Kyle Rasco's Arc

Chapter 2 of 5

Kyle woke in the back of his battered truck the next morning. Alysse's words still sat in his chest. She would leave in three days, and she would not teach for free. He had no money. He counted the coins in his cup holder and stopped at four. Skating could not save him now. He needed cash, and he needed it before she boarded her ship. He found a place that promised work behind glass doors. Inside, hopeful people filled every chair. A clerk slid a form across the counter. Kyle stared at the boxes for a home address and left them blank. The clerk read his blank lines. "Come back when you're settled," she said, not unkindly. Kyle walked out with nothing. Three days shrank to two by the time he reached his truck. He drove past a grand cabin with steep roofs and snow along its rails. He'd seen it before. A wolf-dog rested on the wide porch, gray and tan, wearing a patched harness. A faint sparkle drifted from its nose like dust in sunlight. The animal watched Kyle without fear. He slowed the truck. He thought about begging for odd jobs. Then he thought about Alysse's laugh, and his hands turned the wheel away. He made his choice right there. He would not chase money. He would chase her. He spent his last coins on flowers. Pink blooms, big and bright, tied with green stems. He drove to the arena and found Alysse stretching on the shifting floor. Her eyebrow ring caught the light when she looked up. Kyle held out the bouquet like a shield. "I can't pay you," he said. "The job office turned me away. I've got nothing." He set the flowers in her hands. "But I don't want the lessons if it means you leave and I never see you again. I want you to stay. That's the truth." Alysse went still. She smelled the flowers, then looked at him for a long moment. "You spent your last money on this," she said. Her voice was soft, but her jaw was tight. "Yeah." "That was stupid, cowboy." She pushed the bouquet back into his chest. "I've slept in trucks too. I've been where you are. So hear me. You just traded your championship for a girl who's still leaving." Kyle's stomach dropped. "You're still going?" "My ship doesn't wait for feelings." She gathered her bag and slung it over her shoulder. At the tunnel she stopped. "However, maybe I’ve been on the road too long too.” She came back and accepted the flowers. “Do you like Italian food?”