Chapter Text
16:45
Midway trough his turkey sandwich Riyo's tennis practice had turned into yelling practice. Her coach was once again reprimanding her about losing her temper and using her feet to kick back the ball, hitting her taller, blonde opponent square in the face.
Even from afar, where he had found refuge in the shade of a tree, he could clearly see the dramatics on the game field. Zanka even gasped as the blonde's long hair dramatically scattered trough the air when she fell back due to the shock of the impact. She had somewhat tamed her nosebleed and now it was a three-way yelling match.
He kept watching, grimacing from time to time at the strong exchange of words. The warm spring breeze rustled his hair and he breathed a sigh of relief as the yelling subsided. This is the most free time he's had from his duties as student council vice president in a while, with the schools spring festival fast approaching, the planning had been hectic. From sorting through every classrooms idea to having one on one talks with appointed class elders about whether their idea was even appropriate, I mean, think of the parents for god's sake!
Zanka was really lost in the metaphysical sauce of it all when a nauseatingly sweet smell crept up behind him. He turned around only to be startled by the very quiet yet very imposing presence of a younger boy, whose face was contorted into the most appalling facial expression Zanka had ever seen. It was just Rudo. Rudo who smelled like a young girls flowery perfume.
Boy was stiff like a soldier in formation. Shoulders pitched up to his ears, gloved fists tightening, he dropped the shit eating grin, in Rudo's case 'shit eating' meaning 'your mama just made the worst meal in the world, but you're forced to consume it and look greatful even though you actually might as well be eating shit', and finally looked at Zanka.
"Ya gonna say somethin' or are ya gonna keep haunting me like the ghost of a sickly young victorian boy?" Zanka finally broke the silence.
"When does Riyo get off?"
Zanka looked back at the field, the yelling had stopped fully and the girls were all gathering the equipment. "Right about now, I'd say."
She waved to the both of them, stuffing her hands full of equipment and heading to the schools gymnasium. Zanka got up from his spot, picking up his jacket that he had been sitting on, shaking it free from the grass, folding it and draping it over his arm. Rudo handed him his bag, staring at the spot of flat grass Zanka had left behind.
"If yer worried about bugs, Rudo, I assure ya they're fine."
Rudo nodded and they went off to meet Riyo halfway. She stretched her arms high over her head while groaning about something. "Ugh, you guys, won't believe what happened!"
"No need to tell me twice, saw the whole thing." Zanka said, as if that would stop her from explaining it from the start again. At least Rudo seemed interested.
"But seriously! You can't keep taunting someone and expect no reaction! So obnoxious!" Riyo complained, her hands making dramatic gestures in the air.
The trio headed off, stopping by a store to grab some snacks before finding themselves in their usual spot. A small skatepark, it was quite decrepit looking, wasn't a popular area, truly, no one really came here aside from them.
18:10
Riyo had blown off the last of the steam that had kept her powered by circling around the park multiple times at a ridiculous speed. She'd switched topics so many times Zanka had a hard time keeping up. From complaining about the activity her class had chosen for the spring festival to going over a list of people who annoy her, many of who Zanka didn't even know. Their names only echoing silence in the walls of his brain, frankly, Zanka could, probably, count the people he knew in school on both hands, but only one hand would be needed to count the people he actually talked to most often.
Rudo's bag of snacks had run dry a while ago and he was now idly skating over the bumps and ramps. Zanka hadn't taken his board.
As much as he enjoyed skating with his friends, something deep inside never let him fully grasp that feeling. Riyo and Rudo were deep into it, Zanka tried his best to avoid it. In all honesty, he spent more time staring at his board than actually using it. Rudo had only started a few months ago when Enjin took him in, but he was already so much better than Zanka. It stung, but he bit his tongue and never let that feeling spill out.
Riyo suddenly appeared in front of him "Yo, Zanka, there's a race happening at the Ground tonight, wanna come watch? The Raiders are supposedly making a real big show."
Zanka had heard this question many times before, he wondered why she even bothered asking anymore, the answer had always been clear. He'd never gone and, probably, never will. The Ground was some abandoned industrial site. Bunch of winding roads and underground tunnels, and warehouses that the local government had just kind of left to rot.
