half a million ways to fall

it's another beautiful day in the land of the free. Hello! I'm Shay. I'm sixteen and a sophomore at Waxler High in sunny California, and I consider it my home. Everyone has a story, I'd like to know yours, so befriend me. P.s. I like the ladies. this is your life

[shayrdn-blog]

Good morning.

How is everyone? It's been a while since I've spoke to everyone. I've been studying, yawn.

[shayrdn-blog]

Has anyone lost a dog or know anyone who has?

[youronlystarlin]

Is there no contact number on the dog tag? If you can’t figure out who she belongs to and you can’t keep her you might have to take her to the shelter.

[shayrdn-blog]

Nope, no contact number. I found out whose she was, though. The old ladies a couple of doors down. Thank God!

[shayrdn-blog]

Has anyone lost a dog or know anyone who has?

I just found this little pup whose name apparently is Lulu walking around, and I don't know what to do with her.

[shayrdn-blog]

Hello, 'afternoon and all that jazz.

[heathmarlowe-deactivated2013072]

Good afternoon to you, too. Don’t believe we’ve met. Name’s Heath.

[shayrdn-blog]

Nice to meet you, Heath. I'm Shay. How's life?

[shayrdn-blog]

Hello, 'afternoon and all that jazz.

[shayrdn-blog]

Turns out I'm not all that bad at snowboarding.

[puppyedwards-blog]

I… wasn’t being sarcastic.

Snowboarding is hard. I lost count of how many times I fell on my ass to begin with. But then I got the hang of it, because it’s just like skateboarding and I used to do a lot of that.

[shayrdn-blog]

Ah, sorry! Sarcasm doesn't translate well over the internet. Yeah, I was a bit wobbly at first but then I just sort of picked it up really quickly. I'm Shay.

[shayrdn-blog]

Turns out I'm not all that bad at snowboarding.

[puppyedwards-blog]

Well done! You’re a champ.

[shayrdn-blog]

Thank you, Captain Sarcasm.

[shayrdn-blog]

Turns out I'm not all that bad at snowboarding.

[whateverdeen]

[finlayestrada]

we're wandering explorers | shay & finlay

[finlayestrada]

“Well I’m glad,” Finlay said with a soft chuckle as he looked at the girl. “Snowboarding’s really great. Skiing’s alright too, but I’ve already preferred boarding. Massive air and all that, and you can do so many tricks on a board that you can’t do on skis.” He grinned a little at the mention of her incident with a stone gate and wondered what that must have been like. He had always been a bit of a troublemaker himself and his parents had never been too pleased with the scrapes and bruises that he’d come home with more often than not because of the fact that he’d been trying to have new adventures all the time. When he was younger, it was alright because his father understood that he needed to run around and be free, but when his father left the picture and it was just his mother, she was less understanding about it. Still, that didn’t stop him from skateboarding around the city these days doing whatever he wanted and trying out new tricks until he came back to the dorms covered in scrapes every now and again. “Sounds like a fun thing, though. I mean, I can’t write for shit, but you’re probably great at it and that’s what matters, ‘cause it’s your dream, right?” He grinned at her and nodded when she suggested that they start heading back, wondering just how far into the forest they actually managed to get. He paused at the mention of the seeing someone and instantly thought about Deano, the boy who he had more or less fallen for a little bit since he’d kissed him a week or so before. “I have a boyfriend,” he told the girl with a slight smile as he stuffed his hands into his pockets to keep them warm. “His name’s Deano and he’s really great.” He wasn’t really sure what else to say about the boy because Finlay wasn’t really the gushing kind of type unless it came to his sister, and that only started because of it being built up over the years. “Uh, I don’t mind if you write about it. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

[shayrdn-blog]

Shay shrugged her shoulders. Was writing her dream? She wasn't sure. Shay wasn't the type of teenager to constantly think about the future, she was more of a 'live for today' kind of person. She had only just started writing as a hobby. She was taking Sociology as a focus subject because the way society worked interested her, and she often thought she should do something to do with that. "I don't know if writing is my dream. I'm still figuring out what I want to do with my life. Right now, my only dream is that my Dad will talk to me again one day." After she'd said it, Shay realized that probably didn't make any sense to Finlay and she didn't feel that he'd want to hear about it, so she moved on from that subject quickly and smiled as Finlay talked about his boyfriend, Deano. "I've never met him," she said as she listed names and matched them to faces in her head, "but I'm sure he's great. I've dated a couple of boys before I came out, but I've only ever had one girlfriend and she moved away," Shay shrugged, remembering Emma and how they'd broke up before she moved to Georgia, saying she didn't want to be in a long distance relationship. As they began making their way out the forest, Shay stood on her tiptoes to get a better look at something going on in the distance where a crowd was gathering. As they got closer they saw that someone was attempting the steepest, tallest hill. As they got closer they watched as the guy ski'd down the hill at full speed, and Shay, always easily impressed, was mesmerized. "That looked terrifying, I can't believe he did it."

