Natasha entered her brother's room without bothering to strike, drawing a glare from his reflection in the mirror. She shrugged and threw herself on his bed.

"Nat!" Trip growled without turning around. "How many times do I have to tell you: knock before entering, mess!"

"I love you too, big brother," the girl quipped, shaking her long, indomitable red hair.

She tugged at him through the ice.

"Very mature," he commented, adjusting his shirt. "It's all about boundaries and respect, Tash."

Natasha rolled her eyes and then looked at her older brother.

"You leave?" she inquired.

"Yes", he answered.

She opened her mouth but he cut her off:

"And yes, I know that we are on weekdays and that mom and dad are not going to be super happy, but I'm sixteen and as long as I respect their curfew there should not be too much trouble. In addition Bobbi is coming too.

"Are you going to the ruined building?" his sister asked.

He turned abruptly.

"I don't see what you're talking about. You know that there is a risk of collapse and therefore the police have forbidden access."

"To others," Tash grimaced. "I'm not stupid."

Trip sighed.

"Not a word to the parents, ok?"

"My lips are sealed," she promised. "You'll tell me, huh? I have to live vicariously since I'm stuck here."

"Stop your melodrama, will you? You're just too young to come. Mom and Dad would slaughter us all if we let you do the wall to accompany us."

She growled.

"Stop. I'm fourteen, I'm not a baby. Ward is just a year older than me, and even last year he came to your outings. He even came there the year before, when you still had no right to go out."

Trip gave her big eyes.

"That's not how you'll argue your case, Nat. You know what parents think of him, especially mom."

Natasha sighed.

"Yeah, I know. You won."

Bobbi entered, already ready.

"Is it good, Trip?" she asked with a smile.

Trip put on his jacket.

"Yep."

"Go ahead, go away," Nat mumbled. "Go out, while your little sister will moping down here and spend the evening listening to Papa once again chatting about Captain America."

Bobbi laughed and ruffled her hair.

"I'm sorry, but I have absolutely no pity on you. I remind you that you too have your opportunities to have fun, you haven't forgotten?"

Nat mumbled a vague insult and looked at Trip and Bobbi, falsely upset.

Although it was cold outside, Skye's small race helped warm her up a bit. Out of breath, she stopped and continued walking, remembering the plan she had seen at the orphanage. Right road to the lake, then take the pedestrian bridge and follow the street to the woods. She hadn't trouble getting there. The building was longer than high, at most two floors above the ground floor. It looked like any old building: the cracked walls, some of which were half-collapsed, were covered with graffiti and ivy, and many windows were broken or simply non-existent, leaving large gaping holes in which the wind was engulfed in squeak gusts. Skye could see a strong orange light on the ground floor.

She entered timidly without knocking, the door half-broken, and ventured down a hallway that led her to the right to a large living room. The light came from a big fire in the middle of the room, around which several teenagers were sitting, a dozen. She paled slightly: it was far from the "few friends" of Ward, according to her.

Exactly, Ward, who was slumped on an old shabby mattress, saw her in the entrance and rose to meet her.

"Skye! I'm glad you could come!"

He hugged her with familiarity and she tensed, feeling her breath, which was already quite alcoholic.

"Well yes."

He did not seem to notice her lack of enthusiasm and took her hand to drag her behind him. She followed him timidly and frowned as she recognized Raina, who glared at her and sat with two other girls, a tall brunette and a girl with medium-length white hair.

"Yo!" Ward warded to catch everyone's attention. "Everyone here is Skye. Skye: this is everyone."

They greeted her warmly, except Raina, of course, and she felt a little more comfortable. Ward guided her without letting go of her old mattress on which she sat down as the conversation resumed. She noticed that a girl was looking at her curiously, not with animosity, but with a lot of curiosity. Finally she got up and came to sit next to her.

"Hi Skye. I'm Bobbi."

"Hi", Skye smiled putting a lock of her hair behind her ear.

Bobbi looked older than she and she had long silky blond hair. She had a more mature look than most of the young people present and she was very elegant even though she wore only black jeans and a red blouse.

