at his feet in thought for a small while. Zie watched him, tickling Colt with her other hand to keep the girl occupied. As wonderful a friend as the horse-lover was, she wasn’t much use for this stuff. She was great at starting up a good laugh when the moment was over, though.

 

“What does it mean?” he asked slowly. His fingers tapped against the edge.

 

Zie, preferring a pause or silence over a long brainfart word, stopped to word her answer. “If I remember correctly, and I think I do, it’s a guy or man that is very interested in style and appearance similar to a homosexual male.”

 

The blonde, shirtless boy nodded and then looked up to offer a stunning, charismatic grin. “That sounds right.”

 

Colt whooped for joy and pushed herself off the edge to end the tickling that had been going on for a moment. She was still laughing as she slid down the half pipe and ended up in a pile at the bottom.

 

“I’m gonna go challenge one of the new boys!” she called up before standing and running towards one of the junior high kids across the park.

 

Cleaver watched her go and then turned back to Zie. “Thanks.”

 

“No problem…” she replied slowly and allowed her words to drift off as Colt had. Zie wasn’t likely to directly point out to others when she needed to talk, but she certainly dropped hints. Cleaver never missed a beat.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“Well, you asked about people thinking you’re gay. What if they think the same about me again?”

 

He watched her silently, knowing she wasn’t finished. She took a deep breath and gulped. Her eyes drifted towards where Colt had flown off to.

 

“And what if they’re right?”

 

The boy leaned over and took the dark-skinned teen into his arms. “Chin up, kiddo. We’re in a new age. You’ve got all the time in the world to figure things out. And hey, if you are? You’ve got us. If you aren’t? You’ve got us. If you don’t know what the heck you are? You’ve still got us.”

 

Zie smiled and hugged him tight. She was glad it wasn’t a teary self-discovery moment, as she had foreseen it being.

 

“And besides, if you are, you’ll already have your metrosexual best boyfriend. I hope it’ll do instead of an actual gayboy,” he finished with a laugh as he pressed his thumb gently to her cheek and then pulled away.

 

The tall girl laughed outright and punched him—gently—on the arm. “Of course it’ll do. You’re going to have to help me organize my closet, gaygal or no. I think it ate my favorite jeans.”

 

The laughing continued. It felt right. Everything felt right. Sure, she couldn’t hold her mother’s attention, but at least she had the two best friends in the world.

 

“So, you like Colt?” he asked. His voice was only slightly serious.

 

“Yeah, but I’ll get over her. Besides, we’re entering high school. With four other towns. Know what I’ve heard?”

 

“No, what?”

 

“That there are actual lesbians in those towns. That will be in our school,” Zie joked as she butted her shoulder against the boys. She knew he’d take her words seriously anyway.

 

“Ahhah! They’ve found some? Where is the scientific evidence? I’ve heard they’re a terribly elusive species,” he retorted with a fierce grin. A mischievous spark caught in his eye. Zie almost thought she should vault over the side of the half pipe to avoid whatever was coming next, but decided not to. She liked her legs most when they weren’t broken.

 

She ended up near the ground, anyway, after Cleaver pushed her and then rolled down himself.

 

“Let’s go roller skate,” he suggested as he stood and helped Zie back up again. “We haven’t done that in, like, ages.”

 

“Sure thing, I just hope you won’t break a nail.”

 

They both laughed as Cleaver kicked the girl in the shin.

 

Later they heard that Colt had won her challenge. Their reputations had been upheld. The next year would bring around completely new challenges, especially since they’d be able to venture to the parks of the neighboring towns. Wouldn’t that be exciting?

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[Yori Kisho]

Guh. I always love your stories.