[finlayestrada]

we're wandering explorers | shay & finlay

[finlayestrada]

Finlay nodded a little bit in agreement as he looked at the girl. He was thinking about Starlin and how much it had destroyed her to be that close to a dream and then have it crushed, but Shay’s mention of having a great support system pulled him from the thought. He had never been told by anyone that he was a great support system for his sister and that might have had a lot to do with their mother completely hating him for just wanting to look out for Starlin’s best interests, but it was frustrating to do so much and never hear how good of a job he was doing, only bad. “I…thanks,” he told her quietly. “But having a sibling isn’t all that great. More often than not you’re getting into fights with them over stupid shit, but I guess in the end it’s good to have them by your side. I think I just got lucky with one of the best siblings in the world.” Finlay smiled a little bit when Shay seemed eager to learn how to snowboard and he nodded a little bit. “It’s pretty easy when you get the hang of it, unless you’ve got terrible balance. Then, well, not so much.” He would gladly teach the girl if she wanted to learn, so Finlay was happy to hear that she’d give boarding a shot. As he listened to her talk about writing and where famous authors got their inspiration from, he really couldn’t relate to it. The last time Finlay had read a book had been years ago when his tutors made sure that he read things rather than used Sparknotes for everything, but he’d given up on that when they got a new tutor and hadn’t touched a novel since then. Still, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t appreciate what the girl was saying. “That sounds pretty cool,” he told her when she was finished. “I mean, I don’t really go and imagine hat people are like and all that shit, but I guess if I did I could see where you’re coming from. I just learn about people when I talk to them, but that’s cool. I don’t think I’d have the patience to be a writer or anything like that. Too much work and time on one thing.”

[shayrdn-blog]

Shay grinned. "I'm pretty excited about this now, more so than I was," she giggled, picturing herself on a snowboard or a pair of ski's, which she probably would be around this time tomorrow, "I'm pretty sure my balance is okay, if you don't count the one time I fell and broke my ankle while trying to walk across a stone gate when I was thirteen," she joked, recalling the memory. She loved her clothes and pink but Shay always had tomboyish tendencies and ever since she was younger she was always falling and scraping up her knees. Sure, sports had never been interesting to her, but she was constantly running and climbing. She also loved the great outdoors, and she was reminded of this as she walked through the forest with Finlay. "Yeah, writing isn't for everyone, I just find people and the world amazing and certain things just have to be documented," she paused as she noticed they were getting further in to the forest and the sky was growing darker. "Hey, we should probably start walking back now, even if we just go see what activities there is to do around the site." They turned around and began walking back, Shay still kicking snow around and knocking it off branches with her gloved hands. "So, Finlay. Are you seeing anyone? Do you like anyone? You don't have to tell me, just interested," she asked the boy, hoping she wasn't delving to much in to his personal life. "I promise that nothing you tell me will end up in my writing," she looked at him and smiled, "Unless you want it to."

[jhb-dreamer]

[finlayestrada]

we're wandering explorers | shay & finlay

[finlayestrada]

“Yeah, she was pretty miffed about it because she worked hard on it and the accident happened just before the qualifications happened so…” Finlay shrugged a little, biting down on his lip as he tried not think of how she had sobbed about it for hours despite becoming more and more apathetic towards the sport as the years passed by. He understood, though, because of the fact that she spent so much time accomplishing her goals only for them to crash. “It’s risky, the Olympics. They usually don’t take gymnasts over eighteen because you’re already starting to lose your elasticity and all of that, and she’ll be twenty then, but there’s that one Russian gymnast who’s twenty-six and still going strong so maybe there’s hope for her yet. All I can do is try and help her succeed at getting into the Olympics.” He realised that he was rambling about Starlin so he stopped before he could keep going and bit down on the inside of his cheek. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. It just takes a little bit of practise and before you know it, you’ll be making your way down the slopes and catching major air.” He chuckled softly. “Or you can just board without doing tricks and all of that. It’s pretty hard to do those this early on, but maybe you’ll be able to manage a few jumps before we have to leave.” As he listened to Shay talk about writing, he understood what she was trying to say even though she thought that she was only rambling. “I think that that’s how all good art goes, you know? You draw from life and incorporate it into whatever you’re writing. Like, even the weirdest shit, like Harry Potter, it had to be drawn form som truth, right? There’s no way whatsherface just invented that all from her mind without drawing from reality.” He bit down on his lip to suppress a chuckle at the fact that he didn’t know the author of one of his sister’s favourite books before he grinned at Shay. “So what do you draw from?”

