Waiting for the Rain

Who: Taylor and Chance
When: Around six
Where: Harlow Park/Taylor's house

Taylor was standing under a tree, sheltering from the worst of the rain as she waited for Chance, not that she could have gotten any wetter, she'd been soaked within a minute of leaving the house. She wasn't sure how succesful skateboarding would be in this sort of weather but she didn't want to stand Chance up so she had located some knee pads, dragged a hoodie from her closet and headed to the park.

Her parents hadn't tryed to stop her leaving, they hadn't even asked why she was going out when there was a storm pelting down. Instead, her father had muttered something about not dragging water everywhere when she came back while her mother cleared away dinner in silence. Scowling at the sky, she muttered a curse to herself before pushing some wet hair back from her face.

Rain didn't bother him. He'd learned to skate in any kind of weather - blizzards notwithstanding. But he knew with the way it was raining today, it would be near impossible to get Taylor comfortable on a board. She'd probably spend half the time on her ass.

He found her under a tree and rolled to a stop on his board, popping it up and jogging toward her with a wide grin. "Beautiful day. I was thinking maybe you wouldn't going to show up."

Taylor turned at hearing the familar voice and gave him a crooked smile. "With weather like this, how could I not?" Shoving her hands into her pockets, she turned and gave the weather a critical look. "Though I'm wondering if I should've bought a snorkel as well as knee-pads."

"Yeah, it is raining a bit more than I thought it would," Chance said, water dripping down from the edge of his hoodie. "We can put it off another day, or if you want..." He paused, thinking for a moment. "How big is your garage? It'd be a smooth surface, and out of the rain." He could take her to his, but his mom was home - and he wasn't about to introduce her to that form of insanity.

"Big enough" Taylor replied, rubbing her hands together to try warm them up. As it happened, the garage was pretty much her domain after she had adopted it as her studio a couple of years ago. "We'll have to move some stuff about though" she added before stepping out from the relative shelter of the tree.

"Then I guess it's a good thing you've got a strong guy to help you out," Chance joked as they began to walk from the park. Both of them would be soaked by the time they got to Taylor's. Chance never minded being in the rain, which was probably why he didn't think enough to call her about changing the location in the first place. He noticed she had her gloves and knee pads and grinned widely. "At least you're prepared."

Taylor smirked at Chance's joke as she pulled her hood further over her head. Walking along the sidewalk, she didn't bother side stepping the puddles, instead she just ploughed through them. Hell, a little water never hurt anyone. At his comment, she smiled slightly "Always am."

"You had a god day?"

"It was decent. Slept in. Watched a couple of movies." Checked his cell phone enough times to borderline on pathetic to see Kaysen had called him.

Chance walked beside Taylor, not bothering to sidestep the puddles either. He'd been outside in worse weather. "How about yourself?"

"Slept in. Started work on a new piece" she replied, hunching her shoulders slightly as a gust of wind slammed the rain against them. Turning the corner on to Leet Street, she glanced over at Chance.

"Are you gonna be alright in your wet clothes? I could dry your stuff but I don't have any thing you could borrow and I did promise I didn't want to see you naked."

Stifling a laugh, Chance pinched at the drenched material of his shirt against his chest. "I'll be fine, trust me. Wet clothes don't really bother me, though I appreciate the thought." He eyed her quickly. "Though I can wait while you change, since you're soaked, which I sort of take blame for since I did say rain or shine."

Raising an eyebrow, Taylor shot Chance an inscrutable look. "Good to know. It won't take me long though, I've got a change of clothes in the garage."

"I'm sure I can trust you to avert your eyes while I change" she said, the corner of her mouth twitching into a smile.

He blinked once, wondering if she was serious. He wouldn't look, of course, but the idea of it was still a bit strange. How many girls had changes of clothes in their garages? Then again, his entire life had been strange since school ended, so he shrugged it off quickly.

"As long as I'm not going to have to deal with your dad barging in and kicking my ass, I'm fine with it."

"I doubt my dad would notice if I came into the room with my hair on fire, he won't care if I've got a guy in the same room where I'm changing." Pulling her keys from her pocket, she tuned to face Chance and smiled.

"You'll be safe I promise."

What was it with neglectful parents in this town? Chance held his board against his chest and lifted both eyebrows as he shrugged and followed her. "All right, I believe you then. But if your dad decides to pay attention and I do get my ass kicked, you don't get to draw me."

Letting out a small snort of laughter, Taylor grinned. "Sounds fair enough to me" she replied as they arrived at the side door of her garage. Sliding her keys into the door, she quickly let them in and flicked on the light.

Boxes of art supplies were dotted around the room and the walls were covered with various paintings and drawings. More finished pieces rested against the walls and in the centre of the garage was a large rug where an easel with an incomplete charcoal drawing was sitting.

