Raven jumped on her skateboard and skated down the street. She enjoyed being
six inches higher than the rest of the crowd and moving twice as fast. With
her backpack on, she knew she looked huge and people got out of her way. She
swerved toward a bunch of teenage girls clustered around the window of one
of the clothing shops that lined the street. They scattered and she laughed.
Losers, she thought to herself. Trying to be different like everyone else.

She caught one of the girls watching her as she rode by and stuck her tongue
out at her. The girl laughed and stuck her tongue out back. Raven laughed
and grinned at her, then winked as she rode away. She hurtled through a
crowd of businessmen pressing into a newsstand. She looked back long enough
to count the glares. Only half, she thought to herself! She made a note to
swing by a little closer next time and give 'em a real scatter.

She got to the corner and turned sharply. She coasted to the alley and
hopped off her board. Tucking it under her arm, she sprinted up the alley
and back to the top of the block. She tightened her backpack and the scarf
on her head and got back on the board and pushed around the corner. The
girls were at the corner shop now, and she nearly plowed into them. Two of
them gave her looks as if to say "You could die and I'd watch", complete
with eye-rolling and snubs. The girl who had grinned back at her, though,
was watching her now. Raven winked at her, and she grinned again. Raven
swerved around the group and down the sidewalk again. The news stand was
empty for a moment, and Raven hopped off her board and started walking there
again. The newsie gave her a dirty look, obviously trying not to smile and
she flipped him off. He laughed and yelled "Bitch!" after her. She made a
mocking curtsey at him and dropped her board and smoothly jumped back on.

She skated another block, this one mostly empty -- two bars and a couple of
dinner restaurants didn't make for a lively street before the afternoon was
even getting going. She careened barely in control toward the park, coasting
the whole way. She loved that stretch, all downhill, with just enough people
milling about to be fun to tease. She'd run into a woman there once who'd
whipped out a cell phone and tried to get the police there, but Raven knew
she wasn't a priority. She avoided being seen by the cops in the area for a
few days, though. There weren't exactly a lot of girls with pink dreadlocks
and torn jeans running into people while skateboarding in the area.

She skated onto the grass and came to a halt. She flopped over, panting a
little. She wasn't sure whether it was the kamikaze skateboard run from the
top of the hill through the crowd or the grinning girl that made her a
little extra out of breath. She layed there in the grass for a moment, then
sat up again and pulled a rumpled pack of cigarettes out of the backpack.
Last thing I need if a two block suicide run is making me out of breath, she
thought. Oh, well. She lit it anyway, leaned against her pack and put it
between her lips.

"Hey. That stuff will kill you if you let it." A voice came from behind her.

Raven looked upward and saw an upside-down girl. Same one she'd just gotten
a grin from. "Heyyyy," she said, doing her best imitation of a tough guy
trying to impress a girl. 

She flashed her the same grin and flipped over. A now right-side-up girl was
grinning back at her. "I'm Jennifer" she said.

Raven debated lying, saying Sarah or something, but she decided she liked
Jennifer. "Raven," she said. She smoothly rolled to her feet and thrust out
her hand. "Nice to meetcha." 

Jennifer laughed and shook her hand. The callouses surprised her. She looked
at Raven a little harder and smiled. This time she saw the dirt and
dreadlocks, the torn jeans. Raven fidgeted for a moment, and Jennifer
shifted her weight. "So... " they started at the same time. Raven smirked
and continued "... come here often?" 

Jennifer giggled. "One cliche after another, aren't you?" 

Raven shrugged. "Only on tuesdays." 

"No, I don't come here often. You just ... " she trailed off and twirled her
hair around her fingers for a moment. "... you're different and intriguing
and ..." she trailed off again.

"Don't forget cute." Raven posed with her most outlandish rakish grin.

Jennifer squirmed. "Yeah. Cute too. Okay, and daring." 

Raven grinned more, genuinely this time. "Just a girl and her skateboard."

"So, you live around here?"

"Yeah." Raven tried to sound like it was nothing special.

"Me too"

"Where?"

"Panoramic heights."

"Aaah. Wow." Rich girl. At least I can probably get a meal out of her, Raven
thought. 

"I know. My dad's got money. I hate it. I'd so give it up. It just means I
have to do better than anyone else at school, and still try and fit in. It's
hard. I kinda gave up this year. The girls I was with this morning are as
close as I have to friends. And I don't know if you noticed, but some of
them are kinda mean."

"Yeah, what's up with that!" Raven smirked. She'd enjoyed scaring the two
girls a little more than she let on.

"I dunno. Their parents suck too though. Probably got it from them."

"Probably." Raven tried to squash any conversation that led to rich-kid
politics. She figured one-word responses aught to do it.

"Anyway. Enough about them. I like you."

Raven wasn't sure what to make of it. She kept trying to figure Jennifer out
and she kept wiggling her way out of stereotypes. So much for always being
able to figure everyone out. It made her a little nervous. She was used to
finding a way to get a little something out of everyone, and she wasn't sure
what Jennifer wanted.