[shayrdn-blog]

Shay frowned. "That's awful. It must suck to have to give up on something you're so good at, even if it's just for a little while," she paused, as if thinking, "But at least she has a great support system," she perked up, "I wish I had a brother or sister," Shay imagined having someone a similar age to her at home all the time, would things be any different? Maybe. Maybe not. She nodded her head as Finlay talked about snowboarding. "So the beginners stuff is relatively easy, then? I'll give it a go," she said, starting to feel rather excited at the prospect of trying something completely new. Sports had never been Shay's thing, but she was excited to try. "Yeah, I think it's just a matter of letting ideas come to you, rather than going out looking for them," she agreed, and realized she was learning more about herself through this conversation with Finlay. "I mean, I heard Voldemort was based on historical dictators, which is both cool and disturbing," she laughed. "And Suzanne Collins got her idea for The Hunger Games just through flicking through TV channels, so inspiration can be found anywhere," she stopped and lent against another pine tree while she thought about Finlay's question. "Well, people I meet everyday, stories I hear from people, places I visit," she listed, "As well as the usual stuff like songs. Sometimes I just like to watch people in public places and come up with mini biographies for them. How their day has been, why they were in this particular place at that particular time. That sort of thing, y'know?"

[shayrdn-blog]

.

[finlayestrada]

we're wandering explorers | shay & finlay

[finlayestrada]

“I, yeah,” Finlay said with a small smile at the mention of his sister. “She’s a world-class gymnast. She should’ve gone to the Olympics this past summer but she blew out her knee and wasn’t able to. She’s training to go to the 2016 ones, though, so I’m sure that she’ll be able to succeed.” Finlay liked talking about Starlin, liked doing it more often than he liked to talk about himself. Maybe that was because he spent his entire life memorising everything about his sister and focusing on her instead of worrying about himself, but that wasn’t really something that he cared to think about because he knew that if he did he’d just realise that he messed up a lot in his own life by putting his sister first, but that was something that he had to do. Finlay could rationalise it forever and not ever come to a conclusion that he’d messed up on his own behalf, and that was probably something he ought to regret but he didn’t. He was glad that he had been there to take care of Starlin because if he hadn’t, nobody would have. Finlay shook himself out of his thoughts because he knew that he didn’t need to spend their entire time talking about his sister, and he looked over at Shay. “I can teach you how to board, if you’d like. I can skii, but it’s not my forté. Boarding’s my skill, and it’s not that hard. Just, if you need any help, let me know.” While Finlay listened to Shay talk about herself, he smiled a little bit. He liked to learn about his friends and what they were like, what they liked to do, and this was no different. “You sound like a pretty cool person,” he told her when she finished speaking. “I’d like to be a character in one of your stories, but no pressure. I’m sure that it’s all based on the inspiration and what comes to mind, so if I’m not, that’s cool too. Do you share your stories? I’d read one sometime, if you ever want feedback. Can’t offer any of that grammar shit, though. I’m not good at that.” He paused. “And you don’t have to stop. You can talk about whatever you’d like. I’m not gonna stop you.”

[shayrdn-blog]

Shay's eyes widened, how could she have not known about this happening to Starlin? Things seemed to spread around fast at this school. "Oh, wow, that really sucks," she shook her head, thinking about how unfair the world could be sometimes. "At least she should be able to go to the 2016 Olympics, she'll be amazing," Shay smiled. She looked up at Finlay excitedly when he told her he could teach her how to snowboard. "Really? That'd be cool, actually. I doubt I'll be any good, but hey, first time for everything, right?" Shay pictured herself falling and embarrassing herself on a snowboard, but surely a lot of people on this trip had never tried either snowboarding or skiing before, so it's not like she was the only one in that position. "If I do base a character in one of my stories off of you, I'll make sure to do you justice," she promised. She bet Finlay was more interesting than he was letting on, and had stories to tell her. "I pretty much find inspiration in everything. Just like, everyday scenarios, you know?" she asked him hoping he would know what she meant, but then decided she just sounded silly. "Ignore me, I'm not making any sense," she chuckled as they carried on trudging through the snow.