"This is the first time we see you here. Have you known Ward for a long time?"

"No. Since yesterday, in fact."

Bobbi raised an eyebrow and nodded.

"Excuse me for asking you that, Skye, but ... how old are you? I don't want to hurt you, or anything, but ..."

She paused, ashamed of her lack tact.

"Sorry", she apologized in a chuckle. "It wasn't very delicate."

Skye laughed softly with her.

"No harm. And I'm twelve."

"Twelve years old!" she choked, drawing Grant's attention to whom she glared. "You're messing Ward!"

"Did I ask you your opinion?" he replied in a cold tone that surprised Skye. "We do nothing wrong with what I know!"

Skye wanted to talk but Bobbi cut the grass under her feet:

"She's too young to hang around here, Ward!"

"We asked you nothing, mix with what looks at you!" the teenager became irritated.

Skye jumped and felt her throat tighten.

"Don't talk to her like that!" a black boy intervened, sitting a little further.

Grant hesitated but didn't take the risk of starting a new conflict. He huffed.

"Don't you want to go outside for two minutes, Skye?"

"Uh..."

He didn't let her finish, getting up and dragging her with him, taking her hand. The teenager, her cheeks flushed, glanced at Bobbi and the rest of the group, whose conversations had stopped at the beginning of the heated exchange, before following Ward who was pulling her gently outward. He guided her through the trees, in spite of the darkness, with a confidence that suggested that he knew the places by heart. They sat on the shore of the lake. Skye stared at the waving water dimly lit by the moon, without saying a word.

"I'm sorry for what just happened", he apologized. "Bobbi is a bother".

"Why did you piss off like that?" she asked carefully.

Ward played with Skye's hand trapped in his.

"Because she annoys me. She's always to meddle with what does not concern her, to believe herself better than everyone else. She allows herself to judge everything and everyone and put all her grain everywhere."

Skye looked at him; his face was neutral. Even if she didn't know her, she didn't feel like Bobbi was what Ward had described, and in general her instinct didn't deceive her. He confused consideration with judgment. Skye had the impression that even if they had just met, the big girl cared enough for her to question her presence here because of her age. This kind of interest, even though it might seem misplaced, was kind of comforting. But she did not share her opinion with Ward, sensing that he would not understand.

"I need a drink", he decreed. "We go back?"

"I'll stay here for a few minutes," Skye decided. "I'll join you after."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes", she smiled. "Go on, don't worry."

He let go of her hand to go back inside. For the moment, she didn't feel like following him. When he had raised his voice, he had frightened her, and his face too, reminding her of memories she would have preferred to forget. She took a deep breath, holding back her tears, and picked up a pebble to throw it into the water. She watched him drown slowly, his eyes blank.

A creak behind her made her jump. She got up quickly and scanned the woods. Crac. Her heart raced in her chest. She felt like she was being watched.

"Someone there?" she asked, her voice wavering.

Crac. She had a weight on her chest and trouble breathing. A shadow appeared on the left and she screamed back. As she was at the edge of the water, she nearly fell, but a hand grabbed her arm and pushed her away from the shore.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to scare you."

She raised her head, her legs shaking, and recognized the boy who had scolded Ward for speaking badly to Bobbi. He looked at her, worried, and she slowly took a breath.

"You're okay?" he asked.

Her legs stabilized and her heart slowed down to return to a more normal rhythm.

"Ye ... yeah."

He stared at her for another second then gently let go of her arm, which she brought back with the other against her chest.

"I just wanted to talk to you for a minute, and Ward said you were there. I'm sorry to have landed like this. I should have announced myself."

He smiled at her and she noticed that his face was incredibly soft when he wasn't angry.

"It's nothing," she murmured, dancing from one foot to the other.

"My name is Trip."

"Trip?" she repeated with a smirk.

"Yeah," he laughed, "actually my name is Antoine, but everyone calls me Trip. It's complicated."

He let a moment pass and then continued:

"By the way, I'm sorry for screaming like that in the living room. I really didn't want to scare you. It only displeased me..."

