Chapter 3: Us Against December Skies
Tell me about the old days
Us against December skies
I've spent my happiest days here
Carry me forever in your heart
The second day came quickly. Sunny, Aubrey, and Basil went to her house, staying in her room.
"Hey, Aubrey, remember how I asked you about which color paint you wanted earlier?" Basil asked as he looked around.
"Yeah... Why?"
"Well, I was thinking that we could all paint your walls! Make it feel a bit more like home!" Basil smiled.
Sunny looked up at the walls.
"Did you bring the paint with you?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah! I left it in the living room!"
"Did you bring paintbrushes?"
"I... Oh. Oh... No..." Basil blinked.
Aubrey started laughing, and Sunny smiled.
"I'll go get some now!" Basil said, and he ran out of the room.
Aubrey kept laughing for a few minutes. "Ah, Basil... You're so silly."
"Heh... He is." Sunny added.
The two didn't say much to each other before Basil got back.
"Don't worry, they had a sale! Sunny, catch!" He threw a paintbrush at Sunny, and it smacked him in the face before falling into his hands.
"Hey, aim a bit better than that! Last thing we need is to pop Sunny's other eye out!" Aubrey frowned.
"S-Sorry! I didn't mean to!"
"It's okay." Sunny replied.
"Okay..." Basil looked away.
The three of them started painting the walls. Aubrey smiled, as it was already starting to feel more like home in there. They were about to finish painting when Aubrey's mother climbed the ladder into the room.
"What the hell are you doing, Aubrey?" Her mother asked.
Aubrey frowned, and she looked over at her mother.
"I'm painting my room."
"It's making the whole house smell like paint."
"Well, I can't exactly stop that now."
Her mother glared at her. "Is that so? Well, maybe I should take away that poster. And that picture by your bed. Oh, and that cork board! It would free up the walls so that you can see the color really well!"
Aubrey gritted her teeth.
"I'm sorry... It was my idea to paint the room..." Basil said.
"Stay out of it, this is between me and my daughter."
"Y-Yes, ma'am..." Basil looked over at Sunny.
"You don't do anything like that without my permission, understood?" Her mother said.
Aubrey sighed. "Yes, mom."
"And quit your huffing and puffing too." Her mother climbed back down the ladder.
Aubrey shut her eyes. Sunny and Basil finished up the painting, then they went over to her.
"Are you okay?" Basil asked.
"Yeah... I'm fine. I think I'm just gonna go for a walk." Aubrey went down the ladder.
"Oh, um... Okay." Basil replied.
Hero, Kel, Sunny, Basil, and Kim walked around the plaza.
"Hey, Hero, there's a pothole here!" Kel said.
"Yes, there is. What about it?" Hero asked.
"I'll bet you five bucks that Basil can't jump over it!"
"H-Hey!" Basil squeaked.
"Kel." Hero started. "You don't have five bucks."
"I'll pay you back!"
"You still owe me ten bucks."
"Well..." Kel scratched the back of his head. "I'll owe you fifteen?"
Hero chuckled and shook his head. Kim smirked.
"I'll put the five bucks in for you." Kim said.
"There! Five bucks!" Kel smiled, jumping up and pointing at Kim as he said it.
"I just want to see if flower boy over there can do it."
"Hey..." Basil frowned.
Hero sighed. "Fine, you have a bet, Kim."
"Alright! Basil! Do it! Or don't!"
Basil nervously looked down at the pothole, then he jumped over it with ease.
"Dang." Kim said. "Anyways, I'll pay you back the five bucks when I get it."
"Oh, for the love of..." Hero scowled.
Kim started laughing as the five walked into the Othermart. Sunny looked around at everything there. The cashiers smiled at them, causing him to shrink back a bit.
Kel ran over to the meat section, while Hero looked at all of the bottles on display.
"So, what do you get when you're here?" Kim nudged Basil.
"O-Oh, um... Produce, bread, fish... Not too much..."
"How about we swing for some candy?" Kim asked.
"But you're broke!"
"Quiet! Look, that isn't an issue..."
"That'd be stealing..." Basil looked away from her.
"So?"
"We should pay for it..."
"Look, if I get away with it, I earned it, did I not? If I don't get away with it, well, I deserved it." Kim smirked.
"That's not how it works!"
"You need to have more fun, flower boy." Kim poked his nose. "I'll be back."
Basil frowned, then he went over to the produce section. Hero went over to the checkout.
"Hi, would you like to join the Othermart Rewards Program?" The cashier asked, and she smiled at him.
"No thanks. I'd just like to buy this quickly and be on my way." Hero responded.
