Coalition (LUX series fan fiction novel #1)

Chapter 4

Dress shopping didn't happen until Friday after school and Ashley was freaking out. Seth Ashton asked her out last minute and she suddenly realized she had nothing really fancy to wear. She did have a dress picked out but that dress would never do. Not with handsome Seth taking her to prom. No siree. Ashley went with Kelsey, Kevin and Adam. She and Kelsey perused dresses at the discount dress store. It was packed. Prom was tomorrow and most girls hit this store to avoid paying an arm and a leg for a dress at the mall. "What about this one?" Kelsey held up a short black and white dress with a red bow on the side. "I think it suits you. Try it on." Ashley shook her head. "It's kinda short plus I hate that red bow. Yuck." Kelsey shrugged her shoulders and moved to another rack. Adam and Kevin talked at the front of the store. They were all there because of her. Ashely felt kind of bad but she didn't really care at the same time. She had to find a suitable dress. After almost an hour of trying on dresses, Ashley still hadn't found that perfect dress. She was getting so frustrated. She wished her powers included the ability to make a dress out of thin air. "You can't wear the dress you have at home?" Adam finally asked. Ashley wanted to punch him. " No Adam. I can't. I don't expect you to understand. Adam narrowed his eyes and glanced at his phone. "Ok that's great and all but it's almost 4:30. We've been here for almost and hour and a half. I'd like to go home and get some homework done before dinner." "Well leave then! No one's keeping you here." Adam let out a long and exasperated sigh. "Geez Ash don't be so dramatic." Kelsey stepped in. "You guys can go home and I'll stay with Ashley until she finds a dress she likes," she said. "That's so nice of you Kels but how you gonna get home?" Kevin asked. "I'll just call mom and ask her to pick us up. I'm sure if you'll explain the situation to her she'll understand." "Why do I have to explain the situation to her? Kevin asked. "Because you're gonna get home without me and she's going ask why I'm not with you. Just tell her I wanted to stay to help Ashley find a dress for prom. Simple as that." Kevin closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "Fine. Whatever. Come on Adam." He turned to look for Adam but he wasn't there. "What the? Adam?" Ashely and Kelsey began to look around. "Oh! There he is." Kelsey exclaimed. He was talking to a sales lady, flashing his charming smile. He nodded several times and headed back to the group. In his hands he held a rose colored dress. It was long and had a small slit on the side. The dress glittered under the store lights and the fabric was so soft to the touch. "Woa." Ashley said under her breath. Adam smiled. "I think our troubles are over. Why don't you try it on? You're a size 8 right?" Ashley nodded and took the dress from him. "Yikes he just said her dress size out loud, " Kevin whispered to his sister. She elbowed him in the gut. "Ouch!" he practically yelled. "Would you hush?"she hissed. Kevin rubbed his stomach hoping it didn't bruise. Several moments later Ashley emerged from the dressing room. The dress hugged her curves just right. She was so pleased. "Wow. You look great in that dress," Kelsey said with a wink. "Not bad," Kevin commented. Adam just smiled and nodded. Ashley changed back into her clothes and bought the dress for only 50 bucks. A real steal she thought. By the time they left the store it was 5:15. As they walked to the parking lot Ashley walked in tandem with Adam. "Hey. Thanks." She said with her head down. "Hu? Oh no problem. I'm glad you liked it," he said. "Yeah I love it. I think Seth will too." Adam nodded. They all climbed into Adam's Nissan and headed home. Ashley sat in the back seat surprised at her cousins actions. It was such a sweet gesture and she wouldn't have found that dress without his help. He may be a nerd but he was a sweet nerd. She felt silly getting all worked up over a dress but Adam came to her rescue and she really was grateful. Ashley sat back and listened to the One Direction song Kelsey was singing along to, satisfied with her purchase. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Katy quickly set the table for dinner that night. She busied herself around the kitchen making sure her spaghetti turned out just right. She took a wooden soon and tasted the sauce. Hmmm, she thought. It could use some more spice. She added more oregano and tasted it once again. Perfect. As she cooked she heard footsteps descending from downstairs. "Hey mom. Is dinner ready yet?" Adam asked. "Not yet sweetie. Why don't you help me out and get the salad ready for us?" "Sure." Adam pulled out the lettuce from the fridge, opened the large bag of lettuce and began to dump it into a large bowl. "Don't forget to wash the lettuce," Katy reminded her son. He nodded and moved to the sink across the kitchen. Katy saw the water she set for the spaghetti was boiling and she quickly jumped to catch it before it bubbled over. As she turned, her apron caught the sauce pan and before she knew it, her delicious sauce was about the say hello to the floor. But in that second the pan stopped in mid air. She looked up in surprise and saw that Adam had his hand extended in the direction of the pan. He gently moved the pan back up and laid gently back on the stove. He smiled at her. "Phew that was close hu?" "Yeah it sure was." Wow sometimes I forget he can do that." Katy thought to herself. "Well I can mom." Katy jumped. Crap I forgot he can do that to. Better keep my thoughts at bay." "You don't have to hide your thoughts mom. I promise I won't read them." "It's ok baby. It's just don't make a habit out of it." "Sure thing." They prepared dinner in silence. "Salad's ready mom," Adam said breaking the silence. "Ok great. Just leave it in the fridge." Adam placed the salad in the fridge and pulled out some grapes to snack on. "Hey mom?" he said popping a grape into his mouth. "Yeah baby?" "So I wanted to ask you. You know prom is tomorrow and everything and I was wondering..." "No," Katy said before he finished. Adam frowned. "You didn't even let me finish." "I know what you're going to ask and the answer's no." "But dad said..." "Never mind what