Hello My Name Is...

A week later on a weekend.....

Seth was meeting Dan for some skateboarding at the local skate park by the Old Mill College. Reese was stuck home doing chores, Scott was grounded for getting bad grades in school, and Micah was out of town visiting family. Cole wasn't any better off, he was out hanging with his cousin for the day.

Seth and Dan weren't going to link up until later in the afternoon, so he had some time to kill. He desperately wanted to be out of the house, so he went for a walk. His skateboard in hand, he made his way down the street towards the old abandoned supermarket parking lot. A lot of people went there for the wide open spaces. It was an ideal place to learn how to drive, to skate, or just plain hangout.

On the way to this destination, Seth had to pass Elle's house. He liked her fine, but she was really annoying! She was clingy, talkative, bubbly, and if it weren't for her dark brownish red hair and skateboarding, he'd swear she was valley girl. But she was unlike anyone he had ever seen or met before, and for that he liked her well enough.

As he passed her house, he saw her sitting on her front porch. She was working on that same skateboard with the messed up trucks. She saw him, smiled and waved. He returned the greeting, but wasn't sure if he should stop and chat with her. He didn't have to bother, she had set down her skateboard and was already running up to him. He grumbled under his breath as he stopped walking and waited for her. Even if she did annoy him, he found it hard to be mean to her.

"Hey Seth! You heading out to skate?" she asked with a warm smile.

He nodded, "Yeah."

"Oh cool, mind if I join you?" she asked as she picked at her fingernails.

Seth knew he didn't have much of a choice here, so he agreed to let her tag along.

"Sweet! Let me grab my board and we'll be off kay?"

She turned and ran back to the porch to grab her skateboard, looking it over as she returned to where Seth was standing.

"I'm pretty sure tightened the new trucks tight enough, but what do you think?"

Seth inspected the board, it wasn't going to get any tighter.

"It's fine," he said as he handed back the board to her, "Have you ridden that thing yet?"

Elle shook her head, "No, not yet. But today is my chance to see if it was worth the money and time. I haven't skateboarded in over a month, so don't be surprised if I suck."

Seth groaned, "Don't tell me I gotta sit and watch you fall on your ass all day?"

Elle frowned at him, "Oh whatever! Like you're the new Bucky Lasek?!"

Seth laughed as he started walking again, Elle close behind him.

"Uh..why don't we ride our skateboards there instead of walking?" Elle asked.

"Just look at this sidewalk! It's all uneven and warped! Even the street is fucked up! I don't know bout you, but I like to keep my teeth in my mouth," Seth answered as he walked around a deep pothole in the poorly constructed pavement.

"Oh, makes sense I suppose. So where are your friends?" Elle asked, changing the subject.

"Doing stuff."

Elle looked at him, "Hmm..sounds like fun, stuff and all. You ever do anything with your parents?"

Seth didn't stop walking, he didn't even look at her when he said, "No."

"Why not?" she asked casually.

"Cause, we don't get along too well is why," Seth said bitterly.

"You guys argue a lot?"

Seth nodded, "You could say that."

"Wow, that sucks. Me and my mom get along fine. We used to argue all the time...at least until dad died a little while back...."

Seth stopped walking. He turned to face Elle, who was looking down at the ground. He wasn't sure if she did this because she was looking out for potholes, or because it had upset her.

"I'm sorry to hear that Elle. That sucks.." was all that Seth managed to say.

"It's okay, it really is. It was hard at first, just it being me and my mom. But we settled our differences, and we learned that we had to depend on each other now. It's at least a lot easier to cope with now, than how it was back then," she said in her usual casual tone.

Seth wished it could be like that with his family, to have a loving father, mother, and brother. He wasn't sure if he was any better than any of those family members. His thoughts distracted him.

"Seth!" Elle screamed at him as she grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the curb.

A truck zoomed by, a close call.

"You okay?" she asked, looking him up and down.

"Yeah, thanks. I'm fine." Seth said gruffly, and continued walking.

Elle frowned at this, but got over it quickly.

"If you don't mind me asking, why don't you and your family get along?"

Seth tried to ignore the question, like he hadn't heard it. She only ended up repeating the question to him. He knew she'd ask a third time, even a fourth if necessary. She was so nosy!

"Because, we don't see eye to eye on a lot of things. Nothing is ever good enough for any of them, and since my brother is in jail, that makes things even harder. We cant' afford to get him sprung. My dad's a bowling alley mechanic, and my mother is a nurse for the graveyard shift at some downtown hospital. When she's not working she's drinking. Same goes for my old man."

Seth said this with bitter resentment in his voice. Elle knew he didn't like talking about it, but she had to ask him something. Something important.

"Seth...your parents...hurt you?" she asked, her voice sounding cautious and sensitive.

Seth stopped walking, he slowly turned to face her, "Who told you that?! Who told you that?! It's a bunch of bullshit!"

Elle was startled by his reaction, it frightened her to see him so enraged. She tried to calm him down, but he pulled away from her and began to walk. She hurried after him, touching his arm with her, trying to keep him from leaving.

"I'm so sorry Seth! I didn't mean to upset you or imply anything! It was just a stupid question! I'm sorry!" she cried, tugging hard on his arm and sleeve.

He stopped walking, he was looking up towards the treeline, avoiding looking at her. She tried to look him in the eyes, but he refused to look. His eyes were searching the treeline, as if trying to find some invisible right answer. He was biting his lower lip, doing his best to keep calm. Elle saw his eyes well up, and tears trickled down his cheek. He blinked hard, trying to clear up his eyes, but it only forced out more tears.

"Oh Seth.." Elle said softly.

It hurt her to see him like this, this tough guy going soft. She wanted to hug him, and tell him it was okay, even though it wasn't. He lowered his gaze to the ground, using the back of his hand to wipe his face free of the tears. His lips quivered for a moment, he tried to speak, but no words escaped his distraught mouth. He gave up on speaking, and opted to keep walking.

Elle took his hand, and held it in hers. She expected him to pull his arm away from her, anger and hate fueling his furious movements. But no, he let her hold his hand, he even squeezed it tight. She laid her head on his shoulder and clung to him. They walked like this for the remainder of the trip, not saying another word.