We Three
After Nat had gotten dressed and the two ate a quick breakfast, containing cereal and dry toast, the two grabbed as much money as they could find in the tornado of Nat's room, which in total was fifteen dollars, and head off to Main street. They didn't have a plan in mind, their families (mostly Alex) didn't want them to stay in the house, and although they could go to Kevyn's house and bum it there, they didn't wanna overstay their welcome, even if he really wouldn't mind.
The two stopped in front of a park, the only place on Main with real fresh green grass and sprawled across it, enjoying the coolness of it. Learning from yesterday's mistake, Nat knew better than to wear her jacket again today, instead putting on black cargo shorts and her The Smiths shirt she thrifted a while back, while Van was in the same clothes as yesterday, considering he slept at Nat's house.
"what do you wanna do?" Van asked, sitting up and tearing bits of grass with his hands and sprinkling them on Nat's legs, most of them fell off as she sat up with him. She looked across the street, trying to find something for them to do. She nodded towards the Lea Theater across the street, "you wanna catch a movie?" she asked, pulling out the money they collected earlier from her pocket.
Van added the crunched up single dollars bills and the five dollar bill almost split in half,
"we don't have enough," he sighed. He was quiet for a minute then suddenly he sat up straight, his eyebrows rose in realization, "we can try and sneak in?" he inquired excitedly.
Nat had perked up at his excitement then slouched back down when she heard his question, "Randy ratted us out last time, remember?" she groaned, running a hand through her hair, "Kiss ass didn't even get anything out of it and I just got an earful from Alex." She finished flopping back down.
Van nodded, "right I forgot about that, too bad I don't have a cent on me, I spent it all last night on pot," he said patting his pocket. Nat nodded and got up, "let's go see if Ben has anything for us to do," she said pulling her best friend up.
Ben Scott was the owner of La Tejanita. He was a gay 30-year-old guy, tall and handsome. He used to sub for them at school before he used what he scrounged up to refurbish his grandpa's store and make it his own and combine music and food, two of his favorite things. He actually taught Nat how to play the guitar a few years back, they've had this brother-sister relationship ever since, and whenever she and Van needed a quick buck, he'd find something for them to do, whether it's waxing the floors, or rearranging the backroom, or even bathing his dog John Paul Bones, a 75 pound pit bull who's the friendliest dog you'd ever encounter. But he really works up a stink, and he can't sit still for the life of him so bathing him took both Nat and Van's strength and a half.
The bell above the door rang as the two walked in, the smell of Pan Dulce and the Mexican music filling up their senses. Two tables were occupied, one by two old men drinking coffee and munching on some Concha's and the other by a smart looking young woman, probably in her twenties typing away on her laptop and sipping some black coffee. There was their friend, Gen, behind the counter, scrolling through her phone and a boy wiping down tables, and humming along to the song playing, Gen nodded towards them as they walked in. “hey man, is Ben in?" Nat asks as Van slowly approached the counter, mesmerized by the sweet bread behind the glass.
"in his office," Gen nodded to the little hallway behind the counter. Nat thanked her and pulled a drooling Van by the shirt to the back. Nat knocked on the office door and walked in without waiting for an answer, she found Ben sitting at his desk, on the phone.
He shot them a smile and held up a finger, mouthing 'one sec'. Nat sat across from him, sinking into the chair while Van leaned against the wall behind her.
Ben was giggling into the phone, “alright Paul, I’ll see you tonight.” He hung up the phone and looked up at the two of them, "hello gentlemen, how can I help you?" he said with a charming smile lighting up his face.
"Ben, how ya been?" Nat asked, returning an equally, if not more so, charming smile.
He nodded slowly, "I'm good, business is a little slow, but I'll live, how's your summer been?" Nat shrugged, and Van spoke up, "it was fine until Alex decided to kick us to the curb, well Nat, but we're sort of a package...”
