In Which The Story Begins
An X can stand for a lot of things.
X means "no."
X is a kiss.
X means times, don't forget those times.
X is a blank, you must search long and hard to fill its emptiness.
X is someone who used to be yours.
X means multiplication, something repeated over and over and over again.
But right now, even though it may take on those meanings one day...today X is a boy.
He's only eighteen or so, and he dropped out of high school. He isn't that strange a boy, he has things he likes and people he loves.
One of these people is his older brother.
That's who he's thinking about as he loads his gun before heading out for the night.
He treks through the rain all down his long driveway and when he gets to the wrought iron gate he makes sure to close it behind him.
And there's an aura in the air. It's an aura of danger, just like there is every time he leaves the 'comfort' of his shell of a home.
But it isn't X's job to run from danger.
Stellaluna Maluhia slams a dresser drawer closed, maybe a little too violently.
"Boom! I've officially moved in! And now, you can't kick me out no matter what I do!" She calls cheerfully, striding into the kitchen where her new roommate Peggy is drinking her morning coffee.
"I can kick you out." Peggy replies monotone, taking a sip from her mug.
Stellaluna twirls her long brown hair around her finger
"But you won't."
Everything about Stellaluna seems to contrast drastically with her roommate of two days University student Peggy Cervello.
From her life to her attitude to her looks, they aren't alike in most ways. Peggy has wondered since Stellaluna arrived two days ago whether or not this living arrangement would last more than a week.
"Breakfast?" Peggy offers.
Stellaluna shakes her head.
"Already ate the chicken wing takeout."
"Well I'm still making some for Crystal."
Stellaluna raises an eyebrow.
"Crystal?"
Peggy pulls some ingredients out of the fridge and places them onto the kitchen counter.
"I said- and I quote- accepting roomates to help pay rent. Someone else applied to move in and I accepted."
Stellaluna rolls her eyes
"You just can't say no?"
"Hmm. She's a high school junior. Relocated from Washington."
"A gifted Washington high schooler? Not in my swamp."
Suddenly there's a loud knock on the door and Peggy leaps up to open it.
When she opens the door she finds herself looking down at a short, chubby girl with dark skin and two buns in her hair.
"Hi!!" The girl beams, her eyes sparkling with a genuine, warm, kindness.
"Speak of the devil." Stellaluna drawls.
After leaning to get a better look she concludes
"Scratch that. This kid's a middle school Girl Scout."
Before Peggy has a chance to respond the young girl continues
"My name is Crystal! You must be Peggy! So excited to live with you!"
Peggy smiles a rather motherly smile.
"Well, we're excited to have you, too."
Crystal tilts her head so that she can see inside. She waves at Stellaluna.
"I didn't know I'd have two roommates! What schools do you go to?"
"Forfield's Christian University, it's just down the street." Peggy claims.
Crystal's eyes seem to light up
"University?! You must be really smart!"
Stellaluna learned quickly that this was indeed true. Peggy might qualify as a full blown genius. Just another way the two are opposites.
Crystal strides into the apartment, dropping her two pink backpacks on the couch.
"What about you, what school do you go to?" She asks Stellaluna.
"None." Stellaluna grunts in response.
"That must be a total dream."
"Not really."
Peggy smiles at their 'friendly' conversation and Stellaluna stands up from the table.
"Have fun with your new mom, kid, I have stuff to do." She grunts.
That wasn't true. In fact in all her unpacking of movies and video games and recipes Stellaluna had come upon the realization that all these things were more fun with other people.
So she sits down, picks up a pencil and starts drawing in her notebook. At first she just lets her hand flow, she doesn't even think about what scene she's capturing. Eventually she realizes it's a picture of her old home, a crappy piece of art at that.
Stellaluna crumbles the paper into a ball and throws it out the open window.
She watches to see where the utter disappointment will land. It flutters to the ground next to the foot of a tall boy with medium skin and maroon colored hair, he leans against a shop window, as if waiting for someone to come out. Once he sees the page he leans down to pick it up, and starts to flatten it out.
"Maybe I should've put my number on that paper..." Stellaluna jokes to herself, under her breath.
As the boy uncrumples the page his face distorts into an expression of focus, it makes him look cold, distant from the world.
Stellaluna drops the pencil in her hand and it rolls to the floor.
"Oh my gosh!!" She yells, without thinking.
Thankfully her yell echoes more around the apartment than outside, though the boy glances up for a split second.
Peggy and Crystal burst through her bedroom door, looking ready to fight.
"What's going on?" Peggy asks, concerned.
Stellaluna points outside the window
"It's the guy!"
She whisper shouts.
Crystal leans out the window.
"You bet it's the guy! You got a great view from your room, huh?"
Peggy looks over her shoulder too.
She shrugs, unimpressed.
"That's why you're losing your marbles?"
Stellaluna puts her hand to her head.
"Ugh- no- I'm not boy scouting! He's the guy! He's the best underground fighter in the city!"
Peggy looks physically pained.
"Please don't tell me you're some illegal fighter..?"
Stellaluna rubs her neck anxiously.
"Ah, well, anyway; he can win a fight with any weapon, or none. I wish he would gang up with me, I could learn so much-"
"Gang?"
"Oh, Peggs, I'm not really in a gang, all I'm saying is that if he offered...I would be."
Peggy turns to leave.
"No gangs, no fights." She says.
"No promises, either." Retorts Stellaluna, her breath catching in her lungs when she sees the boy tilt his head looking at the picture, his expression is softer now, and it's odd to see.
"You've got a pretty obvious crush on this guy. Be careful that he's not bad news." Then, Peggy returns to the living room and kitchen, probably to flip some eggs or something.
Crystal doesn't seem to have blinked an eye, staring in awe at the boy.
Stellaluna flips a page in her notebook.
She starts drawing again.
She tries to put life into her lines but it doesn't work as well as she had hoped.
"What's his name?" Asks Crystal.
Without looking up Stellaluna replies.
"I think it's Axel, but that's probably just a stage name."
Crystal nods, seeming actually interested.
"Do you have a stage name?"
"Stellar." Stellaluna answers. She takes one last look at her new drawing before flipping again to hide it. It was Crystal, but it would be weird to confess to.
It's no help because Crystal points to the blank page
"You like to draw?"
Stellaluna resists the urge to throw her entire notebook out the window.
"Hardly. Why would I like it if I'm not good at it?"
Crystal waves a hand.
"Have fun, whatever that means to you. You don't have to know what the heck you're doing."
Stellaluna glances towards her video games, cookbooks and movies, all things she thought more fun than art...all things she'd rather do with someone else.
"What do you like to do for fun?" She asks Crystal.
The younger girl shrugs, her lilac sweater flopping over her hands.
"I try not to put myself in a box. I'm still figuring out what I want to do."
Stellaluna rests her head in her hands.
"Why'd you even come here, then?"
"Two of my brothers live in the city and they love it. They used to say how much better the schools are, and my parents wanted me to go to the best school I could."
Stellaluna was uncomfortable asking but...
"Did your parents send you here because they love you..? Or because they don't?"
Crystal looks surprised, her curious eyes widening.
"They love me, my brothers pay the rent for me. My parents have enough trouble with my little siblings, they can hardly afford all these kids and foster kids."
Stellaluna nods before grabbing her coat and throwing it over her shoulders.
"Thanks for the conversation, kiddo."
"Where are you going?" Crystal asks.
"I'm going to sign up for the underground league's car race. That's probably where pretty boy is going too. If you care to join me...whatever I guess."
"Well then," Crystal smiles, more subtly than usual
"Whatever I guess it is."
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