Chapter Text
The clinking of a keychain was muffled, barely audible to the blue haired teen as heavy rock music blared through her earbuds. Even when her earbuds weren't being used, the sound of her keys hitting each other never bothered her. Some days she'd drown it out, others she'd find a weird sense of comfort in the noises they made. The brisk morning air nipped at her face while she walked, suddenly thankful that Silco reminded her about wearing a hoodie out- her mood would have soured if she had to walk in the cold weather with only her crop top barely covering her midriff.
Jinx walked along the dirt path behind her neighborhood, eyes locked on the familiar wall of her best friend's backyard. She loudly set her skateboard on the ground, propping one end up with her foot on the other. Her cold fingers grabbed her phone from her hoodie pocket, typing a message to her friend as quickly as her almost numb fingers would let her. The text was seven letters long, a simple 'outside' to let Ekko know she was waiting for him so they could ride to school together. Not even three minutes later, she saw his head pop over the brick wall with a dumb smile.
Jinx took an earbud out, turning down the volume of her music so she could hear him. She watched as Ekko quickly climbed over the wall, landing perfectly on his feet before he set his own skateboard down as well. Her lack of a greeting gave him pause as he glanced at her before nudging his head in the direction ahead of them. The both of them owned their own little beaten up cars, but mutually agreed that riding to school together was much more fun.
"Rough night?" Ekko called out, talking loudly over the sound of their boards moving against the dirt covered pavement. The amount of times they had both fallen because of small rocks getting caught under their wheels never failed to bring a smile to his face. A small first aid kit sat full at the bottom of his bag, knowing just how many times they ended up with something scrapped or bleeding.
"Something like that." Was her response, her voice lacking its usual enthusiasm. By now, he knew the telltale signs of something being wrong. Even when she was a bit down some days, she was never distant. He never pushed her to talk about what was on her mind, knowing from experience that it usually ended in a panic attack or her freaking out over voicing the thoughts in her head.
Ekko slowed down his board until it was slow enough for him to hop off of it. He put his arm out in front of her, gesturing for her to do the same. "Come on J, what's up? You're never this quiet." Jinx got off her board, watching as it quickly rolled away from them, knowing she'd pick it up once it stopped. She worried her chapped bottom lip between her teeth, eyebrows furrowing as her eyes darted around their area.
After a few seconds, she let out a quiet sigh. "They got released from prison recently, and my dad said they want to see me." Jinx's lips closed in a firm line. Ekko was a bit surprised. He knew Jinx's siblings would be back eventually, but he never realized just how soon. "Do you want to see them?" He asked, his eyes darting between her and the path in front of him to prevent himself from running into something. Jinx's eyes fell down to her shoes, the same pair she had had for years that were now half duck-tape and half the original shoes.
Her response was quiet, and Ekko had almost missed her sentence. "I don't think I want to." Jinx avoided his gaze, guilt gnawing at her for her decision. "It's been years since the incident, but it still feels too soon." She shrugged, her keys clinking together aggressively at the motion. Ekko nodded, sympathizing with his best friend. "Then they just have to wait until you're ready. Now come on, if we get there early enough, we can find something to spray paint." A small fraction of Jinx's normal smile grew on her face, shaking her head as she picked up her brightly painted board.
The rest of their morning before school started consisted of Jinx and Ekko spray painting the boy's bathroom on the third floor of the school. Their creative activity proved to be a good distraction for Jinx, and she almost completely forgot about the earlier topic. The can rattled in her hand as she shook it aggressively, bringing it towards the dirty stall door to add another random shape in a bright blue. Neither had been paying much attention to anything other than their spray cans and the semi-quiet music blaring from Jinx's phone.
The blue haired teen was half way done with her current painting: a blue heart with an angry red face messily scrawled atop it. Both her and Ekko froze once the bathroom door had opened. Jinx's blue braid almost whipped her in the face with how quickly she turned her head towards the door. The school's Vice President, Ezreal Lymere, stood in the doorway. His jaw dropped and his eyes widened at the sight of the frozen teens with paint cans in their hands. The walls and stalls were covered in various shapes and colors, even some phrases of things the blonde would never even think about repeating aloud.
As Ezreal ran back outside, Jinx rushed to grab her phone and her bag, shoving what paint cans would fit inside before zipping it up and quickly slinging it over her shoulder. Her foot tapped impatiently on the tiled floor as Ekko followed her movements. The both of them were quietly laughing, adrenaline kicking in as Ekko swung open the bathroom door and Jinx quickly stepped out, getting ready to make a run for it. Her plans were brought to a surprising hault as she came face to face with a stunned Luxanna Crownguard.
The student body president's wide eyes showed surprise, and a bit of fear, obviously not expecting someone to come rushing out of the bathroom. Their blue eyes were locked on each other, a wild smile plastered on Jinx's face as she stared at the blonde beauty. Down the hallway, Ezreal was quickly walking towards them with a staff member and security. Jinx was ripped away from Lux by Ekko grabbing her arm and pulling her behind him.
