Hideout - Grayson Dolan

1

In the early evening of my 18th birthday I should have been at home preparing for my party but instead I was sitting under the bridge that was built so the mass amount of cars in this town can go over the train track without the wait of any trains to pass by. My father had planned a night filled with lame party games and had set up enough alcohol that we would end up in emergency by midnight. He had this thought that I was ranked high in the idiotic social status of high school and that most of my grade was coming, but his thoughts were barely even coming close to reality.

Though I had earned somewhat of the envious title of popular, I was popular for all the wrong reasons. There were the queen bees of the school and the equal athletic boys but I wasn't one of them. I was one of those reckless few that pulled pranks on the innocent and sold cigarettes to those who needed it. So when my father invited everyone in my year to my 18th, I did the exact opposite and told them not to come.

The crisp October wind was hitting hard as I shuffle further down towards the tracks where the wall was now non-existent. I pull out a cigarette, set it alight and inhale. The much needed stress relieve from the killing sticks was giving me a buzz that I hadn't felt since yesterday. Instead of feeling sluggish like I have all day, I was now wide awake and able to think clearly. I put my left arm behind me to give support as I lean back and take another inhale.

I kick a nearby rock back down to the tracks. Every time I come here there were always rocks scattered across the concrete no matter how many times I had kicked them back down to the tracks. It was like someone had known I cleared my hideout whenever I was here. I had made this part under the bridge a spot of my own. The graffiti that filled the top part are my efforts. The stash of spare cigarettes that were in the wall towards the top is mine. The single sunflower growing among the hundreds of weeds that were growing between the cracks had been planted by yours truly.

I crawl back up towards the top and closing my eyes as I lie on my back as the peak hour trains start to pass by. Usually I would go back home about now to avoid been seen by travelling passengers but not tonight. Just like every other night my parents argued like a married couple, yet they weren't. I was told by my Aunty Linda that my mother didn't accept his proposal for the same reason why I inherited my father's last name, though she loved us both dearly she didn't want the so called significance of being connected to us.

Significance my ass, I came out of her vagina, I am her only child and I am a spitting image of her with the same tone of strawberry blonde hair and pale skin she has.

The crunching of the rocks beneath someone's feet was becoming louder and louder just after the 6:30 train had passed. My immediate reaction would've been to leg it just in case it was some sort of authority but tonight I just didn't care. I sigh as I pull my blonde hair into a simple ponytail and light another smoke.

"Uh hello?" the voice of a guy echoed through the grotto.

I keep my eyes closed. "Hi" I say.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise someone was here. I can leave if you want" he apologises. I open my eyes and sit up.

"It's fine, you can stay"

He smiles and begins walking up the incline but then starts crawling when the concrete above his head touches it. He dusts the dirt off his knees as he sits to the right of me. I lie back down on my back and examine him from this angle. His brown hair had been tucked away under a pink hat and with a tad of blonde highlights peaking out; he would look like a twelve year old if it wasn't for the god-like jawline carved on his face, his clenched fist gave his veins a little more prominence and his attire of a tight, grey, sweatshirt pushed up to his elbow and ripped black jeans gave the impression that he thought more about the weather than I did. I mentally curse myself for wearing just my denim shorts and converses with my white tee.