Aya opens her eyes in the middle of the night to find herself sweating. She sees a figure in the dark, moonlight sliding in through the window. Blinking, she finds it to be Jack. She looks down at her hand, seeing Jack's clasped around it as well. She thinks through the night but can't remember much of what she said before falling asleep. She brings her other hand up, trying to gently pry his hand away from hers.
He mutters softly before Aya stops trying. She looks at him for a minute longer, her hazel eyes filled with alarm and caution. His eyes open and she closes her own. "I know you're awake, Aya," he whispers. "What is it?"
"I'm hot by nature, Jack. I'm freaking sweating," she whispers back. "I was going to go crash in your bed." Jack shakes his head and gets up, opening the window a crack. The change in temperature is drastic, and Aya shivers visibly. He crawls under her blanket, closing his eyes again. "Thanks, Jack."
"No problem. Go back to sleep, Aya," he says, getting closer to her. "It's too damn early to be awake." Aya giggles before agreeing and cuddles into her pillow. Jack tosses and turns, unable to fully sink back to sleep now that he's so cold. This keeps Aya awake too. She growls before grabbing his arm.
"Stop moving," she orders softly. "It's getting on my nerves. Are you cold?" He nods, and she gives him most of the blanket. "There. Quit moving." Jack, now wide awake, smirks and moves his hand toward her sides. She jumps, snorting in an attempt to hold back laughter. He does it again, and she grabs both hands to make him stop. He's stronger though, so her efforts are useless as he does it again.
Aya moves all the way to the wall, twisting and muffling laughter by biting her lip. When he stops, chuckling himself, Aya pants heavily, trying to catch her breath. He smirks at her as she flips him off. "I hate you very much right now." She flips over and gets an idea in her head. "I'm thinking of getting back at you." She pulls him close to her. His eyes widen, flicking down before back up. "But... I think it'll have to wait. Don't you?" She crawls over him. "I'm stealing your bed now."
She's at the door when Jack pulls her back into her room. "Okay, no more playing around. I'll go get in my bed, and you stay in yours," he orders. Aya quirks a brow. "Please?" Aya smirks. He opens the door and pads away, while Aya watches him go. She shuts the window and crawls back under her covers and grabs her stuffed animal.
"I'm not hungry, Bobby." Aya glares at the oldest Mercer brother. He glares straight on down at the smaller girl. He's adamant about Aya eating breakfast after missing dinner the night before, but she keeps on going about how she isn't hungry. "Let it go, Bobby, because I am not eating unless you force it down my throat."
Angel laughs at her, enjoying the sequence between the teenage girl and grown man. Jeremy is watching too, and can't help it as he laughs too. "Eat the pancake, Aya." She crosses her arms and shakes her head. "Aya, eat the damn pancake!"
"I took three bites, Bobby!" Aya yells back. "I said no, and that is my final decision! Now move before I'm late for school, jerk!"
"What is going on?" Jack asks, coming downstairs with his bag. He walks past Angel and Jeremy, grabbing from the stack of pancakes meant to be split between the siblings. He looks between the two others in the kitchen, glaring at each other rather intently. "Aya, eat your pancake ma made for you." Aya turns to glare at Jack.
"I am not hungry." She huffs and tries to walk past Bobby, who moves to stop her. "Is it so bad that I'm not starving, Bobby? Besides, it'll be my problem and not yours if I die of starvation." Bobby lets her walk past, but she sees Jack say something to Bobby before following her out the door, nibbling on his own food. "If you made a deal with Bobby about me eating that pancake, it isn't going to happen, Jack."
"It isn't about the stupid pancake, Aya," Jack says, stopping and kneeling down. Aya assumes he's tying his shoes until something cold makes her yelp. She turns to see him with another in hand.
"Did you just throw a snowball at me? Me?" Aya kneels down, scooping up a handful of fallen snow. She dodges another one as he kneels down to get more. She throws the ball of frost at him, hitting his left shoulder. "You are so dead, Mercer!"
During second hour, Aya regrets not having eaten breakfast. She growls at the way her stomach screams and scolds her. Especially since she sleeps during second period and can't today because of her little problem. "Hungry now?" Jack asks, holding out a cold pancake. Aya glares at him, taking the food.
"You so did that on purpose," she accuses him. He just grins at her, and she rolls her eyes, biting it. "I hate you so much right now. Like, really, honestly, truly hate you, Jack."
"Hmm, I'll see what you're saying tonight when I open a window so you aren't sweating." Jack looks back as the teacher comes in. "Are you going to MIA this afternoon?"
"Probably. It depends on what I hear, Jack." Aya sighs. "You don't have to cover for me. I can tell Evelyn the secret if it makes you comfortable. I haven't seen or heard of this guy shooting old ladies. Unless you count thirty as old."
"Someone has to watch out for you."
"And it ain't gotta be you."
"Mercer, turn around and quit distracting your classmate. Aya, please don't eat in my class." Jack rolls his eyes before turning around and Aya hides her pancake as she eats it, paying attention to her teacher's droning and boring voice.
Aya sits in the living room, throwing a ball of paper up in the air. She laughs at Angel as he makes a joke. "That was actually a good one, Angel." She looks over at him to see him looking surprised. "What? I actually listen sometimes." She rolls her eyes before getting up. "I'll be down after homework time. Yay..."
