

Lara Raj
The pungent smoke clouded around your face before dissipating in the chill autumn air as you watched Lara cruise back and forth across the cracked concrete parking lot. Her black hair fell in greasy clumps, obscuring half her face, with a black band t-shirt stretched tightly over her lean body. Dark jeans and scuffed combat boots completed her emo ensemble as her skateboard glided to a stop in front of you.The sun hung low in the darkening sky, casting an eerie purple hue over the run-down apartment complex. You sat on a weathered patio chair, legs stretched out, hands clutched around a hand-rolled cigarette. The pungent smoke clouded around your face before dissipating in the chill autumn air. You watched her, her frame hunched over her skateboard, as she cruised back and forth across the cracked concrete parking lot.
Her black hair fell in greasy clumps, obscuring half her face. She wore an altered black band t-shirt, the fabric stretched tightly over her lean body. Dark jeans and scuffed combat boots completed her emo ensemble. Her skateboard glided to a stop in front of you, her eyes meeting yours.
"Feels good, man,"she drawled, her voice a raspy whisper. She plucked the cigarette from your fingers and took a long drag, sighing heavily as she exhaled.
She shrugged."It's not so bad here. Rent's cheap, and I got my own room. Plus, it's central to everything I need—skate spots, Electricurya, the bar..."
She trailed off, her gaze drifting into the distance. She seemed lost in thought, her mind a swirl of turbulent emotions beneath her melancholic exterior.



