» a u r o r a «

Today was Independence Day and I, Aurora, would normally celebrate this American holiday by diving headfirst into a plate of homemade BBQ, lighting up sparklers at sunset, and sneaking alcohol into my cup of fruit punch, all while being decked out in red, blue, and white. But as fate would have it, I was a Kirby, and normalities never ran through my blood. So instead of firing up the grill or throwing down a few bills on fireworks, my wonderful and oh-so holistic mother intuitively created a 4th of July breakfast that health gurus on YouTube would fawn over.

"What's chia seeds?" Frankie, who was just as confused as I, poked at the goopy concoction that sat before him. The mixture was in a glass jar, three layers and each color different to represent the American Flag. Frankie examined the odd texture sitting on his wooden spoon with such scrutiny, it was as if my brother were trying to solve a murder.

"Its a super ingredient, baby," my mother simply answered with a smile on her face. She held onto a plastic bowl in her arms as she vigorously mixed another crazy blend of ingredients, the colorful bangles on her wrists clanging together like the wind chimes outside.

"And what's so important about chia seeds?" I never questioned my mom's nutritional choices out of teenaged judgement. I was just curious.

You see my mother used to be a nurse-- one of the best, might I add. She loved her job dearly, and loved her patients as if they were her own family. But while being a registered nurse brought income, she never fully agreed with the modern medicinal system.

"These tiny seeds are packed with all the important vitamins, and are rich in omega fats," mom explained, as she ceased her stirring movements and sat on the chair next to Frankie. "And omega fats are important for Frankie, so his brain can flourish like the beautiful flowers outside."

Routine vaccinations gave my brother autism.

Well, that's what my mother believes. Which is one of the reasons why she left nursing altogether. Medication, in my mom's eyes, should come from the earth, and the mind, body, and soul can be healed without the poison of modern medicine. Ever since Frankie was diagnosed with Autism, my mom did everything in her power to reverse and mend my brother in the most holistic of ways.

"You don't care about my brain?" I narrowed in my brows, an over exaggerated pout on my face.

"Of course I do honey. Which is why I made you a much bigger jar of chia seed pudding," mom stood up, pointing to the large glass mason jar in front of me with the spatula in her hand. "That way you'll have all the best energy on your first day of training."

"Why's Rora training?" Frankie asked, he still hadn't touched his breakfast, yet.

"I got a job baby boy," I told him with a smile, reaching over to ruffle his curls, "so I can buy cool stuff."

"Like beach toys!" Frankie's face lit up like the fireworks that were sure to blaze through the evening sky.

"Yea, maybe," I mumbled under my breath, stuffing my mouth full of the pudding.

It had been exactly three days since Frankie's near-death accident on the beach. While Frankie forgave me for my idiotic neglect, I however, couldn't forgive myself just yet. I was so close to losing the boy who held onto my heartstrings with a tight grip, that I still had nightmares about it.

I ate my breakfast in bliss, which surprisingly was the best damn pudding I've had in my entire life. Frankie ate his, in between random singing outbursts to his favorite parts of "One Love" by Bob Marley and the Wailers which played from the record player. Mom continued to whip up whatever she was creating-- an experiment that we'd most likely taste test for dinner.

Getting ready for work took no more than 30 minutes, and while I enjoyed the process of getting dolled up for the day, I was on my way to work a job I knew consisted of being on my feet, and copious amount of sweat dripping from my sweat glands. So after throwing on a pair of light-washed jeans and the customized red shirt I received at orientation the other day, I opted to throw my dark locks into a low ponytail at the nape of my neck.

I spritzed my favorite perfume for good luck and gave myself one last look in the mirror. I made sure the price tag still wasn't on my new jeans, and took a peek at the number and nickname that adorned the back of my work shirt.

Sleeping Beauty
59

It seemed fitting. I was named after the Disney princess, and the accompanying film was released in 1959. I wanted to have fun, as this was the first job that allowed me to have a nickname. So with that, I seized my black purse off of my bed and headed down the stairs. I made a quick pit stop to the kitchen where both my mom and Frankie were washing the dishes.

"I'm leaving," I announced, approaching the duo.

"Don't forget your lunch sweetie," mom told me, head nodding to the floral lunch bag sitting on the countertop behind us.

I gave her a kiss on the cheek, "really mom? I get a free meal each shift."

"And I'm sure the meal is delicious," mom began, "but it'll be filled with tons of chemicals and other substances that shouldn't be in your body. A happy life starts with a happy body. And a happy body begins--"

"--from inside," I continued with a sigh.

"--so nourish your soul with the gifts of the Earth," Frankie finished, grinning up at us with pride in his bright eyes.

"See, Frankie understands," mom mused with a pleased smile.

