Unique

Chapter 7

        "ITS DONE!"  James ran upstairs screaming, snapping me out of my revire.  "Comeoncomeoncomeonletsgoletsgoletsgo!!"  He grabbed my hand, and yanked me off the couch.  I quickly grabbed Ash's hand, pulling her along.  We ran downstairs, where we were met with a strange sight: a box-shaped... box, connected to what looked like a battery,  and to the computer by a bunch of wires.
"Woah!" said Ash, in clear amazement.  "That's so cool!  Can I try?"
        "Well," said James carefully, as if she could kill him with a look, "I've only really got it set up for us three, but..."
        "But what?" I asked.
        "But, if you don't mind waiting, I can program you in..."
        "No, I don't mind wiating," she said, "do you, Sam?"
        "Uh, no, not at all!"
        “Alright then,” said James, “I'll have it up in about an hour.

        “Great!” I said.  “In that case, I'll take Ash out to get some new clothes - not that there's anything wrong with what you're wearing now, it's just… I don’t… we don't have anything to wash clothes with.”

        “it's fine, I understand. let's go!”

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        We got into the car, and drove to the nearby deserted Wa-mat; a general needs store.  Everything was deserted after the Revolt, being that all businesses were ordered closed, but the buildings and items stayed.  We climbed in through a shattered window, and I gestured with my arm across the store saying “Pick anything you want.”   She ran from aisle to aisle, picking this dress and that top.  When she was finally done, we drove back home.

        We walked in the door, hearing a bang as we did, accompanied by James’ shouts of “Dammit, Adam!” and the sound of something sounding like a keyboard being thrown across the room.  We ran downstairs to find the simulator smoking and Adam standing near it with a fire extinguisher, putting out a small flame.

        “What happened?” I asked sort of nonchalantly, being that things usually ended up in flames with these two.  “This idiot over here,” said James, pointing over his shoulder at Adam, “plugged it into the wrong battery terminal and it shorted!  This is going to take at least a week to fix!”  

        I smiled inwardly, already planning the week that was ahead of us.  We played Sorry and got our asses kicked at Halo in the morning.  I took Ash to the nearby range every afternoon for some basic weapons training.  Turns out she had never held a gun, not even a paintball gun!  I had no idea how she was so good at Halo.  

        Being that she had never held a gun, I had to help her - not that I wouldn't have or anything.  I went up behind her, and wrapped my arms around hers, helping her steady the gun.  I could, once again, smell strawberries when our heads almost touched.  I showed her how to properly load a gun, which took some time, and ended up with me guiding her hands once again.  I think she understood it after the third or fourth time, and yet, I must've shown or at least 15 times!  Each time I helped her she was so polite, and never told me to stop guiding her. My “like” for her grew to a level near “love”, but not quite.

        By the end of the week, she could've been a sharpshooter.  She attributed her quick learning to how many times she had to move around and adjust to her surroundings.  The rules were simple: whoever got the most items knocked down in one minute won.  She killed me - she got a perfect 50 out of 50, while I only got 35!

        As we drove home that night, we stopped off to pick up some food - freeze-dried  - at the Wa-mat.  We loaded the food into the jeep, and drove home, taking the scenic route.  We drove around the big hills in Texas - no abundance of those.  We sat watching the sunset side-by-side.

        “I know why you took me for clothes,” she said, breaking the silence. She held out her hand, and made the exact dress that she was wearing appear in her hand.  “I don't really have to raid stores for clothes you know.”  She was looking at me now.  “I know you like me.”

        I sat silently cursing the sixth sense that she had, blushing at the same time.

        “It's cool… I mean, like, I don't mind if you want to be, like… more than friends.  I'd actually like that, but let's just say that… things haven't turned out well for other guys,” she said, blushing.

        “What do you mean?”

        “Well, apparently, when I get… um… excited,” she said, blushing even harder, “I kinda uh… go on a rampage.  Like, kill things and shit.  It's pretty bad.” 

        “It's nothing that can't be fixed,” I said, half hopeful and half doubtful.  At this point, the sun was almost under the horizon.  She moved closer to me, putting her hand in mine, and her head on my shoulder.  The sun finally set, and darkness fell.

        “We should probably head back,” I said reluctantly, wanting to freeze this moment forever.

        “Yeah, but I want to try something first,” she said, wearing a mischievous smile on her face.

        “Sure, anything.”

        She began to move her head closer to mine until are foreheads were touching.

        “Sam?”

        “Yeah?”

        “I…I love you.”  And then we were kissing.  Everything around us ceased to exist.  There was only her and I, my lips pressed against hers.  The scent of strawberries intensified, as she broke away after about two seconds, already out of breath.  After she caught it, we were kissing again.  It was a more intense kiss than the first one with our lips mashing together, as she moved her hands up and down my body, and mine hers . We broke the connection, and I began laughing, happy that I could finally be with Ash.  She joined in, and we drove home, laughing all the way.

        It was the best night of my life.