Zanka sighed, adjusting his glasses. "Really admire your persistence, Riyo, but ya know my answer."
She just shrugged. "It's worth a try, I'll get you to drag your sorry ass there one day!"
"Sure ya will." They both laughed.
Rudo slowly rolled in nearby them. "Why don't you wanna go, Zanka?"
"Waste of time." Zanka crossed his arms. Rudo frowned, even more than usual, an unsatisfactory answer, Zanka was aware, but telling his friends that he was a raging loser seemed more daunting than just putting on a nonchalant act and moving on. "Why does Enjin let you participate anyways?"
With a smooth diversion he looked to Rudo who had picked up his board and was picking at some of the chipped bits on it's sides, yikes, that board had seen some things despite being only a few months old, August sure had a lot to say, or yell, about it.
"He doesn't let me participate, I just go to watch." He mumbled, cheeks blowing up like that of a chipmunks.
"Yeah!" Riyo was back on her board swaying side to side. "Enjin goes off to chat to ladies and leaves either me or Gris with the responsibility of babysitting Rudo!"
"Hey! I don't need babysitting!" Rudo protested.
Riyo leaned forward, pointing an accusatory finger in Rudo's direction. "That's what you said last time before you promptly ran off and picked a cat fight with some random guy!"
The two kept on bickering as Zanka retreated into the passages of his own mind. He'd heard briefly of this fight Rudo had picked, but the details weren't fully clear as Riyo was distracted mid-monologue and ran off never finishing the story. He wondered just how many other things he had missed and his following thoughts could be best described using a singular acronym.
FOMO.
FOMO.
FOMO.
He had to physically shake the thoughts out of his head, as he ran a hand across his face. "That's real nice, guys, but it's getting late and we should get goin'."
18:30
The group had parted ways a few minutes ago, he lived nearby so the walk ahead wasn't too long, but it sure as hell felt that way, his headphones had died and now he was confronted with the loud yet silent atmosphere of this part of the city.
The sun had just dipped below the horizon and the sparse streetlights cast a pale blue glow. Zanka thought of his board back home, quietly sitting in the corner of his bedroom, collecting dust. He used to skate much when he was younger, but his own commitment issues had brought neglect upon his most prized item. He could weep, August surely wept about it a lot, in fact, everytime the trio stepped foot in to his skate shop he was yelling in his ear about why Riyo and Rudo had their boards, but Zanka only had a school bag on his shoulder.
The memory was so loud, he was sure he could still hear it ringing in his ears like wheels against the pavement.
Wait– Zanka didn't even have time to look back when a figure zipped past him on a board, nearly knocking him off his feet.
"Watch where yer going, cretin!" Zanka said out loud, but definitely not loud enough for the person to hear him, or so he had thought.
The person stopped abruptly, too abruptly for the speed they were going at, had it been Zanka, he'd most likely have a mouth full of asphalt right about now. They turned around and Zanka was about ready to do the same, to sprint in the opposite direction of course.
"Heeey, man, sorry 'bout that! No need to get all spicy on me!" They finally spoke, waving a hand in the air as a flag of surrender.
Zanka couldn't make out their face, they were being backlight by the streetlight further ahead, casting the whole figure in shadow. He assumed it was a man. Wearing something purple? Something about the way he dragged out his words made a vein pop on Zanka's forehead. He didn't even know the guy, what was he getting so riled up about?
"Ya gonna say something or keep looking at me with that nasty expression?" The man giggled, sending a shiver down Zanka's spine.
'Nasty expression'? Zanka hadn't realized he was making any expression at all.
He exhaled sharply, continuing his way home. "Watch where yer goin' next time." He mumbled as he passed the man, involuntary quickening his pace. He didn't hear the wheels against the road again. The guy was still watching him.
18:45
Those had been the longest 15 minutes of Zanka's life. He slammed the door of his apartment shut, pressing his back against the door as his pulse did jumping jacks.
He finally dropped his bag to the side, taking off his shoes. It was dark, there were no 'welcome home!' or "how was your day?' greetings awaiting him. Zanka lived alone. His 'oh so very dear' family was too busy being a giant business conglomerate.