I leaned down to give him a kiss on his temple, because despite the fact that I wanted to eat shitty junk, Frankie never failed to remind me to always better myself as a person. Whether my little brother knew it or not, Frankie was one of my main influences and my biggest inspirations. So I turned on my heal, taking the floral bag off of the counter and hung it on my arm. My mother was happy, and in turn, I was happy too-- even though I still wanted to consume shitty junk, and there was a bag of Hot Cheetos hiding in my purse.

I drove through Percival Shores with my car windows down. Not just because it was a beautiful day out, but also because I wanted to stay cool without using the air conditioning. My car was a gift from my father and though I tried to return it to him, he wouldn't take it. With the vehicle already paid in full, the Honda Civic was mine to keep-- including the air conditioner, which used more gas, which meant more money in purchasing said fuel, which meant less money to pay for other necessities.

"Excuse me, do you happen to have a quarter I could borrow?"

I turned my attention away from the silver parking meter I was eyeing, to the voice coming from my right. Upon doing so, my eyes landed on a girl who looked to be the same age as I. And not only did we look similar in age, but she wore the same red shirt that clung onto my own body.

"I'm sorry, I don't have enough for four hours," the girl explained, "I just need an extra twenty-five cents if you have the spare change."

"No problem," I smiled, reaching into the coin purse in my hand and pulling out a silver coin. I walked over to the girl and dropped the quarter into the palm of her hand.

"Thank you so much, you're a lifesaver!" She held her hand to her chest, beaming from the inside out. "Good thing I've got a job, I can pay you back."

I chuckled, "that's okay. What are coworkers for? Are you here for training too, or do you already work at Pier Pressure?"

"Training," she answered, "what's your name?"

"Aurora Kirby," I told her, holding out my hand.

She shook it, "nice to meet you Aurora, I'm Lexy Cruz."

Lexy was stunning. There was not a bone in my body that said otherwise. She had jet black hair that was tied into a high ponytail, and golden skin that seemed to glow in the sun's rays. Her smile was welcoming, and no one was immune to her charm. If I were gay, my heart would sore towards Lexy Cruz.

"Have you always lived in Percival Shores?" Lexy asked, as the two of us walked up the pier towards our new working place.

I shook my head, "nope. I actually just moved here about a week ago."

"And you've got a job, already?" Lexy looked surprised, "damn girl, you've got your shit on lockdown!"

"I started applying before I moved out here," I chuckled. "What about you? Have you always lived here?"

"I'm actually from Lotus Cove, a neighboring town," Lexy informed, and I grew excited from her statement.

"I'm going to UCLC in the fall," I told her.

"Dude, way awesome!" Lexy complimented, "one of my cousins go there too. I'm actually living in her house. I'll be taking care of my aunty and keeping her company for the summer."

We approached the Pier Pressure Seafood Shack and the scene around us looked like it came straight from a movie. The sky was ridiculously blue, with patches of cotton candy clouds. Seagulls flew merrily, and even the ocean that surrounded the pier crashed in soft waves. It was like a summer wonderland here, and Pier Pressure harbored its inhabitants.

"This place gets crazy," Lexy turned her head to look at me, "so I hope you like cardio."

Her words didn't justify the chaos I was about to witness, because the moment the two of us walked into the popular restaurant by the beach, were we hit by a grenade no one intended to throw. It was busy-- like Disneyland on a Saturday during the summer busy. On top of that, it was loud. It was a type of loud only conceived by happiness. The customers were cheerful and the employees who ran around the floor in their customized red shirts, were also very enthusiastic.

While I stood stunned at the amount of people bustling through the restaurant, Lexy wasted no time in approaching one of the girls working. I expected Lexy to tap the employee on the shoulder, or maybe patiently stand nearby till she noticed, but what happened next caused my jaw to drop and I wasn't so sure my co-worker's behavior was at all appropriate.

SLAP.

Lexy's hand made contact with the girl's ass so fast and with such great impact, people 300 miles away could hear the loud smack. I quickly made my way over to the scene, and when I did, I noticed that Lexy and the girl seemed to have some kind of history.

"You scared me, my heart almost fell out of my butt hole," the girl chuckled, grabbing onto Lexy and pulling her into a hug.

"Sorry, I had to!" Lexy declared with a laugh, "I saw 'dat ass' and had to get my hands on it."

"Are you ready to train today?" The girl, who had similar facial features to Lexy, had the same small frame but deep red hair instead. I caught glimpse of the back of her shirt and read the number and the nickname plastered on it.

Shutterbug
07

"Speaking of training," Lexy began, she glanced over to me as she gestured with her arms, "this is Aurora Kirby. I just met her and she totally saved me."

"Let me guess, she gave you a nickle?" The girl predicted.

"Close," I smiled, "a quarter."

"Wow, a whole quarter? Better pay her back Alexandra Camille," the girl joked.