"Alex's finally had enough of your bull, huh?" Ben asked and started laughing instantaneously. Nat rolled her eyes but couldn't help but join him in the laughter, "yeah laugh it up big guy, anyways we wanted to see if you needed a hand with anything," Nat leaned forward. "we could use the money," Van added.
"once again milking me for money," Ben shook his head teasingly, "sorry to disappoint you guys but we got everything done around here yesterday, with Gen and Josh helping me this summer," Ben admitted, tapping his fingers on his desk with a look of concentration overtaking his features. He snapped his fingers and pointed one at Nat, "I don't have anything for you, but you know who does? Paul, my boyfriend,” he said almost bashfully. “he was just talking about finding someone to empty out his garden shed for him, says his hands are for cooking and gardening not handy work" Ben said nodding his head.
Van groaned, "that sounds like a lot of work, can't we just wash Bones or something?" Nat turned and looked at him with a look basically asking him if he's serious, whenever they wash Ben's dog, Van won't shut up about his sore arms for two days. Nat shook her head and looked at Ben, "never mind him, we'll help Paul out," she said getting up, jutting out her hand at him, "good doing business with you good sir." Ben gave a chuckle and shook her hand, "of course, come back anytime, I’ll send you the location and give him a heads up” He said with a smile.
The two friends left La Tejanita and rode their boards up to West Aspen Avenue, following the location Ben shared, it was right below the rich people neighborhood. Twelve minutes later they were outside their destination, Van looking grim at the thought of having to do heavy work, Nat wasn't excited either, considering how little they slept. Thing is, Van didn't mind asking his mom for money, he was an only child, his mom usually left some money for him weekly ...and he usually spent it on weed or junk food. Nat on the other hand, her family was living off her sister's income, with the occasional extra cash her mom made dog sitting. So, she never felt comfortable asking for money from her mom, her sister would slip her a rare 20 every few weeks but that was about it. Before that it was her dad giving her an allowance every week, but he died so Nat learnt how to make her own, she'd mow lawns, move furniture with Van, and milk Ben for work he doesn't need done.
The door swung open, revealing a man a little shorter than Ben, with lighter hair and eyes, he had an apron on, “you guys must be Nat and Van?” He asked with a polite smile. Nat gave him a charming smile, “that we are, Ben told us we could help you move some things?” Nat asked, and Van nodded excessively. “Yes! Please, come in, come in," he moved out of the way to let them in.
He led them to the backyard, “it’s very nice to finally put a face to you two, Ben talks about you guys fondly, you’re like little brothers to him.” the two followed him out back and saw the shed in its glory, an old thing with chipped paint rusty nails coming out of it, Van thought if he coughed too loud it might crumble before him.
Nat smiled, “yeah nice to finally meet the famous Paul,”
Van snickered, “Ben’s like totally obsessed with you.”
Paul smiles to himself, “uhm, anyway, this thing has been here longer than I have, I don’t really use it much, I just store my garden supplies there mostly, but apparently there's mold going up the left side and back of it, I decided I’m just going to tear it down," he turned to look at them, a wary look on each their faces, "that's where you two come in, I need you to empty it out and sort the things inside, two piles, stuff that will go in the garage until I have my new shed and stuff that'll go to the junkyard," he looked at the shed thoughtfully, "it's long overdue…"
"no problem, we'll get on it right away," Nat said with a confident smile. Van nodded lamely next to her. "and how about this, I'll give you each 25 dollars for emptying it out and then another 15 for taking the stuff to the junkyard and helping me put the stuff back?,” he said and suddenly Van brightened up causing Paul to laugh. "that's very good sir thank you very much," Van said nodding.
And then the two of them got to work, with masks, not to breathe in the mold and dust, as soon as they opened the shed door they could tell that it hasn't been of much use for a while, it was piled up with boxes and junk and rusty tools. They started with the boxes, pulling them out one by one so Paul can check if they want to keep the stuff or donate them or if they're going to the junkyard.
