From the Ashes

When our laughter dies down, we both lie with our backs against the ground, looking quietly up at the pink sky. The sun has dropped below the hills on the other side of the valley, bringing a deep twilight to settle over our little town.

I poke at his skateboard with my toe.

"You a hardcore skater?" I ask.

"I've been skateboarding for a while, if that's what you mean," he says with a chuckle, "So I'm pretty good at it by now." I smile softly as a thought crosses my mind. I used to have a fascination with skater boys in my early teenage years, and I can feel that reminiscent attraction to the sport.

"You'll have to let me watch you go down one of these streets."

"Only if you ride with me," he laughs. I roll my eyes.

"Dying would be so cool," I tease with flat sarcasm as I watch a sparrow flit across our view of the sky.

"I'd keep you safe, darlin'." I draw a quiet breath at his soft tone, pausing to pick up the teasing that should be there. I look over at him to see his eyes hooded, his smile lazy and his expression relaxed. I roll over onto my side with my head propped up on my arm.

"You're the last person I'd trust with my life," I say with a soft laugh. The ghost of a smirk creeps up on his lips before he shifts onto his side to mirror me.

"Ouch," he croons. I scrunch up my nose at him before landing a swift flick on his arm. "Jesus, injury to insult, huh?"

"What a baby!"

"What an asshole," he says as I stick my tongue out at him. He flashes his at me briefly as he mimics the face I'm making.

We fall back into silence after another round of chuckling, taking in the sounds of cicadas, peepers, and traffic far below. After a moment of both periodically sighing in content, Roman breaks the vocal silence.

"So did my idea for this summer ever trickle down from my mother to yours?" he asks. My heart flushes in excitement, almost painfully, at the forgotten thought. Being able to see these smoky eyes, have these abusively flirty exchanges every day for a number of weeks... Get to know Roman. He has been patiently holding my gaze, I realize, before I answer him.

"Yeah, my mom told me about it at dinner tonight. Your mom stopped by while I was studying, I just missed her." Roman rolls onto his stomach, laying his cheek down against his crossed arms.

"I called her and asked her about it after I got to my dad's from dropping you off. What do you think about it?" I swallow at that, trying to calm myself enough to not give away the fact that this little idea of his made me sick and giddy with excitement. I give a one-shouldered shrug.

"It's a really good idea, actually. We'll probably get the highest grade in the class for all the work we'll put into this project..."

"It's definitely gonna be perfect. Farther up the campgrounds, there are a few lakes that formed from the old mining areas. It'll be the perfect place to test our mighty craft." He closes his eyes as a smile plays on his lips. "Plus it's gorgeous, you're gonna love it. Having a new face there this year will be refreshing." My heart pounds excitedly with these thoughts of spending practically the whole summer with Roman at his camp.

"Who all goes with you? Sage and his family?"

"Yeah. Then my mom and step dad, and we meet up with my uncles, aunts, and cousins up there. They lease properties in Alpine Mine, too. They'll love you, they're all great people. Not counting the little cousins..." I chuckle at the thought of Roman being pestered by a gang of tiny kids.

"You don't have any siblings?" I ask, and a thought hits me after the words come out. His parents weren't together. His mother was the one going with him to this camp all summer, and he had talked about going to his dad's house before.

"No," he chuckles. I think he sees the realization on my face now. "My mom had me when she was in college," he explains, "My father stuck around for a little bit, but they never got married. They both always stayed here, though. Mom did 'cause a lot of her family lives here, and my father did 'cause of his job. Though... I think mom stays here so that I don't have to move around all the time. She remarried about a year ago, who knows if I'll ever have a sibling," he adds with a soft smile. I had been watching him steadily the whole time, gazed at him as he rolled on his back to watch the sky as he told me about his family.

"So your mom's last name is Hughes," I say, "Is your dad's last name Spade?" He smiles at the darkening sky.