"I will," Lexy giggled, "scout's honor," she saluted before turning to me, "Aurora, this is my amazing cousin Ari Quiroz."

I held out my hand, "nice to meet you, Ari."

Training was, for a lack of a better word, a shitstorm. It was hectic, and while Ari or the other veteran employees didn't rely on us too much, I grew nervous just thinking about the day when I didn't have them holding my hand. I've worked in the food industry before; a few drive-thru's here and there, but nothing to this extent. Despite the fact that I literally had sweat about 5 gallons, and my hair was a hot mess, I still enjoyed every minute of it.

"You did great today, Aurora," Ari complimented with a reassuring grin. She, Lexy, and I sat in the break room of Pier Pressure, sipping on iced tea and going over today's events.

"You think so?" I asked, cocking my head to the side, "today was rough. I don't know how you and everyone else here does it."

"I promise you'll get used to it, and all the other veterans will be here to help," Ari promised.

"Ari would help too, if she weren't leaving us," Lexy disclosed, crossing her arms above her chest.

"What does she mean?" I questioned, taking the plastic cup in front of me and placing my lips around the straw.

"My boyfriend and I are taking a road trip around The U.S. before we both start Newcoast University in the Fall," Ari explained, "we leave in five days."

"No way! Sucks for us, because you're such a wonderful trainer," I gushed, "but awesome for you! Road trips are always fun, especially when they're with a boo thang!"

Ari chuckled, "thanks."

"Hey guys, do you wanna walk and talk?" Lexy stood up from her chair, "if I don't move my car, I'll get a parking ticket. My meter is just about up, and I don't know how far our friendship will go if I keep borrowing quarters from Aurora."

"No, please, let's walk and talk," I agreed, grabbing my purse off of the ground, "my meter is up at the same time as yours. And I don't even have a quarter for myself, let alone money to pay for a $75 parking ticket, so we're both screwed."

The three of us left the break room, and continued through the main floor of the restaurant. Still busy as ever, the commotion of Pier Pressure moved as if it were art made for an archaic mind. As Lexy and I followed Ari out of the building, back onto the pier, we were met with two boys.

One of them, had a wild mane of hair that was dyed a soft lavender color. The hue, fitting for the weather, was light and seemed pure-- a contrast to the eyebrow piercing that gave the boy an overall rugged demeanor. The other boy however, was tanned with dark hair. He was tall, tattooed, and had a nice, little shiner embellishing his left eye.

I wondered how he got the black eye. A fight maybe? This boy seemed nothing like the other, as there was something off-kilter about him. Was it familiarity? He oddly looked familiar to me, but I just wasn't sure why. My thoughts all went out the door when Ari stepped into the picture.

"My number one bitches," Ari grinned from ear to ear, punching each one of the boys in the arm.

"Funny, I thought Luke was your number one bitch?" Lavender hair, questioned. His witty statement made us all laugh, including myself, who had no clue about any of these people.

"Ha, Ha," Ari rolled her eyes. "Anyway, you guys remember Lexy, right? She was in my Debut court."

"How can I forget?" Lavender hair voiced, an incredulous smirk plastered on his face, "you ate shit almost every dance practice leading up to Ari's party!"

"Shut up!" Lexy grumbled, "like you were any more of a better dancer. You've got two left feet."

"She's not wrong," Ari laughed, and he flipped her the middle finger. "I know you normally meet girls with a finger, but put yours away because I actually like this one," Ari shot me a wink, "this is Aurora Kirby. She's new to Percival Shores, so be welcoming."

"Hey, I'm Michael. Or Mikey, or Mr. Right. Whichever you prefer," he joked, holding out his hand.

I took his hand, shook it, and smiled at him, "nice to meet you. I like your hair color."

"Thanks! Ever since it grew back to a decent length, I've been changing it up often," Michael explained, excitement in his eyes as he spoke.

"And Aurora, this fuckboy over here with the shiner is Calum," Ari announced, gesturing for the boy.

Calum loomed before me, blocking the sun that nearly blinded my eyes. I looked up at the boy and gave him a smile, gazing at his face in attempt to figure out where I've seen him before. I couldn't pinpoint it, so I dismissed the idea of ever seeing him before, and merely shoved it to the back of my mind.

"Hey," I waved, half expecting him to wave back, or to smile, or to say anything, and instead he just shot me a head nod and stepped back. He was quite an enigma.

"So Ari, Lexy, Aurora," Michael began, and I turned my attention to him, "will I be seeing you three at the party tonight?"

"After dinner," Ari stated, before gasping and snapping her head to look at me, "Aurora, come to my house for Fourth of July dinner! Tell your family to come too!"

"I don't wanna impose," I shook my head, an unsure expression painted on my face.

"No! It'll be fine!" Ari insisted, "it'll be a casual dinner with family friends."

