The freshly-turned twenty year old woman hopped out of her car, a yellow 2008 Camaro with black racing stripes, leaving her door wide open, music blaring through the parking lot as she leaned on the hood and scanned the crowd for her target. When she spotted him, she grinned as she realized that hey, he was walking with a girl, which meant a new friend!

As her chest swelled with pride, her music player switched songs...

Everywhere I go,

Bitches always know

That Charlie Sheen has got a weenie that he loves to show~

She jumped up, face flushing red as literally every head turned to look at her, tripping over herself in her rush to turn it off and, unfortunately, the next round of lyrics were... less than tasteful.

Wake up

Grab beer, grab rear,

Shave beard, put on some scene gear,

Gotta get drunk 'til my mom wakes up,

Break up with my girlfriend so I can bang sluts-

The girl grimaced, face burning as her legs hung out of the car haphazardly from when she had leapt in to turn off her stereo. When she stepped back out of the car, the parking lot was dead silent, and she scratched her scarred cheek idly while clearing her throat. "Um... sorry, everyone," She coughed, "That was, um... my bad."

Her brother, Zach, slapped his palm to his forehead, bright green eyes alight as he bit back a laugh. "You are an embarrassment."

"Shut up, cripple!" She fired back, only to freeze as several gasps came from around her. Whoops... right... not everyone showed affection like they did...

Luckily, Zach quipped back instantaneously with a laugh, "Make me, Scarface!"

Snorting, she ran a hand through her auburn hair before pounding a fist into an open hand. "Maybe I will." The girl besides Zach looked like she wasn't sure if she should have been worried or amused, so she gave a goofy grin and a wink. "We're just playin', sweetheart, no worries." A look of relief crossed her face and she giggled, making her smile grow. "I'm Ashley Edgewood."

The girl brushed a strand of dark brown hair behind her ear, light brown eyes bright as she smiled. "I figured... Zach... Zach told me about you. I'm Emma."

Now, this girl, Emma... was absolutely adorable. With brown eyes, brown hair parted in bangs over her forehead, a beauty mark under her right eye, and faint freckles that ran over the bridge of her nose. Others might have said that she looked average... but Ashley knew better than to look at that. She looked at the eyes. Not at the color, but at how they lit up, how they surveyed the world around her, how they reacted when seeing certain people...

It was always the eyes. Eyes are a window to the soul, after all.

Shaking her head to herself, Ashley gave a mock, over-dramatic bow. "Greetings, young grasshopper."

"Ashley," Zach groaned, "You're embarrassing me!"

Said girl grinned. "Your face embarasses me. Now hush, I'm conversing!"

The boy gave another overdramatic groan and hobbled over, leaning against her heavily and trying not to giggle as he retorted, "That doesn't even make sense..."

"Your face doesn't make sense!" She fired back before covering his whole face with her hand to quiet him as she turned back to Emma. "I don't think I've ever seen ya here before; you new around here, babe...?"

With a nod, Emma smiled shyly. "Kind of, yeah... We're from the other side of town."

Ashley's eyes lit up. "Oh, that's where my dentist is! The lil' ol' tooth fairy!" Emma quirked a brow as she continued, "Yeah, that's the only dentist I go to..." She leaned a bit closer and whispered. "I'm terrified of all things hospital and hospital-ish. It's the needles, man... They always get to me. It's just the thought of something being in you..." She visibly shuddered. "Disgusting."

Emma giggled. "You're funny."

"Am I? Good. Funny's good..." Glancing down at Zach, she double-checked, "Funny is good, right...?" When he nodded, she nodded back in response. "Right. Funny's good. Anywho... you got a ride, baby doll? 'Cause I'd be down for giving you a lift in Bumblebee; any friend of lil' Z's is a friend of mine."

"I'm okay," The little girl assured her, "My mom is coming..." She faltered as she studied Ashley closely. "But... maybe you could explain algebra for me...?" The girl asked sheepishly, "I'd ask my brother, but he's terrible at math... and he makes fun of me. And my mom is bad at math, too, so..."

"I'm awesome at math!" Ashley nodded vigorously. "I mean, I hate every second of it, but I'm good at it; so yeah, I can teach ya! It's actually pretty easy once you figure it out, but look here..." She leaned in a bit, looking around, purposely suspicious-looking, "I can't do it right now... Me and lil' Z, we're on a quest."

"A... quest...?" She asked curiously, as Zach gave a muffled, annoyed sigh against Ashley's hand.

Nodding, Ashley cracked a smile. "Yeah. Collect one peppermint mocha and one hot chocolate at castle Starbucks. We do it every Tuesday, so... yeah. Highly important mission, here, so we'll have to bump it to some other time; I'll be your own personal tutor if ya want, but-"

"Okay." Emma beamed.