She nodded, and she put the bottle in the bag. "Have a nice day!"
"You too." He smiled back, then he quickly walked out.
Just as Hero left, Kim ran out with a bundle of candy in her arms. Basil quickly gave chase.
"Kim!" Basil shouted as he ran out of the Othermart. The cashiers gave each other confused looks.
Kel and Sunny looked at the vending machines. "Hey, they finally restocked the Orange Joes!"
Sunny nodded, and he took out a quarter.
"Don't worry about it, Sunny, I got it!" Kel smiled.
"... You're in how much debt?"
"Heh... We don't need to talk about that." Kel dug into his pockets. "Oh... I don't have any money..."
"How surprising." Sunny said in quite the deadpan manner.
Sunny put his quarter into the machine, and he picked out an Orange Joe for Kel.
"Thanks, Sunny, I'll pay you back for sure!"
"... No you won't." Sunny said, and he walked out.
"Sheesh, what's got him down?" Kel frowned as he followed Sunny out of the Othermart.
They both left to see Kim and Basil arguing. Kel looked over at Sunny, then he went over to the two.
"What's going on?" Kel asked.
"Kim stole a bunch of candy!" Basil replied.
"Yeah, so? Ain't like they'll arrest me." Kim scoffed.
"What if they do?"
"I wouldn't be in for that long." Kim popped a gumball into her mouth.
"Don't you ever think about what your brother might have to go through if you're in jail?" Basil asked.
Kim grabbed him by the collar. "Don't bring him up like you know!"
Kel went in between them, forcefully uncurling her fingers so that she'd let go of Basil. "Stop it! There's no need for that!"
"No, he can't just go bringing Vance up like that!" Kim shouted.
"I-" Basil started, but he was interrupted.
"Kim, stop it!" Kel shouted.
"Screw you, Kel! Ain't even like it's the first time I stole any candy, and you know that!"
Basil gasped.
"Oh, please. Vance and I do it together all the time. Only thing that makes it different right now is that he's grounded. I'll be sure to share all of this with him. He'd do the same for me, after all." Kim explained.
Sunny looked around. "Guys...?"
Basil frowned. "How are we supposed to trust you if you're a thief...?"
"Are you kidding me? You're really giving me this sort of bullshit?" Kim yelled, causing Basil to shrink back.
"Kim-" Kel started.
"No, screw you, flower boy! You really think I would steal from you guys? You trust me that little? Are you fucking serious?" Kim clenched her fists.
"No, that's not-" Basil backed up.
"Kim... You're scaring him." Kel said.
"So what? He pretty much just said that you guys shouldn't trust me."
"Well, I do trust you." Kel responded, causing Kim to blink and uncurl her fists. "I get why that made you angry. I would be too. But you can't just scare him like that... He won't trust you then."
Kim looked over at Kel, then she looked back at Basil, who was tearing up. She took a moment before she spoke in a quiet voice.
"... Do you trust me, Basil?"
He slowly nodded. Kim stayed silent for a minute, then she walked over to him, causing him to back up further. She pulled him into a hug, and she sighed.
"Thank you." Kim said. "Let's just... Let's just forget about this conversation, alright?"
"O-Okay..."
"Awesome! Glad we got that sorted!" Kel said with a smile.
"Guys..." Sunny said again.
"What's up, buddy?" Kel turned to Sunny.
"Where's Hero?" Sunny asked.
Hero went through the trees to their old hangout spot, where he found Aubrey. She was looking down at the lake. He scratched the back of his head.
"So... Um..." He said, causing her to jump up.
"How long have you been here?" Aubrey asked, pointing her bat at him.
"Woah, woah! Easy! I just got here! I didn't even expect you to be here!"
Aubrey threw her bat to the side. "Sorry, I just... Instinct, you know?"
Hero walked over to her, and he pulled her into a hug.
"What's going on, Aubrey?" He asked. "It's not like you to just go off on your own like this."
"I'm just tired..."
"No, no, I don't think that's it..."
"I mean mentally, not physically." Aubrey responded.
"Ah, yeah, never mind, that'll do it." Hero patted her head.
"I just want to be good to all you guys... Good to my mother... And it just seems like it's not good enough..." Aubrey burrowed her head into his chest.
"Well..." Hero started, looking around. "I don't know your mother too well, so I can't speak on her behalf, but you certainly are doing good enough for all of us! I've noticed that you haven't been arguing with Kel as much, after all."
"It's taken a lot of swallowing my pride not to do so." She chuckled.
"I'm sure it has." Hero smiled, and the two pulled away from the embrace.
