FicWad

I looked around the room I was in. It was a bathroom, with dim lights, a shiny, new mirror, and a gleaming toilet. I knit my eyebrows together, rubbing my eyes. I wasn’t here, wherever this way. I was back in New York, sleeping in my bed and listening to my parents snore in the living room.
“Miss?” I heard a voice say, and I jumped up off the floor I was on, looking in the mirror. My face looked swollen, and I groaned as I remembered last night. “Miss?” I heard the voice say again, wafting from under the bathroom door, and I opened the door to look at a short Asian woman, shorter than I was.
“Miss, please tell me why you were sleeping in the bathroom?” the woman asked, and I noted her slight accent. She looked so kind…
I blinked and shrugged. “It was a dare,” I said, looking down upon the woman. She had black hair that was slightly curled and big, blue eyes.
The woman nodded and walked off, muttering something about kids these days. I shrugged again and walked out of the gas station into blinding sunlight. I muttered, “Damn,” never knowing the upper US could be this bright.
I looked around me after my eyes were adjusted to the light, and I noticed a teens walking all over, some mingling with adults, others flyin’ solo. I sighed and walked towards what seemed to be the center of town, where the kids were. Might as well get myself acquainted with people here, I thought. It’s not like my parents want be back any time soon.
I felt in my left back pocket for any more money that I might possibly have, and to my luck, I had a wad of cash. I knew better than to pull it out and count it, though. It would be pretty pathetic to be mugged in daylight hours.
I walked down the street, black hoodie on and sleeves rolled down, me still shivering. I wasn’t really wearing anything under the hoodie, and the hoodie itself was worn thin. I probably looked like a normal girl but was as cold as a man in the Arctic. The sun was unnaturally bright for winter, and I continued to walk down the street, passing kids laughing and talking, wrapped up in fall jackets. I envied them, but continued walking until I passed a McDonald’s.
My stomach growled loud enough for kids to stare at me as I passed, and I turned into McDonald’s, still getting looks. I shrugged them off, walking up to the cashier and buying a simple double cheeseburger, hold the onions. People that were watching me turned back to their food and friends, and I paid for my food. I took the bag it was in and walked out of McDonald’s, not wanting to be around these people anymore.
I passed a shitty looking street and turned down it, walking at a semi-brisk pace, wanting to find some shade to hide in. I passed a nice, pleasant, shady alleyway on the shit road and turned in, sitting on the ground, back against a brick wall.
Day 1 as a hobo: so far, so good.
I had taken out my cheeseburger and begun to eat it rather slowly, I should say, when I noticed the alleyway was breathing. Maybe I was going insane, or delirious from the sun and loss of blood last night, but I swear I heard movement in there too.
“Hello?” I called out, just wanting to test out something I had figured out a while back: you can tell how big a room is, how tall, how wide, and what and who is in it by calling out and listening for echoes.
From the sound of it, somebody else was in the alleyway, and I shut up and strained my ears to hear something, anything.
I heard the feint scratch of graphite against paper after awhile, and I relaxed, taking a hungry bite out of the cheeseburger still in hand. I finished the cheeseburger rather hastily after hearing the scratching stop, and I stood up quietly, so as not to disturb the person drawing. I looked back into the alleyway as I walked down the shit street to see a pair of hazel eyes meet mine.
I gasped. These were the most amazing eyes I’ve ever seen, with green mixed with brown and gold. I found myself staring into them, but then I realized I was staring into a person’s eyes. I scanned around the eyes to see if they were connected to anything, and they were. I felt myself blush as I took in the appearance of the guy looking at me with those gorgeous hazels.
His skin was pale, very pale, so pale it looked a ghostly white in the little bit of sun that was shining on it. Cute, cupid’s bow lips, a slightly pointed nose square on the face, and a whole lot of makeup around the eyes. His hair was long and an unwashed, greasy black, with bangs trying to hide his eyes but failing badly, because I couldn’t help myself from looking into the eyes again. They looked confused.
“Yes?” the eyes said, narrowing, and I blinked, blushing slightly. The eyes were connected to a lovely voice, seeming like velvet as he spoke. “The mute kids are over at the rink, if that’s what you’re thinking,” the guy said, making my blush deepen. He had bite to his tone, but it was making him slightly more attractive than he already was.
The guy sighed and ran a pale hand through his black hair, pushing it back from his face. “DO YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?” he asked, waving his hand over my eyes. I looked down, embarrassed that I haven’t said anything yet.
“Just fuckin’ pretty,” the guy said, looking away from me, and I suddenly felt lonely, as if his gaze was my friend.
I frowned and finally spoke. “Um, I speak English,” I said, looking up at the guy with the hazels for eyes. I found myself attracted, but I didn’t know why. I mean, it’s not like I’ve not met guys like him, but this guy was… Intriguing, to say the least.