They sent him a monthly allowance, which was usually more than he needed, he didn't complain though, saved it as gift money and as extra funds to spoil his friends from time to time.
Once per sometimes they even sent him a text, the 'they' in question was usually his brother, it was painfully dry and borderline formal, Zanka didn't bother ever reading it fully. He always said the same thing in response. 'Yes, I'm alright, thank you for asking. Send my regards to mother and father.' or something like that.
He opened his fridge, staring at the contents inside. He could cook a proper meal, he didn't feel like it, not today, so he just cracked two eggs, popped some mildly stale crackers on his plate and called it a sufficient dinner. He finally took off his glasses, they weren't prescription, his vision was perfectly fine, he wore them to feel smart.
21:15
One 'student approved meal' and a few miscellaneous house tasks later, he found himself in his bedroom, sitting by his desk, mindlessly twirling a pen in-between his fingers. He'd given up on that math homework a while ago. It's fine, everything else had been done, this could wait a little.
A random video played in the background, drowning out static humming of something outside his window, he opted to close it. Leaning back in his chair, his eyes seemed to trail to the corner of his room, where it was – his board.
He remembered the hours that he had spent practicing in that same old decrepit skatepark when he was a kid. Back then it wasn't as decrepit, no, far from it. It was full of teens and other kids, chattering, skating, laughing. His family had never approved of this hobby of his, so he often snuck out to go scrape his knees late at night.
His board was supplied to him by a much younger, but no less loud, August. He said it was his 'magnum opus' which he says about pretty much everything he makes. Have to admire the self-confidence.
He's pretty sure he gave the board back to August at some point after an extra heated conversation in his household. But on his 15th birthday, when Zanka had already begun living, on his own, August gave it back, revitalized, looking brand spankin' new
Popping his first ollie was magical, even if it was followed by him promptly losing all balance and wiping the floor with his own body. He didn't care much, he laughed like a maniac. Late at night with not a single witness.
He'd been kept in a cage for so long, skating felt like an escape, it was his silent rebellion that turned into shameful passion as he got older.
Eventually his family had to move on. He wanted to stay, so they got him an apartment and let him stay, didn't even fight. A despondent huff was all he ever got.
Zanka sighed hunching himself over the table, yet even that couldn't avert his gaze. That damn 'FOMO' passed through his mind briefly again as he imagined Riyo and Rudo having fun, skating around, and he wasn't there.
He wasn't there because he couldn't confront the reality of it, well he could confront it in his mind, rotate it in 3D and all, make it do a little dance, but that confrontation never manifested physically, instead he just stared. Fingers clenching and unclenching.
Zanka sat up straight, averting choosing to look at his phone, he noticed a message from Riyo.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come?"
He slammed his head into the table. He did. He really, really did. Instead he rearranged his table.
He rearranged it once.
Then again.
Then a third time.
And then he slid off his chair partially, staying in that position until his back gave out, by that point he'd slid so low it was actually impossible to get back up normally, he had to fully slam his knees into the floor, chair sliding back, banged his head too for good measure. After a moment of 'under the table contemplation' he finally made the cumbersome task of crawling out from his dwelling spot.
"Send me the address."
"OH MY GOD YOU'RE COMING?????" Zanka knew he would never hear the end of this.
"I said send me the address."
"Haha sureee, I'll be waiting for you, be there before 22:00 :p"
He stared blankly at his phone. Why did he do that? He didn't know, that mysterious spark in his childhood had ignited something and, shiver all of the timbers and kill all the curious cats, Zanka was finally going to face it. Better late than never.
21:55
Zanka was calmly cruising down the street, even if approaching the Ground made him feel a bit uneasy, this whole part of the town was sparsely populated. An eerie feeling washed over him. It must've been the nerves.
He'd gotten a little too overconfident now that he was back on the board, having to do a few emergency jump offs after one too many speedy turns, nearly crashed into the metal railing on the side of the road going down hill.
But it sure felt nice, it felt right, made him forget where he was even going. Zanka admitted, he'd indulged himself and taken a route that's slightly longer than the one he could've taken. Riyo surely won't be happy about his tardiness, but, hey, ya win some, ya lose some!
