Bike Troubles - Roxy Attn: Any

[Roxy Rivera]

"Oh," Roxy said when he corrected her Spanish which was actually really Portuguese. She felt sort of silly, not even knowing the difference between the two languages but Roxy had never really paid attention to Spanish like she knew that her father wished that she did. If she had, she probably at least would have recognized what he was speaking as not Spanish. Oh well...he'd called her sweetheart...and had that look in his eye. Roxy once again was caught in-between trying to figure out if he was flirting or treating her like a little kid. Yeah...she really needed to start acting and dressing more mature. Thad and Ezzie were great, but they were immature...and that was fun...but Roxy had other interests too.

Roxy listened as he taught her some words of his language. She repeated them and while she was fine with the pronunciations, she doubted she'd remember them. She had the same problem with Spanish. He accent was impeccable...it was just the remembering what to say part that always tripped her up.

At one point Felipe stopped so Roxy stopped too and watched him as he looked out at the beach. She'd passed it so many times before that she had never really bothered to stop and really look. He compared it to the ocean in Brazil and Roxy had never been there so she couldn't really relate. "Yeah, it is nice," she commented simply. "I like places with really blue water though...like that crystal clear blue water like they have in Hawaii or the Caribbean." Roxy had never been to Hawaii but she'd seen pictures and knew that the water was like that. She had been to parts of the Caribbean and to Puerto Rico though and could confirm the crystal clear blue water there.

"Yep," she said, when he asked if she'd always lived in California. "Neither of my parents are from here originally though--they met here. My mom is from Colorado and my dad was born in Puerto Rico but he's lived in Florida most of his life," she said. "Have you lived in Brazil all your life? Well, until now at least?" she asked, still staring out at the beach that she so often took for granted.

[felipe]

Felipe nodded. "Yes. I was born in the house that I grew up in. We never moved from it until now and so it was hard for me to leave that all behind but..." He threw Roxy a bright smile. "... I have no regrets. Life has to move onwards and upwards for it to be even the slightest bit interesting and I have certainly found plenty to interest me here in California."

"As for the Caribbean. I've never been there but it looks amazing." He drew in a deep breath. "How's that tyre holding up?" He reached down to squeeze the wheel. It was still fully inflated. "Looks ok. We might just make it. Actually... do you have to go directly home? The beach looks so welcoming... Do you feel like a short walk? I'll even treat you to an ice cream as thanks for your company..." Felipe offered Roxy his best smile in the hopes of winning her over. After all, household chores and homework awaited him and he'd do anything to put that off for as long as he could. And besides, Roxy was fun to be around...

[Roxy Rivera]

"Yeah, me too," Roxy said. "I've pretty much always lived in my house too. It would be weird picturing moving," she said, "especially so far. "Why did you move?" she asked, wondering if it was because of his parents' jobs or something. She knew that that was the main reason most people moved--for work. Although he had mentioned a lot of gang violence where he used to live, so perhaps that had something to do with it too.

"Yeah, it's super nice," Roxy said. "I've been to Puerto Rico a few times to visit family and stuff and I went to the Bahamas once too," she said. "It's pretty far from here though--a really long fight," she told him.

"Great," she said when he checked her tire. "I'm glad its holding up. I'll have to get a new one though," she said with a shrug. "Nah, I don't really have anything pressing there," she said. "I could go for a walk," she said. "Look we can lock up our bikes over there," she said pointing to a tree. As much as Roxy wanted to look and start acting more mature, the kid in her who loved spontaneous cotton candy outings also loved spontaneous ice cream outings. Plus, she was hungry.

[felipe]

They secured their bikes and then headed down onto the sand. Only then did Felipe answer her question. "My parents," he finally said. "Well, my dad really, I guess. He's a dentist. He's always wanted to have his own practice and that wasn't possible in Brazil. The openings for such an enterprise just don't exist. The onyl way for him to see through his dream was to cross the border and come to the USA. The Land of Opportunity," he added with a grin down at Roxy. "It was hard leaving everything and everyone I'd ever known but once the decision had been made I told myself I would make the best of my new life. So far that seems to have happened. The Land of Opportunity," he repeated. "Only in the US would a pretty brunette need a knight in shining armour." He laughed. "Ok, maybe not a knight and definitely no armour... shining or not... but substitute that for a student and a bike pump and you get the idea."

Felipe laughed again before drawing in a deep lungful of salt-laden air. "The scene might be different but it is just as beautiful here in its own way." The sun had already started to dip down towards the horizon as the bike incident had delayed them leaving school. The surface of the sea had taken on a delicate orange hue that warmed it with an almost feral life. Beautiful...

They paused by an ice cream stand at the far end of the beach and Felipe rummaged in a pocket to pay for a cone each. "And a stick of chocolate in one," he added to the man. He passed that one to Roxy. "You deserve the extra for putting up with my endless chatter for so long," he told her.

They about-faced and set off back along the beach. By now Felipe had pulled off his boots and socks. The latter had been shoved inside the former and then the whole lot hung from his left hand by their laces. The sand felt good between his toes. "As you have lived here all your life you must have a good idea of what to do at the weekend... although I have been invited to go bowling on Sunday. A boy called Kian... Do you know him?"

[Roxy Rivera]

Roxy nodded when he told her about moving for his dad's business. "Yeah, it seems a lot of people end up doing that. My parents originally came out to LA for school and then my dad decided to do entertainment law so ended up staying in this area mostly because it makes sense." She didn't go into her mom pushing her into the field of acting and trying to make he famous because she didn't like to think about it. She smiled when he referred to her as pretty. Maybe that had been flirting earlier. She liked the thought of that. It wasn't that she had a crush per say--after all, she'd only just met the guy, but he was definitely cute, really cute. "Well, trust me, it was a huge help," she grinned.

