Past happenings are in italics, present isn't.
Anyways, read and review!
They had entered the bar in a fit of giggles and a rustle of hazy heat, August was prone to those kinds of nights. Technically she wasn't supposed to be inside the bar that night, but no one much cared that she wasn't yet twenty-one.
The first round of drinks were purchased for them by the scrawny guy in the corner, and they took their time with them, there was still a long night ahead, no use in rushing it.
"Shilloh, I think that guy over there is looking at you!" Amy giggled in her direction, and she barely held in a groan; Amy was prone to attempting match-making, and her friend was often a favorite subject.
"Amy, I don't think so, and besides, I just saw his girlfriend head for the bathroom," not really true, but she would forget about it and move on.
"Ladies," a voice like molten steel and brittle velvet interjected itself, and neither girl could help but look up at the man addressing them. "Could I buy you a drink?"
"I do believe we already have some," Amy was flirting- she always added a tinge of her Southern accent to her voice when she did; she would often tell Shilloh that it worked almost every time, and her friend had no reason to disbelieve her, as she had yet to see it fail.
"Well then, allow me the pleasure of your company until you need another?" He was definitely going to go far with Amy tonight.
"Maybe, if we knew your name?" Shilloh interjected, not one to be completely ignored; she may have been a shy child, but with Amy she was never afraid of being rejected by anyone.
"Roland," and she could practically see Amy envisioning their first date together. She had to kick Amy under the table to get her to talk.
"Amy, and this is my friend, Shilloh," she flippantly addressed the girl next to her. There were not hard feelings, though, Shilloh wasn't interested in this Roland, and besides, all was fair in love and war.
Amy arrived at their shared apartment later on that week from her first date with him, claiming that he was the one, and that they were so obviously soul mates.
And, so shallow that you wouldn't have to scratch the surface to find it, Shilloh always agreed. Always.
Sometime during the course of her life, this had become normal- scary as hell, but still normal.
At some point, all her past events merged at a certain point, and they dictated that this moment would happen; told her that she was ready for it. And that, too, was a lie. She was getting good at that.
"Alright then," taking a steadying breath, she prepared herself for the onslaught- they would use their weapons on her, even though she wasn't a Jumper. The chances of killing her more painfully doubled that way.
Sick bastards.
The one on the left made to move at her, and she stepped forward, her left palm out, ready to let him come at her, before she felt it.
It was all melting snow and ripping out the fabric of life- that cold shiver she felt down her spine, and the way everything seemed to distort for a second; she wasn't certain, at first, what was happening.
She was somewhere else entirely now, and her breath finally returned to her. It had felt like millennia since she was last able to breathe in.
She had Jumped. No, not her, infuriating and insufferable Griffin had jumped, and she'd been along for the ride.
"Dammit! Why'd you do that?" She demanded, turning around and expecting him to be there.
Must not have felt him Jump away.
Turning around, trying to find her bearings, she growled in irritation. No clue where she was, and no way she'd be able to walk to the next town; she'd die of heat exhaustion before she even made it close.
Resigning herself to waiting, and hoping, that he would return so she could get to where she needed to be- she did have a plan she was trying to follow, after all (not that he'd care much for that) – she plopped herself down in the shade of a rock, and tried not to feel the sand creeping into her shoes.
"So what does he do?" Shilloh asked on their celebratory night out; it had been almost a year since Amy started dating him, and she still knew nothing about him.
"I don't know, really," Amy replied, "but tonight's about you, let's get you liquored up!" Tonight was Shilloh's twenty-first birthday, and they were celebrating it in grand fashion.
"Here here!" She cheered, lifting her first bottle of booze into the air, nearly smashing it into the head of someone standing too close, "oh man, I'm sorry! Did I get any on you?" she wasn't really looking at him, but instead paying attention to his cream shirt- hoping she hadn't stained it, that shirt looked expensive.
"No harm done," he replied, and was again one with the faceless crowd around them before she could register his accent and attempt a flirt.
It took Amy only three drinks before she was so drunk that Shilloh felt it prudent to start heading home.
"Hey, hey, you're my best friend, you know?" She began, never slurring- she never slurred when drunk, "and you know what? I… I have something to tell you!" She hiccupped, and looked slightly confused for a minute, "I just love your hair! It's sooooo soft! And pretty! It's pretty too!" She exclaimed with the type of glee that only drunks and five-year-olds seem to have, and then reached out a hand and attempted to pet her friend's hair.
It wasn't so much petting hair, as it was just pushing Shilloh's head in a different direction.
"Oh, but, but wait! That's not what I wanted to tell you!" She whispered, and looked around conspiratorially, "I've wanted to for a while, you know, but I've always been scared!" all caution had been thrown to the wind, and with it the control she had on her voice, for Amy was yelling so loud now that her voice echoed in the alleyway next to them.
"Well then, once we get back to the apartment you can tell me, ok?" Shilloh sensibly replied, since she didn't have more than that first beer. Being drunk was overrated.
By the time they reached their apartment, Amy was much more subdued; she hadn't brought up wanting to tell a secret again, and Shilloh had thought that maybe she'd simply forgotten.
"Shilloh, I need to tell you something, and I want to tell you while I'm still drunk enough to feel courageous," she announced as she was helped into sitting on the couch.
"Ok then, what is it that's so important?" Shilloh was distracted, and not really focusing on her friend.
"No, see, I have to show you rather than tell you," and as she turned to look at Amy, she was suddenly gone, and then back, with a glass of water and an aspirin in her hand, just calmly placing it on the coffee table.
"How the hell did you do that?" Shilloh managed after what had just happened finally hit. Amy sighed, looked at her friend, and began explaining. She explained everything, from her first jump experience, to constantly moving in her childhood, and her theories on how it was possible.
But she left out one very important thing, and Shilloh was soon to discover it on her own.