Ashley faltered and blinked. "I... wait, what...?" She looked down at Zach. "What'd I just sign up for...?"

The boy pried her hand off with a huff. "You pretty much just became her tutor."

Brows furrowed, the auburn-haired girl protested weakly, "Wait, I got-I got work and-"

"We can work out a time and place later," Emma rolled back onto her heels, glancing off to the side and giving a small wave before turning back to them. "My mom's here, I gotta go! Bye Zach, bye Ashley!"

The girl ran off without another word, and Ashley blinked several times. "What... what just happened...?"

Zach rolled his eyes, but smiled regardless and nuzzled her arm. "You became a tutor."

"Bu... wha... I have work!" She protested weakly as he walked over to the passenger side and hopped in, while she followed suit and dropped into her seat. "I have a regimen and plan for the day!" She paused before a grin crossed her face and she added slyly, "Bus-"

"NO!" Zach yelled, trying to look angry and failing as he jabbed her in the arm with a finger, "If you sing that stupid bus song, I'll... ooh, you'd better not..."

Her grin widened. "Waitin' for the bus in the rain, in the rain, wait-waitin' for the bus in the rain. Now there's other people waitin' at the bus stop-mmph!" She got cut off as Zach slapped a hand to her mouth, his eye twitching as he glared playfully. Pulling his hand off with a laugh, she ruffled his light brown hair. "Okay, okay... I won't sing it today. Any ways... to Starbucks!" She gestured to the horizon as she started her car, pausing to change the song before giving a curt nod. "Tonight, we dine in Hell!"

Zach snorted. "That's hardly the way to ref-ref-referer to your favorite place."

"Refer, babe... You were close, though, so no worries," She corrected lightly, pretending to cuff him in the ear before putting her hands back on the wheel. "And don't be such a smart-donkey... We have enough of those in this family, thank you very much-y."

"You're welcome very much-y." He giggled as she turned to dead-pan at him. "Anyways, to Starbucks!"

She grunted before turning back to the road, letting his comment slide as she added, "To victory! Also, check your leg straps and make sure they're not too tight, would ya...? I do not wanna spend all night putting down the swelling again." She puffed out her cheeks in mock irritation before chuckling. "Do you know how hard work was the next day? It was hellish. It's bad enough I lost my sexy-hot good looks, kid; don't make me lose my sleep, too."

A guilty look crossed his face, "I... sorry..." His lower lip wobbled, and Ashley very nearly ran off the road in her haste to take it back and or comfort him. Too soon! Way too soon to pull one of those jokes!

"Hey, hey!" She said sternly, voice losing it's normal goofy, playful tone, "I was kidding, bud. First of all: It wasn't your fault. Get that through your thick head, will ya? And I'd rather look like Quasimodo than have you hurt, and you know that." She rolled her shoulders as she slowed her car to a stop at a red light, turning to look at the boy's watery green eyes. "How many times do we have to go through this...? I don't regret it, and I never will. And if it was anyone's fault, it was mine. I shouldn't have fallen asleep..." Turning back to the road, she gnawed on her lip. "Blame me for it. I deserve it."

As the light turned green and she pushed the pedal, Zach hugged her arm and nuzzled her shoulder with a shuddery sigh, lips twitching up as she attempted to tame his ever-present bedhead. "Shut up."

"Make me." She fired back, cracking a grin as he moved to do so, purposely veering the car slightly. "Driving! Gosh, kiddo, Bumblebee only just got fixed, shit!" She faltered before adding quietly, guiltily, "Cursing is wrong, Zach-y..."

The boy threw his head back and laughed.


Author's note~

I can hear the collective groans in the background: 'Lord Jesus, woman, just give us the goddamn sequel!'

And I will. In time. I know, I know... it's been a while. But I'm already still working on another little project of mine, 'Redneck in Gotham', and I'm hell-bent and determined to get at least closer to the end before I kinda... let it drift away. And even then, the chances of me actually leaving it unfinished are slim. So... Courage 2 (or whatever I decide to call it) will come out whenever. Probably (hopefully) before next year.

Until then, I present you with this! It's an AU thing, where Ashley never died, and Jack Frost is just a guy in high school. It's mostly for practice, but also because I feel bad that I've been leaving you guys hanging. Also (gonna have to get it over with in one way or another, in this or in RiG) I gotta practice sexual stuff... which is why this is M-rated. So... I guess, if there's anything a little TOO lemon-y, I'll put a warning before the chapter...? Or should I just not bother...?

Oh well. I'll figure it out, yo.

Tell me if I made any errors and or spelling mistakes, and I'm SO sorry I suck at beginnings.

Bear with me, guys! ʕ´ᴥ`ʔ

, Blue

And oh my glob you guiz, it feels SO good to be back in the RotG section! I missed it more than I thought I had :)