"That Ward was talking badly to Bobbi," she finished. "I understood, don't be worry. And then you did not really scare me, it's more him."

"Yeah... I also wanted to apologize on behalf of Bobbi. Sometimes she's pretty indelicate and stick her nose in everything except what concerns her. Sorry if she made you uncomfortable."

Skye laughed slightly, shivering, cold air freezing her body.

"Do you realize that we met not even five minutes ago and that you've already apologized three times?"

He laughed with her.

"Yeah, I know. I always apologize too much. It seems that I am a boy too kind."

He winked at her.

"Oh, and who is saying that?" Skye inquired.

He narrowed his eyes, then let go:

"My mom."

Skye burst out laughing and he followed her. She thought him very sweet and kind, that's right.

"Well, I do not really know you, but I think she's right."

"Thank you."

The teenager crossed her arms when a gust of wind stronger than the others shook her. Trip watched her shiver and took off his leather jacket.

"Here."

She shook her head.

"It's okay."

"If you continue to slam your teeth like that", he said, "You'll end up with a denture, so take it."

He gave her big eyes and she took it after a second gust of wind that froze her arms.

"Thank you", she said timidly, putting it on.

"No problem."

He wanted to add something but they were interrupted by the others, who were leaving the building. Bobbi joined them.

"So we continue outside?" Trip asked.

The blonde shrugged, smiling at Skye.

"Something like that. Ward's clique wants to "put a little mood"," she explained in a vaguely contemptuous tone, mimicking the quotation marks with her fingers.

"Which means?" the teenager insisted.

"It means that we will do something that is definitely not Skye's age, and certainly not legal. The Exchange."

"Come on, Bobbi, I love this game, me!" Trip exclaimed.

"Yeah, at least until the police show up. Have you ever forgotten what happened last time?"

Trip sighed without losing his smile.

"It's the risk that makes it fun", he protested, "and in itself we do nothing unforgivable."

"Excuse me", Skye interjected, lost, "but what is the Exchange?"

"An illegal thing," the blonde replied in the second.

"It doesn't matter, the main thing is that we have fun!" Trip decided. "Come on Skye, you'll see!"

He took her hand and dragged her away, where the whole group was gathered. Bobbi followed them with a grunt. The teenagers were in the street, a street not very wide but without being too narrow, and in which the majority of the lampposts were grilled. Several cars were parked on both sides.

A boy put a bag against a pole. Inside, Skye saw tools: screwdrivers, cutting pliers, and soft metal bars. She understood what they were going to do.

"The goal of the game is to move as many cars as possible to park in other places, in a given time, knowing that you must first enter the cars without triggering alarms", Trip explained.

Skye nodded and watched Ward hand out the tools. It was decided that they would be divided into teams of two, and those who did not want to play would be the referees and would count the number of cars moved by each team.

"Are you playing, Raina?" Grant asked.

She raised a scornful eyebrow.

"You know I don't like this little game, Ward. Vandalize cars, I see nothing funny in this."

Ward shrugged and told Skye. He frowned slightly as he saw her with Trip's jacket and close to him.

"Skye, are you playing? We get together?"

"Yes if you want", she agreed, advancing under the green eyes of the doll in a floral dress.

"Do you really want to choose her when she never played?" Raina prompted. "You are going to lose!"

"Never mind!" the brown man replied carelessly. "We're here to have fun, anyway, nothing more!"

He handed the tools to Skye, as well as a green armband identical to his. She slipped it over Trip's jacket.

"We have twenty minutes!" Ward said. "Each team stays together with each car, we do not have the right to separate to make more cars, and if a team sounds an alarm she's disqualified, ok?"

Everyone nodded, including Trip, who was in a group with the white-haired girl Skye had seen with Raina. Bobbi didn't play. A whistle sounded and the teams dispersed. Skye followed Ward, who had taken her by the hand. For the first time in a while, she felt her heart lighten up from the weight she was constantly dragging. She felt like she was coming back to the time she was hanging out in the street with Robbie.