The two started running, hearing the shouts from the staff member and the chasing footsteps from the security guard. The staircase was unnecessarily big, and she knew the quickest way down. With her bag tightly secured to her body, Jinx hopped over the railing, her hands gripping tightly to the blue metal as her feet met with the bottom. Looking up, she could see the security guard getting closer, but her eyes locked with Lux's again. Ezreal was trying to get her attention, hugging her close to him, assuming that she was likely scared or hurt from the encounter. With a slight raise of her eyebrows, Jinx dropped down onto the stairs below her, Ekko landing next to her.
Her heart beat wildly in her chest as they continued to run, dodging in between students and lockers, sliding down railings and hopping over ledges. Mutually deciding to skip school for the day sometime during the chase, they ran out of the school, not slowing down until the large building was out of sight. Jinx laughed loudly, failing miserably to catch her breath as she leaned against a brick wall. Ekko chuckled lightly, sitting on the ground to catch his own breath. He stared up at his friend, amused by her usual behavior.
Jinx pressed a hand to her chest, her laughter barely ceasing enough for her to gasp for air. "Fuck that was, that was-" Another gasp of air was taken in by her as her wide eyes danced around the area they were at. The street corner, a block away from the main shopping district. "That was fun, I gotta admit." Ekko stood up, dusting himself off and shaking his head. "I forgot how much of an adrenaline junky you are-" Ekko was cut off by Jinx, a bad habit she unfortunately picked up from her sister when she was younger. "Gods did you see her? She was so beautiful." Jinx gushed for a moment, her hand idly touching her cheek as she recalled her first ever run-in with Luxanna Crownguard.
Ekko scoffed, laughing at his friend's random rambling. Taking his pocket watch out of his coat, he checked the time. "Why don't we go to the diner for breakfast? Kill some time before the mall opens or something." He shrugged, finally snapping Jinx out of her 'gay daze' and bringing her attention back to him. "Yeah, sure. I could go for some breakfast now." She shrugged, taking one step before her shoulders slouched forwards. "Ekko." Her mouth slightly opened in disbelief before she started laughing again. "What's up?" An eyebrow raised as he slipped the mechanical watch back into his pocket. "We forgot our skateboards in the bathroom." Jinx's palm came up, planting in the middle of her forehead. "Fuck." He groaned, leaning back and scrunching his eyes closed.
Despite their skateboards pretty much matching their personalities, there lied another problem. In the middle of each of their boards on the underside, were their names, brightly displayed in pink and green respectively. In the midst of their panic to run off with the paint evidence, they accidentally left behind the most damning pieces. No matter how they tried to spin it, they'd likely either get suspended or charged with vandalism. Both options would lead to Silco not being very happy with his daughter, and Jinx fully knew it.
With a groan, she held her head in her hands. Maybe he'd see it as her acting out because of the recent news? No, it wouldn't be the first time she would get in trouble for spray painting with Ekko, Silco would know better. Internally, she intensely argued with herself. Angry voices bouncing back and forth in her mind, yelling at her as she tried to think. Ekko gently grabbed her wrists, pulling her hands away from her head, keeping a firm grasp on her. "Why don't we just go get breakfast, yeah? We can think of some story over food."
Jinx nodded, hesitantly lifting her head up to glance around, focusing on a few different things to ground herself. She was more than grateful that Ekko always just somehow vaguely knew what she was thinking. Wiping at her face, she nodded again, her hands falling to her sides once Ekko let go of her. The pair started their way towards the diner, silently praying that the school wouldn't call their guardians until after they were at least half-way through their breakfast.
The diner was almost vacant when they entered, save for a few workers and possible truck drivers. They sat at one of the booths towards the back of the diner, Jinx leaning her head on the table with a groan. Her head was too full, full enough that she felt it might explode, and not in a good way. Her eyes were screwed shut as she eagerly attempted to keep her rushing thoughts at bay, not wanting to embarrass herself and cause a scene in the middle of the diner. After a few moments, a waiter brought over two menus, letting Ekko know to wave him over when they were ready to order.
Jinx sat up once the waiter was gone, grabbing the menu that Ekko was handing her quietly. "I doubt he'll even be mad with you, he wasn't that upset last time we got caught spray painting that store." Jinx visibly deflated in her seat, eyes scanning the laminated book for anything interesting. "That's because last time the cop took the bribe and left without handcuffing us, plus I promised him it wouldn't happen again." Jinx roughly kicked the seat in front of her from under the table, barely missing Ekko's leg.
As if he knew he was being talked about, Jinx's phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling out the device, she grimaced, reading the contact name. "He's calling me, should I pick up?" With a worried expression, she looked up at Ekko. He shrugged, quickly checking his own phone for any missed calls or messages from Benzo. "Benzo hasn't tried contacting me yet, maybe it's not about the school?" His tone failed to be hopeful, causing Jinx to groan and roll her eyes. Her teeth nipped at her chapped bottom lip as she anxiously watched the call stop, the familiar picture of her lockscreen showed. A picture of her, Silco, and her Aunt Sevika around a small fire, taken not even a month ago.
