On thin ice

A second chance (kind of)

It was a normal day in bonesborough. Well not for Luz Noceda. Luz had been walking around town taking in the scenery. Winter had just rolled around and it was Luz's favorite season.

From the snow, to the hot chocolate, and especially her favorite sport, hockey. She used to go to games with her mom and dad. That was before they passed away.

Looking back on that memory luz stopped walking when she noticed a vacant wall. It looked so, dull. A smirk grew across her face and she walked across the street to a convenience store.

Luz had no job so she was pretty much broke. She walked in causally and made eye contact with the store clerk. She flashed a smile and continued down an isle.

After a few minutes of searching, she finally found everything she was looking for. She grabbed gloves cause it was freezing, chips because she was hungry, gum because why not, and 4 bottles of spray paint. Luz crouched down in the isle to figure out how to carry this stuff out.

She was wearing a black hoodie, some black sweat pants that had a couple holes in them, and the beanie which was the only thing left from her parents. The beanie was soft and orange with her initials sewed into the inside.

She examined her items and got an idea. She took the beanie off and put the gum and gloves inside and put it back on top of her head. She tried to put the cans in the little pocket of her sweatshirt but could only fit 2. She peeked around the corner and noticed something next to the cash register. Luz then got up and decided to go pay for the rest of her stuff.

The lady at the register looked like she was over it. Luz put the chips and the other 2 cans on the counter and looked around. "Could you get me a swisher too?", she asked the woman.

The clerk looked her up and down and turned around to get one. "Which one?", the lady asked waiting for luz's response. Luz was busy reaching for the money in the tip jar. "Uhh", luz said trying to stall. "The one all the way up there", she said grabbing a 10 dollar bill someone stupidly put in there.

She slipped it in her pocket and smiled at the girl who finally got what she was looking for. She rang Luz up and gave her the total. Luz reached in her pocket and pulled out the wrinkled up 10 and handed it to her.

She hesitantly took the money from Luz and put it in the register. "Oh I almost forgot, I'll need to see your i.d", the lady informed Luz. Luz froze. She was only 17. One, she couldn't legally smoke, two,  she didn't even smoke, and three, she had no i.d. She smiled at the girl and then took off out the store.

The girl shook her head and called the police. "I don't get paid enough for this", she said before explaining what happened to the cops. Luz ran so fast and almost fell. She found her wall and set all her stuff down. She took the beanie off to get the gum and the gloves.

She popped a piece in her mouth and put the gloves on. The gloves luckily had grip on them so she could open and use the spray paint. Luz picked up one of the cans and began to shake it. She started to fill the wall with her masterpiece.

She alternated between colors which were green, red, and white and black. She forgot it was around the holidays. It's all she could work with. Once she finally finished she sighed her initials. L.N. She took a couple steps back to look at it. It was wonderful. All the colors blended together.

Luz had created, a penis. She started to laugh uncontrollably. As she was about to pick up her chips she heard sirens. "Shit", she said picking her stuff up. She couldn't carry everything and the sounds were getting closer.

She noticed a black duffle bag sitting by the wall she was working on. She shrugged and stuffed her stuff inside. The bag was placed on her shoulder and she took off running. A cop car was following her and someone started speaking through the intercom of the car. "Stop right there", the person yelled.

Luz put her hood up and kept running. Luckily the roads and sidewalks weren't icy yet. Some guy was riding his bike in front of her so she did what she thought she should do.

She pushed him off the bike and got on. "Sorry", she called out to him. "Not really though". She started to pedal faster thinking she could lose the car. Who was she kidding, it's a literal car.

Luz was looking back trying to keep watch of the cop car and she didn't see what was in front of her. "Oh crap!", she yelled as she hit a curb and flew off the bike. The car stopped and a male cop quickly got out and grabbed luz.

He placed her against the nearest wall and took the hood off to see who it was. "Well if it isn't noceda", he said in a snarky tone. "Nice to see you too", she said rolling her eyes. He placed cuffs on her and brought her to the car.

She ducked her head on cue knowing how the whole thing went down. He placed the duffle bag in the seat next to him and slammed her door. This was gonna be a long ride back to the station.

~Time skip~

Luz was now sitting in a chair in an investigation room. They hand cuffed her to the chair knowing how slick she was. "Luz", her social worker spoke. "I thought we talked about you not ending up back here". She picked up the file and wrote some stuff down. "Your principal called", she said. "You weren't in school for a month". "A whole month Luz".

She sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Luz I'm trying everything I can", she started. "You won't stay in your foster homes and you're about to be 18". "This has to stop". Luz looked down. "I know how hard it's been since, the incident-", she said. "No it's fine", Luz said cutting her off. "There's no excuses for my actions". "I'll take whatever punishment you give me".

That's when a lady walked in. She was tall and had white and grey hair. She was wearing a long red coat and some black boots. "Luz this is Eda", the social worker spoke. "You will be staying with her until further notice". "You'll be unenrolled from your current school and moved into Hexside high". She closed Luz's file and handed it to eda. "Here's everything to know about miss Noceda here".
Luz shifted and didn't look up. Her social worker got up and uncuffed her. She put a hand on her shoulder. "Luz, I know you will be in good hands", she said. She nodded at Eda and walked out of the room. Luz stood up and rubbed her wrists noticing the cuff mark.

They walked out the room and headed to the desk where the cop who picked her up sat. He stood up and emptied the things in the duffel bag. The spray cans and chips were the only things that came out of the bag.

The officer confiscated the cans and disposed of them. "Can I at least have my chips?", Luz asked annoyed. The officer looked at her. "Did you pay for them?", he asked knowing the answer. She groaned and started walking for the door, Eda following behind her.

They arrived at Eda's car and got in. Eda put on her seatbelt and started the car up. She pulled out the parking lot and headed down the road. "You might wanna buckle up kid", Eda said laughing a bit. Luz rolled her eyes and just as she started to put her seatbelt on, Eda break checked her.

"Dude what the hell!", Luz said jerking forward. Eda began to laugh, snorting in the process. Luz leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. This was going to be a long trip.

~1, 400words~