Falling For The Future

Chapter 1: Unexpected Introductions

She crept up the stairs in the dark. Her head was hanging because she was too tired to keep it up anymore. It had been a tedious morning at home with her brother and then there was the chaos the girls had brought with them for the afternoon. Just the thought of any of her friends made her recalls the events of her day.

Xx

"Ky, Ky!" The attention-craving four year-old giggled at her.

"One sec' Code." she delayed. Today was not going how she had planned.

For the P.A. Day she had planned on sleeping in till eleven, at least, and making herself a buffet-worthy breakfast in her pajamas. After that she would do what every girl enjoyed doing with the house to herself; soaking in the tub with some good music and maybe a little nail polish for her toenails. So far though, she had been awoken at 7AM when her alarm clock went off and had been stuck with watching her adorable brother for the day. Currently she was juggling her responsibility, Cody, texting her best friend that had moved away when they were twelve and now the doorbell was being rung. 1sec. Doorbell, she texted to her friend.

"Kyyy." her brother whined.

"Just one more second, Code." she pleaded with the no-nonsense child temporary filling in while her brother's mood worsened, "Hello?" Pause. "Oh my God!" Before she could say another word, a grunt was heard from the front door alone with many feminine squeals of joy.

"Hey girl!" Greeted the girl standing among others on her front stoop.

"Wh-what're you doing here!? You're supposed to be in New Jersey!" she let out in exasperation.

"It's called a surprise, Ky," The girl joked as she explained. "So are you going to let us in?"

"Uh…" she didn't get out a proper answer since she really had no choice. This was practically Melanie's, her best friend, second home. The other three girls followed her inside after receiving Kyle's nod of approval. Kyle rushed after them, remembering her brother's temporary was on the edge of having a fit, "Look Cody, it's Melanie. You remember her, don't you?"

"Hey Cody! What're you up to?" Melanie greeted him enthusiastically.

"Mellymoo!" The little boy shouted out his nickname for her best friend with glee. Melanie returned it with a warm smile. "Like my jammies? Ky said I could wear them all day long since I don't have to go to daycare today!"

Her younger brother's mention of his pajamas reminded Kyle she was still in her own navy pair that sported quacking yellow ducks. She lifted her head to some of her other friends standing awkwardly, out of place, and character, since her brother was there. She addressed Melanie, who was kidding around playfully with Cody, "Hey, Mel?"

"Yeah?" she asked, turning her attention and head away from the newly frowning four year old.

"You can watch Cody for half an hour right? You know, get reacquainted."

"Of course. I can watch these awesome girlies too." she grinned as she put her arm around Ella Nubury in a one-armed hug.

Ella looked prestigious with her long blonde hair and prim clothes. She came from a less-than rich background though; her family was stable but not rolling in the green stuff. She had three other siblings, a twin brother and two other younger siblings. Since her parents sometimes got caught up in taking care of her younger sister and brother, she had done her fair share of chores. The chores included knowing how to use the iron and straighten out almost everything she owned. It just so happened she was the quieter twin and that added to her elegant presence.

The other girl who stood beside Ella was Vienna Linwell. Vienna was a short gymnast with a wealthy father to support her. Her mother was a busy woman who was never around so Ella was primarily left alone with her dad. Her brown hair was straight and cut in a choppy style that stopped just above her shoulders. She was very vocal and opinionated.

Altogether they made for an unusual bunch but that was all right in Kyle's mind. They had remained friends with her when Melanie had moved away.

"Great. I'm going to take a shower." She took her body up the stairs and didn't worry about whose hands her brother was in. If anything, he was sure to give the girls a run for her money, the mischievous boy.

