Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Terra Nova or it's wonderful, fascinating characters.
It was nearing midnight when Josh headed home from his new job at the cafe. He was a waiter and a janitor, all rolled into one. It made him miss his job at Boylan's Bar, but he doubted he'd be welcomed back by Boylan himself anytime soon (and why should he? Josh had snitched about him helping the Sixers, there was no reason for Boylan to hire him again.).
Terra Nova had a surreal quality at this time of night, he decided. There was no one out, with the exception of guards and lovesick teenagers sneaking around. It was dark, with only the occasional light pole giving out light. And quiet. Well, besides the calls of dinosaurs past the treeline.
Which made it easier for Josh to hear the approaching footsteps. They were quick and almost completely silent, but he heard them. He debated whether to stop and face the person, or keep walking and hope it wasn't someone coming to kill him.
And considering recent events, and his hand in pissing off the Sixers, Josh decided on the former.
He stopped and looked into the darkness behind him. The moonlight wasn't very bright tonight and offered no assistance. He could vaguely see a moving mass of black, but nothing else.
He prepared his lungs to yell, his legs to run. Josh wasn't much of a fighter, not like his dad, anyways, but he could send out a warning.
"At ease, Mr. Shannon. Just Commander Taylor."
Josh squinted as the blob of black came a little closer and he could make out white hair and a white beard, a nice, shiny gun, and blue eyes. Bright and piercing blue eyes.
"Good evening, Josh. Or is it morning yet?" Taylor asked casually.
"Still night, I think." Josh said. "Uh, sir." he added quickly. Now that Taylor is closer, he can see him better, and Josh thinks he sees a bit of smirk on the older man's face.
"What are you doing out so late, son?" Taylor asked.
"Walking home from work." Josh answered.
"I think your dad said something about you getting a new job. He's quite proud of it." Taylor said. The man takes a step forward and Josh moves beside him. They continue walking down the road.
"Hmm." Josh chuckles.
"What?"
"More like he's glad it's anything but Boylan's." The words, sort of bitter tasting and angry, are out of his mouth before he stops and thinks about them. Oh well. If there's something the Shannon family does well, it's word vomit.
"Quite frankly, I would prefer my son work almost anywhere but Boylan's too."
Josh can't think of anything to say. He's sort of avoided the Commander and the Lieutenant since he confessed to giving the Sixers stolen medicine, and he hadn't planned to stop any time soon.
"Then again, I don't think my son was ever so in love with a woman that he'd work there for her." Taylor said thoughtfully.
Josh feels his face heat just a little. He'll never deny that he loves Kara, but having someone say it for him, Taylor no less, sort of embarrasses him. And he doesn't even know why.
"Um..." he mumbled.
"How long have you known her?" Taylor asked. His tone is still casual, like he's just going with the flow of conversation. But this couldn't be weirder to Josh.
"Kara? Oh, uh, since we were fifteen. Well, thirteen, but we didn't actually meet until fifteen." Josh answered, stumbling over the technicalities.
"Why not?" Taylor sounded genuinely curious. "She was there for those two years, why didn't 'actually meet' until fifteen?"
Josh frowned. The answer to that was far more complicated than he would ever tell Taylor, or even his parents.
"I guess we just didn't care to notice each other until then."
The wind is strong today, almost freakishly strong. Hair that was brushed and clean earlier this morning is now knotted and windblown, random little pieces of trash, like bits of paper or plastic, are tangled in it.
Boy, is Josh glad he isn't a girl.
To enter a classroom is almost a relief, though Josh knows he'll eat his words later. Because whenever school doesn't seem that bad, one of his teachers has to do something like have a pop quiz or assign a project, probably a group one. And Josh really doesn't want to work with a lot of the kids in any of his classes. Lucky him, almost none of his friends were in his classes.
It's the middle of eighth grade, where things are monotonous and routine. You know who's who, what's what, the when, the where, and the how, and (typically), the why. He knows the name of the kids in his classes, knows that first period science is one of his worst classes.
Mr. Brunswick is trying to begin class, but no one is shutting up long enough to let him. Josh wont even spare the middle ages man a glance, he's too busy doodling in his notebook and pretending that Amy Brass isn't trying to make eye contact with him (she's a total slut, he refuses to give in to her ways).
In his seat near the door, he can feel a blast of cold wind assault him. He glares up, expecting it to be one of the idiots deliberately being annoying who opened the door.
