"And then, this spider just jumps right at my face!" Ashley exclaimed animatedly, "And of course, I freak out- so the toaster's on fire, the fish is having a seizure or something, water is all over the floor, and there's a huge spider on my face. Are you catching all this?"

Gerad's face was bright red as he gasped for breath between laughs, "Dude, there's no way all that is true, you're makin' that up!"

"I wish I was!" She laughed, "It was a horrible, horrible time... But it was also very wonderful."

"What- how was it wonderful? I would've lost my shit if a tiny spider jumped on me!" Gerad grinned. "And how did you set the toaster on fire?!"

Ashley raised her arms defensively. "Hey, I did exactly what the toaster told me to do! It's not my fault this guy got his toaster from a thousand years from now!" She paused to take a sip of her mocha. "And y'know, the guy did pay me a hundred bucks. And he bought me a movie theatre pass, too. So... it was worth it. Plus, the free pudding was a lovely bonus."

"You're insane!"

"Insanely amazing." She corrected. "And besides," she teased with a chuckle, "I'm not the one who went into a forest at night, to try and hunt a boar. With my bare hands. While I was so drunk I could barely walk."

Gerad scoffed and waved her off before gulping down his hot chocolate. She noticed that he looked like he was freezing. His skin was pale, and he was all but curling into himself. While she was doing that, she realized that she was staring and quickly glanced at her wristwatch in the hope that no one had realized she'd been staring. Once she realized the time, she let out a low curse.

"Aw, dude..." She groaned. Whoops...

"What is it?"

Ashley gave a wry smile and rubbed the back of her neck. "You know we've been standing here for almost two hours, right?"

His eyebrows shot up into his eyebrows. "Oh damn, really? No wonder I'm so cold... Daggon, how do you stand it? I'm over here shakin' like a leaf, and you're lookin' like it's all fine and dandy. You don't even have your jacket zipped up!"

"I guess you're just a wimp." She replied with a smirk. Gerad rolled his eyes and lightly pushed her before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pen.

He held up the pen and made a grabbing motion towards Ashley's arm with his other hand. It took her a few seconds to realize that he wanted to give her a phone number. His phone number. Her face warmed up as she rolled up her sleeve and gave him her arm. He gave her a cheeky grin before writing down a phone number, and putting 'Gerad - Call me so we can do this again :)' below it.

He looked up at her nervously, and held out his pen and his other massive hand. "Will you... uh... Will you give me your number?"

She scoffed. Would she give him her number? "That... is a very not-smart question." She informed him with a laugh, "Of course I will! If you'll let me!"

"Shoot yeah, I will!" He assured her. She nodded and stuck out her tongue in concentration as she scribbled down her number.

Once she was done, she took a step back. "Alright," she sighed, "This has been fun, but I really have things that need doing."
They exchanged smiles; the awkward kind that you give on first dates when you don't know how to say goodbye before Gerad started walking down the street. As Ashley watched him walk away, a goofy grin spread across her face and she silently cheered to herself, fist pumping and twirling...

At least, she did- until she noticed that people around her were looking at her like she was mentally unstable. Then she laughed nervously and mumbled a weak apology before turning, then rolling down the sidewalk on her Heelys, grinning like a maniac. Which probably didn't help her case, but what did she care? She was never going to see them again, anyways!

When she walked (and rolled) the short distance to her apartment, she ran into one of her neighbors.

"Ashy!" The young girl called happily, holding her rather sloppily stitched-up squid plush. She was twelve, but... she didn't act it. She was a sweetheart, but she didn't seem to be... all there. Ashley figured the girl had a mental illness or something, but never stopped to ask.

"Hey there, kiddo!" Ashley chuckled as she kneeled down to the younger girl's height. "How are you doing on this fine evening, Jenni?" Jenni beamed and held up the squid-thing, her gray eyes bright.

"Christmas! 'S for you!"

Ashley smiled fondly and rubbed her dark blonde hair. It actually wouldn't be Christmas for over two months, but surely the kid didn't need to know that. "Aww, well thanks, kiddo. But do your parents know you're giving away your toys?"

Jenni nodded vigorously and held the squid in her face, waiting impatiently for her to take it. Ashley pursed her lips in thought as she idly scratched her cheek.

Well... She could just take the toy now, and ask about it to Jenni's parents later. She knew the younger girl loved the plush toy. Jenni had been carrying around the thing for the last four months.

Once she decided what to do, Ashley beamed at the young girl and took it gingerly, lightly rubbing the patchwork squid on the top of it's head. She looked around to make sure no one was watching before letting her voice go soft. "Thanks, kiddo," she said, "I darn-sure appreciate it. I wish I could give you something, but..." She trailed off unsurely.

Jenni smiled and lightly tugged on Ashley's bomber jacket. "S'okay. You gotta get Zach, now?"

"Yeah," she said, "It's Friday. He stays with me on most weekends."

