“Storm Chaser,” Robbie hollered as we headed out the front door, referring to Yaj’s ‘handle.’ He wore the same clothes on Halloween he wore to school, except he didn't have a staff this time and was wearing a backpack. They were clean clothes because he was very hygienic, but everything looked the same.

"Hey, did you sleep in that outfit?" I teased.

“Dude, your sister is so hot!” Robbie said randomly.

"I might have," Yaj replied, unfazed.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go.” I responded to Robbie.

“We're going to be late, and she's going to be mad," Yaj said, already skating down the street. We tossed our Cadillac-sized skateboards to the ground and began to follow our friend.

We only lived a few blocks away from Nez, and despite my father’s precise and punctual wake-up routines for school, I consistently found a way to be responsible for making us late. But I've always felt that my brainiac friends were a little too anxious about getting to school. Which I would be willing to bet could make both of them serial killers.

We lived in the 'Old Town,’ where most houses were built by someone's father or grandfather, with the next generation still living in them. I always thought that was pretty cool. Melina, Nez’s mom, lived in her great-grandfather’s house. Her husband Charles had died in a war, so Nez had never met him. Melina never remarried, but they had a daughter named Lyra, named after the constellation. He had sadly never gotten to see Lyra.

Melina took care of their daughter and Charles’s parents in that house until they passed away, and then she adopted Nezami as a young girl. Much of that was my grandmother's doing and Robbie’s dad, Tora. Allegedly, anyway. Neither of them would admit it, and neither was much for praise, probably just to be rebellious. I laughed, coming around the corner on Cedar St., just a few blocks from Nez's house.

Nez would be sitting on the front stoop with her skateboard, rocking it back and forth. She always got annoyed when we had to rush from her house to the bus stop, even though the bus stop was only three blocks away.

I could always gauge the level of irritation by the sound as we got closer. For example, when she's super irritated like she is today, I could hear the nose of her skateboard banging against the side of the stairs, echoing in the early morning cold. I'd always take this as the opportunity to see if I could push her further.

"Hey, you know, banging your nose against the concrete like that is bad for the strength of the skateboard," I said in the most annoying, asinine voice I could come up with. Yeah, that probably wasn't one of my brighter moves.

"You know, after the way you acted last night and disappeared, I should punch you in the face. No, I should have started by punching you in the face," she retorted sharply.

"Listen, I'm sorry," I began to say, but she cut me off.

"Less talk, more skate," she interrupted.

We should have been right on time for the bus, so I wasn't sure why she was so rushed. But I’ve learned a dozen times now I have no idea what I’m talking about.

The bus stop wasn't that far away. Technically, it was only three blocks, but the blocks in front of the campus on the other side of Nezami’s street were easily four regular blocks long each. Our bus stop was the first on the route to school, so even if we were a few minutes late, our bus driver, Miss Mullins, would have waited for us. She had been our elementary school teacher, and after retirement, she returned as a bus driver. Funny, I had known her just as long as my friends.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite group of kids," Miss Mullins said. "Everyone have a good Halloween? Or are you too old to trick or treat now?" she asked.

"Oh, that's laughable, Miss Mullins. You know we love candy," I said as we made our way to the back of the bus. Since we were the first stop, we all just assembled at the back, which unofficially became the reserved section for skaters. I sat in the middle of the bench between Yaj and Nez, with Robbie's legs hanging over the edge of the half-court in front of us.

"Your sister's so hot," Robbie said, breaking the silence.

"Aren't we brothers enough, you sicko?” I responded, laughing.

"Yeah, but then it would be real," he continued. I rolled my eyes, ignoring the remaining comments as Yaj also took an opportunity to voice his opinion of my sister. Man, I hate them sometimes.

"So, about last night," I said, turning toward Nez.

"Yes, tell me about last night," she said condescendingly.

"It just got stuck in my head. Not necessarily out of nowhere, but that my... My grandma's been lying to me since I was a kid. I guess maybe in a weird way. It's hard to explain."

"Well, I don't know what the hell I did to deserve you acting like that toward me,” she said sternly.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I responded, thoroughly confused. I didn't remember saying anything negative to her, but one can never tell.

“I came over to you from the kitchen. And said that I wanted to talk to you in private. And it was important," she said.

"Okay, wait a second. I don't remember any of that," I interrupted.

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"Of course you didn't. Nice excuse. Was it the drugs?" she said, using air quotes.

"Okay, this is ridiculous. What did I say?"

"I said I wanted to talk to you in private. You said 'no thanks' like an asshole, shoved a tray of brownies on my dress and stormed out.”

I just stared at her. I don't even know how long I replayed that whole scene in my mind. “Seriously, I don't remember that at all.” Part of me wanted to burst into laughter; it sounded crazy but also funny, so I held onto it. I knew better.

"Well, you also had a storybook rabbit chase you home," Robbie laughed.

"Hey, now that was real," Yaj added.

“Look, I'm sorry. I didn't know the tray hit you, and I don't remember saying that. But I was also not in a good place, which is no excuse," I apologized sincerely. I genuinely felt terrible because I honestly don’t recall it. Sometimes, these things play tricks on your mind more than you realize. It's like having whole conversations or situations happen in your life that might have only been a passing thought. Like right now, as I am rambling on. “I’m just sorry,” I repeated.

As our conversation continued, we made the next couple of stops, picking up the dynamic duo, Kota and Mika. Mika was almost hidden behind the bulk of Koda, who was maneuvering down the aisle sideways. Koda sat opposite Robbie, and Mika curtsied, holding up white paper bags with Tora’s ‘hulio’ stamped on the front.

"Who wants breakfast?" she said.