[finlayestrada]

we're wandering explorers | shay & finlay

[finlayestrada]

At the explanation of Slenderman, Finlay laughed a little bit. He didn’t really understand what the point was of it but he knew that he could relate it to that show that his sister watched and made him see part of. “Kind of like the Silence from Doctor Who?” he asked as he raised an eyebrow. “At least I think that’s what they’re called. I don’t watch the show, but I’ve heard enough about them.” Finlay smiled a little as they kept walking and he looked over at Shay, wondering what to tell her about. “Uh…well, I’m eighteen and I’m a senior. I’ve been around the world with my sister, who’s a professional gymnast, and I like skateboarding and snowboarding.” He shrugged a little bit as he tried to think fo what else could be considered worthy for him to mention, but there really wasn’t anything. After all, Finlay didn’t really have much about him that mattered, no life plans or dreams. No goals or hobbies. There really never had been anything to him in the first place and probably never would be, because most of his life had revolved around his sister and that wouldn’t change until she completely removed him from her life. “I like music. It’s the best to get high to, which, I guess is something I should point out. I like to smoke. That’s about it, really. Sorry, there’s not much to me.” He chuckled a little bit before he looked over at Shay. “What about you? If I’m not boring, you must be pretty spectacular, coming out here with a stranger to get lost in the woods.”

[shayrdn-blog]

Shay nodded her head at the comparison. “Yes, kinda like The Silence! He sort of looks like Voldemort, too, and a couple of other random evil characters. Pretty sure there’s some sort of alliance of scary guys with really white faces that were black and scare the crap out of people,” she laughed. She walked beside Finlay as he talked. “Your sister is a gymnast! That’s it! I knew she looked familiar!” she exclaimed excitedly, images popping up in her mind of Starlin on TV. “Snowboarding, huh? Guessing you’ll smoke everyone here since you have experience, then. I sort of stuck at all sports, but I'll attempt skiing and snowboarding," she shrugged, "wouldn't want to miss an experience."  Shay thought for a second when Finlay asked about her. Shay had a lot to say about herself, but considering she'd only just met this boy, she decided to stick with the basics for now. "Well, my name is Shay, but you knew that. I'm good at finding weird little ways to occupy my time. I write short stories and often real people will influence my writing, so you just might end up having a character based off you in a story of mine, just a heads up," she smiled, "I love cartoons, romance movies, and chocolate. Honestly, I could go on for hours, but I'll probably bore you," she giggled.

[finlayestrada]

we're wandering explorers | shay & finlay

[finlayestrada]

The cool air was refreshing on Finlay’s skin and it reminded him of home, of being back in Maine during the winter rather than being here. It wasn’t that he missed home, because that wasn’t even remotely close to the case, he loved it here, but Finlay did find himself missing the cold that allowed you to layer up into a bulky, warm bundle, and this was a refreshing reminder that it did stille exist somewhere. He let Shay tug him along, chuckling a little bit as he followed along behind her, and Finlay took a moment to appreciate the fact that they were wandering around the ski resort and just having fun. Even though he didn’t really know the girl at all, excluding her name, Finlay was glad for this company and he didn’t mind wandering through the place like this. “I’ve never really understood the concept of Slenderman,” he said with a soft chuckle as he glanced around the forest before he looked at Shay. “I think I just missed that whole thing because we were overseas when that was all blowing up, but I imagine that it probably makes sense if I were to, you know, actually go and find out what the fuck Slenderman is.” He chuckled softly as he looked at Shay. “But if some dude tries to eat our souls, don’t worry. I’ll protect you.”

[shayrdn-blog]

Shay laughed. "I don't really know what he is either. I just know he kills people, steals their souls, and has fabulous taste in tuxedo's," she joked, folding her arms over her coat in an attempt to make herself warmer. She lent up from the tree and urged him to carry on walking further in to the forest, enjoying the sound of untouched snow crunching beneath her feet. "So, Finlay. Tell me about yourself," she enthused, looking down at her feet at the footprints she was making. "You seem like an interesting guy. I mean, if you were boring, you wouldn't go walking around in the snow with people you have only just met," she lifted her head from the ground and smiled at him, hoping she would get to know him better this way.