"Her mom is a great cook!" Michael happily chimed in, rubbing his belly.

I laughed, "I don't know Ari. I'm thankful for the invite, but my mom eats weird and my little brother has autism, and..."

"And what? Your brother has autism, and I have brown eyes-- it doesn't matter. Come on Aurora, it'll be fine! If your mom has allergies or diet restrictions just text me what she can't have and we'll whip up something special," Ari grinned, clearly excited over the idea of having me come over.

I was beyond thankful for her invite; and even more awestruck by Ari's accommodating attitude. Not many people even try to work with my family's odd ways, not that anyone is ever obligated to, but it felt refreshing that Ari was quite accepting.

"Just promise me you'll think about it," Ari asked.

I nodded my head, "promise. I'll text you about it after I talk to my mom."

My answer satisfied Ari and she dropped the subject. Afterwards we quickly said our goodbyes, and hauled asses over to our cars before we were welcomed with a parking ticket. However, when Lexy and I made it to our spots, we found an officer scribbling down onto a pad of paper next to my car.

"Hey! Wait!" I yelled at the top of my lungs, waving my hands frantically in the air and running at full speed towards the authority figure.

"I can't afford a ticket!" Lexy screamed, following suit.

"I'm here, please don't give me a ticket," I reasoned with the officer, just as I approached him.

The cop seemed young, a cadet who just graduated from Police Academy. Surely he could understand my situation as I was positive that he was once in my place too. But my thoughts were just thoughts and this officer didn't want to be swayed.

"Ma'am, your meter is clearly overdue," he spoke, "I'm sure you know how one works. Maybe next time you'll know to always add more change to give you a bigger allotted time."

"I'm sorry, it won't happen again! I'm new to this town, and still trying to get used to everything," I tried to persuade him.

I couldn't afford a stupid parking ticket. My mind was running around in circles, trying to figure out how to convince him to put his pad of tickets away. When I turned my head over to Lexy for some support, did I have to do a triple take. Her red work shirt was suddenly untucked from her jeans and was folded upwards, showing off her toned stomach-- I need to lay off the Hot Cheetos.

"Officer," Lexy began, strutting towards the man in uniform and practically draping her body on top of my car, "we promise to never do this again," she squeezed his arm, "we've learned our lesson."

Lexy batted her eyelashes and bit her bottom lip seductively, and I swore she called the cop "daddy" at one point. Even I was a little turned on by Lexy's behavior, but either the officer was already in a committed relationship, or swung for the other team, it seemed like Lexy and I were both faced with an imminent parking ticket. Just as I was about to face my fate, did an unlikely hero step into the scene.

"Brett!"

Calum stood about a yard away with his arms crossed above his chest. He gave Officer Brett a head nod and then another nod that cued the young cop to saunter over to Calum. I watched with narrowed eyebrows as the two males bantered. I looked over to Lexy who was still sprawled on the hood of my car, but had her eyes clued to Calum and the cop. About two minutes later Officer Brett returned.

"Hey," Lexy bit her lip again.

"I'm sorry for the miscommunication ladies," he apologized and my jaw dropped. "There will be no tickets handed out today. Welcome to Percival Shores, ma'am and have a good day."

And just like that, Officer Brett walked away, towards his motorcycle parked a few feet away. I was stunned, absolutely mind blown by whatever sorcery Calum conducted. I looked over to the tattooed boy who was already walking away. I jogged after him, wanting to thank him for his kind deed.

"Hey Calum!" I approached the boy, slowing my speed down to a fast walk. "Thanks for saving our asses."

Calum shrugged, "its whatever. Brett and I are old friends."

"What did you tell him?" I asked, looking up at the tall boy who never seemed to make eye contact with me, and instead kept his vision straight ahead.

"Nothing," Calum suddenly came to a halt, as did I. He seemed angry for some reason and when he opened his mouth to speak, there was an annoyance to his tone, "just remember that the cops around here are more strict with stupid shit like parking meters and jay walking. Not much crime happens so the police department needs something to do."

"Oh, um, okay, I'll remember that for next time," I quipped, cowering away.

Calum didn't say anything and instead walked away, leaving me confused as ever. But before he turned the corner, he looked over his shoulder and yelled, "I saved your ass twice already, not sure if I can spare a third."

Holy shit. He saved my brother. 

✖ ✖

Hello! It's been forever since I've last updated and I'm sorry! Even though I had this story pretty developed, I had yet to create a chapter by chapter to keep the flow of events more organized.

I hoped you liked this chapter, and got to know more about Aurora's family dynamic, as well as the introduction of Lexy. And yes! Ari Quiroz from DRUNK WORDS, SOBER THOUGHTS will be in this story from time to time, but not regularly. Please do vote for this chapter, comment what you think, and share this story with all your friends!! Thank you SO much!!