The tinny sounds of A-ha's "Take On Me" fill the little alleyway, spilling from a muggle radio propped up on a couple paint cans. Two or three old sheets stretch along the length of the alley, pushed up against a wall in the early stages of a mural. Most of it is sketches, the words ELFLOCK FALLS + PAW PAW outlined along the top—two towns, separated by trees and mountains, connected by the spirit of the holler.
"Taaaaake ooooon meeeee," Percy Potkin sings out as he dances along the scrunched up sheets, holding his paintbrush up like a microphone. "Taaaake meeee ooooooon."
"I'll beeeee gooooone." Another voice joins the chorus, unknown yet innately familiar to the young Percy Potkin. He spins on his toe and holds the brush out to the newcomer, a young man with a cool leather jacket and even cooler Ray-Bans.
"In a day or twoooooooo," they sing together, voices cracking miles away from the right note before it all dissolves into laughter.
"Dude," the other young man says, reaching up to clap a hand on Percy's shoulder. "This is gonna be bitchin'."
Percy grins, splitting his face nearly in two. "Awww, shucks Lionel, you're gonna make me blush." The boy, Lionel, pushes at Percy's shoulder and he stumbles away with a snicker. "Think it'll be done by Homecoming?"
"Oh, not a chance." Lionel shakes his head and steps closer to the soon-to-be mural, shoving those shades back into his mop of curly blond hair to get a better look. "You'll be way too busy campaigning for King."
"King?" Percy scrunches his nose and shakes his head as Lionel runs his finger along the wall. "That crown sounds too heavy for my big ol' head. What about you? Those curls could support a whole house." He kneels down to pop open a paint can, little red droplets splattering his shoes.
Lionel doesn't answer.
"So it's agreed, we put all our efforts into King Qualls and..." He turns to look at Lionel, still silent, staring at a single spot on the wall. "El?"
Lionel doesn't speak, but he waves him over, eyes still fixed on that one spot. "What's up?" Percy asks, but he can see it. He's not sure what it is. A slash of black, there, just north of where he'd loosely sketched out Paw Paw's Main Street. Probably just a smear from his brush while he was dancing around, or something on his hand from his sketching.
But still, he doesn't like it. Percy puts his finger to the smudge and feels, for one moment, a flash of heat shoot through his entire body.
MEMORY: Prom King
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The tinny sounds of A-ha's "Take On Me" fill the little alleyway, spilling from a muggle radio propped up on a couple paint cans. Two or three old sheets stretch along the length of the alley, pushed up against a wall in the early stages of a mural. Most of it is sketches, the words ELFLOCK FALLS + PAW PAW outlined along the top—two towns, separated by trees and mountains, connected by the spirit of the holler.
"Taaaaake ooooon meeeee," Percy Potkin sings out as he dances along the scrunched up sheets, holding his paintbrush up like a microphone. "Taaaake meeee ooooooon."
"I'll beeeee gooooone." Another voice joins the chorus, unknown yet innately familiar to the young Percy Potkin. He spins on his toe and holds the brush out to the newcomer, a young man with a cool leather jacket and even cooler Ray-Bans.
"In a day or twoooooooo," they sing together, voices cracking miles away from the right note before it all dissolves into laughter.
"Dude," the other young man says, reaching up to clap a hand on Percy's shoulder. "This is gonna be bitchin'."
Percy grins, splitting his face nearly in two. "Awww, shucks Lionel, you're gonna make me blush." The boy, Lionel, pushes at Percy's shoulder and he stumbles away with a snicker. "Think it'll be done by Homecoming?"
"Oh, not a chance." Lionel shakes his head and steps closer to the soon-to-be mural, shoving those shades back into his mop of curly blond hair to get a better look. "You'll be way too busy campaigning for King."
"King?" Percy scrunches his nose and shakes his head as Lionel runs his finger along the wall. "That crown sounds too heavy for my big ol' head. What about you? Those curls could support a whole house." He kneels down to pop open a paint can, little red droplets splattering his shoes.
Lionel doesn't answer.
"So it's agreed, we put all our efforts into King Qualls and..." He turns to look at Lionel, still silent, staring at a single spot on the wall. "El?"
Lionel doesn't speak, but he waves him over, eyes still fixed on that one spot. "What's up?" Percy asks, but he can see it. He's not sure what it is. A slash of black, there, just north of where he'd loosely sketched out Paw Paw's Main Street. Probably just a smear from his brush while he was dancing around, or something on his hand from his sketching.
But still, he doesn't like it. Percy puts his finger to the smudge and feels, for one moment, a flash of heat shoot through his entire body.