She peeled off the animal pajama bottoms and baggy t-shirt she had on and loosened the elastic in hold of her hair. She shook the ponytail out and inspected her appearance. Even though she knew she wasn't up to par at the moment, she didn't have anything outrageous against her looks. Sure, she wouldn't mind smaller thighs or losing a few pounds, but who didn't other than the male population? Her light brown hair hung straight down and her blue-grey eyes were smudged with leftover black eyeliner from the previous day. Of course, everyone knows not to leave make up on overnight and Kyle did too. She just never got around to taking it off before she snuggled into her comfy covers. As for her face, she wouldn't say her face was 'as smooth as a baby's bottom' but she didn't have bony cheekbones or a double chin either. She thought of herself as average. Moving down her body, her eyes moved quickly. She wasn't really interested in checking her own assets out. There wasn't much of anything new to look at. Her ass and breasts were still fair in size, nothing that attracted more attention than she wanted.

Kyle Farley started the shower and let her thoughts wonder to her one and only best friend. She had never replaced her, she hadn't even tried; she was content even without Melanie.

Her friend hadn't even changed a bit as far as she could tell. Her hair was still honey brown and her dark blue eyes still shined warmly when she talked. She hadn't lost too much weight; her cheeks were still soft with cuteness and her assets were still intact, which was a big plus factor with the guys. As far as personality went, she couldn't be positive, but she was still more out-going than Kyle herself and adored Cody like he was her own brother. Kyle remembered how when they were kids, Melanie was her only friend that never complained about having to stay home and watch her brother; she almost begged to do it. If Kyle had seen her without the rose coloured glasses of friendship, she might have gotten the idea that her best friend had a selfish tendency that made her slightly bitchy. Being the better friend, Kyle would have only told herself that everyone was impudent when it came to certain things.

Suddenly there was a loud knocking on the bathroom and a shout to go with it, "Hurry it up, Ky! It's been forty-five minutes already, girly," Kyle was bewildered as to how time had gone by so fast and rushed out of the bathroom. She was then pushed into her bedroom by two sets of hands and then her own hands were full of clothes. "Put these on and meet us downstairs."

Less than five minutes later, she was dressed and downstairs with sopping-wet hair, "What's the rush, guys?"

"Nothing," Melanie replied with a questioning look. She received a skeptic one in return when she handed Kyle a pair of her skater shoes. "Ok, ok. I'll explain when we get outside."

"Um…" Came the reply of the not-so careless girl that happened to remember she was supposed to be watching her younger sibling. There was no more she could say before she was dragged outside; she did manage to grab her black trucker hat though, "So?" she demanded once the four girls were all outside.

"Calm down, Ky. I asked that little old lady, Mz. Pruin, right, if she didn't mind watching Cody for a while." The thing about Melanie was that she had a great memory, especially when it came to names. Though if she had gotten smashed and then had a one-night-stand and then accidentally ran into the guy two weeks later, she would most definitely remember him.

"How long is a while?" Kyle happened to have a memory that wasn't as great as her friend's but it rarely failed her; she recognized the recollection of her aunt telling her that morning that she wouldn't be back too late coming home, probably around five.

"Well, it depends. The girls thought we could go to C.T. and then find something to do there."

"Yeah. Mel can get reacquainted with everything and stuff while we're going to show her off," Interrupted Vienna whilst Ella remained good-looking, but quiet. "You're ok with that, aren't you?"

This was why Kyle preferred hanging out with guys. Some of them might be sly but almost all of them weren't subtle when it came to being an ass/disliking you. They were upfront; some girls attempted to restrain themselves for some sick form of pleasure possibly. She was s stuck /s with the girls at the moment though and she was going to suck it up, just like her farther used to say, 'Suck it up, Buttercup.' The line may not have been originally his but remembering him saying it to her always made her strive to be optimistic and just shut her mouth, "Nah, we can go." A simple comforting smile was on Kyle's face as she talked in a laidback manner.

Therefore the journey to C.T. to find something to do began and 'show off Melanie' like she was a prostitute desiring some coin. Don't misunderstand; C.T. isn't a cool club or a café or any other 'place to be'. It stands for the Center of Town, which it literally is. It was the middle of Hartbrooke and had all the necessary schools for every level of education, produce stores, a Town Hall and other necessities that aided the town's economy. The only reason people went there was because there was nothing to do anywhere else in the town. Unless you were rich, then you could by entertainment, but even then, eventually you ran out of things to buy.