"Did you go all the way to my dad's shop?" Robbie asked.

"You betcha," she responded. "That's quite a trek. But you're the best for doing that," Yaj commented.

Sifting through the bag, she announced, handing me the first sandwich with a bow. "Your favorite, my Lord." I could tell without looking that it irritated Nez a little bit.

Heelflip Bagel Bomb

Hawaiian Role Bagel, Medium Egg, Sharp cheddar, Honey Ham (seared in egg pan after egg), Garlic, and Parmesan Butter, topped off with a cold ripe tomato and spinach.

"You are the bomb," I said with a wink. We’ve been friends since elementary school, but as kids grow up, feelings change inside. “I should probably be a little more careful.” I thought.

"How can you eat that stuff?" Nezami said, with a slight hint of jealousy in her voice.

Robbie once told me that he was pretty sure it bothered Nez, but she had never said anything to me. But knowing that I sometimes just fed into it, well, to be honest… most times, guys are dicks. “It’s all in good fun,” I remind myself.

“Mika, you can sit here,” Koda said, not paying attention to anything around him.

“Did you shower?” Mika asks sternly.

“What kind of question is that?” Koda asks while Miss Mullen drowns out his voice over the intercom. “Mika, my darling, can you please be seated so we can go?”

“Sorry, Mama Mullins!” Mika said, scooting into the seat next to Koda.

“Koda, besides showering often, you should know girls our age don’t date boys your age, right?” Nezami says, not looking up from her now-opened sketch pad.

“Oh shit.” I thought. Solid reminder girls can be dicks too.

“Plus, both of us girls are smart enough not to date any of you idiots,” Nezami continued, offering an accepted fist bump to Mika.

“Ouch,” I thought.

As Mika finished handing out sandwiches to everyone except Nez, she unzipped her backpack and pulled out a small cardboard box with a straw attached. Nezami and Mika, at the same time and tone, said, "Choc'o milk!" Nezami winked at Mika and elbowed me. All was forgiven without a word being spoken.

“Robbie is the only exception because he looks like a man. But we know he only has eyes for Roxy,” Mika quips.

“Whatever, Mika, you design whatever high-school soap opera you want in that crazy brain,” Robbie replies.

Everyone eating breakfast had quieted their chatter except for Robbie. He had devoured his father's sandwich and begun asking about some of the quests in our game. Robbie had only recently gotten his computer for his birthday last summer and had now obsessively joined us playing on Sl33py Hellos. I was thankful my grandmother had so many stories because keeping up with his adventure requirements kept me busy.

The arrival at school was the same; we were usually one of the first buses there. All of them were spaced a few minutes apart, giving us a little time to mingle with kids from other neighborhoods. The only non-bus rider in our crew of friends was Roxy, who lived in an apartment directly across the street. She was the same age as Nez but seemed much older; Roxy was a badass. Pink and black hair, all black everything; she was like Yaj, wicked smart but didn't follow any rules.

Roxy often took on the responsibility of looking after her sister while her mom was at work. This usually was the only time of day we would see her. She would come over in the mornings for social interaction while her mom got ready and returned home. Occasionally, we would skip school to hang out at Roxy's house; her best friend was a super-rich girl named Athena, and Robbie was the only one who had met her. I guess she didn’t come to the slums very often, but he spent a lot of time with Roxy.

"What's up, nerds?" Roxy said playfully from across the large common area between the classrooms. To the left was a large central building, and to the back was ‘the staircase,’ a set of stairs, 36 to be exact, that led up to a dome building that housed our auditorium/lunchroom. We sat on the stoop right outside the main building's doors and had a heater nearby. As the cool autumn air set in, it provided warmth under the aluminum walkway covers.

A white paper bag flew past my face, skillfully caught by Roxy. "Dang, I love you," Roxy said, bowing to Mika, who had tossed it. Nezami walked a little closer to me as we approached the stoop. "You're a lot quieter than you usually are. I figured you and Robbie would be gabbing about the whole rabbit thing the entire ride to school," Nezami said.

"I know. I guess I don't feel like talking right now. It's all whirling around so fast in my brain I can't seem to capture it.” I responded, slowing down to keep pace with her.

“Listen, I still need to talk to you later, in private,” Nezami said.

“Okay,” I responded. I knew this was going to be about a boy. I didn’t want to admit it to myself, so I broke eye contact and turned around.

"Hey, listen. If you need something, you know where to find me," she said, grabbing my arm.

What would she do, snap her fingers and pull me out of this strange place I am in? I thought, watching her close the door.

"You know, after school, you should talk to my pops. He has always gone on and on about things related to ancestors and dreams," Robbie said sincerely.

"I know, man. I already thought of that. Can't go wrong with the ‘Ol Skate Sage,’” I replied, still staring blankly at the door Nezami had walked through. It seemed innocent, but all of a sudden, I felt a creeping sense of anxiety on my shoulders. "What did that mean if I needed something?” I pondered.

"Hey, man, you ready?" Robbie said, interrupting my thoughts. “We needed to get to class,”

As we walked across the quad, I continued thinking, "Nez is the type of person that, unless it's severe, will tell you no matter where you are. She's abrupt like that."

Entering the classroom, I realized even though it was a couple of hours till lunch, it now felt like forever. I could feel myself growing more frustrated at the wait because I had no idea what was happening. I knew there was a boy, a guy, or whatever. I'm not stupid. Yet, part of me hoped that bridge wouldn’t have to be crossed, which negates the whole ‘I'm not stupid’ thing. But the boy part made sense. She was breathtaking. I meant it when I said it last night in my version of the night. “Plus, what are we going to date each other now and stay together forever? That never happens anymore,” I tried to rationalize.