Jenni nodded and grinned before giving Ashley a hug. "Kay. 'M gonna go see Mr. Doctor Man."

"Oh no," Ashley groaned, shivering with pretend horror, "Not the doctor man!" She gave up the act and laughed, rubbing the younger girl's hair. "I don't know how you stand it! I never get within three miles of a hospital. I'm tellin' ya kid; you're a lot braver than me! You should be a superhero."

She gasped. "Like Batman!"

"Or, better yet- Iron man!" Ashley suggested before correcting herself, "Err, Iron woman! You'd get all the things Batman does, and you'd get all the guys! Or whatever it is you like!"

Jenni was about to agree, but paused and cocked her head to the side. "What...?"

Ashley laughed and shook her head. "Nothing, kiddo, nothing. You'll get it when you're older."

The young girl just hummed in acknowledgement before turning and running to her mother, of which whom Ashley hadn't realized was there until just then. She waved at the older woman and held up the squid questioningly. Jenni's mother simply motioned for her to keep it before kneeling down to her daughter.

Shrugging to herself, she rolled down the sidewalk a few yards before jumping off the curb onto the road. She stopped at her her car, and found her chest swelling with adoration at the sight of her pride and joy.

Her pride and joy was a 2008 Camaro. Named after her favorite Transformer, I'm sure you can guess why she named her car 'Bumble Bee'. He was yellow with black racing stripes, and not a speck of dirt existed, nor ever would exist on her baby. She took better care of the car than she did herself.

She lightly ran her hand across the hood of the car. She briefly considered asking him if he was ready for a spin, but... Quite a few people around here already thought she was crazy, and she didn't really feel like adding more to that list today.

Unlocking the door and hopping in, she started up the engine and grinned like the Cheshire Cat as the engine roared to life. She clicked on the seat belt before backing up.

Once she was out of the parking lot and ready to get onto the highway, she blared Hollywood Undead through her absolutely lovely speakers. With the music reverberating through her car, making her chest thump in tune with the base, she shifted gears and sped down the highway with a cheer.

God, she loved her car.

Ashley rolled up to the familiar, light blue house and shut off her stereo. She pulled out her keys and locked the doors in stride, jogging up the steps and just walking right in.

Her dad, a large and rather formidable man, waved at her from the couch. "Hey sweetheart. Zach's upstairs playing in his room."

She nodded and gave him a smile before sneaking up the stairs. Her father, knowing what she was doing, just rolled his eyes and waved her off before turning back to Spongebob on the TV.

"My child is never going to grow up..." He sighed to the cartoon character.

As Ashley sneaked up the steps, she realized that Zach was talking to someone in his room. She figured a friend was over, until she stopped by the door and realized that whoever he was talking to wasn't talking back.

Huh... Guess she wasn't the only one who still had an imaginary friend at that age.

She slammed the door open as she yelled, "What are you doin'?!" Zach jumped up in the air and gave a scream that sounded distinctly like a little girl, and Ashley fell on the ground, she was laughing so hard.

"You scream like a woman!" She gasped as she rolled around on the ground. For a brief second, she swore she heard the echoes of someone else laughing, too, but just figured it was her imagination.

Zach glared at the laughing girl for a few seconds before giving up and laughing with her.

She crawled over to him once they had calmed down, and poked him in the side. "Hey, Little Z. Sorry I'm a little late- I'll take you to get some ice cream tonight or something, okay?"

"Okay... You wanna play soldiers with me and Jack?"

Ashley nodded and glanced around the room really quick, just to be sure that she was right, and this 'Jack' person really was not real. Zach had been watching her as she looked around, and he visibly deflated.

"I... You can't see him, can you?"

"I'm afraid so, kiddo," She confirmed, "But heck- don't let that stop you, alright? Just because I can't see him, doesn't mean you can't."

Zach cocked his head to the side. "What do you mean?"

Ashley exhaled and rubbed her neck. "Well, it's um... It's kind of a thing that's hard to explain..." She trailed off.

"Try anyways...?"

She gave the young boy an exasperated, if almost embarrassed look. "Well, um... Kids are... They see things, and notice things that adults wouldn't. Kids see more than we do, hear more, feel more. The power of belief is an incredible thing..." She trailed off and laughed at herself. "Okay, you can go ahead and tell me I sound like a fortune cookie, now."

Zach opened his mouth to speak, but stopped and looked over to his side, like he was watching someone. Except... no one was there. It was kind of weird to Ashley, but also pretty fascinating. The way the young boy's features shifted, and his eyes shifted this way and that, it was like there really was someone there.

After a few more seconds, Zach looked over at her, and scratched the back of his head. "Jack says you know a lot more about things than he thought you did."

Ashley paused. "So... Basically, your buddy, Jack, thought I was dumb."

Zach opened his mouth, his face twisted with protest, when he stopped suddenly and looked back to his side. His faced turned sheepish, and he avoided her eyes while mumbling, "He says yeah..."

