Taken Away

Austin, Selena, and Joe

A/N:
Date 7-6-17

Hey everyone! The picture above is basically what I think Alicia's haircut looks like.

Word Count: 3026

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Chapter 39: Austin, Selena, and Joe

We all ran through the woods together, with Ash and Zane starting a sort of competition. I joined in, and we ended up racing each other to the little town. I won by a millisecond, and Ash claimed it was because I'm a newborn. Zane grinned and joined in, actually agreeing with Ash. When we got there it looked the same, but with more people. With the sun so bright today, I had to squint while my eyes adjusted to the light.

We slowed and walked leisurely through the town, towards the small building where we'd be getting our hair cut. With a town this small, I wondered if there'd be enough employees there to cut all of our hair at the same time. I was happy to get some kind of normalcy, but I had something to do when we get back to the cabin. I was excited and nervous, because I'd finally decided to talk to my family. But I tucked that thought away so I could focus on the present. "How much of your hair are you getting cut off, Ash?" I asked as we walked along.

I was stuck in between Zane and Ash, so I could easily talk to Ash while walking. Ash put on a dramatically astonished look and said, "Why would I cut any of it? This amazing black hair is hard to find." Ash spoke flippantly so I couldn't tell if he was serious about his hair. "I would use a different adjective than amazing." Zane interjected. "Like disgraceful or dishonorable. Anything with 'dis' as the prefix for the word would be suitable." Zane did a good job at looking thoughtful and unconcerned of the damage of his words.

But I could tell Ash wouldn't have it. "Those are some bigs words for an insufficiently educated buffoon like yourself." I was shocked at the level of intelligence that they were talking at. I could keep up with the conversation, but I wouldn't be using such large words. But I stopped thinking of their vocabulary when I saw their faces. They both stopped as I took another step forward. Zane was just as angry as Ash was, and I had no idea what to do, because I was sure a fight would soon occur.

On instinct, I jumped in between them before they could hit each other. "Hey!" I whispered urgently, facing Zane because it seemed that he'd started this. I tried to keep my voice low so as not to draw attention to us. "What are you doing? One comment about his hair and you're flipping out?" "I did not flip out! I just made a comment." Zane said defensively. Ash snorted behind me to show he didn't believe Zane. I didn't even look at Ash, I just spoke in his mind while still focusing on Zane.

"Shut up Ash or you'll make it worse." I kept my eyes locked on Zane, who was again trying to defend himself. "You should stand back if I'm angry so you won't get hurt." Zane explained, being completely serious. "Oh, so you would hurt me?" I asked as I put my hands defiantly on my hips. I was now in Zane's personal space, just so he'd know that I was serious too. "No, of course not." Zane sounded honest. "Then stop fighting with Ash!" Then I turned to Ash and said, "And you stop fighting with Zane!"

I turned back to Zane. He just shrugged and said, "I'm going to get angry, Alicia. Especially at him. So you should just move so I can let my anger out. It's not good to bottle it up." Zane stood tall and proud with his fists balled up at his sides. His eyes weren't red yet, but I'm sure if there weren't humans around then they'd be the brightest red. "No. Just let it go, Zane. You guys can wrestle or whatever when we get back. But this is my time. You're not going to ruin it for me!" I brought home my point when I poked Zane in the chest.