The two other parts of town were on opposite sides of each other. One side was the least residential and only had a few rundown houses and a gas station until it led out to the main highway.

The other side was a one-way street with only residential and scenery purposes that reached to the top of a cliff. It was more of the 'perfect' neighbourhood with less-than perfect people. The houses ranged from townhouses, like the one Kyle and her family lived in, to two big mansions. Most of the homes had great views of the sea below the rock-covered Hartbrooke Cliff. The view must have been the only reason for the most expensive homes having been located on the rock face because the pointed rocks weren't overly inviting. The scenery could also be the only reason to move to Hartbrooke overall. It had three different choices to decide on: the wild green grass growing near the highway, the low-set beach with it's sun-heated sand, or the cliff accompanied by it's infamous ocean view. The people couldn't compare.

Speaking of the people, four of them had just arrived at the C.T., "So what should we do?" Melanie asked her old friends. There ensued a pause where Melanie realized what the other girls were looking at. A group of about ten guys were skateboarding off of the Town Hall's steps, grinding pavement, doing ollies and other tricks. Kyle grinned along with her friends, just for a different reason. Melanie smirked, "Is Creamsicles still open?"

"What?" Melanie thought it was quite obvious what she was talking about, "Oh. Yes. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yeah. Let's go get some ice cream, girls."

Xx

The flavours of the girls' delight were Rainbow Bubblegum for Melanie, Rocky Road for Kyle, Vanilla Caramel Swirl for Ella and Chocolate Chip for Vienna.

Now Kyle was watching the comical display her friend was putting on as she sucked up her ice cream, "You're hilarious, Mel." Melanie interrupted her make out session with the cold treat to ask what she was talking about. "The way you suck it up, of course. It's like you're trying to arouse it with your tongue." She received a look she couldn't quite decipher. She began to snort when Melanie went back to her unique way of eating her Rainbow Bubblegum ice cream. When she couldn't stand the confusing look or the make out scene, Kyle attempted to remove herself from the situation; "I'm going to visit Tru now."

"Who's Tru? Is he one of the hotties over there?" What girl wouldn't be curious about a possibly God-like male specimen?

"Yeah, though I wouldn't say 'hottie'."

"I would. How could you disagree Farley?" Vienna, the opinionated girl, targeted the other that she had regarded to via last name. Melanie just consumed the seen and her ice cream.

"Me too." Ella contributed in her naturally charming and smooth textured voice, "Though he's not my type."

"It's your opinion. Anyways, you met him two summers ago, Mel, remember?" Kyle had a strictly friendly relationship with Tru, whose real name was Truman, Berk. He was no 'hottie' in her mind.

"I remember. He had braces and those cute chubby cheeks. What's he look like now?" Even though Melanie remembered Tru had looked cute in that adorable 'not-yet-grown-up' way, she had nothing against more mature good-looking eye candy.

Thoughtfully, Kyle described the boy she was only platonically fond of, "Brown hair, hazel eyes and over six feet tall. His cheeks are thinner and the braces are gone now. He looked better with them, cuter."

"Ok. He's over there, isn't he?" Melanie's gaze scattered over the crowd of boarders and landed on a boy who definitely fit her definition of 'hottie.' Tru Berk stood in what she recognized as classic beige Abercrombie and Fitch shorts, a navy blue Hurley t-shirt and a pair of tan Adio skateboarding shoes with black winged print. His hair was tousled as chance pieces of it hung in front of his forehead. He tried futilely to swipe them out of the way as he continued his conversation with a much shorter black-haired guy. His skateboard was grasped firmly in the hand he wasn't gesturing with.

"Yeah. I wouldn't have said I was going to see him if I had to walk to his home, instead of over to the steps, to do so." Kyle let the sarcastic words slip out of her brain and off of her tongue in an uncharacteristic way.