"Me and your friend are gonna have to take this outside, if he keeps goin' on like this," Ashley told him playfully, cracking her knuckles.

Zach avoided her eyes. "He um... He said to bring it on."

Her eyebrows shot up. Wow... Did she take it this far when referring to her imaginary friends as a kid? Her boy seemed so sure that this guy was real, and Zach was coming up with stuff that he usually didn't. She figured that was just being a kid entailed. Her dad told her that she had a giant kangaroo as an imaginary friend that had an accent. She hadn't even liked kangaroos as a kid... The mind is just a powerful thing, she figured, so it would just be best to shrug it off.

"I don't think he could handle all this." She told him with a crooked grin, "Now lets play soldiers before me and your buddy partake in a fist fight."

Zack nodded vigorously, and crawled over to his little soldier men. Ashley followed him, and grabbed one of the dark gray soldiers with a machine gun.

"You'll never take us alive! Liberty or death!" She cried before throwing one of her troops at Zach's commanding officer.

Zach made a pained noise as he knocked the soldier to the ground, and made it act like it was struggling to get up. "Nooo!~ I'm too young to die!"

She smirked and grabbed a nearby toy rhino. "Well, we all have to go, sometimes."

Both Zach and Ashley let out war cries as the officer and rhino collided, and explosion noises rang through the room until it all came to a stop. Silence filled the room.

Zach gave his sister a hard stare. "You killed my officer."

"Yes. Yes I did."

He stared for the longest time before picking up his entire fleet and yelling, "REVENGE!" Then dumping his army on her. She made fake noises of pain as she rolled around in the toy soldiers, until she remembered something and shot up.

"Aha! I have a strategic advantage!" She reached into her jacket and pulled out the squid plush.

Zach gave an over dramatic gasp. "You have a kraken!"

"Correct-a-mundo, my fine enemy of war, and guess what?" She let out an evil laugh, "He's hungry!" She knocked his soldiers to the ground with the squid, making various eating noises until bringing it to a stop, and turning the squid's face slowly to Zach's. His eyes widened.

"No," he gasped over-dramatically, "You wouldn't..."

"I would."

"To your own brother?!"

"Absolutely."

Zach cried out as Ashley tackled him to the ground and rubbed the squid in his face as he flailed around. "Nooooo!" He yelled, reaching for the ceiling, "It's eating meee!"

They continued like that for a while, rolling around on the ground, until they finally rolled to a stop near the window. Zach was laying on top of Ashley's stomach, with the squid sitting on his head.

He looked up at her from under the tentacles, and gave a her a grin unlike any he had given her before, and it threw her off, really. His eyes were soft, and filled with adoration, and she had just never seen him look at anything like that before.

"I love you."

It took Ashley a few seconds to shake off her shock and respond. Once she did, however, she sat up and hugged him, nuzzling the top of his head. "I love you, too, kiddo. More than anything. And don't you ever forget it."

He laughed into her shoulder, and playfully protested. "Hey, don't get all girly and sappy on me, now. You're embarrassing me in front Jack!"

"But it's my job to embarrass you!" She laughed as she messed up his hair. However, despite her words, she let him go and got up. She took a few steps until a chill ran through her, and she frowned. "You have a draft in your room, buddy."

"Oh, that's not a draft; you're just standing next to Jack." Zach dismissed to her, hopping up and heading to his closet to pack. Ashley raised an eyebrow.

"How come Jack is so cold?"

"Because he's Jack Frost, duh!" Zach's head popped out of his closet, and he beamed at the spot next to Ashley. "I told you she was great!"

Ashley smirked, and decided to play along. She looked over at the spot Zach was looking at and winked. "Yeah, I am pretty amazing, aren't I?" Another blast of cold ran through her. Man... she really needed to check into that draft.

Zach was taking painfully long to get ready, so she cleared her throat awkwardly and shifted feet. She decided to make small talk with her brother's imaginary friend because, well, why not? "So, uh... You should make it snow today. That would be pretty righteous."

More silence.

"Yeah... Zach takes longer to get ready than a teenage girl," She sighed, "I'm trying to fix that, but..."

"Hey! I heard that!"

A grin crossed Ashley's face as she called back, "You were supposed to!~"

Author's Note~

Holy crap! I got four reviews, and all these faves and follows already! My goodness, you have no idea how much I appreciate all of it! I got on my email, and it was just like an explosion of stuff, yo. I seriously fell out of my chair and screamed when I opened up my email. My dad thought I was having a heart attack!

Ahem, anywho... Sorry it took me so long to update. I've had the worst luck this past week. A day after I submitted the last chapter, I got really sick for five days and was banned from the computer so I woudn't infect everyone. And then after that, I twisted or cracked my neck wrong during the night, and couldn't move or turn my head without mucho dolor. It was not a fun time.

Tell me if I made any mistakes, and I hope you get a few laughs out of my lame little story!

,BlueAsh666