But it's not. There's a girl he hasn't seen before trying to smooth down her jacket and brush her hair with her fingers.
Josh honestly can't help it. He's thirteen. He's a boy. She's about thirteen. She's a girl. So he checks her out.
She's not stunning or particularly hot, though she passes for pretty. Her hair is a strange shade of brown, but it gives her skin a nice color. Sort of pale, but then again, so is everyone with so little warmth. Her eyes are blue. They're not piercing or burning. But they have a sort of softness to them that Josh likes. He quickly decides that it's her eyes that can land her a date.
"Can I help you?" Brunswick huffed.
The girl isn't put off by his impatient attitude.
"Sorry that I'm late. My name is Kara. I'm a new student."
Brunswick places her on the other side of the room. With only a small twinge of disappointment (he swears it's just because everyone likes to become friends with a new student, and her being on the other side of the room impedes doing that), Josh turns his attention back to his notebook.
"I can understand that. I knew my wife about a year before we ever actually had a conversation." Taylor chuckled.
Josh sighed. He wished that he'd really met her before he was fifteen, that way he'd had more time with her.
"What's she like?"
It's hard to think of a simple word or sentence to describe his girlfriend. It was stupid, incredibly cheesy, but he just couldn't.
"She...Kara is..."
Josh strummed at his guitar before settling into a song he composed. It was lively and cheery, not his usual sort of music. But sometimes it was the happier songs that got him the most money. Maybe since the world was so...depressing, everyone just liked some cheering up every once in a while.
His music drew a small crowd, most people walked pass him and didn't spare him a glance. Josh didn't blame them, the streets were crowded with people playing some instrument to get a little money. That doesn't mean he wasn't frustrated by the small amount of change in the guitar case. In fact, he was getting pissed.
But he was trying to smile, look like he wasn't having a horrible existence.
Like his dad wasn't sent to prison four months ago and his family wasn't slowly starting to starve.
Because looking like that would completely negate the message of the song; that there was always hope.
By the end of the song, he had earn himself...fifty cents.
"For god's freaking sake." he muttered.
"I doubt God has anything to do with it."
He looked at the sound of the voice, which was light and teasing. Totally out of place with the scene.
It was that girl, the brunette in three of his classes and guitar club; Kaley or Carly.
She was wearing this huge jacket that honestly made her look a shapeless. But he couldn't complain, because he was wearing two jackets and probably looked twice as bulky. She had a guitar case in her hand and a bag slung over her shoulder.
"What?" Josh asked.
"I said, I doubt God has anything to do with it."
Josh shrugged. "Just a saying."
She put her hands up, as if in surrender. "Hey, I never said you couldn't say it. Not going well?"
Josh snorted and waved a hand at the case. "Does it look like it's going well?"
Kaley/Carly sighed. "Sorry, I was just being polite."
Josh sighed. "Um, sorry. What about you? Have more luck than me?"
She nodded with a sheepish expression. "I was doing a duet with Jimmy from guitar club. People seem to like duets."
Josh rolled his eyes. "Of course they do."
"I've got some time before I have to get home. Want to perform with me?" she asked.
The girl was pretty good, Josh knew that. They had to play solo every once in a while to stay in the club, and she always did well. Rumor had it she was looking to form a band.
Well, she said she had some time-oh fuck! Time! Josh cursed, startling the girl, and looked at his old watch. It was twenty-three minutes to seven. Crap, his mom was going to kill him for being out later than he said he would; he said he'd be home by six-thirty.
"Maybe another time, but I've gotta get home." He didn't miss the look on her face. "I'm sorry, but I told my mom I'd be home by six-thirty. She's going to strangle me." If she wasn't still at work that is. But Maddy was probably freaking out, thinking he'd been murdered or something.
"Oh. Well, my offer stands." he hardly payed attention to her words as he scrambled to pack up. Stray music sheets blew away and he scrambled after them, joined a minute later by the girl. She handed them to him with a smile. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow at school...?"
Josh nodded. "Yeah, guess so. See ya."
She turned and disappeared into the darkening city.
In the case, was two five dollar bills and fifty cents.
"Don't strain yourself, son."
"Kara is...she's entirely different than the other people in 2149. More...human." his voice went up an octave as he struggled to explain it.
"Human..." Josh wasn't sure, but he thought that, just maybe, Taylor was teasing him.
"Huh. How'd you meet her? Just decide to ask her out one day or what?"
"Just ran into each other around town."
