Together, Asher and stared down at our money we'd set on an empty aisle shelf to count it properly.
"How much is it together?" Asher whined, pacing back and forth while biting his nails.
"3 dollars and twenty-seven cents, and a really warm gummy bear, if you want to count that as money, I mean." I'd said bluntly. The lamp that matched the rest of our living room was 28 dollars, we weren't even close to being able to purchase it.
"Oh, maybe we can use that 3 dollars to..." I began, but was rudely interrupted.
"Invest in stocks? Come on, we can't buy squat."
I pointed to a close freezer that contained cones and ice creams. Asher smiled, already forgetting about how poor the two of us were together.
Looking over the variety, I decided I was in a sweet and fruity mood, and picked a delightful looking strawberry one ice cream.
Asher however, took what seemed like forever to choose his. He claimed he was starving, despite his large breakfast, and couldn't choose just one. In the end, he just picked a mint chocolate chip ice cream. Ash paid the cashier, as I licked away, feeling content now, despite recent events.
I was so distracted, I didn't hear the ringing of the store's front entrance. Thus, I had not noticed the black-eyed Embry and his friend Quil enter the store.
And it was too late, one minute I was licking happily at my cone, the next minute it's on my face, fluttering about on my eyelashes, and some of it dropping and staining my good shirt.
I look up, heart shattered at the fact that my money was wasted.
There stood Embry with a dark black eye, which seemed to satisfy me quite a bit. He was there, with Quil, too jumbo idiots laughing their asses off.
But something distracted me from their laughing, I just couldn't ignore the fact that they seemed to get a shitload of muscle and apparently had a growth spurt overnight. They were beginning to resemble the big-ass gang we have hanging around La Push that call themselves "The Protectors."
However, Embry and Quil weren't quite as large, still had thick long hair, and neither of them walked around town half naked.(Thank God, because that would be an ugly sight.)
"What, you don't have your other friends to back you up?" I heard Asher spit, because apparently I just stood there with a baffled look on my face.
"Jared and Paul? They're gone, joined the protecting squad, or whatever the hell they're called," saying their names with much vile in his voice, as if they deserted him.
Asher looked down at me, put his arm around me, and began to walk me out, the cashier of the store standing there wide-eyed the whole time.
"They aren't worth it, Audie. They aren't worth shit. Besides, you can have my ice cream," Asher tried to comfort.
I found myself looking back at Embry, tears splashing the pink ice cream covered eye lashes.
"Nice shiner ya got there," I'd said gently, as I was lead away from my worst nightmare, thanks to my protector, Asher. Embry just stood there with Quil, a fat smile on his face like he'd won. Boy was he wrong.
As Asher and I walked home, to wash my face and change clothes, my phone began to ring, the familiar "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey echoing from my pocket. Looking at the caller ID, I smiled lightly. "Jace Whitlock" it read, with a picture of her I snapped of her when she wasn't looking. (Because typically she didn't allow it) With her wavey, pretty, long, hair in her face as she read one of her favorite books.
"Hey there!" I greeted as enthusiastically as I could muster, still not forgetting the fact I had ice cream that hadn't quite come off yet.
"Tomorrow. 7 o'clock. First Beach. Be there." I heard my friend's voice say seriously.
"What for?" I questioned, not sure if this was something I'd like.
"I heard a campfire was going on them, they'd be telling some good stories, and boys will be there! Food too..."
"Boys, eh?" I mumbled, sort of liking the sound of that. Not that I expected to meet someone and fall in love in one campfire night, besides, I was a bit too shy and hideous for anything like that to happen.
"Fffffoooooooddd there?" Asher questioned somehow tuning in, and managing to make out Jace's words. I rolled my eyes, still wondering in the back of my head what was up with Asher and his appetite.
"I guess..." I'd said reluctantly.
"Great!" Jace said, interrupting me, "I'll meet you at your place, dress warmly, because it'll be cold!"
We had both hung up at the same time, and Asher and I finally made it home.
Ash spent the rest of the day cooped up in his room reading comics, and I had just showered changed into PJs, and blew the day off cleaning the house.
Cleanliness was right next to godliness... or something like that, right? Okay, so I didn't exactly believe that, it was just my rational excuse for blowing a perfectly good Saturday on cleaning.
Then, I made dinner with the little that we had in our kitchen. It was simple, cheap, and delicious. Rice and bean, sounded gross, looked gross, tasted delicious. For some reason, that had actually just reminded me of the, "Don't judge a book by its cover" a saying completely, 100% believed in.
"Asher, come eat dinner!" I called, and my brother had made his way downstairs, licking his lips as the smell of food had hit him, at least that's what I'd assumed.
He sat down with me, and together, we ate in silence. Or really, I ate in silence, and he... shoveled in silence. I swear, that boy! I though, smiling and shaking my head, not bugging him anymore about his suddenly growth spurted stomach.
Speaking of growth spurts, that had reminded me of Embry... he'd suddenly shot up in height. If I tried to beat him up today, I honestly didn't think I could. I would be the one with the black eye, rather than him, if he had the ball to punch a girl, I mean. Which I for some reason doubted. If he'd had, then the whole school would see him as a total ass, and shun him. Unfortunately, I was the only one who saw him as his rude, obnoxious self. I think the whole rest of the grade is fine with him, because Embry could be nice, to the more loud, in-your-face pretty prep girls. I'd seen the look in his eye when he looked at them. His eyes made any girl melt right where they stood, if used correctly. And, he'd knew just how to make a girl feel on air, just as he knew how to make me feel like being struggled by that very air.
Suddenly, I came to my senses. Why the hell was I thinking about that douche bag, anyways? I scolded myself. Finally dropping my fork to the plate, I scooted my leftover food to Asher, who'd been staring at his empty plate, as if he hadn't known where it went.
"You can have the rest of mine. I lost my appetite," I'd said dully as I made my way to bed. "Dad shouldn't me home tonight," I included, as I dragged myself to bed.
((Thanks for the more reviews, they make me feel SO good, and they make me want to improve and write better and write more! See! Look how much longer this chapter is than previous chapters! More reviews = More writing. *hint hint*
By the way, I have pictures up on my profile of Audie, Asher, and Jace, so you can get a better image in your mind of what they look like!))