The other girl let out an outwardly good-humored laugh, "True. Speaking of Tru, can I get reacquainted with him?"

"Yeah. Come on, I'm sure he'll be happy to get reacquainted with you, especially if you show him the way you eat your ice cream." Kyle gestured to the slowly disappearing treat. At first she had just wanted to get away from her friend's weird ways that some of the skateboarding boys seemed to love. Now, instead, she was excited to show off her best friends to each other.

"Ok. Just for you though, Ky, I'll show him my special way of eating." Melanie laughed again while Kyle took her by the arm and enthusiastically pulled her toward the boy named Tru.

"Hey Tru. Do you remember Melanie, my other friend? You met her two summers ago, at least." Kyle gestured to Melanie with the skill of a showgirl off The Price Is Right.

"Oh. Hey, yeah, I think I do. It's nice to see you again," The towering boy lost his critical facial expression and his raised eyebrow lowered. He was now smiling and being naturally polite. "Hey Ky, girls. What's up?"

"Well…" Kyle began her explanation, "We got ice cream and Mel here started making out with hers. You're hilarious Mel. Then I decided to come see you and then bring Mel along because I wanted you to see her eat it."

"And because we're taking her around to be social and get reacquainted with everyone," Vienna borrowed Ella's ironic aristocratic nature for her add-on.

Tru seemed to understand from the way he nodded and turned expectantly to Melanie. The other boy, who was standing beside Tru, had the same keen expression. Kyle continued, "So will you Mel?"

"Just for you." Melanie directed to Tru with a subtle comical wink.

After Melanie showed off her very amusing talent, Tru chuckled and the other boy stared at Melanie with lust-filled desire. A blonde boy appeared on his board then at the other unidentified boy's right side, "Hey."

There came a basic variation of 'hey' in response from the two boys and Ella. Vienna turned a cold glare that could have pierced flesh, had it been humanly possible. The blonde boy didn't get a chance to react to her gaze or notice the honey-haired vixen Kyle was about to introduce him to, "Hey Elm'. Mel, meet Jeremiah. Guys, this is Melanie, my best friend. She's here to visit today." The boy Kyle called Elm' nodded his head in greeting before quickly turning his attention to Vienna. He had been looking at her since his arrival seconds earlier. She still met his eyes with a harsh stare. Jeremiah, the short stubby boy with the black hair kept his eyes on Melanie, as well.

Over the next few minutes little dialogue was spoken. It was hard to tell if fair-skinned Elm' was glad for the interruption which occurred when he realized who had caused it.

"Hey, Vee!" Vienna didn't even react to the loud voice calling her at first. It was only on the third call when the voice sounded increasingly agitated did Vienna even react. Her eyes slanted lower, if possible, and she let out a frustrated sigh. Only after taking another few breaths to attempt to calm herself did Vienna then turn her body around. Violet coloured contact covered eyes were narrowed in the direction of a guy sitting in a parked truck. Her face remained sour but she let out a bitter laugh she hadn't bothered to keep in. The naturally cold girl didn't appreciate being interrupted during her battle of stares. I wouldn't laugh; she didn't find it childish at all. He had made her end her scrutiny and lose eye contact first; she had lost, she was pissed. She noticed what was off about his appearance and realized why he wanted her to go see him so urgently.

The commanding boy in the pickup was Parker Gordon. From first glance he would normally have been said to appear serious, preppy and arrogant jock all rolled into one cliché. It was hard for anyone, especially Vienna, to take him so seriously when his normally reddish-brown tinted hair was highlighted magenta. Nobody but Vienna and some of the skaters laughed aloud at his new look. The others remained quiet either out of the less likely option: fear, respect of the pink streaked spectacle or indifference.

