Chapter 3

"Here it is!" Felix proclaimed, arms wide open. "my pride and joy."

Brooke laughed. "It looks like shit."

Felix had led Brooke to an old chained-off skate park a few blocks down from their school, hidden in plain sight at the end of a quiet suburban street. Graffiti, cheap stickers and rubbish were scattered across the worn down ramps and rinks, the only pop of colour among the otherwise dully painted park.

It was one of many scattered across the bogan town of Bremin, but this one had been long forgotten by the residents due to the overgrowth of nature concealing the entrance.

Felix chuckled at her remark, leading Brooke under a tangle of chains that sealed off the long forgotten treasure. "I know it's not paradise, but it's the only place we've really got where nobody would think to look for us when we ditch school."

Brooke bobbed her head in agreement. It was a nice little hideaway in plain sight, somewhere they would never be found…

"Who the fuck is that?"

Brooke nearly shit her pants spinning around trying to catch a glimpse of the voice.

Down the back of the park, up against a high ramp nestled in overgrown tree branches and shrubs perched a small figure. It's limbs dangled in an eerily chill manor, scarlet eyes piercing through Brooke's soul as they met. A lump formed in her throat as she watched the figure slowly rise and step out of the shrouded flora, onto the edge of the high ramp. It was… a girl?

"Ellen!" Felix cried in joy, running over to greet the small girl. Her face softened at the sight of the boy, an almost playful grin coming to rest on her face.

"Um.. sorry," our pink-haired hero muttered, catching up to the duo. She felt like a foreign cousin at the annual Christmas dinner; out of place and stupid. "Who are you, tree-lady?"

"Tree lady?" The small girl sneered. Her body stiffened, looking ready to pounce. "If you call me that again I'll take this branch and shove it right up your-"

"ELLEN," Felix snapped. "Be nice! This is Brooke, she's new. Brooke, this is Ellen, my best friend."

Brooke gave a meek wave at the girl towering over them, and Ellen rolled her eyes. "I didn't think you were going to bring any bimbos along with us," she sneered, muttering to Felix.

"It was a last minute decision," the boy reasoned. "She literally just showed up today, and besides we'd already both gotten into trouble at school and she needed somewhere to lay low."

"And I'm not a bimbo!" Brooke reasoned.

Ellen shot her an annoyed glance. "Then where are your pants?"

Brooke looked to her legs. Her oversized Nirvana shirt covered her shorts, making it seem like she was barely wearing anything. Before she could reason, though, Ellen jumped down from the ramp and landed between the two teens.

"Come on," she sneered at her. "If you're coming with us then at least keep up." She turn to Felix. "At least you got here early. If I had to wait under those nasty branches any longer I might've hurled."

The smaller girl trudged towards the chained off entrance, giving Brooke an opportunity to grab Felix's arm and pull him down to her height.

"Um, were you guys going somewhere?"

He rubbed the back of his neck guiltily. "Uh, yeah, sorry, I probably should have mentioned before. I was gonna ditch at lunch but since Jake almost killed us I thought it was better to just bring you along with us." He wrapped an arm around Brooke's shoulders- electricity swam through her stomach -and lead her towards the entrance, following Ellen's exit. "There's a festival on in the city, and I guess now you're coming with us!

She looked up to his gleaming eyes. "A festival? What sort of festival?"

"The kind with loud music," Ellen yelled at them from ahead. "You can handle that, right pinky?"

Brooke grumbled. Who did this chick think she was?

She tried to ignore it and turned back to Felix as the two finally caught up to Ellen and approached the gate.

"Are you sure they'll let me in? I don't have a ticket…"

Felix grew an evil smirk. "Neither do we."

Ellen grinned in unison. "That's why we're breaking in."

*TIME SKIP*

It was remarkable how Brooke hadn't sweat her makeup off at this point. The goths were standing at the Bremin Train Station, eagerly awaiting the train's arrival so they could head to the music festival. Felix had disappeared five minutes ago to score some snacks from a far off vending machine, leaving Ellen and Brooke by themselves.

Anxiety filled Brooke's body as the almost empty platform left room for her to overthink her entire situation. Would the school call her parents? Could she really ride the train without a ticket? What if they got caught breaking into the concert? What if they got thrown in jail? What if-

She was snapped from her thoughts when she caught Ellen in the corner of her eye, giving her a sneering glare before turning away.

What's this chick's deal anyway? Brooke wondered.

"I like your highlights," she finally murmured, eager to break the silence between them.

Ellen turned to face her, giving her a stone cold glare. "My what?"

"Your highlights," Brooke repeated. "They're cool. Purple suits you."

The other girls face immediately scrunched up, as if she'd just smelt something foul, and she turned away again.

The pink haired girl sighed. "What's your deal?"

Ellen slowly eyed back to her.

"You barely know me and you're already acting like you hate me. Did I do something? What's wrong?"

The smaller girl chewed her lip, slowly thinking on what to say. Finally, she spoke.

"I don't trust you. Felix and I have been friends since forever, and now you show up with your pink hair and poser shirt and suddenly you're cool enough to hang out with us? It's not adding up."

"Seriously?" Brooke laughed. "All we did was talk about music. I'm sorry you're so insecure but I'm not here to steal your boyfrie-"

"OI! YOU WATCH THAT WORD!"

Thu-thump, thu-thump, thu-thump. Brooke's heart raced as Ellen reered up, looking ready to throw hands. It's a good thing barely anyone else was around, or they would've caused a scene.

Ellen's eyes pierced into Brooke's. Her words were softer, but venomous. "Felix is not my boyfriend. Got it?"

Brooke gulped. She slowly released the hands she'd balled into fists and let out a small breath. "Crystal clear."

There was one more beat before Ellen leaned away, satisfied, and dug her hands into her pockets. Brooke couldn't help but keep her gaze trained on her. Where the fuck had that come from?

"Hey guys! We're good on the snacks!"

The girls abruptly turned around to find Felix toddling over to them, stuffing chip packets in his schoolbag. The two immediately slapped on big bright smiles in an attempt to cover their discourse.

"Everything okay?" The boy laughed. "You guys look like you've seen a ghost."

The girls gave each other one last glance, then shrugged.

Brooke's eyes drifted to her feet as she heard the train approaching in the distance.

This was gonna be a long ride.