Disclaimer; Yes, I'm back with another LOD story. Yay me. I hope that you guys enjoy this one as much as the last one. I'm trying to break away from the whole different POV writing so wish me luck. As usual, I own nothing except my characters. (Aussie, Aiden, Emily and Dave) And, yes, I am still working on Foster Girl. Just the inspiration for this came so suddenly, and I didn't want to lose it. So enjoy.
"Aussie Rae? Time to get up, baby." The older females' wake up call remained unheard to the sixteen year old teenage girl, sitting atop her bed, pulling her sun streaked honey brown hair into a ponytail. The parts of her hair that the sun never seemed to hit remained a chocolate brown color. "Aussie?" the woman called again, this time coming into the girls' room. "Its 6:15, babe." Emily, Aussie's mother, said, placing her hands on her daughters' shoulders.
This was enough to snap her daughter out of her little dream world with a jump. Emily chuckled, wrapping her arms around Aussie's shoulders, "Morning, mom." She greeted with a warm smile, her mothers response a kiss on the cheek.
"You should really get going baby, you'll be late for your kick boxing class," Emily whispered, rocking back and forth with her beloved daughter, who nodded. "Aren't you going to wake your brother up? He is going surfing with Tony and them this morning, isn't he?"
Aussie made a face, and shook her head, "Nah. Skip says it's been flat three days in a row, so he declared the pier closed until they've got some good waves to charge. But, we all know that Skip is such a reliable source." Aussie laughed, rolling her hazel eyes.
"If you're not listening to your uncle, I guess I've taught you well." Her mother laughed, pulling back from the embrace.
"Now, Mom, that's not a very nice way to talk about your brother." Aussie scolded in a joking manner, clicking her tongue. Emily reached a hand out, giving Aussie's head a shove to the side.
"Do you need me to drop off a spare change of clothes at the shop on my way to work?"
"No, I'll just leave Aiden a note telling him to bring my clothes when he gets his lazy ass outta bed." Aussie shook her head, using her arms to pick herself up, and plop herself in the direction of her mother.
Emily sighed, running a hand through her hair. Aussie and Aiden didn't get their looks from their mother, with her brilliant green eyes, and silky smooth dirty blonde hair, but, instead from their late father. Aussie found herself more like her dad every day. Unmistakable attitude, quick wits, and a vivacious way of doing things her fathers personality was part of her as well as his looks. Of course, her quick temper was inherited from her mother- all the women in the Engblom family had that.
Aiden, on the other hand, bared his mothers' shyness, and her reserved qualities, but the way he went about things let people know he most certainly was Justin Medina's son. Aiden rarely spoke out, or rarely put up a fight like his stubborn sister.
"I'm working late again tonight, Aus. But, dinner's in the freezer. Dave's out of town until tomorrow night, but, if you do need anything, the number to his hotel is on the fridge."
Aussie groaned, "Of course you're working late again. You know, I don't know why Dave is always gone when he knows that you do need help around the house. And, he knows that we don't-"
"Austin Raechelle, please, do not start this morning." Emily sighed, not in the mood for her daughters' arguing.
"Right, sorry." She apologized, making her way over to her dresser, pulling out a pair of sweatpants, and a black tank top to dress herself in. She bent over and plucked a gray zip up jacket off the ground, staring at it questionably. Is this even clean? She thought, examining the item of clothing. Ah, the hell with it. I'll wear it anyway.
"Good-bye, Aussie. I'll be home around one or so." Emily said, pulling her daughter back by her ponytail so she could give her the daily kiss and hug good-bye. "And come take care of JT. You're the one who convinced me you could keep him from the land lord."
"Will do, Mom. Love you." Aussie began to fumble through a pile of crumpled papers, and pulled out a grocery list, and a permanent marker. She smoothed out the crinkles as quietly as she could, and began to jot down the note, saying the words out loud as she wrote.
The note read:
Aiden-
Going for a run/ kick boxing class. Bring my backpack with a change of clothes, my make up, and my skateboard down to the Zephyr Shop with you. Mom's working late again tonight, and Dave won't be home until tomorrow night. Hotel number on the fridge if you need him.
-Aussie
She dropped the note carelessly, letting it flutter down to the human shaped lump of blankets. She roamed out of the small room into the not much bigger kitchen, scooping a small terrier into her arms. "Hey there big boy," she greeted him with a kiss on top of the head, setting him on the messy counter while she went to retrieve water and food for the dog. By the time she'd returned, the pup had found its own way off the counter, trotting merrily to his food. Aussie reached down, petting his head one last time. She stole a water from the otherwise empty fridge, and began her morning run to the rundown building her class was held in.
…..
