Fiction Outtake: Flags (the early days)

It was one of those autumn days that made everyone love being in Riverview, even Trevor. The air was so clear, it seemed every vein in every leaf stood out and could be seen from miles away. It was the sort of day when you believed that nothing bad could happen and when you spent the day laying down by the river with your best friend and daydreaming, nothing bad could happen.

“A flag,” Trevor said, his head nestled comfortably in his hands, his feet crossed at the ankle. A cigarette clung to his lip, comfortably, like being with the idiot felt.

“What the fuck?” Mitchell asked, pulling his one ankle underneath his opposite leg. Fucker could sit like that for hours, all knotted up, especially if he had a guitar with him. Which he didn’t; too afraid of dropping it in the river and watching it get swept to God-knew-where.

“A flag,” he repeated. “A ShapeShifter flag. For our fans to pledge their love and shit to. You know… one nation, all for one, buy even our shitty records and defend them to the fans who can think… a flag.”

Mitchell eyed him. Trevor shrugged and uncrossed one arm, peeling his cigarette off his lip. “A flag?” the big idiot repeated. “Why not something easier, like t-shirts? I bet they cost less to make and we’d sell more.”

At that, Trevor had to sit up. “I’m not talking of something for them. This is about us.”

“It’s all about us,” Mitchell reminded him, reaching for Trevor’s cigarette.

Trevor pulled it away. “Get your own, fucker.”

“I’m out.”

Trev grinned. “What? Spend all your allowance money again?”

“No,” Mitchell answered in the same taunting voice that Trevor had just used. “That girl last night ripped my last pack off and I haven’t had time to get more.”

Trevor nodded. “You have lousy taste in girls.”

“I bet she’d stand naked under that flag of yours.”

“Okay, not so lousy.” He handed the cigarette over. “But a flag.” He let his eyes unfocus. “United Fans of ShapeShifter. I like it.”

“You’re a dork,” Mitchell said.

Trevor glanced at him, unsurprised to see the wheels in the idiot’s own brain turning.