"It's just... I've been wondering how to be a better daughter and a better friend... I spent a while just trying to figure out who to be." Aubrey sat down at their old picnic basket.
"I'm sure you have." Hero sat across from her. "Have you made any progress there?"
"All I could really figure out was that I wanted to be more like you... So... That's what I've been doing." Aubrey looked towards the lake.
Hero smiled. "Aw, thanks. That means a lot to me, Aubrey."
"It does...?" She turned back towards him.
"Of course!" Hero took out a corkscrew, and he opened the bottle.
"What's that?"
"Oh, uh... Just a drink." Hero nervously chuckled.
"You said you didn't expect to see me here, right?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah... What about that?" Hero scratched the back of his head.
"You were going to get drunk, weren't you?"
"Well, I didn't really want to do that around any of you guys, but..." Hero didn't really know where to take that sentence.
Aubrey got up, and she went over to her bat. "Hey, Hero, you mind if I have some of that?"
"I'd really rather not..." He started, but Aubrey picked up her bat. "Woah, woah, you don't need to go there, holy shit! Okay, shit, you can have a little- But only a little! I'm not about to get you drunk, I wouldn't forgive myself if I did that!"
Aubrey threw the bat back down, then she sat back down. "Good. That was easy. If you must know, I wasn't actually going to hit you."
"That was still pretty fucked up..." Hero sighed. "Don't you ever do that again..."
"No promises."
"So much for trying to be like me..." Hero took a swig from the bottle.
"I didn't give up on being myself." Aubrey grinned.
Hero put the bottle down after taking a few more sips. "Yeah, don't you worry, I can tell."
"You did leave some for me, right?" Aubrey asked.
"Yeah, yeah... Just a little bit. Like, a sip and a half."
"I'm not about to complain. Beggars can't be choosers." Aubrey picked up the bottle, and she chugged the rest of it.
"I'd either say that you have a lot of experience with drinking or none at all if you're willing to just go to town on it like that." Hero said with a concerned tone.
"Oh, I've had quite a bit. My mom's a full-blown alcoholic. She doesn't even make the effort to hide the bottles. I've lost count of how many times I've gotten drunk, and she never even realized it." Aubrey laughed as she spoke.
Hero frowned. "Jesus... I... I'm sorry."
"It is what it is. I don't care."
"I know, but... You should have at least one parent who shows you that they care."
"She doesn't. She doesn't care about a damn thing. So what?" Aubrey shook as she spoke.
"Aubrey..."
"It doesn't really matter, Hero." She got up.
"Yes, it does. I can tell that it matters to you." Hero went over to her.
"No, it doesn't. It never has, and it never will." Aubrey picked up her bat.
Hero backed up a bit, simply because he didn't want to get hit. For once, he didn't really know what to say, but he had to say something. "I... Are you sure that that's how you see things?"
"Yeah, it is. If I don't matter to her, why should she matter to me?" Aubrey gripped her bat tightly. "None of it matters, and it never will."
"You're repeating yourself..."
"Shut up! Just shut up!" Aubrey swung her bat at a tree near the lake, causing some of the nails of her bat to bend and get stuck in the tree.
A few pieces of bark flew off of the tree, either into the lake or onto the ground. After struggling a bit to get her bat out of the tree, she swung at it again.
This would go on for a few minutes until she fell down on her knees and started crying again. She threw the bat as hard as she could towards the entrance of the forest. Hero walked over to her, and he hugged her.
"It's okay... It'll be okay, Aubrey..." He closed his eyes.
Aubrey didn't say anything, she just kept crying.
"Hey... If there's ever something troubling you, please be open about it... If you're not, we can't help you..." Hero said.
"I know... I know..." She mumbled in reply.
Hero sighed, and he looked over at the lake. "It's okay, Aubrey... I'm right here."
"Thank you..." She replied. "I'm just happy to have all of you guys..."
"We'll always be here for you. We're never gonna leave you again, alright?"
"Alright..." She smiled.
The two pulled away from the hug.
"They're probably looking for us. Let's go back." Hero said.
Aubrey nodded, and the two went back to the entrance. Aubrey picked up her bat. She would have to fix or replace the bent nails later.
Afterword-
I'm not too sure what to say here, yet again. I'm thinking of doing longer chapters, though those would likely take 2-3 days to put out, and I really don't want to wait that long. I dunno, I'll just see what happens. If you all would prefer chapters around 5,000 words, let me know. If not, that works too. I'm just happy to see that quite a few more people have read this, even if most of them haven't stuck around after the first chapter. But for those of you who have, thank you, I really appreciate that. I hope you're enjoying the story, and I hope you have a nice day.