"Welcome to my life" she said, pulling the soaked hoodie over her head.

"Damn." The word slipped out before he could stop it, and he shot her a quick look. "Damn, in a good way," Chance corrected before returning his attention on all of the drawings. She'd definitely made use of the space. His mom barely let him keep his skateboards in their garage. He wandered over to start looking at them. It was like when he had seen Kaysen's photographs...were there really talented students at school?

"You're good," he stated simply, leaning in to study the charcoal drawing on her easel. "Really good. You have a nice set up here."

"Thanks" Taylor said with a small smile as she crossed the garage to where a stack of clothes were sitting. "You're the first person whoes been in here since my brother."

Throwing a towell to Chance, she turned her back to him and stripping off her soaked t-shirt and pulled on a oversized shirt that hung mid-way to her knees. "Feel free to look around but if you could avoid dripping water onto stuff that would great" she called out as she stepped out of her jeans and dragged on a pair covered in paint.

Chance turned away, using the towel to dry off his arms and hair. He really didn't want to risk dripping water by moving at all, so he focused on wringing out his shirt in one spot, catching the water with the towel.

He wanted to ask more about her brother, but remained silent. They had just met yesterday, and death, for some people, was a sensitive subject. "No drippage," he promised, tossing the towel over his shoulder and finally feeling comfortable enough to walk around until she was finished changing. "So I guess, this is like, your studio, then?"

Drying off her hair, Taylor moved to the centre of the room and after hooking the towel she'd been using around her neck, began to fold the easel. "Yeah. When I first got serious with this stuff I worked in my room but it was too small so I moved in here a couple of years ago."

"The light's good and it keeps me from crossing paths with my parents so I can't complain."

"Sanctuary from the parents in a garage," Chance said with a light laugh. "At least they're okay with it and give you your space. My mom is still in the stage of having to go through my room once a week when I'm not home to make sure I'm not on drugs, or something."

"Ah, the joys of an overbearing parent" Taylor replied as she carefully rested the easel against the nearest wall. "Still, at least she cares enough to check in on you."

Moving back to the middle of the room, she began to roll up the square of carpet. "Care to demonstrate that strong guy-ness of yours and help me move this?" she asked with a small smile.

"Going through my personal things to see if I'm going to fuck up again isn't really caring, is it? More like covering her own ass." He walked over to where she was and bent down to help her. "I was sort of exaggerating on that strong guy-ness, so don't laugh at me if I'm short of breath by the time we move this."

"Fair point." Finishing rolling up the carpet, they lifted it between them and began moving across the room. "And I promise to remain straight-faced in any case of deeply un-manly breathlessness on your part" she said looking back at him with a dead-pan face.

"Why's your mom so on your case?"

"Normal teenage stuff," Chance replied while following her across the room, rug in his arms. It was a bit premature to get into the depth of all the real reasons. "I'll be eighteen soon, so she's running out of time to control my life. Plus, you know, the school stuff. The less phone calls from the principal the better."

Taylor nodded in agreement as she began shifting the boxes to one end of thhe room. "That I can empathise with. School is the only thing in my life my parents seem to give a crap about. When the principal can address your folks by their first names? You know you're in trouble."

"True, but if it gets to the point where he addresses them by their first names, do you even care you're in trouble at that point?" he asked with a small grin before turning to pick up his skateboard from where he had dumped it coming in.

"So speaks the voice of experience" Taylor replied as she moved the final box. Retrieving the pads and gloves she had thrown in the corner, she walked up to Chance a small smile on her face. "So Mr Reed, where do we begin."

"You put those on first, for one," Chance said, plopping the board down onto the garage floor. "Then I'll show you the right stance, depending on which foot you prefer. Like me..." He put his right foot forward on the board. "I prefer my right foot forward. I'm more comfortable that way." He stepped off and nudged the board forward toward her. "Step on and see which you like better."

Pulling on the protective gear, Taylor stopped the board with her left foot before tentatively rolling it back and forth. Doing the same motion again with her right, she looked up at Chance. "Left feels more comfortable" she said, resting her foot on the board. "Before we get to far in to the preceedings, will you promise not to mock me if I suck at this."

"Dude, I promise I won't mock you," he told her, drawing a cross over his heart. "Mocking is only allowed when you've become really good at it, and then fuck up." Watching her stance, he bent down and touched her ankle to guide her. "Keep your foot on the board behind the first set of bolts and push it down firmly, okay?" He stood and stepped back. "Try to keep your weight centered above your left foot while you're using your back foot to push."

"I'll make sure to remember that." Following Chance's instructions, Taylor began moving around the garage and was plently suprised when she didn't wind up on her ass. "Check me out with the not falling on my butt. What's next?" she asked as she came to a stop in front of him.

