Glass Dragon

Chapter 4

I pull down the tank top as I walk into the main room. Mom is putting fruits and freshly baked cookies in a basket while Aya cooks pancakes. I end up smiling, knowing I'm lucky to have both of them. Aya's so smart, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to stay with a dits like me and mom is so young I would have thought she'd put me up for adoption by now. I hum at the sweet smell filling the room and the sound of bacon sizzling "smells good." Aya smiles at me but scolds me when i snuggle up behind her and steal a piece "hey" she yells and I twirl away as she tries to grab it back "Dragon, keep your grubby paws off my bacon!" I sit on the edge of the table and it crunches as I take a bite "oh, so it's just yours now, huh?" She twists her wrist to set the back on her hip with the spatula away from her while leaning on the opposite leg with a disappointed smile "that's cheating." She continues with disapproval "you know we're not supposed to eat until after going to the temple." "But I'm a teenager" I complain "I need food." "She's right ya know" mom chimes in. "Mom" I complain "who's side are you on?!" She turns to look at me for a second "I'm with her" she says and turns back to the basket "listen to you future wife." "Hey now" I say with an uncertain smile "where we goin with this?" She chuckles like I'm still an ignorant child. "Ok" I say falsely obedient as I get down from the table and slowly sneak close to her "I won't do it again." I steal one of the cookies and run for it to the hilltop only to have Aya chase me and tackle me to the ground; I smile. She raises the cookie triumphantly and pushes my shoulder into the ground "gotcha, jerk." I laugh and she ends up laughing with me. I was paying so much attention to her that I almost didn't notice a dark figure on the other side of the hill. I squint to try and see him better but only notice one thing. His eyes aren't on me. He's watching her. The thought scares me and I didn't realize I'd gasped. "Hey" Aya says with a concerned look "are you okay." She follows my eyes but he's suddenly gone. My eyes flick between her and where he was standing until I fix my eyes on her "it's nothing" I lie, forcing my expression to lighten. Even though I don't want to make her worry, I can't help glancing back at the hilltop as we leave. He's there again. Why did he disappear when she looked? We walk past the house and help mom carry the basket. Aya shoves me and teases me "is it nice there in LaLa Land?" I look back up at her, barely conscious "yeah, the cotton candy clouds taste pretty good" I joke. "Did you bring any back" she asks with a smile. "No" I say "sorry, the candy man said it was illegal to bring anything across the chacolate milk ocean." She laughs and it brings me back from my trance. I smile at seeing her so happy. "Aya" a small voice calls nervously from behind us. I turn around to look at them. It's him.