"Maybe you're right, maybe it's not about the school. Maybe he was in a serious accident and I just purposefully ignored his call and now he's dead." Jinx's breathing picked up slightly as she mumbled, scrambling to pick up her phone. "That's ridiculous J, I'm sure he's fine." Ekko was used to her unpredictable, panicked rambling, but sometimes it mildly confused him. Before she could open the phone app to return his call, a message popped up at the top. She read it a few times over before letting out a relieved sigh.
Dad<3: I know you are probably in class at the moment, I apologize for the sudden phone call. Please call me back when you can, it's important.
Jinx set her phone on the table face up, shutting it off and rolling her eyes. "It's not about the school, but I'm sure it's about them." As if her day and her luck couldn't get any worse. She roughly rubbed her temples, her nails scratching against her skin every few seconds. "I'll be right back." With a groan, she stood up, phone in hand, and walked out of the diner. The parking lot next to the business seemed quiet enough for her to fake being in school, so she figured it would be good enough. A shaky sigh left her mouth as she opened her call log and pressed on Silco's contact. The ringing made her more and more anxious as it continued, but thankfully it wasn't for very long.
"Hello sweetheart, thank you for returning my call." Hearing Silco's voice instantly hushed away her earlier panicked thoughts of him being harmed. "It...wasn't a problem, what's up? What happened?" She hoped her nervousness wasn't easily detected over the phone, but Jinx was almost certain that it was. Maybe it was because he adopted her so young, but without even saying anything he always seemed to know how she was feeling.
Jinx leaned against the brick wall, crossing an arm over herself in attempts to warm herself up, her hoodie not doing much anymore. It was silent for a moment, long enough for Jinx to pull her phone away from her ear, briefly wondering if she had gotten hung up on.
"It's about your sister and brothers. I know we kind of discussed it last night, but unfortunately there have been some last minute changes." Silco sounded almost apologetic as he spoke, as if he knew Jinx would end up being upset with him.
"What changes?" Her anxiousness doubled now. No matter how she felt about them, she worried that something might have happened.
"Vander's car broke down on his way to drive here to pick them up, it will be in the shop for about a week. I would take them if I could, but my car is too small, and we both know yours wouldn't make the trip." He paused, giving Jinx a moment to think. Dread settled in her stomach as she came to quick conclusions, her mind jumping from one thing to the next.
"We have that spare room, and the couches are big enough, so they'll be staying with us until Vander is able to come get them." Jinx paused, a scoff leaving her mouth as she tried to process what he had just told her.
"You're joking, right? I mean, we just went over this last night, I didn't want to see them yet, and now I'll probably be stuck at home for the next few days with them?" In the midst of her rambling, she hadn't realized she accidentally told on herself. Jinx prided herself on not being a liar, so she knew she'd have to come clean earlier than she would've liked. Tears pricked at the corner of her eyes and she brought her free hand up to rest her head against.
"I know Jinx, and I apologize, but no one has the money to spare for them to stay anywhere else until he can drive down," Silco cut himself off, something interrupting him. It was only a few seconds, but the next thing he said only worsened her mood. "Why is your school calling me?" He didn't sound angry, however, Jinx could tell that he was probably closing his eyes and rubbing his temple - something he often did when he was stressed.
Jinx nervously laughed, knowing she was a horrible liar and could never keep things from him for long. "I may have done something earlier today, and they may be calling you about it." She heard him sigh over the phone, but before he could continue, she started rambling. "Although you definitely don't have to answer them, you know? I'm sure I'm not in that much trouble, and maybe that's not even why they're calling-" A loud, blaring horn was heard on both ends of the phone, and Jinx grimaced. She would've gotten away with pretending to be at school, if traffic hadn't slightly picked up.
There was silence for a moment, but she could hear rustling and voices in the background. "You're not at school, are you?" It was less of a question, and more of a 'i already know, but confirm my suspicions anyways' type of question. Jinx tried her best to shrink into herself, feeling the bubbling urge to hang up and run away from everything and everyone. "No, I'm not." She confirmed, her voice soft and meek, afraid that she would get scolded or yelled at.
A deep sigh was heard and Jinx knew he was frustrated. "Let me call your school and deal with that for now. Are you at least safe?" More rustling was heard and she physically nodded before remembering that he couldn't see her. "I'm safe. Ekko and I are getting breakfast." Even when he was in a bad mood, he still worried about her well-being. "I will call you after I get off the phone and you will explain to me what happened, I love you, enjoy your breakfast." Jinx let out a soft 'love you too' before hanging up.
Dropping her arm to her side, Jinx tightly shut her eyes. Her whole week had been terrible so far and she could tell it was only going to get worse from here. With a heavy sigh, Jinx walked back into the diner, her mood likely ruined for the rest of the day. At least she could try to enjoy this last 'peaceful' meal before it all came crashing down again.