"No," he chuckles, "That was my mom's maiden name. My father's last name is Trep." I sigh as I watch him, and I have the strong urge to lie with my head against his shoulder. He sounds pretty okay with the retelling of all of his background, but I can hear the slight monotone his voice took on during some parts, saw the tightness of his smiles. I press no further, and the desire to physically lend comfort to him grows stronger. Who was this boy? He had changed so much from when I first was truly introduced to him just a few days ago. It was true that we had never even interacted over the years before this project. To my limited knowledge, he never really interacted with anyone in the earlier high school years, except for Sage. Other than being something of an antisocial, I had known absolutely nothing about him, besides what I had heard from other people about him being a druggie and a player. And that's how he came off when he first started talking to me, all devilish disposition and cocky smirks. But, this Roman right here... the one who carried me home from the club, cared for me in my sorry drunken state, forgiven my irrational behavior towards him, opened up to me here, was the Roman that makes my brain agree with my heart. But… was there another side to him?

"What are you thinking about?" his voice murmurs softly in my ear, and my eyes snap open. I hadn't even realized I had zoned out so badly. I'm lying on my side, my cheek pressed against the soft grass, and Roman has inched closer to me, his face resting very close to my own. I blink a few times at him as my cheeks flush in embarrassment.

"Sorry," I whisper, and Roman's hand lifts to brush a strand of pink hair from my face. His touch lingers at my cheek, and he slowly brushes another strand back. His scent lingers in my nose like his touch lingers on my skin.

"You kept frowning in thought," he chuckles with a smirk, and I swear he can hear my rocketing pulse. I've never felt a stronger urge to kiss him than right now. Not even when I was intoxicated.

...I think.

"Nothing, just thinking about finals tomorrow." His thick dark brows rise into his hair in amusement, but he doesn't question me further.

"I'll just bomb them like I did the other ones. I hate tests," he says with a single-shouldered shrug. I roll my eyes as I push his hand away from my face.

I sit up with a stretch and a yawn, looking out across the glittering town, noticing how dark it has gotten.

"Must be getting late," Roman voices my thoughts. I nod as I snatch up my flip-flops from the grass, and stand while brushing off my skirt. Roman stands up as well, lifting his skateboard and shaking out his dark hair as we both start walking towards the street. We look back over our shoulders at the town, now glittering with far-off lights that blanket the valley.

"I can't decide if it looks more beautiful under the sunset, or right now under the night," Roman says. I nod in agreement. He tugs the sleeve of my off-the-shoulder shirt, and I look at him in the darkness. "I'll walk you home, Aleithea."

There are few streetlights on the top of this giant hill, and we carefully make our way down in the light of the rising moon. Roman is on his skateboard, rolling a few inches and stopping, rolling and stopping, over and over to keep a consistently slow pace down the sloping street. He teases me periodically about how I should try riding down the hill on his skateboard with him, but I refuse profusely. I pad along barefoot again, the asphalt still pleasantly warm from the long-gone sun. At the bottom of the hill now, Roman stops under a streetlight.

"Want to ride now?" he asks with an adorably imploring look, hopping off the board and nudging it toward me. I stare down at it with raised brows, blinking rapidly.

"I don't even think I could stand on it," I mutter. Roman laughs, taking my hand as he sets one foot on the board to keep it steady.

"Up you go, Allie." He tugs me towards him and the board when I hesitate. "Come on, I got you," he croons with an effective smile. I hesitate just a moment longer to enjoy the feel of my hand, small and slender, in his. After shooting him a skeptical glare, I grip his hand tightly as I carefully step up onto the skateboard, feeling wobbly even before I lift a second foot up. I welcome the hand he places on my waist for support. Rigid and clutching at Roman, I honestly feel like I wouldn't even be able to just stand on this thing without holding onto something. My bare feet grip the rough, sandpapery surface of the board.

"There we go," Roman says as he lets go of my waist and takes a step back, and the board wobbles underneath me.

"Hey! Wooooah, don't you leave!" I trill, my flip-flop-occupied hand flailing as I totter on the skateboard. Roman takes a step back toward me, transferring my hand from his to around his shoulders as he stands beside me.