The headache inducing blue streetlights had transformed into much nicer yellowish ones as he turned down a sketchy looking road.
Old industrial buildings peaked trough the trees now and then. The terrain went up and down making the perfect race tracks for a somewhat shady racing ground. Zanka had no idea what he'd just gotten himself into.
Going deeper down the road he could hear the ruckus of a crowd, soon he saw a gate by which stood a very familiar redhead, jumping up and down as she noticed Zanka approaching.
"You're late!" She pinched his cheek once he'd finally rolled to a stop next to her. "I thought you ditched us!"
"Sorry, sorry!" Zanka tried to release himself from her grip. "I jus' got a bit sidetracked, nothin' too serious!"
She finally let him go with a huff. "Whatever ya say, let's go, everything's already started."
A realization dawned on him, Zanka didn't exactly know what this 'everything' was, but he swiftly followed her into quite a big crowd. It was loud and somehow very bright. Had someone brought stage lighting equipment to some rundown work site? Yes, the answer was yes.
Zanka hadn't expected quite so many people. It was dizzying weaving through the crowd of cheering people, there was someone on the makeshift stage, making some sort of speech, perhaps. He wouldn't know, all he heard was some guy screeching in his ear.
Breaking out trough the denser part of the crowd he was finally greeted by some familiar faces. Enjin, Gris, Rudo, Tomme and Follo we're all standing in a small group. Their faces shifting to shock when they saw Riyo approach with Zanka. Enjin especially was making a real stupid face, jaw nearly to the floor.
"No way, you actually dragged him out here!" Enjin said pointing at Zanka as if he was some sort of apparition behind Riyo.
"Didn't even have to drag!" She shrugged. "He dragged himself out here!"
"Change of heart, Zanka?" Gris said with that stupidly pleasant expression on his face.
Zanka nervously scratched the back of his head. "I don't know."
"Well, we're glad you're here." Gris said while Tomme and Follo nodded along enthusiastically. Zanka didn't recall Follo or Tomme even skating, maybe they just came along to watch, and Gris hates such extreme environments. Riyo had said that she had to babysit Rudo, but it sounds like the one who actually needed to be babysat was Enjin, why else would he drag along his moral support group.
Enjin swiftly approached him, hooking a hand over Zanka's shoulder before leaning in close and whispering. "You got hit with 'FOMO', didn't you?"
"Shut. Up." Zanka shoved him off eliciting a laugh from Enjin.
The group fell back into casual chatting, but Zanka noticed Rudo, who had his eyes locked onto the stage. He followed his line of sight to see a tall, quite intimidating man standing on stage finishing his speech. Next to him was a–
Blue haired 12 year old boy? No. That's a woman. They both seemed to have some sort of purple theme going on in their clothing.
Zanka hadn't been paying attention to anything that was being said so he asked Rudo. "What's gotten ya so immersed in a speech?"
Rudo shrugged. "I dunno. Something about that man. Weird."
"Everyone is weird here." Zanka said before being tackled by Riyo.
"You're here too, Zankaaaa, which means you're just as weird." For such a slim lady she sure had a tight grip around Zanka, he couldn't move at all.
He hadn't been paying attention to the stage again when he heard the loud wail of a megaphone proceeded by an equally shrill voice.
"Gooodevninnn' everybodaaaay!!!" Oh. August.
"I'm just here to INFORM you all, well you all who are skating with my BOARDS," the crowd's enthusiasm was in the trenches, "IF anyone BREAKS ANYTHING, I will personally come to your house and–"
"Who the hell let the skate shop guy up on stage?" Zanka overheard a man say from behind, while his companions muttered silent 'I dunno's'
"Heeeeeey!" Another agitating voice came from a ramp higher above the stage, it made a vein pop on Zanka's forehead. Where had he heard this before?
He didn't have time to dwell on the thought, someone on their skateboard jumped down from the ramp, which was quite high. It was that guy. That same guy Zanka had cursed at earlier today. As he fell, time seemed to stop, his locs majestically following the flow of the fall. He had a shit eating grin smeared across his face, and this time the legit one, not the Rudo typical one.