Comprehending that he wasn't going to get out and risk being mocked by the spiteful skateboarders, Vienna excused herself from the group. Once she was in the pickup with her boyfriend they immediately began bickering. He ended up spilling through his rage that his fifteen-year-old sister had taken her "childish" angst out on him. It obviously ended up with Parker's head having colourful streaks in his hair. All the time that he continued Vienna couldn't help but wondering why she had gone out with him in the first place. He was as theatrical as a drama queen and as needy as a three year old. Parker also told her they were headed off to his older sister's home for her to dye his hair, since he wouldn't dare go out in public again with it remaining.

Meanwhile, the conversation had picked up but was communicated by way of looks. Tru rolled his eyes, Melanie stared at Tru and Jeremiah stared at Melanie lustfully. Elm' was zoned-out, Kyle appeared thoughtful and Ella remained quietly observant.

Kyle hated the silence but didn't want to bring it up. It tortured her knowing that Ella wouldn't speak up. Thankfully though, Tru completed the rolling of his irises and pupils and cleared his face of a peeved expression. He followed with, "Where's your board Ky?"

"Well I planned on staying in my pajamas all day and watching TV. Mel and the girls came over and surprised me so I didn't really think about it."

"Why don't you borrow someone's?" Tru suggested.

"Why don't you ask one of the guy's, Kylee?" Melanie suggested, causing Tru, who had never heard anyone call Kyle by the wrong name, to raise an eyebrow.

Kyle mouthed 'Later'. Elm' finally seemed to have lost the blank look from his face. Now he looked slightly frustrated with Melanie, "No. Ask Jess for one of hers. You know she's got an extra with her, she always does. Plus, hers are more along the same style you like to ride."

Ignorant to Elm's slowly rising irritation toward her ignorance of the sport taking place around her, Melanie questioned, "Why would she carry another one with her? Wouldn't it get heavy?"

Before Elm' could unusually condescending, Jeremiah broke out of his lust-filled haze, "Skateboarders are likely to break a board every once and a while. Jesse carries one around with her incase. And yes, they do get heavy."

"Oh." Melanie seemed to just realize the pudgy boy was there. He seemed indifferent to her reaction at least.

"Yeah. I'm going to borrow one from her, if you don't mind?" Kyle asked to her close friends.

"No." Melanie replied dreamily, caught up by the godliness of Elm' and Tru.

"Have fun, Kyle." Ella told her pleasantly with a smiling on her face. Kyle warmly returned it.

Kyle approached the only other girl apart of the skateboarding group of misfits. Jesse Lander skated alone as was her nature; she was generally introverted and closed-off. She was also Kyle's neighbour. She lived with the old lady watching Cody. Kyle rarely talked to her but she was pretty sure there weren't any bad feelings between the two. The guys seemed to be her closest friends and had accepted her. They made no snide comments about her, whereas Kyle was an open target the often jokingly took aim at. As for her appearance, she didn't seem to take notice of it. Her dark brown hair was hardly ever brushed; no make up masked her face and her wardrobe had its fair share of baggy clothing. She would wear anything as long as it didn't interfere with her skateboarding. She was a pretty good boarder; she could have won competitions if she entered. The boys had often tried to pressure her into it but she always ignored them.

"Hey Jesse, how are you?"

"Good." Disregarded the other girl, "And you are?"

"I'm good." Kyle decided to get to the point; Jesse didn't care about Melanie's daylong visit, "Could I borrow a skateboard for a bit? I didn't plan on bringing mine and we use the same style."

Before Kyle had finished talking, Jesse had handed her a simple turquoise striped skateboard. The board seemed to be taken care off but old. The sides of the deck were worn around the edges and Kyle could feel a slightly flat wheel in her palm, "Here you go."

Kyle didn't realize how much time she had spent boarding or even care until she was forced to stop. Tru had cut her off and she had managed to stop herself before a collision occurred. She didn't doubt Tru could play the part of Knight in Shining Armour ordinarily. It must have been that they were both on skateboards and she knew the only thing that would stop them from falling was paved. Kyle reprimanded Tru for his stupidity, "Well that was dumb."

