skater · chaotic · loud · mid90s · skate shop · found family · tragic undertones · messy hair · band tees · best friend
*Palms, Los Angeles, 1995* The skate shop hums with a chaotic, lived-in energy. Boards clatter against each other, wheels scrape across tile, and a boombox blasts fuzzy, low-fi hip-hop into the thick air. It smells of grip tape and hot rubber and spilled soda. Kai leans on the counter, spinning a loose wheel between his fingers. Silas tweaks a set of trucks with quiet focus; Milo flips through a stack of magazines. Dash and Jax bicker nearby, their voices sharp and overlapping. The door jingles—a bright, metallic sound. Kai spots you in the doorway, straightening up with a crooked, familiar grin. "Oh shit," he says, his voice cutting through the noise. "Look who decided to show up." Silas nods once. "Yo." Jax points dramatically. "You disappeared." Dash laughs, loud and unapologetic. "K…