At the ice cream stand, Roxy couldn't help but be excited. Chocolate was after all one of the best ice cream flavors...maybe it wasn't as fancy as chocolate chip cookie dough or cookies and creame, but it was delicious to boot and you couldn't go wrong with good old chocolate. "Thanks, but I don't mind," she said. "You deserve the extra scoop for helping me out," she pointed out.

She'd taken her shoes and socks off too. She always loved the feel of walking barefoot on the sand. "Yeah, I guess," she said when he mentioned knowing what to do on the weekends. She usually hung out with her friends, or went shopping or hung out at the pier or something. "Oh yeah, I'm going bowling Sunday," she said. "I don't really know Kian--I know who he is but have never really hung out with him before, a ton of people are going though. I think it's like half the school. You should come," she told him.

[felipe]

"Fantastico! Then I will see you there as well," he replied with a bright smile. It would help to know someone other than Kian... and Jessica, too, of course... if she could make it. Felipe made a mental note to drop by her house tomorrow if she still hadn't replied to his text. Sure, it might smack of stalking and desperation but he was concerned about her lack of response. It wasn't like her to ignore his messages and while he also knew Jessica to be on the unpredictable side he'd be unable to rest until he knew she was alright.

Manyana... He'd go and find out in person tomorrow.

"I have only recently met Kian," Felipe assured her. "I went to join a fencing school and he was already there. He helped me out and we ended up having a few bouts with sabres. He seems very friendly... I'm sure you will like him. I gather our mutual friend... Takumi, was it?... will also be going as well as quite a lot of other people from school. It should be fun and I'm looking forward to maing some more friends.

He finished the last part of his ice cream and threw Roxy a grin. "You have some on your..." Felipe half went to dab at the tip of Roxy's nose, laughing uncertainly and hesitating a couple of times. He finally wiped the ice cream off and showed her his coated index finger. "See?" he said on a laugh.

With a reluctant sigh he glanced at his watch. "I Have to head for home soon. Do you live far from here? Would you like me to see you all the way back?"

[Roxy Rivera]

"Yeah, well there are like a ton of people going from what I hear," she said when he explained how he met Kian. "Yeah, I think Taki does know him. Takumi...that might be it," Roxy said a little unsure. "I can't remember what he introduced himself as...everyone calls him Taki...except Thad, he calls him Taxi sometimes," Roxy explained. She didn't know the boy that well anyone. She'd only hung out with him twice. "But yeah, he's definitely going. He said he was this morning," Roxy confirmed.

"Yeah, that's definitely the place to go to meet people, well at least this Sunday it is. I swear they're like going for the record, trying to see how many people from school they can get to converge in one place," she said. From what she heard, it seemed that literally everyone was going to be there. It was pretty crazy.

Roxy felt a little embarrassed when he wiped the ice cream off her nose. "Oops," she said with a shrug, laughing the embarrassment away. Roxy didn't really embarrass easy anyway and when she did, she usually overcame it with a laugh and pushing the thought from her mind. She was pretty good at that. "Well, thanks," she said, checking her nose to make sure he'd gotten it all. All clean.

Roxy was enjoying hanging out with the older boy but if he had to be home she didn't want to distract him by making him go out of his way. "Nah, I'm not too far from here. Even if the tire bursts it wouldn't be a long walk home," she told him. "If you need to go, that's fine." She understood having to be home at certain times. She often had curfews...she just usually broke them or when she did make them, she'd sneak out afterward, or at least over to Thad's house since that was easy. Roxy thought it was fun to break the rules. Anything she could do that her parents wouldn't like, she did.

Tag for Wrap?

[felipe]

Felipe nodded slightly when Roxy assured him she'd be ok from here. "Then I bid you farewell, querida," he said with a totally over-the-top sweeping bow. He ruined it completely by grinning up at Roxy at the same time. "Look," he added, bedning down lower to scoop up a particularly pretty shell. A small mollusc at a guess but one cleaned to a shimmer by the sea and grains of sand. Inside was a coating of the plaest ivory-blue.

He straightened and held it out to Roxy. "There's a tale amongst my people. A legend... Many centuries ago a Terena tribesman found a shell not disimilar to this. A beautiful girl had been imprisoned inside the shell. Her crime was to be unable to return the love of the magician who cast the spell. Instead she loved a poor farmer. The farmer didn't even notice the shell outside the door to his home and the years passed... The shell became buried and the girl along with it, trapped for ever and remaining ageless as her punishment yet always able to hear the voice of her lover as he passed by every single day. He died, of course, as did generations after him... until the tribesman picked up the shell... Maybe just as I did with this one? Anyway, he took the shell inside the house and cleaned it of the centuries of sand. It was as he was polishing it that he found a weakness in the spell. The magician had sealed it with the command that should anyone find the shell and love it for what it was then the girl would be freed."

He shrugged slightly. "The tribesman was the great great great grandson of her lover. He and the girl fell deeply in love and, so the story goes, had a long life together... with at least 20 children. I find that part to be perhaps the most unbelievable of the entire legend," he finished with a laugh.

"So keep this... Maybe you'll find inside whatever it is you are wanting, Roxy."

He reached up to touch the side of her face before jogging along the beach and back to where he'd left his bike. Donning his boots (and not bothering with his socks which were stuffed into his pack) he headed for home. He hoped the shell would prove lucky...

(wrapped - and thanks! )