Falling Embers (Abandoned)

Chapter Twenty

Cassandra carefully arranged her hair, curling the ends in an effort to look perfect for their dinner later tonight. Justin was watching her out of the corner of his eyes as he applied his eyeliner next to her and she smiled. She had insisted on lending him some clean clothes and he had agreed to borrow her oldest pair of faded blue jeans and the pink oversized BYON tee-shirt Ter had jokingly bought her for her seventeenth birthday. They fit him fairly well and even hinted at his own personal style. It was nice to see that they worked well together, sharing her bathroom as they both got ready for the day.

“So what do you want for breakfast today?” She asked.

“Whatever you want.” He shrugged, stealing her mascara and applying thick layers to his already dark eyelashes.

“Does another make-shift omelet sound affable to you?”

“That sounds wonderful.” He grinned.

“That is a very good thing because that is exactly what you are going to get.” She affirmed, turning her curling iron off before heading towards her kitchen. When she tried to start making their breakfast Justin stopped her, kissing her alluringly on the lips, then on the neck. He played with the hem of her long black skirt while slipping his other hand up her sweater. She let him have his way for a short while before pulling back.

“You are a monster.” She whispered, shivering as his teeth grazed her ear.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” He smirked, kissing up and down her jaw line.

“I am not entirely sure.” She muttered, pressing her lips to his desperately. They kissed for a little while longer before she finished making their breakfast. As fueled with hormones as they were they found a way to eat between passionate kissing sessions. Once the dishes were done and everything was set to go straight from the mall to Justin’s home they locked her loft before heading down the stairs to the street.

“So you actually ate the spider?” Cassandra snickered as Justin concluded a childhood memory of Preston daring him to eat a large spider that was crawling on their tree-house wall.

“Eight legs and all. It kinda wiggled on the way down, but other than that it wasn’t too bad.” He grinned, opening the glass door for her as they stepped out onto the sidewalk. Cassandra stopped dead in her tracks, staring past Justin and his smile faltered.

“What’s wrong?” He asked. He didn’t have to wonder long because not five feet in front of them was a shiny black Ford Mustang with a bright red bow tied to the hood. “Do you think it’s for you?”

“There is only one way to find out.” She whispered, taking a few tentative steps toward the scintillating vehicle.  There in the dash facing them was a white folded piece of paper with the words ‘Short-stack’ scrawled on the outside. “Apparently it is.”

“Let’s take it for a spin!” Justin exclaimed excitedly.

“Alright,” She allowed, climbing in the driver’s side and retrieving the note.

Hey Short-stack, thought you could use a car of you own. This is one Ran never uses so we decided to give it to you. Think of it as your ‘welcome back’ present from all of the wolves. Besides, I remember how much you used to love this one and we didn’t want you to have to keep playing clown car. Don’t worry about taxes, payments or insurance, Ran’s got all of that covered. It would be best if you avoided getting pulled over though. Drive safe and have fun.

            Ter-bear

“Is this car seriously yours?” Justin marveled at the sleek leather interior and high-tech radio system. They keys were sitting in the ash tray, only visible if you were sitting down and Cass pulled them free with one finger. She stared at them, and then re-read the note to make sure she had understood correctly.