They stopped in front of a blue car, and Ward took the helm, which he inserted between the window and the front door. Since he was far from being perfectly sober, his hands trembled a lot and he was struggling. Hearing screams everywhere, Skye noticed that several of the other teams had already managed to force their first car. Having a very strong competitive instinct, Skye didn't like losing. She took the bar from Ward's hands and pushed him slightly.

"Let me do", she said.

He said nothing and she forced the door in a few seconds under his astonished eyes.

"It's not the first time you've done that," he said.

"Nice analysis, Sherlock," she smiled, taking him the pliers and the little screwdriver.

She unscrewed the space under the dashboard to extract the threads. She cut two of them carefully and then joined them. The engine buzzed and Ward took the wheel to drop the car further.

"Well done Skye!" he exclaimed when they left the cabin.

She smiled at him and they rushed to another car. After all, they were late to catch up.

Fifteen minutes later, they had managed to move six cars, and from what she could see, they were in second place, just after the group of Trip, which was in its seventh. Skye had just forced the door of a yellow Clio when a shrill alarm made her jump. She thought for a moment that she was responsible for triggering it, but realized it came from Trip's car. The game ended immediately: several teenagers, including Raina and her big brown buddy, fled for fear that the police would come, others returned to the disused building, and the last remained planted on the spot without knowing what to do.

"Silence this alarm!" Ward shouted, hands on ears.

The girl who accompanied Trip was scrambling on the door.

"I can't do it!"

Skye rushed towards them, followed closely by Ward. Bobbi also arrived and took Trip's arm.

"We can't stay there, we must go!" she shouted so that he could hear her over the din.

He didn't move and tried to reassure the blonde girl looking around to make sure nobody was coming.

Seeing that the white-haired girl could not get the bar right, Skye stepped forward and took it from her hands. The girl let her go and shifted. Skye took a deep breath and ignored the sound of the alarm. She managed to force the door, broke into the car and unscrewed the panel. She spotted the wires of the alarm and cut them off. As soon the calm returned. She huffed and went out. Besides Ward, who had already seen what she was capable of, everyone was staring at her with wide, surprised eyes. The sound of an engine took them out of their daze.

"It's probably the cops!" Bobbi shouted.

They retrieved the bag of tools and decamped back to the inside of the old building. They discovered that the wind had extinguished the fire, which was no worse in the case where the police were likely to perform a round in the vicinity. Apart from them, only four teenagers had not left, three boys and a girl. They looked out the windows and actually saw the headlights of two cars puncturing the night. They waited for them to leave in tense silence, then Ward and Trip turned on the fire. Skye huffed, reassured. She had never had a very good relationship with the police.

The danger averted, everyone laughed nervously and Skye and Grant had fun taunting Trip and his partner - Skye learned that she was named Ruby - for their defeat. Ward took a bottle and drank the bottleneck, which he called the "sip of victory," and then passed it to Skye. She didn't have time to refuse that Bobbi interfered, grabbing the bottle grumbling:

"You're crazy, she's too young!"

Ward huffed and Skye felt his nervousness. She put a hand on his arm to calm him down. As she was walking home and had to climb the wall and the tree, she did not intend to drink even a drop of alcohol.

Having had enough strong emotions for the night, the next hour went more calmly. They chatted happily and made card games that turned into loud laughter because Ward, Trip and two of the other three boys were still getting drunk. After a while, when the girl and one of the boys Skye did not know the name were gone, she decided to go back, feeling her eyes close more and more. She took leave of the group, Trip and Bobbi greeting her warmly. Skye pretended to take off the jacket she was wearing to return it to Trip, but he told her to keep it, and she could return it to him when they saw themselves at school.

She entered the road,

her heart lighter than usual. When she came back to St. Agnes, she thought the road would already be clear. As usual she would go to the private school where she would be harassed and humiliated just like the orphanage elsewhere, she would be alone and without friends. But her new school was changing everything and she had made new acquaintances (because it was far too early to use the word friendship) in no time. This rebound in her monotonous life gave her a glimpse of days she hoped would be better than all those she had already had.