They were both sweating their asses off by the time they sorted out the boxes in three neat piles, two for keep and one heading to the junkyard. Paul gave them sodas and put on some music while they took a break, it lasted about 15 minutes and then they were sorting out the rest of the stuff, most of it was definitely junk, broken lawn chairs, some rusty gardening tools, a ripped camping tent, and they even found some stuff from the previous owners. Two hours later and they had gone through everything and cleaned the shed.
"Wow!" Paul exclaimed with a smile on his face, "you two really did it," he clapped them both on the back, causing Van to jump and Nat to laugh. He got out his wallet from his pant pocket and pulled a crisp 50-dollar bill and handed it to Nat, “thanks, you two, I'll let Ben know when I need you two again once I need the stuff moved or gone," he said with an appreciative smile. Nat nodded with a smile, "thanks Paul, take care" Van said with a tired smile.
"god, I'm spent," Nat said, finally taking off her shirt to air out as she had felt too awkward to do that while working in front of Ben’s boyfriend. Van squeezed his belly, "I'm starving, wanna go make sandwiches at my house?" he asked, already on his board. Nat nodded,
"sounds good," and they took off to Van's house.
After they had eaten their sandwiches, they had each taken a Mexican Coke out the fridge and went and sat on the front lawn. Van pulled out his pack of cigarettes and took one out for himself and offered Nat some to which she took one and put it to her mouth.
Van felt around for his lighter and couldn't find it, "light?" he mumbled to Nat, she reached in her pocket pulled out her pack of rolled joints and pulled the lighter from between them, lit her cig then tossed it to Van.
Nat sighed, unclear even to herself if it's of exhaustion or relaxation, and took a drag, "I can't believe it's only 2:30, bro." she said twisting the cap off her Coke. Suddenly both their phones go off, a text from Kevyn. "party at Travis's tonight," Van said staring at his phone, Nat blew out smoke and shook her head with a smirk, "Travis doesn't throw parties, he throws like... crowded hang outs," Nat said causing Van to chuckle. "true, so you wanna go?" he asked while stretching his legs in front of him and leaning back on his elbows. Nat shrugged, "sure, it's not like we have anything better to do." As she said that a front door opened two houses over and shut, Nat looked over to see the source for the noise, considering the only noise they've heard since sitting outside was a dog barking in the distance. The culprit was staring right at them. Nat gulped and kicked Van, he looked at her squinting his eyes then turned to look at what she's focused on.
"oh shit, Eagle Eye is back," Van says with a nervous laugh. The three stare at each other for a moment then the girl starts moving, "uh Nat I think she's coming over here," he says nervously, sitting up straight, still staring at the girl, "no she's definitely walking over here, Nat, she's- no, Nat she's here," Van said, staring up at the girl standing over them now.
She was wearing another flannel this time, with White air force 1s, when she came to a stop, she had blocked Nat from the sun, so to her the girl looked like she was glowing.
The girl crossed her arms, "hi," she said with her nose to the sky.
Nat leaned over to put out her cigarette on the sidewalk then leaned back, "hello," she stared up at the girl again.
Van gulped then asked, "hey, you guys just moved here, right?"
the girl held eye contact with Nat for a moment then turned to Van, "yes just yesterday, i'm Shauna Shipman." She said with an assertive tone.
Van nodded, "I'm Van Palmer, I live here," he said pointing back to his house, then he looked over to Nat, waiting for her to introduce herself.
Nat was quiet for a moment, she was studying the girl, since it's the first time they stand this close to each other. The girl was pretty, deep brown eyes and brown hair, she had soft features and a button nose. She wasn't exactly lanky, nor was she chubby, she was fit with soft edges. Her lips were pink and so were her cheeks, Nat couldn't tell if it was cosmetic or natural. Her hair was parted on the side, tucked behind her left ear while the right side curtained her face as she looked down at them.