"There she is! Hey, there, little sis!" Aiden cried out, walking over to his sister with his arms thrown up in the air, expecting a hug.
Aussie's eyes rolled, but she proceeded to give her brother a hug anyway, "Hey, bro. Didja get my shit?" A wide grin was placed on Aiden's face, as he held up a black backpack holding all his dear sisters' belongings. "Thanks, bro. Knew I could count on you."
Before she could even get into the backroom, and demand that Skip make everyone leave, the infamous Tony Alva emerged, wrapping his arm around Aussie's shoulders, "Aussie, it's 'bout time you got here, chicka." He grinned, nearing her face.
Aussie sighed in disappointment, slipping out from Tony's grasp. Tony and Aussie tried the whole dating thing back just before she turned sixteen, almost six months ago. It got too weird for Aussie's taste, and she called the whole thing off. "Tony, we've tried the whole Aussie/Tony thing, have we not?"
Tony looked dumbfounded, putting that stupid confused look on his face. That was the face that made Aussie fall every time. She shook her head, "Yes, yes we have. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go change."
She marched into the back room, cigarette smoke flying at her immediately. She coughed a few times, waving her hand to clear the smoke, but it kept clouding her vision every damn time.
"Ah, if it ain't my favorite niece, Aussie Rae." A drunken Skip announced, leaning against the teenage girl, who simply shoved him off.
"Um…yeah. Newsflash; I'm your only niece, Skip. Now, make some people disappear, I have to get changed."
Skip nodded, pulling the cigarette from his mouth, clapping three times, "You heard the lady. Chino, Montoya, move it."
Aussie watched in satisfaction as the men flooded out of the room. One, and possibly, the only perk about being Skip Engblom's niece. "Alright, let's see what we got here…" Aussie muttered, dumping the contents of her back pack on the only clean spot of the floor. Make up products rolled about aimlessly, and her brothers' choice of clothes landed with a 'plop' in one spot. Her foot sifted through the pile, separating a pair of worn jeans from a black strapless top. She cringed slightly at the sight of the top. Aiden was so going down for this. She slipped out of her work out clothing, into her attire for today.
The black strapless top made her a little uneasy, cutting off inches beneath her collar bone, leaving her shoulders bare. The loose fabric flowed to her hip bones, in almost a bell shape. That she was grateful for. She raised a hand to her hair, and tugged the elastic holding her hair up, allowing it to fall inches past her shoulders. Her eyes traveled around the work room, searching for make up products gone astray. Having no such luck merely gazing, she dropped to her knees, feeling around for the cold tube of mascara, and barely there stick of eye liner.
"Aha, there you are, you sneaky bastards…" Aussie had a habit of making light conversation with herself, a habit she'd picked up from her mother. Aussie shifted from her knees to her butt, pulling out a small mirror, tracing her eyes with the pathetic stick of eyeliner, coating her lashes with a layer of mascara.
Her clothes from that morning, brush, make up and mirror all were shoved into the bag before she pulled on her aged, black Converse. They seemed like they were at least three years old from the roughness of them, but they were barley a year, Aussie's aggressive persona took a toll on them through the almost year.
"Sid!" Chino yelled, and hyena like laughter followed after watching Sid, the youngest of the group, clatter to the ground, a worried expression printed on his features. "Oh, shit, I'm sorry, man." He laughed again, high fiving Skip, who found it equally amusing.
Aussie shook her head in disgust. Chino always knew how to push her buttons, without even realizing it. Of course, even if he did see Aussie lingering in the door way, his actions wouldn't have changed. "Chino, can you not be an ass for like five seconds? You know Sid's got that inner ear thing." She scolded, helping the boy off the ground. The reason everyone found Chino so intimidating was beyond her, the man really wasn't that scary. At least not to Austin Raechelle Medina, outspoken and fearless as she was.
Chino let out a low growl, sending Aussie a death glare.
"Nah, it's okay. That was a good one, guys." Sid chuckled awkwardly, flipping his head so his hair fell out of his eyes, "Thanks anyways, though, Aus."
A grin turned up on Aussie's face, as she threw her arm around Sid's shoulders, "Eh, we've gotta stick together, right? Because as the scared and totally unprepared young ones we are, we'd have no idea what to do without each other, right?" Aussie was only a few months older than Sid.
"Haha, right." Aussie released Sid, turning to her brother, Jay and Tony. She gave her twin a stare of disbelief, pulling at the access fabric hanging from the much dreaded top. "Aiden, what the hell bro?"
Her reaction only earned a chuckle from her two-minute-older than her brother. "Ah, I'm just messin' with ya, little sis!"