your dad said. I said no. I don't want you out past 11 and neither does Kelsey's parents." Adam sighed. "Come on Mom. It's my senior prom and I want it to be special." "It will be special. Just not after 11." "Ugh! Why the hell not?!" Katy spun to face him. "Don't you dare raise your voice at me. I said no. I have my reasons and I don't need to explain to you why." Adam shook his head. "Whatever mom." "Hey watch your tone." "Well maybe if you just..." "If I just what? Let you have your way? Get real Adam you're seventeen not seven so quit the temper tantrum and..." "Why can't you just let me do this one thing?" Adam shot back. "I've always obeyed. I've done everything you wanted me to do no matter how ridiculous it was to me. And now I ask you to let me do this one thing and you just..." "What one thing do you want to do? Why do you want to stay out past 11 so badly?" Adam swallowed. He couldn't let his mom know about the cabin and he definitely couldn't let her know about wanting to take Kelsey there. Honestly he didn't understand why his mom was so adamant about it. As hands on as his parents were, he knew his mom couldn't be worried about his having sex. Could she? He was seventeen. Like come on. When Adam just stood there his mom piped up. "Uh hu just as I suspected." "What is that supposed to mean?" "You know what honey I'm trying to get dinner on the table. So let's just drop it." "No." "I'm sorry what?" Adam decided to stand his ground. His mom wasn't about to stop him from romancing his girlfriend on their prom night. "You heard me mom. I'm standing my ground." "Oh are you now? What if I told you if you don't drop this ridiculous act you can kiss your prom good by." "I'd still go anyway." "What has gotten into you? You never fight me like this. I think you've been hanging around your cousin too much." "Oh don't blame it on Ashley. I'm not your perfect little angel anymore Mom so stop treating like me like some fragile little porcelain doll." Katy stopped slicing the garlic bread in front of her. She didn't know why but his words stung. She sighed. "Adam please. Can we just talk about this after dinner?" Adam kept pressing. "No mom." Katy had enough. She faced her son and the words just came out. "Just shut up! Shut up before I make you shut up! I'm tired of hearing you talk. Can you just shut up and drop it!" Adam was down right ticked. He felt the anger boil inside of him. She wasn't being fair. She wasn't being reasonable. He went to speak but His mom stopped his next sentence. "Don't you dare say another word." Adam lost it. He slammed his hand down on the kitchen table and all the lights in the house flickered. For a split second Katy was frightened. His power was so immense and she knew her hybrid abilities would not compare. Adam raised his hand and Katy froze. What was he going to do? The possibility was endless with Origin. No one really knew. Then the door front door slammed and Daemon came crashing into the kitchen. Katy looked up at him and Adam froze. "What the hell is going on?" He asked with a tinge of anger in his voice. Adam dropped his hand and soon realized what he was doing. He bolted from the kitchen and ran to his room. He slammed his bedroom door so hard he was afraid he broke the door off its hinges. He sat on his bed and starred at the wall. He ran his fingers through his hair. This couldn't be happening. His worst nightmare had came true. He wasn't able to control himself. He was about to attack his mom and he feared he might have really hurt her. There's no telling what would have happened if his dad didn't show up. Adam hated himself and he hated his powers. He hated his alien DNA and he hated the fact he couldn't control his anger. He was so embarrassed. He should of just dropped the issue and do what his mom had asked him. He closed his eyes and put his hands to to his head. He just couldn't believe what he was about to do. Just then he heard a knock on the door. He didn't respond but the door to his room opened. His dad walked in, shut the door behind him and sat on the bed next to Adam. They didn't say anything for a while until his dad finally broke the silence. "You ready to talk about what happened back there?" Adam shook his head. No he wasn't ready. Honestly he didn't want to talk about it at all. "Your mom's not angry just so you know." That didn't make Adam feel any better. Daemon sighed. "Come to dinner and let's talk about this on a full stomach ok?" Adam nodded his head. He came to the dinner table and sat down. His mom sat across from him. She went on as if nothing had happened. They ate dinner in silence until his dad asked his mom about their plans tomorrow. His mom told him they were going to have dinner at Antonio's pizzeria and then grab ice cream and finish off their outing by visiting the bookstore. "The bookstore really?" Daemon asked. "Yes really. Is that ok with you?" "Yeah. Whatever makes you happy Kitten." Later they did talk about Adam's outburst. Adam apologized to his mom and they all agreed he'd be back by 11. His mom apologized for raising her voice at him. That night he called Kelsey and told her everything. "It's ok Adam. Don't beat yourself up. We've all let our powers go loose every now and again," she said. "One time I shattered all the windows in my house because my parents wouldn't let me open up Christmas presents on Christmas Eve. Even worse, Kevin actually threw a bolt of electricity at my dad when he grounded him for failing his Algebra exam." "You don't understand Kels. It wasn't just some whimsical feeling. It was like I knew what I was doing but I didn't stop. I was very much aware. I really could have hurt her." "But you didn't," she responded. "You love your mom. You would never hurt her on purpose and she knows that. That's all that matters baby." "But," he started. "Look. Just put it behind you and let's have a blast at out prom tomorrow k? Forget about the cabin, we'll have fun dancing the night away." Adam sighed. She was right. He needed to move on. "Ok babe. I'll pick you up at six?" "Sounds wonderful. See you then!" Adam smiled. Kelsey's voice was enough to calm him down. They hung up and he turned of the lights. He got comfortable in bed and vowed he would never use his powers again. Before he knew it, he was fast asleep.