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First bit of Nano


Jeremy.

'In the event of the Rapture, this car will be unoccupied.'

It was printed on a bumper sticker on the back of a faded blue Toyota in the street. I remember finding it vaguely funny the first time I walked past and read it. Now I'm sitting across the road, and I watch as three hooligans go up to it, with mutterings of "Wazzat say?" as they come closer. At least their baggy windsheeters are made of soft enough fabric that they won't scratch the paint job just by their proximity. Not that I should care about this. Not that I should care about any of this.

The words of the bumper sticker seem less funny now.

One of them, the persistent hooligan, has already got most of that sticker off the car now. Another kicks the right back hubcap, then looks annoyed when it doesn't fall off on the road in front of him. They're grunting to each other like a bunch of Neanderthals. I've had enough of this. Stubbing out my cigarette on the park bench that I'm sitting on, I stand, which inadvertently makes enough movement to be seen by them.

"Hey! Whad are you lookin' at then?"

I'm impressed by the broad scope of their language. So impressed, in fact, that I don't falter in my step that'll take me from here.

"Oi, you! Yeah, I'm talkin' to you! Don't just walk away!"

I stop. The side of my right hand has picked up a couple of callouses from somewhere, which I only notice when I rub my left hand against the skin. It is in the middle of this contemplative moment when the first of the boys attack me. He's on the asphalt that covers the ground in the time it takes me to turn around. Of course, seeing that, his two friends don't follow far behind.

The lighter and cigarette packet are kept both in the same pocket, whether it's jeans I'm wearing, or the jacket that I hardly ever take off. It's these things I pull out. Flicking on the lighter, the end of the cigarette flares to a bright red for a moment as I walk away. Three boys are on the road, groaning.

I hate fights.

I didn't used to. Time was, fighting was as much a part of my nature as smoking has become now, and it was a lucky thing that I was good at it. There are a few scrapes that come to mind where I wouldn't have gotten the hell out of dodge without the strength of my fists to back up the rest I had going for me.

But all of that's like another life. Now I avoid any sort of fighting whenever I can.

Those boys are still on the ground. When the wind shifts, it brings a sound of one of them groaning to my ear, reminding me that I haven't walked far enough away from them yet.

Reminds me too that sometimes, even now, there are situations when the fighting is still inescapable.

**

Cassie

It was always around this time of year that struck Cassie as the very best time of the year. Of course, that was a fact that none of the rest of her friends seemed to agree with her on. It didn't seem to matter that the smell of spring was in the air, nor that the daylight savings had just hit, which granted them an extra hour of light into their day (not to mention extended Cassie's curfew of 'not home after dark' for that extra whole hour). What counted was the number of essays that were due, and the hours of study required in the study week they had 'off' before exams started.

Of course, most of that work was stuff that Cassie had had way in hand months ago. That was why, when most of the people she talked to in school went to the library after their last classes of the day, Cassie piled her school books into her locker and closed it with an air of finality. She was going to take this beautiful day by the very sunlight that made it so beautiful, and by golly, she was going to enjoy it.

There was a very definite bounce to her step -one that definitely made the school bag on her back bounce along with her- as she rounded the end of the corridors and headed towards the school gate.

And of course, Red was out there waiting for her. She could see him, just beyond the school gate, across the road, and leaning against a tree. The wisps of his red, shoulder length hair -hair that gave him his name, Red- floated across his face. He was the only person she knew who didn't seem to care when the wind affected his hair. Unlike everyone else, he didn't make a big fuss about it, never tied it back, and never even went so far as to brush it out of his face. But Red was weird in a lot of ways. After four years of talking to each other almost every day, Cassie didn't know anything more about Red's real name, other than that 'it was embarrassing'.

She didn't know how he did it, but he always seemed to know when to wait for her and when she would come out with other friends that she'd made plans with. It wasn't something she was about to complain about today. She didn't even care that she was still in school uniform, or rather, the bastardisation of uniform that girls were continually trying to stretch further to their liking.

"Hang on a second!" She dropped her bag at Red's feet, then shrugged out of the button up shirt that was only half tucked in and hanging over the pleated uniform skirt. Underneath was an off the shoulder top. She shrugged her shoulders and shook out her hair, before bending down to grab her bag and tie her discarded school shirt loosely around her waist. "Don't give me that," she told Red, when she caught him looking at her appreciatively.

Red's eyes widened with innocence. Instead of verbally proclaiming that innocence, however, his face relaxed into a smile. "So where are we going today?" he asked.

"I was thinking, the scenic route. Gets me back to my place... eventually." She grinned at him mischievously.

Red fell into step beside her. "Uh huh," he uttered, doubtfully, but he followed her all the same.

"Well it's your choice to follow me," Cassie informed him.

"That it is," Red agreed.

Cassie gave him a sideways glance as though to see if he was making fun of her, then she tilted her head back. Blonde hair cascaded to around midway down her back. She grinned up towards the sky, up at the thin white clouds that moved across the sky. It was such a crime to be stuck inside for classes for so many days out of the week. So many of these lovely, lovely days already lost. Thank god it was almost the end of term already, and with that, freedom!

"So what did you get up to today?" she asked of Red, lifting her head before she did something stupid like walk into a telephone pole she didn't see in front of her because her head was tilted backwards.

"I got some stuff done," Red said, as though he suspected Cassie of thinking him lazy. "Caught up with some friends. Caught up on a bit of news. I'll probably be sent out on errands because of what I found out today."

"Oh?" Cassie said, though she knew he wouldn't tell her more beyond that, despite how she fished. What errands he went on were always classified. Way back when she'd first met him, Cassie remembered having all these fancies that he was part of some government conspiracy, and that it would endanger her life if he told her about anything that she shouldn't know about, which was why, of course, he never did. Since then, however, she'd grown up. And over the years, the whole question answer thing had managed to become a kind of joke between them.

"Very private errands. Top secret stuff," Red told her, with the usual grin and waggle of the eyebrows that totally undercut the sincerity of his statements.

"Of course," Cassie said, at least keeping some appearance of gravity between them.

They shared a comfortable silence for a while, between the time when her high school disappeared from view and when they reached this scenic park of Cassie's. It ended up being a walking trail. The trees had seen less than their usual share of rain in the winter just gone, and were looking dryer for it. Still, Cassie seemed to pick up her enjoyment just from walking amongst those trees and yellowed grasses.

"I love this season. Don't you just love this season?" She turned to him, still smiling. "Of course you love this season. And you know I do. I've certainly told you enough times."

Red cracked a smile at that. While he didn't gain the same enjoyment from the plantlife around them, he did get pleasure from being in Cassie's presence while she basked in it. "Yes, I like the season," he said.

"It's not enough to like it," she reminded him, shaking her head as she continued her stride forward. "You have to love it."