"Little? Only by two minutes!" she exclaimed, jumping onto her brother, wrestling him to the ground. Aiden groaned in pain, the weight of his sister pressing into his back, she had him in a very uncomfortable position, twisting his arm in a way it shouldn't be able to twist, pressing it in between his shoulder blades. "Who's the little one now?" She called in a joking, yet victorious matter.
"I am." He coughed, and Aussie stood up, relieving his back of the unwanted one hundred and thirty one pounds.
"That's what I thought. Never again am I letting you chose my outfits."
T.A cracked up at this, "Don't sweat it, Aus, strapless is a good look for you."
Aiden's jaw dropped, and his fist went flying into Tony's shoulder, "Dude, that's my sister!"
Tony ignored the blow from Aiden, the comment as well, and went on his way, attempting to charm the less than interested girl. "Took you long enough to get here, what's the deal there?"
Aussie shrugged, "I had my fighting class today."
It was Jay's turn to speak, "That's right. You're like, karate kid or some shit like that." He laughed, striking a karate type pose, pairing a karate like yell with it. Jay Adams- jack ass extrodinar in her book. Not that she didn't mind, some of Jay's wise cracks were actually funny. And, that did make Jay easier to get along with, when he wasn't being a full out jack ass, which often got him in trouble with her.
"Nice, Jay boy, very nice. Now, where's my Stacy?" Yes, her Stacy. For as long as she could remember, Stacy had always been the one Z-boy she turned to for everything. When her and Aiden got in rare, but serious, fights, when her and Tony had started dating, when she got news of her mothers' new beau, Stacy was the first ones who knew of it. Feelings for Stacy had once been there, and she was sure those feelings had been returned, but the both of them decided to ignore those, and keep their relationship the way it was, brother -sister like.
"Hell if I know, but Peggy jacked your board." Aiden informed, and Aussie only laughed at that fact. Peggy Oki was her first, and maybe only, female best friend. Sure, Kathy and Blanca had been there, they always have been, but Peggy was there on a different level. Peggy lived to skate like Aussie; Peggy was one of the boys like Aussie.
The door to the Zephyr shop flew open, a tall blonde boy entering the shop. To say the least, the Zephyr shop was like a second home to the guys, Peggy and Aussie. Red Dog and Shogo followed, chatting about the next competition or something along those lines.
"Peralta!" Aussie threw her arms up in the air, running to greet Stacy with a hug. Stacy was like a brother to her, so of course she'd greet him so warmly. He grinned, leaning into Aussie's embrace.
"Peralta, its' bout time you showed up." Tony said, leaning against the much taller than him Z-Boy.
Stacy's response was a shrug, "Sorry, man, my shift went longer than I had expected it to. We had a huge rush today." He said, twirling his key ring around his finger.
"Great, so we're just waiting on Peggy and Biniak then." Aussie glanced outside the beaten up shop, searching for any sign of the two. Her body jumped slightly, feeling the strong arms of the Mexican boy, Tony Alva, wrap around her waist, picking her up slightly. "Ah! Shit, Tony! Put me down, kid!"
Her sudden cry only made Tony laugh, as her legs begin to flail as she tried to escape his grasp. He knew as well as everyone else being picked up in such a manner drove Aussie to almost insanity. His grip only grew nothing but tighter, causing Aussie to squirm around more. The rest of them found this nothing but hilarious, but Aiden did speak up after a few moments of watching his poor sister flail.
"Alright, Alva, put her down, man." Tony sighed, and pouted a bit before he let the girl slip out of his hold, onto the floor. Aussie cringed, but remained on the linoleum paneling of the Zephyr surf shop floor. "Hey, sis, Peggy's here with your board."
….
"Peggy! Try something with me!" Aussie called, waving her arms to catch the Asian girls' attention. That's what she loved about Peggy. She was willing to do any crazy stunt that Aussie suggested, unlike the boys, afraid to harm her as she was a girl, very fragile. The very thought made her hazel eyes roll to the back of her head. Aiden was the cause for that, being very over protective of his little sister. But, she thought even if Aiden wasn't her brother, the boys would still restrict themselves from playing rough with her.
"Gnarly. I'm down." With that, Aussie went to one side of the pool, Peggy to the other, and both the girls' prepared themselves to drop in. The plan was to approach the light from two different sides, just to prove that it is possible to carve it with two people. Two girls, no less. There was a nagging thought in Aussie's mind that knew her little stunt wouldn't work, but Aussie being the way she is, chose to ignore that thought, as she usually.
"Ready, Peg!" Aussie shouted across the pool, seeing Peggy's signal nod. The two of them dropped in, and everything went according to plan until they hit the light, colliding into each other with a loud crashtheir boards crashing down behind them.
