It was 12 in the afternoon and Emerald couldn't stand staying inside any longer. She put her green hoodie on covering her skin so it was less likely to have her scars showing, and walked out of the house. She felt extremely out of place as she walked the path into the park, she kept her head down hoping that she wouldn’t be recognized. But she was, Her best friend Ashton walked up next to her, and picked Emerald up. Ashton was 6’7, he had Violet eyes, chin length curly dirty blonde hair, his skin was slightly sunburnt, but still as white as freshly fallen snow. He was quite skinny for someone of his height but that never seemed to bother him “AAA- oh holy s-shit! Ash! Please put me down.” Emerald was startled by Ash, to say the least, but she was most uncomfortable with him picking her up like that. “Emmyyyyy! Oh my goodness! It's so good to see you again!” Ash was excited to see Emerald again, and he gently set Emerald down on the ground and unzipped her sweatshirt, and prompted her to take it off. It was 90 degrees outside today, too hot for a sweatshirt. Emerald slipped her arms out of the sleeves of the sweatshirt, revealing small scars on her arms. Ashton’s eyes widened at the sight of the scars. “Em your not-” he was interrupted by Emerald “It's from the vines Ash, not that, also I'm so happy to see you too Ash! Hey- you're still wearing the-” Ash interrupted Emerald to finish her sentence. “Necklace! Yeah, I have never taken it off since graduation, My mom started to think that you died cuz’ you haven't been out in public since graduation… To be honest I started to think that too, since… Y’know your mother..” Ash looked down at the ground. "Hey, pick your head up Ash! I understand" Emerald replied. Ash intertwined his fingers with Emerald’s, Her hand fit perfectly in His. “You know what? I’m taking you home with me Emmy” Ash smiled sweetly, and Emerald’s eyes widened. “But what would your mom think about this-” Emerald and Ash have been long-time friends, since kindergarten at least. In high school, they tried dating. It lasted for three weeks until they realized that that was not what they wanted at least at that time. “Oh, mom won’t mind, you know her rules with girls, just keep the door open.” Ash picked up Emerald bridal style and started sprinting towards his house. Emerald let out a little scream “Please slow down Ash-! I don’t want to get dropped!” Emerald had her arms tightly wrapped around Ash, a few vines also started to wrap around Ash as well, he didn’t even flinch at that though, he was used to it by now. “When have I ever dropped you, Emmy?” “Ashton remember, during prom you did drop me!” Ash wheezed, “Oh yeah that’s right, oops”. Emerald rested her head against Ashton’s warm chest, and he slowed down to a jog. “When did you get so fast-’ Emerald asked. “Track racing with my mom” Ash replied. “Ash, you're such a mommy’s boy”. “And your such a daddy’s girl Emmy”. Emerald giggled again, “That’s fair and true”. Ash walked up the steps to his house and opened the door. He was immediately met by his mom, wearing her ‘that ain’t burnt that’s just flavor’ Apron. Emerald’s vines withered into nothingness fairly quickly, and she looked up at Elizabeth. “Hey, Elizabeth! How are you doing?” Emerald asked fairly quickly. “Ooh! Hi Emerald, I’m glad to see you. I'm doing quite well, thank you!” Elizabeth replied. “Mom I hope you don’t mind if we go up to-” Ash was interrupted by his mom, “I don’t mind at all, you know my rules.” Elizabeth waved her spatula in the air while she said that, and it made Emerald giggle. “We promise we ain’t gonna do anything like that, We are just friends ya’ know” Now it was Elizabeth’s turn to laugh. “I was just joking, you two do whatever you're gonna do and remember to not have too much fun”. “We won't,” Emerald and Ash said in unison. Ash continued to carry Emerald up the stairs and to his room. Ashton's room was a bookworm paradise, with shelves covering most of his walls overflowing with books of all kinds, a nice large redwood desk for writing or drawing (it currently had a typewriter on it with a transcript for a short story he was writing), and a comfortable bed with three pillows and a soft blanket. Ash set Emerald down on his bed. They were both silent for a little while, seemingly waiting for the other one to say something. Ash finally spoke up, “Emmy There’s something you need to know about your Father,” Ash paused, almost to give this plot some tension without him knowing it. “He’s hiding something. I know this already. Ash'' Emerald was speaking a little bit quietly, not too sure about her words. “Emmy, You have a brother.”
