High School Never Ends

Sunday, day of rest: but not for me. Mike called me around 12pm inviting me out with him and the guys. They were going to teach me how to skate. Boy, were they in for a surprise!
An hour later, Mike was knocking on my door. As soon as I walked out of the house, I was greeted by Jaime shouting at me from the backseat.
“Aria! You’re so lucky, you get to sit next to me!” He shouted
I giggled and waved back as Mike rolled his eyes.
Glancing over to the driver’s seat, I saw Vic staring down at his lap. Mike walked round to the passenger. I walked to Vic’s window and hesitantly knocked on the window. His head shot up and he turned to face me. I smiled and waved. He half-smiled at me before gripping the steering wheel. I took that as my cue to get into the car. Whilst squeezing in next to Jaime, I could see Mike staring at Vic. For about 2 minutes he continuously stared at him. His expression was a mix of anger, confusion and concern. I tried to see the expression on Vic’s face without looking suspicious but I couldn’t find a way to do it. However, I did notice that for those two minutes his grip on the steering wheel was getting tighter and tighter. I worried that he had stopped the blood from flowing in his hands as they were so white, so I awkwardly coughed breaking Mike’s glare. He turned to face me and shot me a look: if looks could kill.
When we pulled up at the skate park, Vic, Tony and Jaime went ahead whilst I pulled Mike to the side.
“What’s up?” I asked
“Nothing.” With that he tried to walk away but I pulled him back
“Why were you staring at Vic like that?”
“How is that any of your business?” He snapped
I was taken aback by his reaction as he walked away. Slowly, I trailed after him. Sitting down at the top of the ramp, Vic handed his skate board to Mike before climbing up to sit next to me.
“You look sad.” He murmured
“So do you.” I replied
“What happened with Mike?”
“I… I don’t know. He snapped.”
“Why? What did you say?”
“I asked why he was glaring at you…”
“He found out about our meeting yesterday.”
“Oh. He’s pissed?”
“He knows nothing about this stuff with your sister and he never can. He was just angry that I didn’t tell him. He cares about you, y’know?”
“Yeh, I know. I appreciate that a lot. But why does us meeting matter to him?”
“He… He doesn’t trust me. Not with you at least.”
“Uh…”
“Not in that way!” He rushed. “I mean, he knows that I got involved with some bad stuff and he’s scared that I’m going to get you killed or something.”
“He blames you?”
“For what?”
“For Paige’s death.”
“He doesn’t know about her. I hid her from my family, since I was afraid they wouldn’t approve of me trying to help her. Mike found out by accident. I blame me though. I wouldn’t blame you if you blamed me as well.”
“I don’t.”
“Why?”
“She was stubborn, I know that. You can’t beat yourself up over this. I did that and it almost ate me alive, but Melissa saved me. I want to save you, but I need to know more.”
“She couldn’t keep up with payments. I offered her he...” I cut him off by pinching him. “OW!”
Jaime landed next to us.
“You not gonna skate, Aria?”
“If someone offers me a skateboard, I might.”
“Here you can use mine.” He said as he gave his board to me. “Do you need a hand?”
“Nope, I got this.” I smiled
I never told any of the guys I could skate. Paige taught me when I was younger. It was her favourite thing to do and it soon became mine. We would go together, if Mum and Dad were fighting. She would sneak me out with her and we’d skate: it was a release from our problems. Soon she lost interest, however I continued. I would sneak out without her, but ever since her death I hadn’t really tried.
I mentally prepared myself for what was to come. However, as soon as I jumped on the board and felt the wind in my hair, it all came rushing back to me. It was one of the most amazing feelings ever. When I reached the top of the ramp, where Jaime, Vic and now Tony and Mike were they were stood in awe. At least Mike, Jaime and Tony were. Vic was smiling at me, not fazed at all. I guess Paige showed him that she could skate.
“Where the hell did you learn to skate!?” Mike exclaimed
“My sister.” I replied
“She must be amazing.” Jaime added
“She was.” I smiled sadly
Vic looked down, as Jaime gasped. Tony smacked him on the head. But Mike, Mike focused on Vic. It was like he was trying to figure out what was happening. Suddenly, his facial expression changed. It was like he had had a Eureka moment.
“You knew.”
Jaime and Tony looked baffled at the comment Mike had just directed at Vic.
“Maybe we should go!” I exclaimed
Mike nodded and we all headed back to Vic’s car.

Notes