Chapter Text
Finney stood in the mirror, shirt off because he had just taken a shower. He stared at his chest, eyes burning.
Finneys chest wasn't flat. They had small lumps of fat on them that nobody noticed because of the baggy shirts he wore, along with the tape he would put around his chest. It hurt, but it was worth it.
Anything that made him pass as a boy was worth it.
Finney walked on the sidewalk, eyes stuck to his shoes as he walked. His mom didnt have enough to but for new ones, and his were now ripped so badly that even the worst fashion designer wouldn't like it.
"That shit was dope!" A blonde yelled, dabbing some Japanese kid up as he stopped his board. The Japanese boy laughed, picking up his board as a store owner came out.
Finney only knew two of the boys over there. Robin, and Billy. Billy was the paperboy and Robin was a worker at the drive in and a the brother of one of Gwen's friends.
He didn't know the rest, but God did he want to be them so bad. He wishes he was older so that he could fit in, drinking, smoking, skating, staying out late, all of that.
His brother, Mica, always said people like that are pussies, always backing down when they're met with confilict. Anytime Finney asked for him to elaborate, He didn't answer.
B̶u̶t̶ h̶i̶s̶ b̶r̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ a̶l̶s̶o̶ b̶e̶a̶t̶ t̶h̶e̶ c̶r̶a̶p̶ o̶u̶t̶ o̶f̶ h̶i̶m f̶o̶r̶ b̶r̶e̶a̶t̶h̶i̶n̶g̶ w̶r̶o̶n̶g̶,̶ s̶o̶.̶
The shop owner showed them away from the front of the store, claiming that they were making customers leave and not wanna come.
"Nobody wants to come yo wackass shop anyways! Who the hell sells records for 50 when you can get the same ones from a garage sale for 5?" Robin laughed, grabbing his board.
"Robin." The boy called out, beginning to walk away. Robin turned around once, doing a double take before leaving with the Japanese boy and the others.
"Bruce, come on! I was just joking with the dude." Robin laughed again.
Finney had heard that name before. Bruce... Bruce Yamada? Something like that.
The Japanese boy, Bruce, turned around and looked at the boy for a second, before nodding to him, earning a nod from Finney.
He is so cool. Finney thought, biting his lip slightly. He stared at the boys walk down the street, joking and laughing, until they were out of sight. He began to walk back home, steps speeding up as he realized he had 20 minutes to get home.
⏤͟͟͞͞⬤
Finney flopped down on his back, opening a magazine he snuck into his backpack at a corner store. It was about skateboards and skating. He smiled as he thought about being the people in the pictures, thinking about being famous for a hobby that anyone could get into.
His dad always said they never had enough for a skateboard, and that he could just use one of his brothers old ones.
He laughed at that.
As if his brother would even let him go into his room, let alone take anything. Mica hated when Finney went into his room.
He found that out the hard way.
Finney flipped to the next page, reading a interview of some famous skater. Maybe he could try to take steal one.. Sometimes the skate park is basically empty, and people leave their boards in the middle of the park, or on the steps.
Everyone's board was always black, or had some designs on their grip tape made from paint or stickers. His brother let Gwen color on his, so it had a spider web design.
Mica was always nicer to Gwen. He didn't hit Gwen like he did to Finney. They were closer then Finney could ever be with Gwen. When Finney turned 13, she started departing herself from him.
Like he had some sort of disease.
He kept Reading the magazine until he reached the end of it, reading the back too.
The skate life seemed cool.
⏤͟͟͞͞𓆸
Finney stood in front of the skateboard shop, hesitating to open the door. What if they laughed at him, and called him names?
Stop being a bitch, his mind told him. He was bullied at school so what would that do to him? Make him cry?
That's funny.
He mustered up the confidence and opened the door, walking over to the counter. There were bottoms on skate things on the wall. That's what his brother called them because he didn't know.
The boys didn't even acknowledge him, just sitting together watching a skating documentary.
"That's Paris, dude." Bruce acknowledged. "And they're sponsored. Eating nice dinners, staying in nice hotels.." He mumbled, sitting forward in his chair.
"I've been to France before." The blonde one said, sitting back in his chair, sniffling.
"Yeah, but you went with your parents, like.. Imagine if that was us!" Bruce hummed turning to the blonde as he talked.
He turned back to the TV and kept watching. Finney turned back to the counter, opening a magazine on the counter and reading it.
⃢𖨆
Finney grabbed the posters of nasa on his wall, cringing physically as he peeled them off. He had more room for them, but he wanted to put cooler posters up.
Like, skating posters.
He picked up a skating poster, about the same size as his others, and began to stick them over his headboard. He would wake up to this now, and not a spaceship shooting off Into air.
He smiled lightly, grabbing more to put on the wall. They were smaller then the one over his headboard, so he had more room to put up his wall.
While putting them up, he felt someone watching him, their eyes burning into the back of his head. He turned around and saw Robin. He had forgotten he was dropping sister of for Gwen.
"Hey Finney." Robin smiled, waving. Finney waved back, lightly, not wanting to seek like he was excited. "You like skating?" Robin asked, crossing his arms as he leaning on the door frame.
Finney nodded, jumping down from his bed and walking over to the boy. "I was gonna ask you something about that.."
Finney Mummered, lookin up at the boy.
Robin tilted his head, gesturing for him go on.
Finney smiled. "I was wondering if you could hook me up with a board..? My dad said that we don't have enough to buy one and we're kinda close so I was just th-" Finneys rant got cut off by Robin.
"Sure," He said with a nod. And after that, without any words, he left. Finney smiled wider, closing his door so he could celebrate without being caught.
"Yes!" He squealed, jumping up and down.
⃝𖤓
After Robin got him a board, Finney barely stayed in the house. He didn't have time, he needed to practice tricks.
They weren't easy, no, but he tried. He would turn down party Invitations and started doing his chores more eager to go outside and skate.
He would skate in the backyard or the driveway, both of them being mostly Concrete. He found some empty space behind the stores that everyone shopped at.
There was almost always a man in a black Van there, watching him as he skated. He offered to give Finney a ride a couple times, which Finney accepted once of twice. Everytime he denied, the made would follow him home, thinking Finney didn't see his car out the corner of his eye.
He didn't skate their if the man was there after that.
He would noticed Robin coming to his house, seeing him through the sliding door, and watching he skate for a bit before leaving.
"Finney, can you help me with my chores?" Mica asked, walking into Finney's room as he pulled his shirt on.
Finney shook his head, picking up his board after sliding on his beanie. "I'm going outside." Finney mumbled, walking to the door.
His brother grabbed his hair, yanking it back before he could walk away. "Tranny." He mumbled into the boys ear before letting go of his hair, pushing his away.
Finney rubbed his scalp and grimaced at the pain, walking to the sliding door this led to the back yard.
"Fuck him." Finney mumbled, dropping his board before closing the sliding door.
He slid his headphones on, putting his Walkman into his front pocket.