Xx

It turns out Melanie had left without a goodbye shortly after Elm' and Ella left together. Pretty much, they were the only ones left hanging around except two or three others. Jesse had left without mentioning the return of her board.

Following that, Kyle and Tru walked towards Tru's house. Kyle explained that Melanie called her "Kylee" in front of guys because at those times she didn't think it was acceptable for a girl to be called Kyle. Kyle laughed; Tru frowned. They discussed their mutual friends after that until they made their way to Tru's stop. He left Kyle to go to his tiny quaint home with his welcoming mother.

So Kyle walked up the hill to her neighbour's house, returned Jesse's skateboard and got Cody. The children came home to the s psychotically raging /s short-tempered woman that looked after them: their Aunt Margreette, "Kylee, where have you and your brother both been?!"

Yes, her aunt called her Kylee too, ever since she had met Melanie. Margree thought it was a lovely idea, "Melanie was in town so Mz. Neelson watched Cody for the day, I'm sure she took great care of him."

"Better care than you had." Her aunt responded snidely, "How responsible of you, Kylee, leaving that poor old woman to watch your brother. I'm sure she just wants some peace and quiet before she dies but you can't let her have it. And then what did you do?"

"I'm sorry, Aunt Margreette. It was out of my control. Melanie was supposed to be taking care of-"

"Don't go blaming this on that charming young lady. Have I taught you nothing? Take responsibility for your lack of, child, and answer my question." Kyle was commanded.

"The girls," Kyle paused barely into her sentence. Her aunt had narrowed her eyes and opened her tight mouth. "Melanie, Vienna Linwell and Ella Nubury, wanted to go to the Center of Town so we did. We spent the day there and got ice cream." Kyle knew her aunt well enough to not inform her of the skateboarding she had done. As much as she loved it her aunt hated it.

"You spent all your money." Her aunt stated instead of asked, "Well I'm not giving you any more lunch money for the week. In fact, you can get yourself a job and start using all the time you spend riding around on a piece of wood on wheels towards something productive."

"B-but… w-what? I… I'm busy enough!" she didn't want to give away her precious skateboarding time. She didn't get to skateboard as much as her aunt made it seem. With a job she'd have to give up track so she could retrieve her time meant for skateboarding. She'd already told her coach she was committed too. Now she was going to make herself out to be a liar, not that her aunt cared. Of course, Kyle only realized this subconsciously because her thoughts at those moments were still stuttering.

"Enough!" The older woman huffed, "Set the table for dinner and get your hands washed."

The shocked teen obeyed.

Xx

"I'm going to go out for a while." Kyle called out to her aunt's well-trained ears, hoping they would falter for once.

"Firstly, have you done your homework? Secondly, be more descriptive in your answers, Kylee. Lastly, where and with whom do you think you're going to do what?" The spawn of Satan's wife replied.

After proving to her aunt, by s shoving the completed papers in her face and telling her not to fucking wait up /s grabbing them out of her bag, and describing her plans, Kyle left her poor younger brother in her aunt's company.

Kyle skated around for the rest of the night down the hill continuously. She loved the adrenaline that seeped throughout her when she glided down that hill. Walking back, she took the time to think about her day. Everything she had planned hadn't happened, accept the possibility of skateboarding and seeing Tru, and she wasn't sure if she was ok with how it had turned out.

Xx

Now as Kyle reached her room she was grateful she could sink into her bed and s never wake up /s sleep for a couple of hours. First she stripped herself of her outerwear and tiresomely put on a new pair of pajamas. This pair consisted of a green mid-thigh shorts and a loose white tank top, definitely not as cute as the duckies from before.

As low as her head was hanging, Kyle still noticed a movement from her bathroom, reflected in the mirror. Unfortunately for her, she had already turned off the light and the street light outside didn't do much good.

A/N: That's the first chapter to my new story. I really hope you liked everything... or at least some things? Remember, the next chapter will be told in a different point of view... whenever I get around to writing it.

Reviews are nice.

xx beingmyself