Eventually she spoke up, "Nat," she offered in an almost evasive tone. Van had always prided himself on his ability to detect whether Nat was open to someone or not. It was easiest to see when she was attracted to someone, she'd get in this playful flirty mood, she doesn't even have to try that hard, she could just look a girl up and down and she'd have her, it was just the air of her, confident, laidback, playful. When it was platonic, she became a confidante, she turns quiet and thoughtful, offering herself as a crutch or a shoulder to cry on, or someone to pick you up when you're down. When she didn't like someone, she'd get very bored, never listening to what they have to say, staring at anywhere else but the person, she was rarely rude or hurtful, she simply didn't put any energy into people she didn't like.
But right now, Nat was lost, and Van could see it, she didn't know how she felt about the girl standing in front of them, she couldn't pick up on any indicators, she was just a big question mark with a flannel on.
"so, what brought you guys to Wiskoyak?" Van asked, breaking the awkward silence.
Nat grabbed his pack and pulled out another cigarette, lighting it.
Shauna must've taken the question as an invitation to join them because she sat down in front of the two, legs neatly tucked under her, a grimace on her face at the smell of Nat's cigarette. "my mom got a promotion, I guess they're paying her big money to run a new branch here or something." She said in a tone that made it seem like bragging despite the sour look on her face and crossed her arms again.
"you're from Cali?" Nat asked, blowing her smoke upwards as to be less of a bother for the new girl. Shauna nodded, "Orange County," she said shortly. Nat scratched her chin, "surfing, beaches and TikTok influencers?" a teasing smile on her lips. Shauna maintained eye contact with Nat, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, "basically, yeah." She admitted, "what's there to do here?" she asked causing Nat to snort. Van scratched his head, "not much honestly, there's a skate park, movie theater, we mostly smoke up and hang out at each other's houses or around town." He stared off, almost as if realizing how boring their town is. Shauna raised her eyebrows, "wow, sounds like a blast," the sarcasm apparent in her voice.
"how about you two show me around?" Shauna suggested. Van looked surprised while Nat didn't really react, "umm," Van looked over to Nat who just shrugged, "sure, why not," he concluded. Shauna looked satisfied, she gave a curt nod and stood up. "right now?" Nat asked, she wanted to take a nap or something, no sleep, exhausted from moving shit all day, plus the "party" later tonight, as if on cue she yawned. Shauna nodded, Van stood up and helped Nat up, she came face-to-face with her, she gets a whiff of her perfume, amber, if she had to guess. "You got a skateboard or something? Easier to get around on," Van said, pulling Shauna out of the staring contest with Nat.
After Shauna had gotten her bike, the three of them set off. The two best friends weren't sure as to what they should show her exactly, there was nothing interesting about their town.
Nat thought they should start with Main street so that's where they head to first.
They showed her the Lea theater, their favorite Deli and La Tejanita, they showed her Chaparral Park, the strip mall and the community swimming pool.
They rode by their High school where she'll be joining them next fall.
Her response was a constant mix of a grimace and fascination at how mundane their town is.
They pass by The Two Mansions, a huge field running at 150 acres, everyone in town agreed it was a weird bit of land, it was mostly covered in trees with a big lake dead in the middle, and two mansions on either side of it, each belonging to the town's two richest families, the Matthews and the Taylors. Top 1% type shit.
And of course, they had to show her the skate park, which led to them showing her the rich neighborhood, even showed her the cemetery and all the different trailer parks, quick pass-by to Nat’s trailer house.
They ended the tour at Kevyn's house. The three stood, looking at Kevyn sitting on the couch with an unbuttoned floral shirt, most probably from the women's section and a joint hanging from his lips, "last but not least, this is Kevyn's basement," Van gestured around the room. "sup," Kevyn nodded to them. Nat sat next to him, his arm automatically wrapped around her shoulder. Nat took the joint from his lips and gestured towards Shauna, "Kevyn, meet new girl, Shauna meet the coolest person in Wiskoyak, New Jersey." Kevyn released a low giggle, "shut up dude," he turned to look at Shauna, "sup New girl,"
"Hi," she said curtly.