The man landed perfectly, his board not moving a millimeter as he hit the ground, he rolled up to August slowly, yanking the megaphone from his hands.
"Hey, blondie, I told ya to stay off the stage! You're wrecking my show, man! It's not your cue yet!" The crowd once again became lively at the guy's appearance, must be a real big shot, huh. He was also decked out in purple. What were they? Some sort of gang?
Him and August were now bickering, presumably, it was quite impossible to hear what was going on through the screeching of the megaphone. Another familiar face had popped up on stage, and was frantically grabbing at August's arm trying to drag him away. It was his poor younger sister Eishia.
"Should we help her?" He heard Enjin ask Gris behind him.
The second yelling match Zanka had witnessed today was in full swing. It was only interrupted when the, previously mentioned, blue haired woman, not boy, kicked the megaphone right out of the purple guy's hand, to the dismay of everyone's ears.
August had finally been dragged off-stage and the other guy was left standing awkwardly staring into nothingness. The woman told him something inaudible, he waved a hand in the air to dismiss her before grabbing the, not ear bleeding, microphone that had been on stage the entire time.
"Uhhh..." the guy let out what seemed to be an involuntary giggle as he looked to the crowd. "I forgot what I was gonna say, awh, man!" He grabbed his hair dramatically.
The blue haired woman scowled grabbing the microphone out of his hand. "The races will beging shortly, everyone participating will get a randomly selected opponent. Please pay attention to the announcements on stage."
"Cthoni's so cool." Zanka overheard a woman say nearby. "Ya think she's into women?"
"OH YEAH!" The guy had gained control of the microphone again. "I'll tell y'all a lil' secret!" He twirled a loc around his finger. "I joined the races tonight!" The crowd ooo'd. "One of you lucky bastards will get to skate against me! Jabber Wonger!" The crowd broke out into cheers as the man on stage laughed maniacally, making Zanka cover his ears.
There was too much going on, he suddenly forgot all about the 'FOMO' and wished he'd stayed home instead. He had no idea what was going on. He looked to his group who seemed excited.
"Ugh, I'll kill myself if I have to skate against Jabber." Riyo said, making a mock disgusted expression. "He's such a tweaker."
Zanka noticed both Riyo and Enjin had little nameplates with numbers on them, 64 and 65, they were participating? Nobody else in the group did, he was sure Rudo wanted one too, but was dismissed.
He leaned closer to Riyo. "How often do y'all do this exactly?"
"Ehhh," she pouted, seriously counting in her head. "Once or twice a week? Some weeks are a skip and it's rarely this flashy. Today's some sort of anniversary or whatever."
Zanka returned his eyes to the stage where the guy was still standing, blabbering about something. He watched, the guy, what's his name? Jabber. He watched Jabber slide his gaze over the crowd, it passed briefly over Zanka, but then stopped a little to the side of him. He slowly shifted his gaze right back onto Zanka.
Zanka was a deer in headlights.
A shiver ran down his spine, was this guy staring right at him? He looked around to his group, no one else was looking at the stage, they were too busy discussing and Rudo was poking at the dirt below. He looked back up, the guy was grinning ear to ear at him like the damn Cheshire cat. He looked like it too, kinda. Purple enough!
22:45
Who the hell had set up all these cameras? There was a big screen following the current race by the stage, but people could also watch from their devices. Streaming illegal skating races, how charming. He'd wondered why he'd heard the buzzing of drones before, but the aerial shots of people getting smeared against the ground really explained it all.
These people were way too intense, man. Some guys had finished at the same time and nearly had a fistfight about whether it was actually a draw or not. They were promptly escorted off the premises. He'd spent quite a long time absorbing information from Riyo.
Apparently this event was being hosted by 'The Raiders' that group of purple people. Some sort of skating gang? Zanka thought it was kind of stupid, though looking at his own companions, they could be classified as that too, couldn't they?
"I once heard that Jabber got 'bored' mid-race, stepped off his board, picked up a giant stick and whacked his opponent off the board." Riyo said as if telling a campfire ghost story.
"Cthoni's scary too." Rudo added. "She pops up out of nowhere! You think she can teleport?"
