ASPEN ➵ Paul Lahote [1]

seven

Have you ever heard of an invisible string? The unseen thread that connects you to another person, a place, or a thing. Tied to one end, you feel the rope around your heart start to pull, but only when the path begins to untangle. The other end is tied to what once was the unknown but now grows clearer the closer you get. Aspen wanted more than anything to believe in the idea of fate. She believed there was a reason for everything and a guide drawing her to choose each road she took. The serendipitous choices that brought her to where she was today were the fingers plucking through the knots and snags in that invisible string. She could only assume her recent relationships with her newfound friends to be derived from the fate she was choosing to believe in.

It had been a few days since she recovered from the reckless nature of Bella Swan and their motorbike escapade with Jacob Black. She had spoken with Bella briefly since about the event, to which Bella did apologize, but lamented that it was something she 'just needed to do'. That very evening was the one in which she went to Emily's and had dinner with her and the Quileute boys for the second time.

Today was Friday. Aspen had clambered her way in through the door of her home and dropped her book bag at the entryway before slipping her shoes off and making her way through the home to see her father in his study.

"Hey, Dad! What world are we in today? The historical kind or the financial kind?" Aspen asked as she popped a kiss on his cheek and sat on the plush brown leather chair positioned in the corner of the room. She always asked him about his work, and her father never denied her an answer.

"Hey sweet pea. Today we are stuck in the boring world of carpentry. I am determined to rebuild the decking on the store porch before summertime, but for some crazy reason, your mother has me believing I can do it myself."

Aspen rolled her eyes but laughed. If her mother was one thing, it was persistent. But she knew that her mom loved Brandon Kennedy so much that she truly thought he could do anything.

"I'm sure you can do it, Pops; I believe in you, too."

"How was school today?" he changed the subject.

Aspen shrugged, "Nothing too wild for me today. I had to miss part of my lunch to talk to my French teacher, so I didn't get a chance to sit with Bella now that we have moved our seat back to sit with some of her old friends. It rained during P.E. so we had indoor volleyball and I actually set the ball! Only it went in the completely wrong direction."

Her dad laughed and shook his head. "You definitely got your athleticism from me, and for that, I am deeply sorry."

Giggled filled the warm room but they settled into a comfortable silence momentarily. Aspen picked up a book that was discarded on the end table next to her and her father got back to his research on various structures, nails, and whatnot. This was a typical evening routine for the two Kennedy family members, and sometimes Aspen would make tea for her father while her mother worked on dinner in the kitchen. The two would turn on the lamps in the study, and her cat moose would curl up by her sock-covered feet on the ottoman. This evening, however, it was just the two of them while her mom was down at the reservation.

About an hour later, Aspen found herself in the car with her father on her way to close up the store and grab her mom. Aspen had worked in the store a few times in the past week, but never for too long, and Embry stopped by once, grabbing his pack of Twizzlers of course.