"new girl's from California, OC to be specific, not used to old middle-of-nowhere small-town Wiskoyak," Nat looked at Shauna with a teasing smile on her face.
Kevyn nodded with an empathetic smile on his face, "you had to leave the beach behind, huh?"
"yes, which sucks, but..." Shauna sighs and puts on a lopsided smile, "new town, new experiences, new friends," she finished looking from Van to Nat.
Van smiled like an idiot, not one to shy away from his emotions. Nat however, held eye contact with Shauna then gave a small nod.
"that's what's up," Kevyn agreed, offering the joint to her. Shauna hesitated for a second then took it from him, putting it to her lips and taking a drag. It wasn't her first-time smoking weed, she was just uncomfortable cause didn't know Kevyn enough to smoke right after him, but alas fuck it.
"so, you guys coming to the party?" Kevyn asked looking at Nat. Shauna immediately perked up, "party?" she handed the joint back to him. Nat laughed lowly, "it's hardly a party, it's just a get-together," she explained. Van jumped in, "a kick-back," he said with a proud smile.
Kevyn shakes his head, "why can't you just call it a party, bro?" he asked with an amused smile, Nat looked at him and shrugged, "you call this a party but then you get invited to an actual party at Jackie's house and what are you supposed to call that? A rager?”
"jeez we get it, you slept with Jackie, big whoop," Van teased with a sly smile.
Nat burst out laughing, "shut up, asshole, and I didn't sleep with her,"
Van lifted his brows "not yet anyway," causing Nat and Kevyn to crack up.
When their laughter died down Shauna spoke up,
"we should go," she demanded more than suggested.
Nat shrugged, "yeah, why not," she pulled out her phone and looked at the time, "pregame?" she looked around and got nods of approval. Nat rolled another joint and Kevyn pulled out shot glasses.
When they got there it was around nine, there was chill music being played from somewhere in the back of the house. Kevyn immediately took it upon himself to introduce Shauna around, while Nat and Van said hi to some people. Nat spotted Mari at the back with Travis and a girl she couldn't recognize.
"sup man" Nat leaned down to hug Travis, "sup Mari,"
"Nat! it's been a minute man!" she said offering her hand to which Nat fist bumped.
Travis was a nineteen-year-old latino guy who failed the seventh grade twice and, he had such a chill way about him, Nat guessed it had something to do with his low IQ or his affinity for weed (understandable), but the world may never know. He lived on Cottonwood -rich- with his little brother, Javi and his single dad, who constantly had to work so Travis had the house to himself a lot. At first his attempts at parties were genuine, he really wanted to throw big parties where everyone got drunk and it was really wild, but it never really panned out, and he ended up with the chill crowd. After a while he didn't mind it and seemed to prefer the kickbacks over the big parties.
The girl with them scooted over and nodded for Nat to sit down, and she gladly did, with a small smile on her face. As soon as she did the girl leaned into her and introduced herself,
"hey, l'm Veronica," she said into Nat's ear. She leaned back and looked at the girl, eventually it clicked, "Yo, you were Leila's friend, right?" the girl nodded, "I'm Nat," "ah, Leila's ex, I like the new hair," the two smiled at each other, and Nat could've sworn she saw Veronica check her out before she sat down next to her.
She had dark Burgundy hair and light brown skin, she a pierced eyebrow and a nose ring, and she was in an all-black outfit.
The five of them sat and talked for a while, Nat has her charm on by default as she's sitting next to a pretty girl. Kevyn joined them shortly without Shauna, however, Nat spotted her at the door talking to someone.
Travis was about to tell the story of how Javi saw Old Man Hector's ghost at the cemetery, like he does at every hang out, when Shauna decided to join their little group.