When Riyo's turn came, she really mopped the floor with her opponent, Zanka had gotten a little bit too hyped up and Enjin teased the hell out of him about it. So much for 'Mr. Cool guy'.
Enjin's turn was also an absolute breeze, that's what happens when you're dealing with pros. Zanka didn't consider himself bad at skating by any means, he was just, well, average. Nothing he could do about it.
The microphone screeched again. "Jabber, it's your turn." Said Cthoni, matter-of-factly.
A little muffled 'woo!' could be heard from somewhere in the crowd.
Riyo nudged Zanka. "Let's go to the start line, I wanna see how that freak takes off."
23:05
Some poor guy was standing on his board next to Jabber, shaking like an aspen leaf. Zanka had never seen anyone look so scared shitless over a skateboarding race. Though he didn't blame him, some of these people were wack. One guy brought a smoke bomb out mid-race and apparently that's within the rules. What's next? Someone's gonna pull out a gun?
Jabber didn't seem impressed, he gave the guy a look over, clicked his tongue and stared off into the distance. Just before the countdown started he kicked up his board.
"Nah," he looked to the scared guy, "you look so boring I don't even wanna bother! I'm leavin'."
"Ugh he's doing that again." Riyo scoffed.
"Doing what?" Zanka inquired.
"Being picky." Gris added. "We rarely see him participate, he rejects most of the opponents he gets."
"Drama queeeeen." Enjin chuckled.
Gris raised an eyebrow. "You have no right to say that."
"Hey!"
Jabber was already on his way back, to the relief of the guy he was supposed to go up against. But then he stopped.
He stopped and his head snapped to look Zanka right in the eyes again, his face contorting into a twisted grin. Zanka gulped.
"Oh, I don't think that's good." Rudo said.
"No shit, Sherlock." Zanka whispered trough gritted teeth.
"You." He pointed his board at Zanka. "You're gonna race me."
Zanka didn't know what to say, his mouth slightly agape. Didn't need to say anything because Enjin and Riyo jumped in front of him, Rudo puffed up like a little angry pomeranian.
"Woah, woah, woah, kid, he's not participating in the races. See, no number!" Enjin gestured at Zanka.
"What makes you think you can't just randomly pull someone off the sidelines anywa—"
"Dooon't care!" Riyo was interrupted. "He has a board, he can participate."
"Sorry, kid, he won't be racing you." Enjin crossed his arms. Jabber only giggled.
"Does he know about that?" Jabber kept giggling looking past Enjin at Zanka. Enjin threw his head back to Zanka. Damn, he had that self-confidence spark in his eyes. They're all doomed!
Zanka certainly was doomed. Why did he do this? And why was the dread only kicking in now that he was standing on his board at the starting line?
Jabber hadn't taken his eyes off of him for one second, he was just looking at him, smiling. Zanka had been trying to avoid his gaze for a while.
"Makin' a nasty expression again, Mr. Bad Attitude. Or is your face just like that?"
Zanka finally looked to him. "I have no idea what yer on about." Jabber wasn't ugly by any means. He had this hyena-esque charm to him, where he's kind of strange looking, but also pretty cute. It's his facial expressions that threw Zanka off, his grin was just so damn creepy sometimes.
"Mmh, you wound me." He laughed. Was that sound necessary?
The countdown started, Zanka unknowingly held his breath, while Jabber was still giggling like a little schoolgirl beside him.
3
2
1
A loud siren announced the start of the race, Zanka pushed himself forward, landing onto the paved, yet not very well maintained, race track. It was very winding and he had to avoid quite a few giant potholes. Jabber was falling behind, following Zanka like an ominous presence, he could nonetheless feel his gaze fixed on him. Riyo was onto something when she had called him a freak. Zanka felt like he was being stalked.
The turns were getting sharper, one of them revealed a predicament. There was a giant boulder in the middle of the road, a sort of off road portion had been formed by years of people going around it, the dirt would be a speed disadvantage, but he didn't really have a choice, by now, Jabber was essentially breathing down his neck. Of course, having the upper hand of knowing the track would make it easier to strategize your moves.
Zanka couldn't possibly foresee Jabber's next move as he went around the rock, it's not like he was gonna jump the boulder – he jumped the fucking boulder.
