Roller Skate || Alex Gaskarth a.u.

Chapter 28: Just Go

Alex

The funny thing about life without Kit Parker, was that without her, Alex could see things that he had never noticed before. Without Kit Parker, he could see a world that was far from glamorous, a world that was dull.

A world of reality.

While he had been busy playing house with Kit, he had missed the alarming pile of bills that his mom had stuffed under the cushion of their ratty couch--all of them being due, all of them being unpaid.

It made him realise how naïve he had been, and showed him how much Kit Parker had distracted him, had made him see a world that he would never have been able to afford. It was a shame he hadn't opened his eyes sooner.

So he stuffed the bills back under the musty cushion of his ratty couch. He ditched the idea of going to school (despite his finals coming up and the promise of a signed college form for Mrs.Xavier) and wrapped Kit's striped scarf around him (oh the irony of it all) before grabbing his beanie and a shovel and heading out.

Shovelling snow from people's driveways wasn't going to get him a lot of money, but at least it was some sort of income. He started by knocking at the house next door, which was owned by an old woman named Carrie. She was only too delighted with his offer, and she promised to give him twenty bucks when he was done (which was more than he'd bargained for).

He got to work immediately, humming Rage Against the Machine quietly as he started to make a large snow pile at the bottom of the wall of the front lawn.

It was while he was shovelling his fifth shovel of snow, that the sound of footsteps crunching on the frosty pavements broke the morning silence. Light footsteps that made him look up curiously.

But the minute he looked up, Alex wished he had of kept his head down.

It was the one and only Kit Parker, walking to school with a girl he had never seen before. A girl with bright ginger curls and who was gaping at him like he was a monkey in a zoo. He shook his head and got back down to work, but every now and then, he'd look up as Kit and the ginger girl walked closer towards him.

At one stage, the ginger girl pointed at him, whispering frantically to Kit, but Kit had slapped her hand down, scolding the ginger girl at once.

Alex didn't know whether to be relieved or self-conscious.

He continued on with the shovelling, now starting to feel warm and sweaty, his skinny arms aching.

"Go ahead without me. I'll catch up to you in a sec."

The sound of Kit's voice made his chest ache.

Snow crunched underneath a pair of winter boots, then a shadow of someone was standing over him.

"Alex."

He shouldn't have looked up. He should have ignored her.

But ignoring Kit Parker was impossible for him, and he knew it. It wasn't fair. It was as if he couldn't play by the rules of a game.

So he looked up slightly, adjusting the black beanie that was covering his shitty hairstyle, and he looked at her with sad eyes, because he wanted her to know how bad she had hurt him, how much she had burned him by breaking it off without an explanation.

"Yes?" he asked cautiously, deciding to respond as vague and as distant as he possibly could.

"I...I uhmm..." she stammered, trailing off. She sounded so stiff and awkward that it tore him apart.