• As we pulled into the parking lot, my eyes were instantly drawn to the left. There it was; the holy grail of j-pop, goth and emo/punk fashion.
    Hot Topic.
    I squealed happily. I absolutely love Hot Topic. I'm very much into the J-pop fashion culture, like the decora and lolita. To me, it's a form of art; you can express your dark side, your cute side, your everything side. It seems to be more accepted in Japan, but I don't care. Forks is gonna have to get used to me, because that's my sense of style. They can call me a freak all they want, I am who I am. I heard Jaime squeal in the back seat. "Hot Topic!" she squealed.
    I'm such a good influence on her, I swear.
    I pulled into an empty spot that was a little far away from the store and parked, but we didn't care. We love a good challenge. We both got out of the car in a hurry and slammed the doors shut. I zig zagged through the parked cars, getting honked at by the ones that were trying to pull into the open spaces. As I was running across the street to the store, something from the right corner of my eye caught my attention. I turned towards it and realized it was a group of motorcycles, hurtling towards me. Everything suddenly moved as if it were in slow motion. "Get out of the way, b***h!" I heard someone shout over the roaring engine's of the motorcycles. "Roxanne!" I heard Jaime scream. The voices seemed so far away and distant, echoing in my ears. Fury rose up in my throat. I clenched my fists as they hurtled closer to me. When the red one in front, driven by a skinny black man, was two feet away, my mind went blank; I leaped high into the air and swung my legs straight up, kicking the rider in the chin. I'm sure I dislocated his skull from his neck, ha ha. As he fell back and off the bike, my back rolled back off the seat. I braced my hands on the leather and shoved off. My body flew straight up, completely vertical, feet first, then I made a one eighty degree pivot. I landed swiftly on my feet in a crouching position, head bowed. My heart was still throbbing with rage, my veins pulsing, brain buzzing. I slowly looked up with fury glaring in my eyes at the rider who lay sprawled against the asphalt. He groaned as he sat up. Before he realized it I was on top of him and hoisted him up by the collar. "Listen, you ungrateful b*****d." I hissed, my face inches from his, "you see that little girl behind me?" His eyes moved from mine to Jaime, who stood there with her hands over her mouth, her eyes wide. He looked back at me and swallowed, nodding. "Do you really want to use that kind of language in front of a little child?" I shook him. "Do you WANT to hear a seven year old cursing like a sailor? Do you?"
    "No, I'm sorry!" he wailed. I threw him back down and slapped him across the face.
    I'll admit it, I was over doing it, but I was pissed, okay?
    "Oh don't apologize to me." I stood up and glared down at him. I motioned to Jaime and said, "Apologize to her." He got onto his knees and bowed low, his faces inches from th ground. "I'm sorry." I put my toe beneath his chin and nudged up. "Get up." I spat. He scrambled to his feet. His friends looked on in fear, their mouths open in a big 'O' shape. I turned and approached his bike. There was a nice long white scar of a scratch on the side. I looked around; surprisingly enough, there wasn't even a crowd other than a familiar red convertible sitting a few rows away. I could barely make out the shape of a person in the front seat. "Tsk tsk. Looks like your baby has a boo boo." I picked up the bike and pushed it towards him. "You might wanna kiss it an make it better." I pouted my lip out and sucked my thumb. I laughed, enjoying myself. I turned away from him and walked to Jaime. I kneeled down and held her face in my hands. "Are you okay, love?" I said in a low soothing voice. She had tears streaks on her face. she nodded, and I stroked her cheek. "We're gonna pretend this never happened, okay?" she nodded again. I took her hand and pulled her into Hot Topic. We browsed as if nothing happened, and we laughed like everything was fine. But I knew that having her watch what happened before her eyes affects her each and every day. It's hard on her, and it's just as hard on me.