A/N: I ended up rewatching The Town and my feelings still went all over the place. I could probably talk for days on end about the movie but I'll spare you folks the pain of listening to that.
Dusting off this old fic and polishing it up a bit but I'm not too sure how well this'll turn out.
I hope I can portray the characters accurately and if they start to get a little off kilter, please let me know.
Disclaimer: I own nothing except my own ideas and characters (unfortunately).
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The darkened room did little to ease her racing mind. She had lived in this sketchy little city for almost a month now but Chrissy still hardly dared to step outside, especially after dark. During the day she could always feel the peoples' eyes watching her and staring her down, her mind feeding her awful thoughts of what they could be thinking. Her foreign accent did little to help her situation and until she had moved out here, the young woman was unaware that she even had an accent. Her only hope was that it wasn't as coarse sounding as that of the 'natives'.
As she closed her eyes, she could hear and see the events that lead to her being stuck in this… undesirable town. She sighed softly, already she missed the west coast.
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"You have got to be kidding me! Do you really think that I'd be okay with this?" The young woman's tone of voice was rising to dangerous ground and the distortion caused by the phone sure as hell wasn't helping. "Chrissy, calm down and just hear your mother and I out for a moment, please?" The man at the other end of the line took the groan of frustration as a sign to continue. "We just don't have the money anymore, prices and bills keep going up. It's either we move somewhere cheaper or we lose everything." "Oh so you think that cutting off my college education to help you guys move and help provide for you is okay? Dad, if you don't have a degree you sure as shit won't get a job anywhere, and I don't plan on flippin' burgers for the rest of my life!" There it went again, her voice rising to an even higher level and becoming dangerously close to screeching.
"Chrissy! That is enough!" Her father all but shouted in to the phone. Granted the phone toned down the volume a bit but it still made Chrissy cringe. "Chrissy, the school year is almost over anyway; you've barely got 4 weeks left before you're off for summer again. It's not really that big of a deal. Besides, you can go back to school once we move and it'll probably be easier to pick up a job anyway."
"Okay, you know what? Fine. I give in. I give up. I surrender. Whatever. Just pull me out of school, no big deal, right? Where the fuck are we moving to anyway?" She swore she could hear her father cringe and her choice of words. "Charlestown." There was a moment a silence from the other end of the line before Chrissy spoke again. "Where the fuck is that?" "Boston." "Oh you've got to be shitting me. Seriously? Seriously?" She was screeching now.
"Honey, calm down. You'll be fine. I'm sure you can make some more friends and you're old enough to drive back home and visit your friends." "That's cute dad, it really is. You may've not noticed but I'm not exactly the most outgoing person- being an introvert and all that. Besides, it's just awkward. I'm what, 22? And I'm still not financially independent 'cause I'm always helping you guys out. I shoulda just taken out those loans for school, and then I wouldn't have to worry."
That was perhaps the only time she ever lashed out at anyone, let alone her parents. What happened most often was she would give a slight nod of her head, avert her eyes and just go with the flow.
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A few weeks later
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"Well no wonder you guys got this place for so cheap. Just look all around you. This place redefines ghetto." It was muttered but somehow her aging mother still heard it and shot the younger woman a look of 'don't start'. The neighborhood looked like it had never seen a good day. Cars were parked up and down the curbs, over grown grass and weeds had grown everywhere. The sidewalk was cracked and most of the houses had a small chain link fence surrounding them- as if that would protect the house and its occupants.
Even though the sky was clear and sunny, nothing could shake Chrissy's feeling about this place. For the time being, the neighborhood was quiet and not a soul was in sight. That alone was enough to unnerve her but she didn't have the chance to dwell on such feelings as she helped carry a few boxes in to the tiny house. She scoffed at the thought, figuring it should be described as an apartment more than a house.
The boxes were few in number seeing as how her parents chose to sell most of the belongings simply because they didn't want to deal with the hassle of moving things, plus they had needed a little extra cash on the side. Unpacking didn't take long.
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Her hazel eyes snapped wide open before squinting against the brightness of the small digital clock that was placed to her right. She realized with a groan that it was 2 in the morning, so she had slept for about an hour.
Realizing that the concept of sleep wasn't going to become a reality any time soon, Chrissy rolled out of her bed; the cold air against her bare legs and the wood floor against her feet rushed through her like a jolt of electricity, erasing any sleepiness from her body. She fumbled around in the darkness for a pair of sweatpants, reveling in the warmth they brought to her skin as they protected her legs from the cold air. Her light brown hair was still in a bun, although it was rather mussed from sleep and several strands were falling out to frame her face.
She climbed up on top of her makeshift desk and leaned up against the window, momentarily pulling away as the glass cooled her skin. Apprehensively, she leaned back up against the window and shivered at the sudden cold once more. Before long, the cold was forgotten. Using her feet, she slid a well-loved book towards her hands, her fingers gingerly stroking the worn and frayed paper. There was just barely enough light shining in through from the streetlights outside to make the printed text visible with minimal squinting. Not desiring a migraine, she pulled out a small book light and turned it on, narrowing her eyes once more before they adjusted to the brightness it provided.
And so there she sat, reading a book that had seen better days. Slowly she began to leave the real world behind, becoming completely absorbed in the novel. Reading was her passion, her escape.
Her mind snapped back to reality as the sound of shouting entered through the open window. Even though she could barely make out the figures of the people, it wasn't that hard to tell that they were fighting. Granted it was only verbally but from the looks of things, the situation was escalating and she watched in shock as she saw the two start throwing punches. And as quick as the small brawl started, it ended but still she couldn't tear her eyes away from the street. Only when she realized that the two were staring her direction, did Chrissy panic and move. She snapped the book light off, quickly flipping the off switch and slid down from her desk before moving to the far corner of her room where the small bed was tucked away.
No, sleep would not come for a long time now. Not with panic racing through her body.
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"Th'fuck was that?" Jem snapped, his light eyes narrowed in the darkness. "Easy man, just the new folks. They haven't caused any problems an' I doubt they're gonna start." Jem begrudgingly accepted Doug's words but it didn't change the fact he was itching for a fight. Doug was the reasonable one, he always was, always kept his head screwed on straight too. "C'mon Jem, lets go back inside b'fore ya do somethin' you regret." The taller man ushered his shorter companion back in to the squalid place they called home.
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A/N: Okay, I hope that wasn't too shitty or confusing- or all of the above. It's mildly difficult for me to type out their accents but I'm doing the best I can.
Reviews are always welcomed, along with constructive criticism.