"I don't have homework," he says, laughing. "Yay!"
"Screw you, Angel!" Aya yells, half serious about it before closing her door. She pulls out a bag, pulling on a hoodie and dragging her hair into a ponytail before pulling the hood up and putting the contacts in. Her door opens and she pulls the hood over more before swinging out of her window. She runs off, not sure who saw her and not really caring.
She sees Abby a few minutes later, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth. Upon closer inspection, she sees that it isn't even lit and smiles. "Type of Fault in Our Stars shit, right?"
"You've read it?" Abby asks with a grin. Aya nods. "Pretty much. Grandmother said that my grandfather died of lung cancer, so it kind of makes me feel better. Besides, I won't even lie. I've lit up a few before."
Aya laughs. "Don't even worry about that much. I've seen a lot less young people actually light up two or three in an hour." She looks down the street. "So, how are we going to do this? We can't exactly pretend that what we're doing isn't bad. If people see us together especially..."
"Honestly, I want to scare the shit out of Blood," Abby says with contempt. "I want him to know that his time is running out. I want him to know that we're hot on his trail. As long as we keep up the fake identities and stay as far away from family in these identities, then we're good."
Aya leans against the wall they're hiding behind. "I think we should get jobs. Makes us seem more like a person than we are. Put a little bit more on our age, make up a birthday, and shabang. We seem more than we really are." Abby nods, understanding. "Besides... Extra cash gets a lot of things out most people I've met and I'm getting low after jacking one foster dad's drug stashes and selling the shit out of it."
"Damn. I never thought of doing that," Abby says, giggling a bit. "I can't imagine how much trouble you got in."
"Hey, juvie isn't bad after a few trips." Aya looks at her nails. "I need to get these done... But if I-"
"People will notice. I have the same problem," Abby says. "So, we're going to get jobs... Where?"
"Pete's, definitely. I'll take three to six on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and you can have a morning shift on Saturday with three to six on Tuesday and Thursday," Aya says, taking out a notebook and writing it down. "Is that cool?"
"Sure. Most of my stuff happens on Fridays anyway, so Saturdays are great," Abby says, pulling a pen out of her pocket and writing it on her arm. "So, we let him know, but we put a difference between us and... us..." Abby laughs.
Aya smiles. "Yeah, pretty much. I gotta go. Someone was coming in my room when I left, so I can only hope that it was Jack or else. He doesn't demand questions like the others. See ya tomorrow after work?"
"Of course," Abby smiles. The duo part ways, and Aya grins, feeling even closer than before to finding this bastard.
"Aya," Eva whines over the phone. "I tried really hard though! It was super duper hard words!"
"It really was. I haven't heard of many first graders who can spell coincident or... floccinaucinihilipilification. Even if it is for bonus. What the hell does that even mean?" Mrs. Jackson asks.
"The act of judging something as worthless." The phone is silent. "What? I get bored sometimes, Mrs. J. Besides it is... eight thirty, so I think that you need to get your booty in bed."
"Oh, I didn't even realize. Thanks, Aya," she says before they say goodbye. Aya puts the phone down and looks around at Bobby and Angel.
"What?"
"Where were you at dinner? That is the only time you ever talk to us and the only time we ever see you, Aya," Bobby says. Aya shrugs.
"I got a job at Pete's," she mumbles. "Or at least tried to get a job. Some blonde bitch got it before I could. Sorry if you were inconvenienced by my lack of attendance." She walks past them both, squeezing tight so she doesn't touch either one of them. "By the way, your fly's undone, Bobby!" Aya hops up the steps as she hears Angel laugh and Bobby swear loudly.
Aya opens her door to find someone already looking in her room. "What are you doing, Jack?" she growls at the blonde boy. Jack jumps, pulling her leather jacket out in the process. She didn't even realize that she brought it home until now. "Put it up and leave the bag alone." She scans over her room, seeing what else he managed to dig up.
On her bed is her gun and crowbar. "Why do you need this stuff, Aya?" Jack asks.
"It doesn't matter. We went over this," she hisses, closing the door and locking it so no one can come in. "Why the hell would you go through my stuff?!" Aya doesn't lie to herself. She is pissed off at Jack for what he's done here and now.
"Why wouldn't I? You left before dinner, not even bothering with the damn door," he says, and Aya can tell that he's pretty mad too. "Why do you need a gun and a set of clothes that I've never seen you in?"
"That's the point, idiot," she says, stuffing her belonging back in the bag she brought before stuffing it under her bed. "If people were to recognize me then it wouldn't be good for who I'm living with, now would it, Jack?" She glares at him, not in the mood to at all back down from him. "Get out of my room and tell this to no one."
Jack glares at her for a moment longer. "You know what? Fine then. I won't say anything about this to anyone, but that does not mean that I won't continue looking for answers, Aya."
"Damn right you won't," she hisses. "If you were to mention this to anyone..." Aya shakes as he walks past, brushing her shoulder roughly in the process. She keeps her eyes trained on the floor and flinches when the her door slams shut and flinches once again when Jack's does. She pulls a phone out of her school bag and checks for any messages.
Aya sighs before falling on her bed, finding that misery would be her only company tonight.