The guy sighed, running his hand through his hair again. “Got that now,” he said, sarcasm dripping, making me more attracted. It was a weird feeling, liking somebody you just met. I nodded, looking back down.
“Gerard,” the guy said, and I looked up at him, confused. “My name’s Gerard,” the guy said, making me nod and smile a little bit, removing the frown from my face.
“Lobar,” I said, looking at Gerard’s semi-readable face. What I found was amusement, making me smile and bite my lip.
Gerard looked at me funny as I did my action of smile-lip biting. “Weirdo…” he said, and turned away from me so he could walk away. I found myself going nuts, odd enough, and I had to ask Gerard something else.
“Gerard,” I said, making him turn ten feet away from me and raise an eyebrow. “Where do you go to school?” I asked, knowing if I could at least go to school that meant saving some of my money on food.
Gerard’s eyebrow arched higher on his face, making him look quizzical. He laughed a short but amazing laugh, and I looked at him, confused.
“What?” he asked. “Don’t you know where Belleview High is?” I shook my head no, and Gerard ran his hand through his hair again, which was I was guessing an adorable habit of his, and whistled. “New to town?” he asked, looking at me through a set of thick, dark eyelashes.
“Uh… You could say that,” I said, wanting to tell Gerard about how I kinda ran away from home to here but not wanting it to be so obvious.
“’You could say that’?” Gerard mumbled, taking the bait and rolling his eyes. “What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, uh…” I didn’t know how I was going to say this. “I, uh, kinda booked it from home and… From New York, you see, and uh… I came to Hoboken but Belleview looked like it held something for me,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound retarded or lying at all.
Gerard laughed. “Funny joke, Lobar, but seriously, are you new to town because you moved here, family relations… What is it?”
“I just told you, I ran from home. My parents were raging alcoholics and I couldn’t stand it anymore when my father beat me last night. I have no home,” I said angrily, wondering why I was spilling the beans to Gerard. Maybe it was because I felt obligated to, or maybe I just liked Gerard and felt comfortable around him.
Gerard’s eyes widened a bit at the last part. “No home?” he asked, receiving a stout nod from me in reply. “Nonsense, everybody’s got a home.”
I rubbed my eyes, feeling annoyed. Why the fuck didn’t Gerard believe me? “Gerard,” I said, looking at him seriously, “I have no home right now. I just slept in a bathroom at some gas station to avoid being raped by some guy who was following me, not that my parents would care. I’m not lying. If you want me to prove, I’ll show you the bruises I have on my legs from my dad last night,” I finished with a bite with my words, harshly stating each one clearly but dangerously quiet.
Gerard lost all joking in his face and replaced it with morbid concern. His hand twitched a little, and I thought he was going to run it through his hair again, but as he began to reach out to me, he put it in the pocket of his black overcoat. “Really?” Gerard asked, concern evident in his voice. I nodded, still glaring at him if he was planning to make some wise crack about lying. Instead, he ran his hand nervously through his hair, slightly shaking. “Uh… What’s going to happen then?” he asked me, probably wishing for a cigarette, which I could smell off him from here, ten feet away.
I blinked and shrugged, not knowing the answer and beginning to feel a little worried about the answer. “I don’t know…” I said, and I felt a tear come up from behind my eye and hit my lids. “I really don’t know…”
Gerard walked over, and I could smell coffee lingering by him, alongside the cigarette smell. “Uh, wanna come to my place? I know this is probably weird and all, but I don’t exactly let people sleep in the streets of New Jersey at night… Hobos are afraid to sleep outside at night here,” Gerard said, looking at my, worry in his eyes.
I couldn’t help but smile a little at his offer. “That would be great, Gerard, thank you,” I said, feeling another tear spring up behind my eyes. I blinked it away, not wanting to cry in front of the guy I just met who offered me a stay at his place.
Gerard smiled at me, making the dark alleyway brighten a little, as cheesy and cliché that sounds. “Awesome. So, uh, do you want to go to my place now, or see the town first?” Gerard asked, looking at his converse.
I smiled a little more, laughing internally at the way he got nervous. “Town, please. If I’m not able to stay at your place, I need to figure out where else to stay, don’t I?” I said, looking at Gerard, who was looking up into my eyes. I nearly melted into his hazel eyes, and burned away, slightly blushing.
“Peachy, then let’s get out of the shit part of town,” Gerard said, walking out of the alleyway, leaving me standing there, confused. “Aren’t you coming?” he asked, and I giggled, sounding like a girl.
I then grimaced and apologized to Gerard. “Sorry, Gerard, just… Remembered something funny,” I said, smiling sheepishly and blushing more. I don’t know how Gerard did this, making me feel like putty in his hands.
Gerard smirked at me. “Call me Gee. Now c’mon, we’re burnin’ daylight,” Gee said, and I walked up by him as we walked out of the alleyway, exploring the new home people called Belleview.