Excerpt: Fire of the Street Lights

The corner of 4th and Main had always been a busy place for as long as anyone could remember. Businessmen paced back and forth on smoke breaks, talking on cell phones. Cars honked impatiently at one another during rush hour. Mothers tried in vain to pull their young children away from the store windows that they were smudging with their little fingers. Teens chatted among themselves as they went from store to store after class, catching the late bus home.
And in the midst of the rushing crowd, one stood still.
In fact, he was actually leaning against a lamp post, staring idly at the random road signs and skyscrapers through a pair of dark sunglasses. He wasn't reading anything in particular, as he really did not like to read, but was rather curious as to whether or not he had time to stop at McDonald's for a nice hot cup of black coffee while he was waiting. No, of course he didn't. Nobody had time for anything anymore. He adjusted his sleeves, rolling them up to his elbows. It was a little bit hot out. Then why did he want coffee? He supposed he'd just had a tiring day, that's all.
He'd had a lot of tiring days recently, now that he thought about it. Images flashed through his head with disjointed phrases connected to them. They rushed him just like the speeding cars rushed across the pavement in front of him. God, things were changing on him quickly. Something about his grades passed through his mind, and an exam coming up, and shit - that paper he'd been putting off would be due soon.
"Dante!!"
The boy snapped out of his daze. Running towards him was a dark-haired girl in her late teens like himself, dressed modestly in a dark sweater over a white collar shirt with a knee-length pleated skirt. She was smiling - he couldn't help but to crack a smile himself.
"Hey, hey, could you keep it down a little?" he hushed her, a long, thin finger to his lips. The girl did not seem in the least bit affected by it.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked as she took his arm in both of hers. The two began to walk together against the rush hour crowd. They waited for the walk signal and crossed the bustling street, headed towards the girl's house.
The boy looked apprehensive at first, then began, "It's nothing, really. Never mind."
Biting her lip shyly, the girl avoided eye contact, and continued on with her friend. Luckily the traffic was not nearly as bad towards this side of town so the two of them could retreat back into their minds. The girl slid her hand down the boy's arm to link hands with him. His eyes darted to look at her and she finally met his gaze, a little close-mouthed smile across her cherry lips and a shade of pink rising into her cheeks.
"Dante?"
"Yeah?"
"...Thanks for taking me home."
"Oh... Yeah, anytime."