30MIN
Angela was in awe.
Utterly abject awe.
Of course, however, it wasn't visible on the girl's stone-like expression. An infinitesimal flicker of wonder encompassed her features, but as the car passed it she turned back to her parents' conversation.
"...all those hooligans on skateboards! Smoking, vaping..." her mother rambled on about the skatepark the car had just passed. Angela's father fixed his gaze on the road, exhuastion settling into his eyes.
"Yes, yes, Mary dear, I'll demolish it soon. It wouldn't be favourable to have Angela be influenced by them." and at this they both turned at their precious daughter, Mary Stone fluttering her eyelashes in a menacing yet fawning manner. "After all, she's got to practice for that National Maths Competition."
Angela gulped ever so discreetly and shrank into her seat, just as the car slid into the mansion's garage.
It was no wonder that she was immediately sent to her room with a piling tower of maths. But not more than a minute had passed and the poor girl's head was already underwater, the jumble of numbers and equations floating around her in a somnolent trance. Her gaze drifted over to her full-length window. The afternoon sun emanated warmth throughout the beach, as 'normal' teenage girls basked in the warmth.
Angela's eyes latched onto a gaggle of girls, tittering as their ice cream cones threatened to slip from their grips. They didn't have to sit inside and do maths on such a nice day. They got to live out the rest of their childhoods. Envy, followed by rage made her stiffen and unknowingly glower at the girls. How I wonder no one felt her seething glare pierce into their backs-perhaps they were too enraptured by their own activities.
However, Angela's temperament settled as quickly as it had bubbled up as she saw where they were heading.
How come she had never seen the skatepark from her window before?
The curiosity had gotten better of the cat. Angela tensed as she darted down the stairs, feet barely brushing against the mahogany. Her heart was pounding in her ears, however it was quickly stifled by the beastly snores of her father. The door clicked ever so softly. And Angela ran into the night, the utter feeling of freedom making a wry grin appear.
Was it midnight? Angela barely knew, but it was dark enough that no sound reverberated around the beach whatsoever, save for the gentle undulant waves creeping up the shore. She took a tentative, sluggish step onto the skatepark. The chilly concrete made her breath hitch. Another step.
Angela felt more at home looking down at this twisting, turning mass of concrete more than she ever did doing maths sums. She could already feel the exhilaration as she swooped down a ramp, or spun in the air. She saw what the other kids did-filling the air with spins and tricks, whooping and cheering with joy. Angela wanted to be like that. She wanted to be like them more than she had ever wanted to be the mayor's daughter.
A forgotten skateboard in the corner caught her eye. It almost beckoned her over, the girl lumbering towards it as if hypnotised. Angela picked it up, reveling in the rough surface and gentle clatter it made as it fell. She looked back towards the skatepark, a whirl of thoughts and fears dissipating from her head as she realised what fate wanted her to do.
And it all started with that one foot on the skateboard.
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