"I'm right here, Kenevil," he says with a smirk as he wheedles my flip-flops out of my iron grip, "One foot in front of the other. Find your balance, and just hold onto me." I narrow my eyes at his smugly amused expression as I reluctantly obey him.

"Gettin' a kick out of this, huh?" I say as he slides his arm around my waist and pushes me gently forward. I give a jolt as the board moves and my balance is thrown for a second, but I quickly regain it with Roman's support. I can practically feel the amusement radiating from him.

"Oh, hell yeah," he says with a devilish grin.

I find it easier to get used to being up on the board the more we go, and I end up only needing to hold onto Roman's hand as he pulls me along by the time we reach my house. He hands me my shoes back after I hop off the skateboard. I look over my shoulder at my home, the light from the living room window casting a golden glow over our yard.

"Mom wanted me to invite you and your mother over for dinner sometime soon to talk about arrangements for this summer, so if you could talk to her about that..?" I ask, turning back to Roman. He nods, rolling his skateboard back and forth with one foot, his hands in his pockets.

"Absolutely. Do you have your phone on you?" I look down at my pocket-less skirt before shrugging at him with a lazy grin.

"It's in the house."

"Useless," Roman teases with a smile as he shakes his head, pulling out a shiny Droid, the screen lighting up his face as he taps away on the touch screen. He plops it in my hands. "Put your number in. I'll text you after I call my mom tonight, I'm staying at my father's house." I nod as I punch in my number awkwardly, completely unfamiliar with the touch screen. I hand it back to Roman once I'm done. We stand there for a moment, and I feel the need to hug him or something before going... Anything less would seem too formal at this point.

"Well, goodnight, Roman," I start when he doesn't, "Thanks for walking me home." I lift my arms to offer a hug, and I can't quite make out his expression as he hesitantly accepts. Warmth blossoms in my chest as his arms enclose me, and his scent fills my senses.

"Goodnight, Aleithea," he says softly in my ear, his voice low and rumbling. He releases me stiffly, and is off in a flash on his skateboard, blazing down the street in the loud roll of wheels on asphalt. I watch his athletic form recede under the streetlights as I walk up to my front steps and enter the house.

Mom greets me with a hug, a kiss, and a few inquiries to how my walk was, where I went, etc. I tell her about meeting up with Roman and just chilling out at the top of Mullning Road, and I let her know that I extended her dinner invitation to him. She smiles and kisses me again on the forehead, pleased. I retire to my room for the night with a bowl of cookies and cream ice cream, to look over some of the last finals material.

Sprawled across my bed and tearing away at the delicious ice cream, I poke through the various study guides and notebooks, committing this and that to memory or brushing up on vague equations. After about an hour of this, I sigh as I crawl off the bed to examine the NYC calendar on my wall. I glance at the beautifully artistic picture of Time's Square for the month of June before looking over what I had scribbled in purple ink for Tuesday, tomorrow. In tiny lettering at the top, there was a short list of which classes had finals. The rest of the block was taken up by huge words that read 'LAST DAY.' Summer vacation started once school was out tomorrow. A huge smile breaks out over my face as my heart flutters excitedly.

A loud dubstep remix of Of Mice and Men's "Second and Sebring" starts singing away somewhere on the floor of my room. Smiling to myself as I kick through the junk and clothing on my floor, a warm feeling fills my chest because of the way the song makes me think of Roman. I had downloaded the song today after hearing it in his truck on our way home from Home Depot. I snatch the pair of jeans I had worn earlier today, and fish my cell phone out of the pocket as the ringtone loops. A text message alights my screen, the number unknown to my contacts. I lay across my bed as I view it.

Its roman. Does tomorrow work for your mother?

I smile as I read his name, before adding his number to my contacts. I don't know why... but my heart pounds when I type out his name. Roman Spade. I go back into the message to type a quick reply.

Yeah. 5ish sound good? I send it, answering for my mother, whom I know will be fine with it. A few moments later, I cut off the ringtone after a few seconds when another text rolls in.

Sounds great ;).

I roll my eyes with a smile as I reply.

Good :P