Chapter 1
The evening light was bleeding orange across the hallway floor. Trex grabbed his board, his grip tight on the grip tape, his mind already on the smooth concrete of the plaza where Brains and the others were waiting.
“Don’t,” Laisse’s voice cut through the air. She stood by the kitchen door, her arms crossed, watching him. “Not with them, Trex. Not tonight.”
Trex paused, his hand on the deadbolt. He didn’t turn around, but his posture stiffened, his shoulders squaring off in a way that—to anyone watching—looked disturbingly like a soldier bracing for an order. “You don’t get to choose who I see, Mom. They’re my friends. They’re the only ones who actually talk to me, not at me.”
“They’re a dead end, Trex! You’re going to end up just like them—nowhere to go, nothing to show for it.” Her voice climbed, desperate and sharp. “I’m trying to keep you on a path that leads somewhere.”
Trex finally turned, and his face was a mask of teenage frustration. He didn’t see the resemblance to the man in the headlines; he only saw his mother’s suffocating concern. “Maybe I don’t want to go where you think I should. Maybe I just want to skate.”
He pulled the door open, the sound of the city traffic rushing in like a tide. He didn’t look back as he stepped out, leaving her standing in the half-light.
The mood shifts as soon as Trex rolls in. The tension of the “quiet” city vanishes for a second, replaced by the jagged, effortless rhythm of the group.
Trex skated into the plaza, his wheels echoing off the rusted steel sculpture. Bill was already deep in a line, carving a tight circle around the fountain’s edge, her board rattling rhythmically against the stone. She didn’t stop for him, just shot him a sharp nod as she pivoted past.
Trevor was crouched on the concrete, his arm draped heavily over Brains’s shoulder, leaning in so close their heads were nearly touching. Brains was hunched over his flickering screen, his fingers dancing across a custom keypad, while Trevor squinted at the code, a thin stream of gray smoke trailing from the joint hanging loosely from his lips.
Trex hopped off his board, letting it clatter against the ground. He walked up, kicking the side of Trevor’s shoe.
“Get your head out of the clouds, man,” Trex muttered.
Trevor didn’t look up, just exhaled a cloud of smoke that drifted over Brains’s screen. “Brains is busy hacking the planet, kid. You’re lucky he’s letting us breathe his air.”
Brains didn’t even blink, his eyes locked on the lines of code. “Shut it, Trev.”
Trex leaned back against the steel sculpture, hooking his foot over his board. “My old lady was on my case again. Same shit. Told her to eat dirt.”
Trevor snorted, passing the joint to Trex. “She still on that ‘keep your nose clean’ trip? Man, your mom’s got more ‘don’t’ in her head than a prison guard.”
“Serious,” Trex said, taking a hit and letting the smoke burn his lungs before speaking. “She’s like a broken record. ‘Trex, don’t go out. Trex, stay away from those losers. Trex, the world’s watching.’”
“Watching?” Brains finally looked up, a manic grin splitting his face as he tapped the joint from Trex’s fingers. “Yeah, she’s right about that. The grid’s screaming tonight. Something’s poking around our neighborhood, sniffing for signals.”
“Your mom’s just scared, man,” Trevor added, elbowing Trex in the ribs. “Scared you’re gonna end up actually having a life instead of living in her dust. Don’t let that bitch kill your vibe.”
Bill rolled up then, jumping off her board with a heavy thud and walking over to join the circle. She took the joint from Brains, “Yoh! Trex!” she barks, a wide, crooked grin on her face. ” Just saw your moms—she was out there buying enough bleach to blind a man. I think she’s trying to wash this ‘squad smell’ out of your hoodies, fam!”
Brains and Trevor burst into howling laughter, the kind that makes their lungs hurt. Trex shakes his head, grinning despite himself as he snatches the joint back.
“She’s fighting a losing battle,” Trex mutters, exhaling a plume of smoke.
Trevor slaps a heavy hand on Trex’s back, his eyes scanning the golden-hour light washing over the alleyway entrance. He gestures broadly at the crew, the smoke, and the fading sun. “This is it, man. This is life. This is how we’re gonna live—no scripts, no rules, just us.”
He taps his board on the concrete, the sound sharp and defiant. “First one to the old depot at the end of the alley buys the next round of drinks. Winner takes everything.”
“You’re on, you idiot!” Bill yells, already dropping her board.
They don’t even wait for a countdown. All four of them explode into motion, their wheels screaming as they hit the asphalt. They weave through the narrow gap of the alley, a blur of hoodies and grit. They’re showing off now—Trevor grinding a rusted pipe with a reckless kick, Brains carving tight, impossible turns, and Bill and Trex racing side-by-side, bumping shoulders and laughing, their voices bouncing off the brick walls as they dive deeper into the shadows of the city.
For now, they are kings of the concrete, and the world— at the time they were just four kids who thought they were living in their own world
