FicWad

Hood up and head down
That's what her brother had always taught her, ever since she was young, that was the only thing he'd ever taught her, other than the fact that life was hard and it was only going to get worse. She pulled her red hood over her white blonde hair, looking down at her lap. Boyish laughter caught her attention and she dumbly looked up to see three boys walking up the stairs to the second deck of the bus, two of them went straight to the back of the bus but one of them slowed down, making eye contact with Lorrelei. She looked away sharply, not just because he made her uncomfortable but because his eyes were a piercing light blue, they made her feel insecure, as if she were underdressed. In the few seconds she had been looking at him, she had noticed his own blonde hair, flat under a black snapback, he also had a grey zip up hoodie on, the hood up over his hat, and a black bandana round his neck along with low slung jeans. He sat down next to her and Lorrelei's pulse doubled,
"Do i know you?" he asked, to her surprise, usually the first thing to come out of a boys mouth nowadays was a threat. She shrugged silently and he nodded, looking her up and down, "i'm sure i've seen you around, what's your name?" she hesitated and was careful not to move, the boy laughed, "i see... if i told you mine, would you tell me yours?" she shrugged again and he sighed, "you're not gonna get very far in this town with that kind of attitude kid-"
"I'm not a kid." Lorrelei said and closed her eyes, wishing she hadn't spoke. The boy smiled,
"Ah, so she speaks. What's your name sweetheart?"
"Lola" she mumbled without making eye contact, her focus remained on the rip in her jeans. Lola was what most people new her by, a shortening of her full name.
"Lola... Nice. I'm Charlie." She looked at him and her eyes went to the black bandana again. The colour was the most important thing. She looked back at his face, come to think of it, he was slightly familiar but there were plenty of reasons she could have come across his type before. "Where you heading, Lola?" She shrugged,
"Here and there" Charlie looked to the back of the bus where his friends were sat,
"So, in other words, you have no where to go" his eyes went back to her and she avoided them. He sighed and sat forward, looking to the front of the bus now, "come back with us, we have plenty of space-"
"No thanks" Lorrelei interrupted and zipped her jacket up further, slipping her hands into her pockets and chewing on her zipper. Charlie almost laughed,
"What?"
"I'd rather not go back with a stranger, it isn't the smartest thing a young girl could do" what she meant was, it isn't the smartest thing for her to do. Not being who she was. Charlie bit his lip and tilted his head,
"it isn't the dumbest thing either though, is it?" he wasn't wrong. She was more liable of getting stabbed or worse if she slept on a bench in the cold. But going back with a strange boy was likely to turn her into a gang groupie and that was just as unpleasant. Her long pause made Charlie sigh, "why don't you just come back for a night? If you're still not comfortable, you can leave, we're not gonna stop you"
"We?" Lorrelei questioned, looking at him sharply, he shrugged,
"Come on Lola, you don't look like a stupid girl, surely you know all about the gangs and everything" she nodded slowly and he smiled, "then don't play dumb. Don't worry either, they won't hurt you, we're not animals" she could argue against that point strongly but decided kicking up a fuss singlehandedly when there were three of them wasn't the smartest idea in the word so she bit her tongue and nodded. "Is that a yes to the one night deal?" he asked, tilting his head. Lorrelei looked back down the her jeans and nodded halfheartedly, dreading what she had just let herself into.