The nights are freezing. Josh is crouched behind a heater near a garbage can that reeks and has his nose burning. His jacket is gone, stolen by the woman he'd just...that he...that paid him to bring her pleasure. She was a violent one, but she payed well. They were scheduled to meet again in a week.
He'd be sure to keep his jacket safe next time.
But right now, it's late. He left his watch at home, not wanting it to be stolen, but he's guessing it's nearing midnight. His mom and sisters are going to be worried and pissed, but Josh can't bring himself to care anymore. For at least three months he's been coming home later and later, his family, or what's left of it, are getting use to the fact that he wont abide by a curfew anymore.
As far as they know, the reason he's late on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays is because he works at fast food restaurants. While he does work, they don't know what's up on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays.
And Josh plans on keeping it that way.
He smells of trash and cheap perfume, and he has bruises on various parts of his body, most notably his neck and arms. And not all of those dark spots are even bruises.
He'll need to cover these up before he goes home.
Finally telling himself to just get up and start moving-he really doesn't want to stay here all night-he forces himself up and steps out of the little alley. He turns the corner-and collides with a wall of flesh and cloth.
"Hey, watch it!" he snaps. He and the girl he collided with steady themselves at the same time.
It's almost comical how Kara's-he bothered to learn her name after she left him the money two months ago-eyes widen. He can imagine how he looks to her, seen enough people like him to know that the sight is unpleasant.
"Josh..."
"I've got to get home." he said hurriedly. He brushed pass her, and was stopped when her hand gripped his arm. He jerked to a stop, surprised by her strong grip.
"Josh, what were you doing?" Kara asked. But the way she spoke, Josh knows she already knows.
"Nothing. Just looking around." he lied anyways. How do you admit to selling yourself?
"No, you weren't." she sounds absolutely horrified.
"It's none of your business. What are you doing?" he asked accusingly.
"I went to a party with my friends. They were drinking, and I didn't want to. I'm heading home..." she answered distractedly.
Josh is shivering. Stupid him, he wore a short sleeve tonight.
"Where's your jacket?"
"I left it at home."
"Here, take this." she drops her bag and starts to take off her jacket.
"No, I'm fine, but thanks." he said, walking away. The jacket hits his back. He sighs and picks it up, ready to tell her to put it back one, because she'll freeze without it.
But she's wearing another jacket, a slightly thinner one, but another jacket none-the-less.
"Give back to me on Monday, okay?"
Mutely, he nodded. The jacket is large and like almost all jackets nowadays, it's unisex. It fits him well enough and he's a little less cold.
He expects that night to be all. They parted, though she somewhat reluctantly. But it wasn't.
She became a pain in the ass. Always by his side in the hallways at school, talking to him in class. Rumors fly around about them, all of which Josh shoot down.
No, they aren't going out.
No, he doesn't like her.
No, they aren't screwing each other.
And then she comes up with what seems like a brilliant idea to her.
Kara begins to pay him to hang out with her. At first, he thought she was paying him to do it with her, but...she wasn't. She all but threw little amounts of money at him to play video games or practice guitar with her. He doesn't even know how she-this middle class girl-gets this money. But she's hell bent that he have some of it.
And it pissed him off. Because Josh isn't a charity case and he'll be damned if he lets this blue eyed girl treat him like it.
So he sets her straight. Tell her to knock it off and leave it alone. Stop taking up so much of his time, he's losing customers. She doesn't have to hang out with him because she feels obligated.
"Maybe I like your company." she fires back. "And apparently paying you is the only way you'll even talk to me."
She continues to argue with him, confusing his mind and worming her way into having his affections.
They're approaching his house now. There's a light on, and he can see his mother's figure in the window.
Some things don't change, apparently.
"Well, I suppose I'll meet her if the new pilgrimage arrives." Taylor said after a moment.
Josh's heart clenches at the reminder that despite his efforts to get her here, Kara may not come through. It all depended on who came through the portal, pilgrims or corporate soldiers.
"You have a good night, Josh. Tell your mother I send my regards." Taylor said, clapping him on the shoulder.
Josh nodded. "Yes, sir."
Josh waits until Taylor disappears and looks up at the sky. He remembers how you couldn't see the stars in 2149, unless it was through pictures.
Kara once said she wanted to see the sky.
Josh hopes she gets the chance.
Kind of OOC and rushed, but I couldn't resist. I hope you all enjoyed reading it.