Survival Of The Fittest

((Blair Moore continued from Stuck))\

...Damn, she looked good.

Blair was a casual rollerblade enthusiast, but you'd hardly guess it from watching. Despite her health issues (having recently overcome a pretty unpleasant bout of some-bronchial-infection-with-an-unpronounceable-name), Blair tried to keep reasonably active when she could, since it helped keep her lungs clear of the gunk buildup. Skating was her method of choice, since it was fairly aerobic and didn't require as much upper body strength as, say, football.

Plus, it was fun as hell. That feeling of movement and lightness from moving so fast, plus the thrill of nailing a trick, it was invigorating. But the thing taking up most of Blair's thoughts as she strapped on her skates wasn't any of that crap; it was her new look.

Blair's fauxhawk was now dyed a vibrant shade of pink, right between rose-colored and hot pink. The stripe down her scalp was newly added, and Blair couldn't be happier with it. After all that shit with Miley, she was glad such a stylish look came out. As usual, Blair made crap work. Turning her head as she winced in the glaring sun, Blair took a brief moment to appreciate the feel of her almost shoulder-length hair brushing her neck. Ah, how she'd missed it. The maintenance was a pain in the ass, but it was worth it.

Once she was done strapping in, Blair stood and glided easily towards the half-pipe. She planned to get in some more practice with her airing, since right now she wasn't quite sticking the landing. Falling hurt, but screwing up techniques hurt worse, so Blair was going to keep at it.

As she built up momentum on the curves, Blair narrowed her gaze in preparation for the actual trick. As she kicked off, Blair crouched, clenched her fists, and slid up over the edge...

Twisting in midair, Blair felt a sudden rush of glee and thrill as she landed perfectly, gliding down the slope and partway up the other. "Aw yeah!" She exclaimed as she executed a t-stop and slid to a halt in the middle of the half-pipe.

Glancing around, though, Blair found the glee slowly being replaced with pique. Nobody was around. The sun was out, but winter wasn't quite gone yet, so the temperature was in the mid-60s. Blair didn't care much, being that heat made her sweat and when she sweat things got bad, but other people generally preferred warmth when outdoors.

...Damn, that kinda killed her enthusiasm. Why bother doing showy tricks if nobody's there to admire your skill? Blair made her way to the nearby bench and sat down with a thud, feeling slightly dejected that the only witness to her perfect trick was, well, her.

Mitch watched the unusual looking girl flop down on the bench.  He knew she hadn't seen him watching her; he had come to the arena via a little used trail containing many boulders and lots of scrub brush, which offered him much concealment as he approached.  He was surprised at her level of skill, considering her frail appearance.  At first, seeing her warm up, he had thought her just another "Weekend Warrior", someone who just got in the way of those who were seriously involved in skating or boarding.  However, when she finished up with a trick it had taken him many practice attempts to learn, his first impression was eclipsed by a healthy dose of admiration for her pluck and skill.  

Blair, he remembered, was her name.  Mitch had seen her around school, but had only been in one class with her.  He had thought her pretty stuck-up, having overheard several disparaging comments she had made about others in class, particularly one of the football players who really struggled with the difficult assignments they were given.  He had been angered at first, asking himself what gave her the right to put down someone for no reason at all, but he had heard she had some kind of disease or something, and wondered if being sick could cause someone to lash out at others - kind of a cornered animal type thing.

He looked around - almost no one in the park today, a result he supposed, of the cool weather.  Mitch figured he might as well talk to her.  After all, what's the worst that could happen?  He knew he could handle anything she had to say, and maybe she'd be nice, since she didn't know him well enough to insult him, yet.  With that thought, he emerged from the trail and walked quickly up to Blair.

"Hey, that was some stunt you just did!  I practiced for a long time before I could do it at all, and you mad it look easy!"  Remember me?  I'm Mitch, you know, from school?"

Oh, goodie. Someone was here now. Perfect time to show off. And even better, they were complimenting her! Blair smiled at the guy. He was...vaguely familiar, but she couldn't place it. Lucky for her, he was kind enough to introduce himself.

"Oh, hi Mitch. Yeah, it's no big deal." Blair's grin widened a bit. "I've been roller skating for a while. Since I was like, 12 I think." Blair casually brushed her hair back. It was nice to have shorter hair, she supposed. The spikiness felt nice against her hand, like petting a cat. God, who'd have thought Miley screwing with her would turn out well for Blair?

Standing up from the bench, Blair smiled coyly at Mitch. Looking at him, she'd found that something in face was startlingly appealing. His eyes, maybe, or the way he smiled...

Anyway, she thought he was cute. "What about you? Come here often?" She giggled, folding her hands behind her back. "Cheesy as hell, I know. Serious question, though." She stopped herself from pointing out the rhyme. Best to avoid getting too chatty.

They chatted for a while, about skating at first, then about other things; college, life, and so on.

Blair had always spent a lot of time thinking about her future. Having a lifespan-shortening disease did that. Blair was, at best, going to live to middle age, maybe later depending on medical advancements. So it wasn't like she was going to die anytime soon, hopefully, but it had always weighed on her that her expiration date was sooner than most of her classmate's. Ever since she'd been old enough to understand the ramifications, at least.

College was a big deal for Blair, a part of her bucket list really. She wanted to get a doctorate. People looking at her probably wouldn't expect it of her, with the hair and all, but Blair loved science. Bio was a big deal for her; she was basically a bio project, after all, the kind of person who would have a lot to say in A and P. Getting a degree and becoming respected in the field was a huge goal of hers.

Other goals? Get the fuck out of Kingman. The shitty little town had nothing left for her. She'd move, probably to New York City, and study there. After that, she wanted to live in some other countries. Great Britain was number one on her list. Doctor Who and all her friends in the UK made it sound wonderful, although she might have some trouble with the weather. She didn't really want to get married; tying herself to someone would be stupid with the whole 'I'm going to die sooner than later' deal.

She didn't go into that much detail though. As far as Mitch knew, she was just a random somewhat sickly girl with a penchant for skating, science and travel. He didn't need to know any more about her. After some thought, she decided he was cute, but not the brightest. She didn't ask him out, or say, 'see you around' because frankly she didn't think she liked him that much. After the initial excitement was over, she decided it was just the adrenaline.

She left a little earlier than usual. There were some blogs she needed to catch up on.

((Blair Moore continued in Poe's Poems Pwn Posers))