Aussie had come sliding into the center of the pool, nearly getting another pounding from Shogo's approaching board. The Asian bailed out at the last moment, lucky for Aussie. Her chocolate brown hair had been tossed around, and her forehead had taken shelter on her arm. Peggy landed in more or less the same position, inches away from her friend.
"Aussie! Fuck, outta my way!" Aussie's male counter part shoved his way through the crowd of unfamiliar skaters to his sisters' limp body. "Aus? Aussie!" his hand flew to her shoulder, shaking her before she rolled onto her back, a large grin beaming on her face.
"Aus, you okay chicka?" Tony asked, picking up the fallen Peggy, sharing the same goofy grin as Aussie.
"I knew that wasn't going to work." Peggy stated simply, Aussie nodding in agreement before breaking out in laughter.
"Tcha, but it was pretty gnarly." The girl spoke, pushing her less than amused brothers worried face out of her own, "Aiden, I'm fine, bro." Dusting herself off, her eyes landed on a spot on her arm, where a fair amount of skin had been torn off, specs of blood and dirt thrown in there.
Stacy cringed, picking up Aussie's elbow to examine the wound. "Aus, you should get that cleaned up…" his voice was dripping with worry, but that was just Stacy for you.
She tossed her hair out of her face for a response, "Eh, shit happens. It's okay. But if you really wanna make a big deal out of it," she grinned mischievously, finger pointing towards her brother, "Blame Aiden. He's the one who picked this out for me."
Before Aiden could get a word of protest out, Dave, their mothers' boyfriend, had come to the pool, looking at Aussie, almost as if she had disobeyed non-existent rules he firmly believe in enforcing. "Austin! What do you think you're doing? You're grounded, remember?"
"Not according to Mom. And, the last time I checked, you're not my dad and I don't have to listen to you." The harshness of that last comment made Aiden cringe with uncertainty. It wasn't out of Aussie's character to say anything like that, really it wasn't, just whenever she made a comment like that it shocked him just as it did the first time she'd learned to speak out.
Dave bit his tongue, the little patience he had from the outspoken teen was wearing thin. "I don't care if I'm not your father; you still have to listen to me Austin Raechelle."
Austin Raechelle. The only time Aussie's full name was used was when she had crossed the line into serious trouble. The clamoring of the skaters had stopped, and everyone's attention had shifted to the heated argument between Aussie and Dave.
"I don't have to do anything. You don't care about my mom, my brother, or me. You're just using my mom for Lord knows what reasons. And when you decided that you've had enough, you'll just think of my mom as some girl who was stupid enough to get herself knocked up at fifteen. You're not the first person who's been around." Her words were bitter, and she knew as well as Aiden did that none of that was true. Aussie was only speaking out of frustration as she did when she grew this upset. At least, Aussie and Aiden didn't want them to seem true.
For once, they wanted someone who didn't use their mom for something. It had been rough ever since their father had died from a drunk driving accident nearly seven months ago, but the most grief had fallen on their mother, Emily. Justin Medina was, and always will be, Emily Engblom's first love, the only man she thought to spend her life with, and possibly the only man that would have stuck around with the pregnant teenager.
No more words were spoken as Aussie chucked her board out of the pool, pulling herself out next. "Later, dudes." Aussie pulled her fingers into a peace sign as she walked away with Dave.
….
"Hey, Aus! Where you at?" Aiden's voice was followed by the pounding of his fist on the apartment door. Either sound could barley be heard over Iron Man by Black Sabbath blasted through out the apartment.
The music had stopped, and the girl set down a broom, kicking the small dust pan out of her way, coming to greet the usual bunch of guys in her front room. "Hey guys." She grinned, presenting herself.
Aiden shut the door behind him, and pulled his sister into the second hug of the day.
"The pool session lost interest to you guys so quickly, anything of importance happen?" she questioned, and the five of them shrugged.
"Aus, you've only been here an hour, nothing big really happens in an hour. 'Sides, thought you might like some company...speaking off, where's Dave?"
"Eh, he went to the store or something like that, left me here to clean whilst my friends go and frolic about Santa Monica. Very Cinderella don't you think?"
"Well, while the Dave's away…" Tony began, resting his body against Aussie's.
She grinned; Tony knew her catch phrase so well. That all came with knowing him practically growing up with him, being one of her brothers best friends, and, of course, dating him for a six month period. "Yeah, yeah. But, he just went down the street, he'll be back soon. I'll just chill here until he leaves for a longer time. I figure I should lay low just incase he decides to tell anything to Mom."
Aiden's hand reached out to ruffle his sisters' hair, "Cool. Later."
