Little Razorblade [Jazz] ●

[Donnie Voss]

JUDGEMENT

Lanky legs stretched across the pavement as the carrot top snuggled deeper into his sweater. "Jeez its cold tonight!" Donnie had just finished closing up the convenience store as the manager had instructed him to do so, keeping him out a bit later than he'd normally like. He stocked the shelves, mopped the floor, and tallied up the days earnings, then again its not like there were a lot of other employees to help him out with the work.

He gripped a black plastic bag, it contained a bag of potato chips, a water bottle, and a package of Hostess Cupcakes which would provide as a make shift dinner. Not the most nutritious meal but he was waiting on his paycheck so until then it was junk food. Donnie let out a sigh as he looked at his pathetic excuse for dinner, the convenience store paid minimum wage and he could get by but it sure would be nice to go out and eat at a nice restaurant sometimes.

He took a look around at his surroundings, it was abnormally quiet this evening, not that he minded. Crime was common these days with drugs, thieves, and gangs being more common place. Donnie worried for the youth, sure he himself was only 23 years old but high school kids seemed more easily drawn into crime especially since the event. He shook himself out of his philosophical daze and continued his path home. Taking into consideration how quiet tonight was Donnie figured he could take a short cute home through a small park that would be a more direct route home. Normally Donnie would avoid going that way when its so late, but he decided to take a chance being exhausted from a long day's work and just wanting to eat and sleep.

It was dark in the park with only a few dim lamps about to keep it lit, of course parks weren't meant to be played on in the dark. He remembered how him and all his old gang would wreak havoc around a park similar to this one, they were a terror back then. As he approached the playground he noticed a silhouette sitting at the bottom of the slide. In the dark he couldn't make out whether they were a boy or girl but they looked pretty young, a student maybe? Why would a kid be out at this hour? There's school tomorrow! "Hey there." He walked up carefree as usual, most people would call that a dumb move as even kids could be dangerous these days. On a closer look he saw a young girl no older than 16, this woke the older brother in him. "You OK? Its pretty late you know." He flashed her a warm smile, despite the chill in the air.

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Tag: Jasmine Lawson

MADE BY VEL OF GS

[Jasmine Lawson]

After school, Jazz had opted to hang out with her friends and skate, though where she had chosen to skateboard wasn't necessarily the most traditional place. Though by the time she had finished with her clubs and headed to the camp she had made for the night near the park, Jazz simply couldn't pass up the chance to practice even if it was dark. There was nobody around, no chance of getting caught or yelled at, and that was exactly how Jazz preferred it. She hated being told what to do, how to dress, or what to say simply because she wasn't old enough to know better. Hah! Right. So said the very people that lied to her for almost all her life. Jazz hated her home and everyone that lived there, especially her mother for trying to make her fit into a box. She had wanted a princess and had tried to force Jazz to be a 'normal' teenage girl because of that.

Was it any wonder that she had left that hell hole and continued to avoid it any chance she could? Jazz was never able to be herself at home, it was so much easier to simply stay away and be free. So what if she didn't have a job, or really any way to support herself. Jazz just took what she could carry from home and stayed away as long as she could. At least that bitch was good for something. By the time she had reached the playground, Jazz could hardly make out the shape of the slide in the darkness. Perfect. All this meant was that this was going to be a challenge to try and use the slide as a ramp or even practice her rails on it. It was big enough that Jazz thought she could use it as a ramp and then see if she ganged enough momentum to do a trick or two.

Carrying her skateboard, Jazz climbed the stairs to the slide and tested the slippery surface before setting the board down on the edge of it. In took seconds to stand on the skateboard and shift her weight forward before the board started down the slide. Just when she reached the edge of the slide, Jazz jumped, aiming to spin her board before using the momentum to continue skateboarding. Unfortunately, she had misjudged the distance and instead of landing on the board again, she fell and landed in the sod at the base of the slide. Jazz swore under her breath and started to feel around for her skateboard which thankfully hadn't gone too far. Perhaps attempting the stunt had been foolish after all but hey, it was worth a shot.

Jazz had just been about to stand up and head to her camp when she heard a voice call to her and swore under her breath. Great, just great...now somebody had found her and would no doubt drag her back home to that hell hole. Hah! Yeah right, not if she could help it. As the man got closer, it seemed he didn't have any idea who she was, that was good, that meant that bitch hadn't sent out another search party for her quite yet. Yeah, I'm fine,"Jazz replied curtly, not really wanting to waste any more time with this man than she needed to,"Just got a little sidetracked that's all,"she explained as she stood up, using her skateboard to help her up.

She hoped the man wouldn't ask anymore questions or ask to walk her home, or in her case, back to her camp. Just because she was young and a girl didn't mean that she couldn't take care of herself. Besides that, the guy was an adult and if Jazz had learned nothing else, it was that adults couldn't be trusted. They were liars, or at least most of them were. The only adults that Jazz trusted were her teachers at school and Jaden. Everyone else couldn't be trusted as far as she was concerned. This man was no different, and it was clear from Jazz's rather guarded expression that she wasn't about to volunteer any more information.

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Donnie Voss

[Donnie Voss]

JUDGEMENT

A little caught off guard by her brief response and even sort of amused by her obvious rebelliousness he let out a soft chuckle. Kids could be so blunt, it made him happy to see that some things just don’t change. Her answer was pretty flimsy, who gets distracted at almost one in the morning? If anything you should keep your guard up no matter how peaceful the night was, that was when bad things were most likely to find you. At any rate it was clear that the young woman in front of him was bothered and he took it upon himself to figure out why, call it a hero’s intuition and an older brother’s obligation. As she stood up he saw how tiny she was in comparison to himself, there’s was a more than a foot difference between them, it made her seem incredibly fragile, but he could see in her stance she was no princess.

Donnie closed his eyes and raised a hand to his chin. “That’s no good,” He sounded very mature in his opinion, “Getting sidetracked out here, could be dangerous.” A firm nod followed the short exposition. Though in a moments notice he realized that what he had replied with could be taken as threatening. He instantly lost his composure flung his hands up in front of him defensively. “Uh-Wait! That came out wrong, sorry!” Chuckling nervously he didn’t want this girl to think of him as some creep and split, and getting whacked by that skateboard didn't sound too appealing either.

Recovering his cool and adjusting himself in his sweater, Donnie tried to turn back into getting to the core of why this girl was out late and by extension who she was. He as pretty familiar with the faces of local students but he couldn't really recall her ever coming to the convenience store, and he definitely hadn't seen her causing any trouble, so what was this girl out doing. A gang member? A runaway? Playground vandal? Whatever it her reason the neighborhood crime-stopping carrot top was curious. Clearing his throat he tried a more casual approach. "Its just, there's super powered criminals out on the streets these days. So I gotta wonder what'll make someone come out here so late by themselves?" There was a knowingness to his voice, Donnie knew what could drive people from the warmth of home. He was hopeful maybe he could understand the girl in front of him, he knew quite well that when your young the world's against you.

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Jasmine Lawson

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MADE BY VEL OF GS