“You need a hair cut.”
It was probably the first thing out of his mother’s mouth that day, and she didn’t make eye contact with him when she said it. Nothing was given in return, Eddie simply ran a quick hand through his shaggy auburn hair and shrugged a single shoulder before leaving the house, door slammed behind him.
He tried to stay out of the house more often than not. It didn’t matter where he was, the skate park, a parking lot, the mall, playing Apex at his friend Mike’s. Today he didn’t really have a destination, just a skateboard in tow. He’d had it for a while, if that weren’t made obvious by the stickers and decals that covered the whole board. His favorite was a cutout of Sasha Grey’s breasts on the bottom of the board, and the eyerolls he got from Katie and Joey were beyond satisfying.
His phone was dry after he sent out a few texts asking people what they were doing, so he went into town by himself, dodging and weaving around people and bikes. The sun beat against his neck underneath the two flannels he was wearing, and he was too distracted by the thought of whether he should take them off when loose stones caused him to lose his balance and fly right off his board.
The taste of copper slipped into his mouth, and the palms of his hands stung. A small group of people were surrounding him, but he waved them off. “I’m fine. I’m fine!” Besides, the worst injury of all was in his pocket: his wax cartridge broke.