Nat saw her coming, so she got up to give her the comfortable place on the couch, and she joined Van on the floor. It wasn't even consciously, it was almost automatic. Shauna stared at her, then took the place next to veronica. Van spoke up, "guys, this is Shauna, she just moved here like, yesterday, Shauna this is Mari, Travis, and…"
"Veronica," she introduced herself, smiling at Shauna, who gave a 2 second half smile.
"anyways, as I was saying, I was twelve and Javi was eight, Javi's my brother," he clarified to Shauna, "and dad had to go down to North Carolina for a project, so it was just the two of us for like two weeks, auntie Guadalupe, remember her? the obese widow who always wore a shower cap, a bonnet, right! Anyways she brought us food everyday and made sure we did our homework, so one day after she left for the night, I wanted to mess with Javi l guess I was bored, so we went up to the cemetery, I told him the stories of how the older guys said that you could see Old Man Hector's ghost there at night, it was supposed to spook him but he was just excited, and it was spooky, I'll be honest, being there at night with no lights and the complete dead silence... we got up and started walking around, hoping to see something I guess, when we heard a rustle coming from the mausoleum," he paused and took a hit from Kevyn's joint, Nat looked around at everyone's faces, more people have gathered around, they all seem invested in his story and she realized that she'd been smiling listening to him tell it for the 500th time, even Shauna had a look of fascination on her face.
"so, Javi was clearly terrified, and he dared me to go check out the mausoleum, and I was scared. Of course, I was scared. But I was the older one so I had to fake confidence, and so I slowly walked up to it, opened the door and walked in. I could hear Javi begging me to come back but l ignored him. So, I walked in, I was fascinated by the stacks of graves, which sounds fucked up. And I was looking up at them in awe when all of a sudden, I hear this gut-wrench ear-piercing scream come from outside, and I run outta there, I see Javi crouching on the floor, his arms covering his head, and I ask him 'what's wrong??
What'd you see??' and he points like vaguely at something without raising his head and I slowly turn and look towards where he pointed, and I see him, I gasped so loud because he was SO close, and I thought this is it, I'm gonna die by the hands of Old Man Hector's ghost.
I stood there paralyzed and he kept coming closer and he started to look less old and less dead, and then he spoke,
"what are you two doing here?" it was just David the groundskeeper, and as soon as I realized that I burst out laughing like hysterically, and eventually Javi looked up and saw who it actually was, he started bawling his eyes out and when he stood up, I realized he was crying out of embarrassment... he pissed his pants!!" the whole group erupted in laughter, Travis somehow laughing the most out of all of them.
"has anyone actually seen the ghost? Or is it just bullshit?" Shauna asked after the laughter died down.
Everyone seemed to think for a moment, "Randy said he saw him once," Veronica said with a shrug.
Nat shakes her head and mutters "fucking randy..."
"Randy also said he hooked up with Jackie, when they were both out of town," Mari says rolling her eyes.
Van nodded, "except he was down in Atlantic City while Jackie was all the way in Paris," he snorted.
"what about you?" Nat asked looking at Shauna.
"what about me?" she replied.
"you ever seen a ghost?”
"unfortunately no, but I haven't given up hope yet,"
Nat smiled and nodded, almost impressed.
They stayed at Travis's till midnight, when Van's mom called to remind him they have church next morning.
Van never understood his mom’s insistence on them going, as if remembering god once a week will abolish her alcoholism and neglect. But it was really the only time he got to spend with her where she wasn’t blacked out so he puts up with her God for that long. He got up in a scramble, knowing if he didn't get enough sleep his mom would kill instead of try and wake him up.
"We gotta go, I got church tomorrow," he pulled Nat up by the shirt from where she's sitting, lost in Veronica's face not listening to a word she's saying.
She barely got out a "let's hang out sometime" which is totally a code for "we should fuck", before he pulled her away, finding Shauna talking to Mari and two other girls in a corner,
"Yo, we gotta go, you coming?" Van said,
"you have to go." Nat muttered from behind him.
Shauna looked up at them, "sure" she nodded.
