Darkness fell upon the city of Somerfosha. All was quiet and asleep.
However, in a garage tucked in a high low class area, to the right of the station wagon that their family had owned for a few years already, were two teenagers, diligently working on a complicated contraption. The girl handed her male companion a torque wrench. Grease covered her short and straight brown hair and made her seem as if she had dipped her head in water. Sweat covered her brow and pixie nose in droplets, though the cracked four sections of the sole garage window were covered in frost.
"A.C., pass me the wrench," the other teen ordered, using his affectionate nickname for her.
"I just did you moron," she said.
"No the other one, by your foot."
"I wonder what this would look like if I did it by myself."
"It would look like a piece of crap," he said. "I am the brains, you are the beauty."
"What does beauty have to do with any of it?"
"I can work better when you are around." He said.
"I've always been around."
"So?" The teen began using the torque wrench, his sleeves falling down to his hands. "Man, this is going to be fucking sweet."
"So how do you know if you wouldn't work better by yourself?"
"I just know, okay?" He kept his eyes on the contraption. "I don't know how we are gonna get in the house and get batteries."
"Do you still think we are going to become kissing cousins?" He looked at her with a serious look on his face, his glasses falling to his nose and he pushed them up.
"Anna, that was a mistake, okay? I don't want to be your boyfriend or anything. That would be incest. And I don't think of you that way anyway."
"Yeah, but if, um, but if we weren't related. Then what?"
"We aren't." He replied.
"Cody, I am asking hypothetically."
"What the fuck is the point in thinking about it if it isn't going to happen?" His eyes bore into hers.
"Just that-sometimes I just feel-" Anna did not finish her sentence.
"Finish your thought. A dumb person is one that doesn't know how to express their thoughts." Anna parted her lips and thought about what Cody had said for a minute.
"I just feel that sometimes you can be an asshole." She finished.
"Yeah right." He picked up a screw and began working with it. "Speak for yourself. You can be pretty bitchy too."
"Me? A bitch?" She pressed her hands to her chest in mock terror. "Oh, mi corazon," she said in a falsetto. Cody laughed, shook his head, and picked up the screwdriver. He loved fiddling with tools.
"I think it is finished," he finalized, moving back to admire his work.
"Awesome," Anna complimented, holding out her hand for him to slap. "The thrill never leaves."
"Alright, so we go to the mall and climb up on the rooftop and then we install it and instant fireworks.
"And how do you know it is going to work?"
"Come on, Anna. Doesn't it always? I am a smart bastard."
"Yeah, but that one time we blew a hole in the wall. And then that other time-"
"Anna?" He gave her a long hard stare, his eyebrows turned up. "That was a long time ago, okay?"
"Okay, sure." She stood up and went to the garage to open it, tired of arguing with him. They always opened the garage door manually when they sneaked out to install one of their contraptions. It was always hard to open, being it so heavy and having many of her father's tools attached to the metalworkings of the door. Her strength finally collected enough for the door to budge and after that, the rest was easy. The door opened silently, revealing the tranquil cold air that hit them with a surprisingly cold gusty air that made Anna hold her breath and squeeze her lips together as if she could block out the cold in that way. She reached over to her left and pulled out the two-seater bicycle that Cody had made. He had made it back in Tennessee five summers ago.
Summer was a long way away.
"Cody, it's out." She informed him.
However, in a garage tucked in a high low class area, to the right of the station wagon that their family had owned for a few years already, were two teenagers, diligently working on a complicated contraption. The girl handed her male companion a torque wrench. Grease covered her short and straight brown hair and made her seem as if she had dipped her head in water. Sweat covered her brow and pixie nose in droplets, though the cracked four sections of the sole garage window were covered in frost.
"A.C., pass me the wrench," the other teen ordered, using his affectionate nickname for her.
"I just did you moron," she said.
"No the other one, by your foot."
"I wonder what this would look like if I did it by myself."
"It would look like a piece of crap," he said. "I am the brains, you are the beauty."
"What does beauty have to do with any of it?"
"I can work better when you are around." He said.
"I've always been around."
"So?" The teen began using the torque wrench, his sleeves falling down to his hands. "Man, this is going to be fucking sweet."
"So how do you know if you wouldn't work better by yourself?"
"I just know, okay?" He kept his eyes on the contraption. "I don't know how we are gonna get in the house and get batteries."
"Do you still think we are going to become kissing cousins?" He looked at her with a serious look on his face, his glasses falling to his nose and he pushed them up.
"Anna, that was a mistake, okay? I don't want to be your boyfriend or anything. That would be incest. And I don't think of you that way anyway."
"Yeah, but if, um, but if we weren't related. Then what?"
"We aren't." He replied.
"Cody, I am asking hypothetically."
"What the fuck is the point in thinking about it if it isn't going to happen?" His eyes bore into hers.
"Just that-sometimes I just feel-" Anna did not finish her sentence.
"Finish your thought. A dumb person is one that doesn't know how to express their thoughts." Anna parted her lips and thought about what Cody had said for a minute.
"I just feel that sometimes you can be an asshole." She finished.
"Yeah right." He picked up a screw and began working with it. "Speak for yourself. You can be pretty bitchy too."
"Me? A bitch?" She pressed her hands to her chest in mock terror. "Oh, mi corazon," she said in a falsetto. Cody laughed, shook his head, and picked up the screwdriver. He loved fiddling with tools.
"I think it is finished," he finalized, moving back to admire his work.
"Awesome," Anna complimented, holding out her hand for him to slap. "The thrill never leaves."
"Alright, so we go to the mall and climb up on the rooftop and then we install it and instant fireworks.
"And how do you know it is going to work?"
"Come on, Anna. Doesn't it always? I am a smart bastard."
"Yeah, but that one time we blew a hole in the wall. And then that other time-"
"Anna?" He gave her a long hard stare, his eyebrows turned up. "That was a long time ago, okay?"
"Okay, sure." She stood up and went to the garage to open it, tired of arguing with him. They always opened the garage door manually when they sneaked out to install one of their contraptions. It was always hard to open, being it so heavy and having many of her father's tools attached to the metalworkings of the door. Her strength finally collected enough for the door to budge and after that, the rest was easy. The door opened silently, revealing the tranquil cold air that hit them with a surprisingly cold gusty air that made Anna hold her breath and squeeze her lips together as if she could block out the cold in that way. She reached over to her left and pulled out the two-seater bicycle that Cody had made. He had made it back in Tennessee five summers ago.
Summer was a long way away.
"Cody, it's out." She informed him.