Right before colliding with the obstacle, he launched up his skateboard landing on the rock on his feet, then he jumped, putting his feet back on his board mid-air and landing in front of Zanka.
He straightened up as Jabber got further and further away. Of course, what an idiot, he was in-between a bunch of freak geniuses, what was he even thinking when he agreed to this.
Zanka covered his face, letting out an involuntary laugh, he was such a damn loser. A damn loser that really, really wanted to beat Jabber's ass right about now.
The next turn was a bit unexpected as Zanka had gotten lost wandering his own mind. The turns just kept getting more and more aggressive, he lost his balance, leaning way too far to the side. Zanka bit his cheek and sacrificed his palm, simultaneously preventing himself from eating dirt and also giving him a little speed boost, as he kicked off of the ground using his hand. The swaying also made him gain momentum, be it unintentional as he had lost his balance.
The rough pavement took his skin clean off, it stung like a bitch and he was bleeding, but at least he was now within arms reach of Jabber, who was cackling at the display of bravado.
"That's cute. Thought I was losing ya there for a second." Zanka didn't respond instead he grabbed Jabber by a long piece of fabric, or belt thing, he had tied around his waist. It was flapping around in the air as if it was nobodies business.
"Woah, Mr. Bad Attitude since when are you a coachman?" He laughed. "This horse drawn carriage ride ain't free, ya know."
Jabber and Zanka were now side by side, any closer and their boards would crash into each other. That wouldn't be fun would it.
"C'mon, drop the mysterious act! Say something!"
Zanka scrunched his nose. He was about to push Jabber away, but it didn't work. The freak grabbed his arms, intertwining their fingers. He was wearing rings, the cold metal stung extra bad as they passed the wounds on Zanka's scratched up hand, of course, Jabber had to squeeze that one a little extra too, eliciting a grunt from Zanka.
"Not a word, but sure, that'll do." Jabber leaned in closer. "Ya need a little something more though. You're almost perfect."
Zanka didn't know what he meant, he didn't care about the ramblings of this freaky skateboarding maniac. He hadn't realized he was biting his own lip to the point where he was bleeding. Once Jabber got too close Zanka spit in his face, a mix of saliva and blood. Gross.
Jabber leaned back, his eyes widening in surprise, Zanka hoped it would get him to back off, but, just his luck, it didn't. Jabber wiped the spit off of his face and started hysterically laughing. How long was this damn track?
"Oh, oh, Zanka, my man, don't tease me like that! I might get a crush!" He had no reason to be smiling that wide right now, there was no reason for this race to be this ridiculous right now.
"How the hell do ya know my name, ah?" Was all Zanka could manage through gritted teeth.
"Huh?" Jabber seemed miffed. "We go to the same school, man! What?"
"We do?" Zanka had never seen this guy before.
"Ouch." Jabber pouted looking to the side. "You're so mean! Ohhh, right, the turn." He mumbled that last part, Zanka didn't quite catch it and before he knew it Jabber let him go and separated from him, waving as he sped ahead of him again.
'Turn'? Zanka shot his head ahead, but it was a little too late. One way ticket to the nearest bush, please!
23:50
Zanka sat on the ground while Eishia treated the various cuts and bruises scattered across him. The group had tried to console him, but with little to no success. He hated those pitying looks, but that wasn't the most pressing matter on his mind right now, oh no, it was actually Jabber. He had sat by Zanka the entire time he was getting patched up, just laughing away.
Riyo had tried to shoo him away, it didn't work, he didn't budge at all, he just looked at her with an arched brow and a pout. He was both the immovable object and the unstoppable force.
He was so tired, it was late. Jabber was so loud. At this point, he didn't have scratches on his body, he had a body on his scratches.
Jabber poked his knee and called for him sing-song way. "Mr, Bad Attitude!"
"What?" Zanka looked at Jabber who was sprawled out on the ground. "And stop callin' me that!"
Jabber giggled, mindlessly scratching the fabric of Zanka's pants with his finger. "We should do that again sometime!"
Zanka gazed out into the distance, the consequences of his actions suddenly hitting him all at once like a speeding truck. He should've stayed home, that math homework had never looked so enticing before.