Gasp+ Eh gads. It's been nearly three months since I've updated. That's horrible. I've been so busy with school and the plays I've totally fallen behind. Here's a chapter for you all. It may be a bit short, but you should be familiar with me and writing shorter chapters. Have fun and see you at the end.
It was nearing dark when the George parked the Mustang parallel to the curb in front of their house. Scarlet lifted herself out of the car and hopped up onto the curb, glancing at the car with a glint of mischief in her eyes. She glimpsed at George as the blonde got out and went around the front of the car, and smiled.
"Nice parking job." The car was a good six inches away from the curb, possibly more. George looked down and offered no verbal retort, but just stuck her tongue out at the younger girl.
"What happened to respecting your elders?" George questioned as they both strolled up the walk.
"I'll decide to do that when you decide how to decently parallel park." George laughed and went up the steps to the front door. Scarlet chose to vault up the three short stairs and caught her toe on the top step, tripping herself and landing next to George's feet with a thud. The messenger bag lay next to the girl, who turned over onto her back and stared up at her elder. George looked down at the girl and rolled her eyes. The atmosphere between the two teenagers had grown warmer once they had revealed their stories on the drive home. George opened the door with a downward glance at the girl by her feet and put a hand out to help Scarlet up. The girl shook her head in response to the offer.
"I think I'll stay out here for a bit." George shrugged in response and went inside. Scarlet stared at the wooden awning above the porch for a few minutes before getting bored with the lumber. She heard the TV click on and a prime-time sitcom's familiar theme song play in the background. Cars transporting their 9-5 working drivers home passed the house continually for a while until Scarlet heard the front gate squeak open, announcing a few chatting guests. The girl sat up with a groan and saw that there was only one being a guest, the other person actually owning the house. Daisy and Mason meandered up the concrete walk and stopped in front of the porch steps, looking curiously at Scarlet. She smiled at both of them and waved a small hello.
"Hello, sweetie. How'd your first Seattle Reap go?" Daisy questioned in sincere curiosity.
"Mason didn't tell you?" Scarlet glanced at the Brit whose face was growing redder by the passing second.
"Tell me what? Mason…" Daisy cocked her head to the side and her gaze slid towards Mason, her eyebrows raised in interest.
"Nothing! Nothing at all!" He gently guided Daisy up the front steps and towards the front door. "Nothing you need to worry yourself about. Now how about you go inside and say hello to George." Daisy laughed and turned to Scarlet.
"You'll tell me later won't you, Scarlet?"
"But of course, Daisy." Mason cried out in disagreement which only made Daisy even more inquisitive. He opened the front door and smoothly pushed her inside and closed the door behind her. The Brit spun around and settled himself next to Scarlet, who had moved to the top step of the porch, her feet resting on the next stair down and her arms resting on top of her knees.
"You just love getting me into trouble don't you?" He said playfully to the young girl, who had perceived his question by staring out into the almost fully set sun.
"But of course." Mason nudged her gently with his shoulder which brought a smile to her face.
"What are you sitting out here for?"
"I'm just looking at the stars. I didn't get to see many of them back home unless we went camping. And that wasn't much. Mom didn't really care for the whole 'sleeping in the dirt' thing." Scarlet chuckled. This was the first time she mentioned her past in front of Mason, and he liked it immensely. He realized he liked hearing about her life before death. She seemed to be just as secretive about that as the other Reapers, but never gave the impression that she noticed she let little clues slip out occasionally. Scarlet broke her gaze from the faded night, as the sun had slipped beneath the horizon minutes before yet the rays of it still fought for space in the sky, and looked at Mason.
"You like camping?" She questioned.
"Me? Nah. I'm not much for the whole nature bit. I'm more for concrete and rock music."
"Ah." The awkward silence that filled a conversation every seven minutes, or so the experts said, crept between them.
"I saw your guitar the other day. I'm guessing you play."
"Not very well, actually. Just started learning before I… well… ya know."
"Ah, right, right. I'll have to teach you a few songs sometime." Scarlet smiled at the gesture. Mason was one of the Reapers that she instantly liked, especially after learning how he had died. She didn't know if it was his charm or just the friendliness he radiated. She always felt protected next to him, like an older brother, she guessed the feeling was.
The stars had finally conquered over the fading sunlight and flashed brightly on the canvas of black. Scarlet sighed as she looked up at them. Mason followed her gaze and sighed in reply. That trademark wolfish smile crept across his face as he caught her eyes drifting back down towards earth and reality.
"So what'd you mean by 'I thought I screwed up again' back at the reap?"
"Heh. I kind of figured you'd want an explanation about that eventually." Her eyes urged him to go further with his story. "Let's just put it this way. There will always be mistakes made in this trade of ours and I've made my fair share of 'em." He looked at Scarlet and saw her eyes had begun to trace the constellations again. "They'd take too long to explain all of them, so let's just say a few more strikes and I don't know if Rube could put up with me any longer." Mason sniggered at himself and then looked at Scarlet.
"Yeah, I figured that…" She trailed off, looking at the stars above.
TBC.
R & R please guys. I hope you like my chapters. I would love some replies back to them. It helps me going and maybe if I get say… 3 reviews I'll update sooner. How's about it? More reviews mean I update faster.
Happy Thoughts and Cheers.
Pendragon4