He laughed at that and folded his arms across his chest when she tolled back toward him. "Now you try it with actual speed. A lot of it in the beginning is trying to balance properly so that when you do start moving, you don't flip over onto your ass."

"That's comforting to hear, thanks." Moving around the room again, she picked up her speed and before long she was haded straight at a wall. Stifiling a yelp, she jumped off the board and it crashed against the garage door.

"Okay, turning at speed may be something of a priority to learn" she said with a small blush as she retrieved the board and turned it back to face him. "Any thoughts on the matter?"

"Lots actually," Chance said once he got over the initial urge to laugh at her stumble. He could remember when he first started skateboarding himself, and how many times it took him to get a decent speed before falling on his ass, or into walls, or hell, even trash cans.

"Just push off for enough speed that you're just cruising a bit, then put your back foot on. Just try it a couple more times...don't sway, or try to turn the board. Just go straight and focus on maintaining your balance. When you're comfortable enough to try it," he explained, then you can start to lean left and right to turn the board. But don't go any faster than you feel comfortable with."

"Right, I'm sure I can handle that" Taylor said, sounding slightly unsure of herself. Stepping back onto the board, she began pushing it along the length of the garage. Bringing up her right foot, she managed to stay balanced though there was a distinct flailing of arms in her efforts to stay upright.

Putting her hands up in front of her, she stopped the board before it hit the wall. "Result, both feet on the board and no concussion" she said before turning around and heading back. This time however she was less successful and wound up stumbling sideways.

Chance stepped forward and caught her before she could land on the ground. "You're doing okay," he assured her, setting her on her feet. He walked over and adjusted his skateboard with his foot. "Watch." He pushed off straight and then brought his back foot up. "I don't think you're pushing your left foot down firmly enough, so you probably get that feeling like the board is going to fly out behind you. Pressure moves from the front to back of your foot as you push and then you adjust your weight." He turned and showed her again, perfectly at ease. "You're an artist, so you have some sense of steadiness, right? Just think about that and less on trying not to fall. If that makes sense." He hopped off the board and let it roll back to her.

Taylor watched Chance's demonstration carefully, trying to take in everything he was saying. "Sure it does. Doesn't mean I'll be able to though" she replied with a smile.

Stepping back onto the board, she followed Chance's advice and found she was steadier on the second try. After a little while she was moving up and down the garage without the need to use her arms for balance. "You're a good teacher" she offered as she rolled to a stop in front of him.

"It's really not that hard to learn," Chance admitted. "And you're catching on pretty quick. It gets better once you can stay on the board. You'll be grinding in no time, I bet. Why don't you keep my board? I have a few others. Then, if you want, you can practice on it." He shrugged. "And even if you don't want to, you can pretend like you do, so you don't hurt my feelings."

"I wouldn't have pegged you for such a girl" Taylor teased as she stepped off the board. "But sure I'll keep hold of it, it'll give me another excuse to get out of the house."

Stripping off the gloves, she gave her hands a small shake. "I'm enjoying it more than I thought I would."

Chance rolled his eyes dramatically while biting back a grin. "C'mon, a man with feelings doesn't mean he's a girl. That hurts." Glancing at his skateboard, he found he didn't mind parting with it. He had a few others, and his favorite was still up in his room partially under his bed. "I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Maybe next time we can get you outside and start some other stuff, if you want. When it's not raining?"

Raising an eyebrow, Taylor smothered a giggle at Chance's little speech. "I'm sure you'll get over it. If not I'll ply you with some suitably man-ly gift till you forgive me" she shot back, smile still firmly in place. At his suggestion, she gave a small nod and began casting her eyes around the room for a pencil. "Sounds like a good plan Mr Reed" she said as she spotted one and walking over to it, scribbled down her cell number on a nearby piece of scrap paper.

"You can give me a call when you next fancy hooking up. I won't give you the house number, spare you the grief of risking communication with my parents."

He took the paper with her number on it and slipped it into his pocket, reminding himself mentally to put it in his phone when he got home. "Hey no problem. I'll call you soon, for sure." Any reason to get out of the house was a good one. "I should probably get home before the weather gets worse. Thanks for letting me bore you with this stuff."

"It wasn't boring" she replied, pushing her still damp hair back from her face. "I'll see you around. Try not to drown on your way home, you owe me a modelling session."

He pulled a face even as he opened the door to step outside. Glancing over his shoulder, he caught her eye. "Yeah, I was kinda hoping you'd forget about that part of the deal. But okay, I do owe you. Next time I see you, we'll set something up. I'll call you," he promised with a grin before pulling his hoodie up over his head to deter some of the rain.