Graffiti

Chapter Two:

We both ran down twisting, turning paths, the wind blowing my hair in all directions and the sun beating down on the pavement, sometimes catching my eye and slowing me down. All the while the guy - who I found out was named Alex, after someone shouted "Alex! Hurry the f**k up, man!" - was holding onto me and dragging me. 

We reached an area that was surrounded by trees, it was like a secret part of a forest. Though, of course, it wasn't in a forest, it was by some run down houses. Log cabins were in the middle of the clearing in a circular shape, each had graffiti on its doors and I presumed the cabins held different gangs or groups, whichever term you preferred. 

The ground, I could tell, used to have grass, but now, all that was left was dry, hard soil. There was a bench at the far end of the clearing, overlooking a miniature lake that glistened in the afternoon sun. Alex let go of my hand and I leaned my arms on my knees; panting for breath. I was never running like that again. "If you ever drag me like that again, I will kill you!" I exclaimed, still trying to catch my breath. 

Alex, in turn just smirked back at me. His black hair was messed and his green eyes had a shine to them, as the other guys left, Alex and I just continued to stare at eachother. He had black ripped jeans and a flimsy grey shirt on. 

Time seemed to stop and I entered a world of dazzling green. No, snap out of it! I commanded myself. I looked away and cleared my throat. Alex's jaw hardened and he seemed to stomp away, like I was somehow going to give him the plague.

I brushed down my jeans and let out a heavy sigh. I was not here to get into that stuff. Deciding that it was probably best to follow Alex -at a safe distance, of course - we meandered our way through the shrubs. We passed a few cabins, all identical apart from their graffiti sign on the door, until we came to one exactly in the middle of all the other cabins.

Oak wood panels highlighted the outside of the cabin, a darker wood for the roof, a few windows by the smooth plastic door, and what I assumed to be a red wine glass imprinted on the door. It was a nice piece of art. If you ignored the fact that it looked like it was painted from blood. And it was ruining an amazing door

Alex entered the cabin as I just stood there awkwardly. I couldn't exactly go in, I wasn't invited, but I couldn't stay outside because I was a young girl isolated among testosterone filled guys. A throat was cleared behind me and I slowly turned around. Please don't be a creepy guy. I begged to no one in particular. I had no idea why there would be a creepy guy in a gang hideout, but you never know. 

There was a lanky guy in front of me - of course, I'd just turned around, so before, he was behind me - He had blonde hair that was short and spiky, his red shirt and white jeans made him look like he'd just walked out of a christmas party that he thoroughly enjoyed. Note the sarcasm. My stormy brown eyes met his bright blue ones. Oh joy, were there not any other females around here? Or was I left to fight all these guys alone? 

"Hey, I'm Jace, the hottest one here. And who might you be?" Jace asked. His voice was gravely and he was way too arrogant for me.

"Not interested," I replied as I turned around and headed towards the faded white bench at the end of the clearing, the one that overlooked the lake. I needed to have a serious talk with myself. What the hell had I done? I was meant to be here to travel, get away from my old life and keep out of the spotlight... and I'd just gone and graffitied a wall. With a gang. And was possibly on the run from the cops. 

Well done, Luna I told myself. This was going really well. Although, I had to admit, this had to be the most exciting thing I'd done out of all the exoctic places I'd been to. Who'd have known that Jersey would've been the place of graffiti and fun? I reached the bench, plopped myself down on it and closed my eyes. I could feel my battered red converse on my feet, my tattered jeans were tight on my hips and my chequered shirt fluttered in the breeze. 

I must've just sat there for quite a while, because when I opened my eyes, the sun was setting and the lake looked dark and ominous, like it was harbouring many secrets and was about to rear up and drown everyone in sight. My legs were stiff and I needed to sleep. I was about to make my way back to my hotel when I realised... I had no idea where the hell I was. 

"Seriously?" I questioned life. With sheer determination, I marched back towards the cabin with a red wine glass printed on its door, hoping that Alex was in there. I lifted my hand up to knock when I froze. I was actually nervous. What if he wasn't there and some big, beefy guy opened the door, demanding to know who I was? I gulped down my fear and knocked. Three times. I heard the static of the TV and the sounds of voices stopped. 

Alex opened the door - thank God. His hair was even more disheveled than earlier. He still wore the same grey shirt and black jeans, but now he had no shoes on and he was sporting a nice fluffy pair of grey socks. I could feel the heat from the cabin and I shivered from the cold air outside. Curse him. 

Before he could shout obscenities at me for disturbing him, I spoke. "Since you had the audacity to drag me all the way out here, even though I was only correcting a stupid grammar error that you made, I think it's only fair that you harbour the responsibility to take me back to my hotel since I have no idea how to get there." Alex raised an eyebrow at me, leaned back against the doorframe and crossed his arms over his chest. 

"I think you're forgetting that I don't even know your name." My mind wandered back through the past day, had I really not told him my name? What the hell? I blushed and looked down. "Luna," I mumbled. I looked up, meeting his vibrant green eyes and was slightly shocked to see a slight bit of kindness in them, maybe it was because I looked like a child and he felt pity for me? Whatever it was, I was going to cling to it and hope that he didn't turn back into an asshole. 

"Well, I'm not taking you back," he said. OK, so hoping didn't work. He was back to being an asshole. Alex stood upright and I thought he was about to slam the door in my face when he said, "But, you're welcome to stay here for the night." Timidly, I entered the cabin.

And that, my friends, is how I ended up entangled in Alex's life.