Untitled(For now) pt.1

Part 1 of a new (semi)short story I’m working on:

The alleyway smelled rancid, like hot pavement and vomit; bad enough to turn my stomach into knots but not strong enough to turn us away. I’ve never been in an alley that smelled good, but today had been the hottest all year and whatever gave off any smell at all stank exponentially worse because of it.

It was just 4:30 in the afternoon and the first break in the steady heat came so slightly we almost missed it. Still it was a small blessing against our sticky-slick skin, though we’d tucked ourselves into tank tops and shorts in an effort to survive. We gave a single collective sigh of relief as the neon of storefronts disappeared behind us.

The city’s network of side alleys was almost as complicated as it’s streets from years of industrializing, building up and nearly on top of itself. It left a lot of space for the homeless to hunker down for a restless night, and otherwise law abiding citizens to lose their way. I brushed a few flyaway frizzies out of my eyes, and nearly tripped over a clutter of glass bottles that clanked noisily in our wake.

Melanie turned and a smile crossed her lips, or at least the vague upturn at the corners of her mouth that we called a smile. A couple months ago I wouldn’t have felt this doubtful, but we’d done our fair share of Joy and that little twitch was nothing compared to the real deal. Just the thought made my insides shiver.

Mid-August meant we’d been out of summer school for a little under a week, with just over two left for vacation before the fresh first Trimester of the new school year. Our parents were working all day, and what with us being responsible sixteen and seventeen year olds, we had free range of the city. Occasionally someone’s cell phone would chirp for a quick check in, but parents couldn’t manage something as strong as worry on their own.

We were at the end of the alley, perpendicular to the new one when a different sort of smell, cool and sharp, cut through the heat and the sick. Not something natural, we could tell by the way it shivered nose hairs and dried up in our throats. Lissie pressed her fingertips against the hollow of her neck as she swallowed.

“Hey, that’s Teddy,” Mel said as we rounded the corner. “Looks like he just got his.” Mel fancied herself the most vulgar of our little group, and Lissie cut her a mildly unappreciative look, but she couldn’t keep her eyes off Teddy for long.

Our classmate leaned his whole weight low against the red brick wall, hands fisted in his shirt over his chest. He squirmed, breathing hard and fast as he sank steadily lower until he sat against the dirty pavement. It wasn’t until we were almost on top of him that I saw the liquid squeeze from between clenched eyelids.

Mel and Lissie shared a wordless look, but it was Lissie who ventured, “That looks good. What is it?”

At the sound of a strange voice, Teddy leaped to his feet, eyes suddenly wide as they skittered from one face to another in short, jerky motions. My jaw felt slack, but I didn’t care enough to do anything about it as I watched him. I’d never felt anything like it. It did look cool. His knuckles were a strangely pallid shade of white, almost translucent. Then he slowly uncurled them from the front of his shirt, and color came back in a flush of mottled pink.

His gasps became deeper as he struggled to regain enough control to speak.

<p style="text-indent: 0.5in; line-height: 150%;" class="MsoNormal”>Mel wasn’t especially patient, and while he was still calming back down she pressed evenly, “Well what is it, Teddy?”

“Panic,” he sighed, almost like that one word took every bit of breath left in his body. We watched in muted awe as his head tilted back, eyes closed, and he simply concentrated in the in and out flow of oxygen.

I was about to suggest we move, or do something, just standing there watching Teddy breath and sweat seemed…uncomfortable. But then he opened his blue eyes and peered right at me. “Pure Panic, one boost. Second time around, it’s even better.”