The three rode down to West Washington Avenue, where Van and Shauna's houses were. The journey was peaceful, all the places were closed, and the majority of the houses were dark, or lit up by the TV light, no one walking under the streetlights except for them three, not minding the numbered cars driving back home probably. If Nat was honest, this is probably her favorite time of the day, from midnight to 2 AM. She felt out of place but in the best way, like she's somehow strolled into a still picture, it made her heart full.
Before she knew it, they were in front of Van's house.
"you coming in, dude?" he asked, picking up his board from under him.
Nat scratched her head, "nah, I'll try to sleep in while you're at church,"
"like Alex would let you," a teasing smile.
"'ll just leave then sneak back in, or crash at the park, or at Kevyn's," a smirk.
"god, don't sleep at the park bro,"
"would you rather I sleep with your mom?" a smile threatening her lips.
Van pursed his lips, "alright, dickhead, I'll see you tomorrow," he clapped Nat on the back a little harder than she expected, causing her stumble and laugh. "bye Shauna, it was nice hanging with you today," he gave a cheesy smile.
Shauna nodded, "yeah, you too," she waved.
The two watched as he entered the house then Nat turned to Shauna, suddenly feeling very awkward. "well, I'll see you-"
"you wanna hang for a bit?" Shauna blurted out suddenly.
After Nat was silent for a second too long, Shauna went on, "I'm just," don't be a vulnerable little bitch, "still a little high, and my mom can always tell," she gave a lame excuse.
Nat nodded, "yeah, sure," she looked across the street at the empty house being renovated, "wanna go sit on the roof?" as she looked back she found Shauna with a small smile on her face as she nodded.
So, they abandoned their bike and board on Van's lawn and walked across the street, Nat looked for the key, so they can get to the roof from inside but couldn't find one. So, the two of them scrambled up the scaffolding, Nat helping Shauna up then she pulled herself up, earning an impressed look from Shauna.
Nat hugged her knees while Shauna laid back looking up at the sky, they were sitting close enough that the side of their arms were pressed against each other, neither of them moved.
It was quiet, peaceful for a moment before Shauna spoke up,
"so, is this all you guys do?" she asked, looking over at the sitting girl.
Nat looked down at her, "what do you mean?"
"smoke cigarettes by day and weed at night?"
Nat exhaled loudly, somehow, it's considered a laugh, "pretty much, and skate around."
"what about you?" she asked staring off at some flickering streetlight a few streets over.
"what?"
"what's your thing? What do you like doing?"
Shauna was quiet for a long while,
"I don't know, I like reading but I guess I also just like doing fun things, back home me and my friends always did something new or different every weekend,"
Nat nodded, "wow, sorry you ended up here," a dry laugh leaving her mouth.
"I'm not," Shauna sat up and pulled her knees up tucking her face on top, "it's a new experience, I'm not gonna lie and say i don’t wanna go back… but this can be exciting, if i make it.”
"I hate to break it to you but as you saw, there's nothing to do here.” Nat gestured to the town below.
"there's always an adventure hiding somewhere, you just have to be creative.”
Nat looked over at her again, something mischievous playing on Shauna's lips, although she barely knew the girl, she knew she never met anyone like her before. From the moment her eyes laid on Shauna, she knew there was something different about her, her vibe or aura or whatever it is, the energy she gave off was almost hypnotic. She scared Nat a bit, she wasn't even sure what it was about her, but it was quite unsettling. The entire day, Nat was hesitant about the girl, she didn't know how she felt about her, and by no means was she closer to figuring it out but at that exact moment, she decided to bite.
"fair enough," Nat agreed, "if it's any consolation, me and Van are probably down for whatever you have in mind."
Shauna turned and looked at her, their faces five inches apart. "yeah?" a small smile gracing her lips.
Nat nodded, "I was just telling him how I needed a distraction this summer or whatever,
SO…"
"alright, bet," Shauna said, a sparkle in her eyes, "this'll be fun."