Status: I hope you like it.

The Boys, the Girls

Santa Carla Boardwalk, Cali. - 8:33 PM

Carmen spotted an open space at a picnic table near the carousel and headed over to it. She sat down on one of the benches and glanced over the night life of the boardwalk lazily until her eyes landed on the tattoo shop. She watched as the guy worked on a man’s arm, adding another tattoo to his in-progress sleeve. “I wouldn’t, if I were you.” A voice that sent shivers down Carmen’s spine said from behind her.

“Yeah, why not?” she asked as she turned to face him. He had platinum blonde hair that ended at his shoulders, and ice blue eyes that pierced her darker forest green ones.

“I heard that the guy in there misspells things sometimes.” He told her as he fixed one of his fingerless gloves so it was tighter.

“Really?” Carmen asked as she made a gesture for him to sit down, “Bummer.”

“What’s a girl like you, doing over here alone?” the boy asked her as he sat on the bench next to her.

She gave a carefree shrug, not really sure why she was hanging out on her own. Usually she would have had found a guy to buy her a drink and dinner to entertain herself, but she didn’t feel like it tonight. She felt him place his arm around her.

“You shouldn’t be out here alone,” he told her, pulling her closer to him.

“Why’s that?” she inquired resting her chin on her fisted hand.

“Well,” he smirked, “You are in the murder capital of the world.”

She gave a short laugh, “As if I could forget.”

He raised an eyebrow at her, “You’ve been here before?”

“Lived here since I was ten years old,” She replied resting her chin on her hand looking up at his face. He had an allure about him that was reeling her in. It was unlike any other boy’s charm she had ever been victim to, it was intoxicating.

“Really, how could I have missed your pretty face, then?” He asked leaning in close to her.

She shrugged, “Don’t spend a lot of my nights out here on the boardwalk.”

“Why’s that?” he asked, his voice in a whisper, their faces close enough for them to kiss.

“Never felt it was my scene,” She whispered back, forest green eyes meeting his innocently.

“What made you want to come tonight, then?” His lips ghosted over hers, ice blue eyes boring into her green ones.

“My sister’s performing at open mic night,” she whispered.

He leaned close to her ear, “Maybe I could meet you there later?” She shivered at the feeling of his hot breath against her ear.

“Yeah,” she replied, her voice soft. “Maybe,” He smirked and leaned back. “See ya then, babe.” He pulled his arm from around her shoulders and stood.

“Don’t call me babe,” she snapped from the table as he began to head off towards the carousel. She watched him glance back at her with a smirk spread across his face. His eyes met hers and she held his gaze, her eyes piercing into his like a piercing gun would an ear. His smirk faltered slightly at the unnerving intensity of her gaze. She gave a small evil grin before turning back to the table. As she did though, she could have sworn she had seen him wink at her.

It unnerved her that he had done that, not the wink itself, but his recovery from her stare. No one had been able to recover so quickly after one of her eye-to-eye stares. Said stares had been described as unnerving and frightening. Most people felt like she was seeing straight into their mind and soul, finding each and every secret that they held. She had always been proud of her ability to do that, because it usually got her what she wanted. She never used it on her friends because it made her feel like they were friends with her out of fear instead of because they liked her company, but when it came to people outside their circle she didn’t care about what they thought of her. It had gotten her discounts from stores, had gotten her out of speeding tickets, and had gotten her anything else in between, but it had never gotten her such a flirtatious reaction. Again, it unnerved her.
-
“That was awesome,” the guitarist of the band told Kimberly as she stood in the back room of Richy’s shop. “Would you like to do one more run through before the show starts or do you feel good about it?”

Kimberly opened her mouth to reply, but her response was cut off by the loud growling of her stomach. She flushed cherry red and looked down at her feet. “I think that answers that,” The drummer laughed in response.

The guitarist chuckled, “You go get something to eat. We probably need to head over there to make sure everything’s set up right, anyway.”

Kimberly smiled sheepishly, “Thanks.” The guitarist smiled at her kindly before walking off with his band mates.

Kimberly headed out after them and towards the food stands. After a little deliberation, she decided on the stand that was selling a variety of things and got in line.

She slowly made her way up in line, and just as she was about to reach the counter, two boys jumped in front of her. Both were blonde, one’s was untamed and hung to his mid-back, the other had curls that also went to his mid-back. The wild haired on wore coat tails and a pair of tight black pants and biker boots. Curly hair wore a jacket that looked like it was made entirely out of scrap patches of fabric with a pair of dark jeans and biker boots. “Three beers, please,” wild hair told the guy.

Kimberly took a deep breath and then shoved her way through the two boys. “Actually,” Kimberly smiled sweetly at the man working the stand, “Just a Sprite and a house salad with Italian dressing.”

“Sure thing,” The man working the stand told her with a greasy smile. Her smile strained but stayed in place. He grabbed what she asked for and brought it to her.

“How much do I owe?” Kimberly asked reaching for her wallet.

“No charge,” the man grinned slimily down at her, his eyes racking her body.

“Thank you,” Kimberly gave him another strained smile before walking off with her food. She began to head over to the stage she was supposed to be performing on, when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She turned around to see who it was and saw curly haired, with the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen, standing there with a childlike smile on his face. “What’s the deal, babe?” Wild haired asked her as he approached, “A guy can’t buy a cute girl a drink anymore?”

“Not when they cut in front of her in line after she’d been waiting for fifteen minutes,” she replied. Wild haired rolled his eyes. Kimberly glared at him.

“Ignore him,” curly haired told her with a smile, “He’s just upset that the vendor made him pay for your food because he cut in front of you.” Kimberly laughed. Curly haired grinned at her and dragged his friend with him as he followed her to the stage area, “I’m Marko, this is Paul.” He pointed to wild haired.

Kimberly smiled at him as she sat down near the door that led back stage, “Kimberly.”

“What brings you to Santa Carla, Kimberly?” Paul asked her.

Kimberly kicked back her head and laughed, “I’ve lived here since I was eight.”

“Really?” Marko asked, “I wonder how I missed you then.” Kimberly blushed tomato red making Marko smirk.

“I don’t spend a lot of my time on the boardwalk,” she told him shyly as she began to eat her salad, “My sister and I usually hang out at the beach during the day or stay at home and swim.”

“You got a pool?” Paul asked. Kimberly only nodded because her mouth was full. Marko chuckled at her.

“What brings you here tonight, then?” Marko asked scooting up next to her.

“I’m performing,” she nodded towards the stage they were near, wincing at the sound of the awful singer on stage at the moment.

“Well, I hope you’re better than who’s singing right now,” Marko told her with a cringe.

“Gee, thanks,” she replied sardonically before putting another bite of salad into her mouth. Marko rolled his eyes.

“Not the best of compliments man,” Paul nudged Marko with his elbow, “It doesn’t take much to be better than that girl.” Marko glared at Paul. Kimberly giggled at the exchange.

“I’ve got to go,” Kimberly voiced a few minutes later after she had finished her salad.

“Aw, why,” Marko asked.

“I’m performing soon, so I’ve got to get back stage.” Kimberly smiled at him apologetically before heading to the door. “It was nice meeting you.”

“Yeah, maybe we’ll see you around.” Paul remarked as he stood. He gave her a lazy two finger wave in goodbye.

“Maybe,” Kimberly replied with a wave as Paul dragged Marko away. Marko smiled a Cheshire cat grin at her and winked before he and Paul disappeared into the crowd. Kimberly felt herself blush once more.