Ashes, Oh Ashes

chapter 15

Two days later, I sat in the simple bedroom with James and Henry, trying to be minimally noisy and waiting for that jerk to show up. My stomach was in a bit of a knot because I hadn’t had this sort of anticipation since the last time I beat some kid. A sad thing to say, I know, but I think Brian really deserved it- rather than the random kid I was pissed at for a reason I don’t remember.

James was getting utterly bored and there was only so much I could do to entertain the guy with the attention span of a five-year-old. Okay, so I wasn’t really trying, but at least he was keeping quiet.

Henry had no problem with “stealth”; in fact, sometimes he’d yell at one of us to shut up so he could think for a moment. He just sat quietly on his chair with an unlit cigarette hanging from his lips.

I stretched and yawned. This was more tiresome than I thought. I wanted to go run or jump on the couch or something to calm my tense energy.

James growled a low note and I glanced in his direction. He was just as anxious as I was, and from past experience, he’d be the first to swing.

He nearly fell out of the chair he was sitting on when the front door downstairs slammed, followed by more than one pair of footsteps.

We cast glances at each other, all asking the same silent question. He hadn’t come alone. It wasn’t the question of whether we could take them all- there was no doubt to that, but rather how many hits we were going to get back.

They looked to me for instruction, even though we had already made our plan and knew exactly what we were to do.

I cautiously poked my head out of the door only to backtrack immediately back into the room. I did not like being confronted by blonde girls that looked rather coy- and right then she waltzed towards me without hesitation, as if she had known we were here.

Another girl walked in behind her, this one brunette, and I could feel the tension from James and Henry.

“Oh, hey,” the blonde greeted. She smiled- but I had been around enough girls to know it was faker than her boobs. “What are you guys doing here?”

I’ll admit I was thrown off by this. They were something I hadn’t expected, and Lucas never mentioned anything about friends using this house too.

“Uh,” James was the first to speak- like usual. “Who are you?”

“Linda,” she twirled her hair around her tan finger, standing in that poise that made it so obvious she was flirting. Badly. 

I smirked.

“And you?” she asked.

“No seriously, who the hell are you?” I cut in.

Her gaze turned to me a bit icily and at that moment, I could care less. The footsteps had sounded to be more than just these two- and were definitely heavier than two girls in flats could manage.

“Linda Johnson,” she answered a bit cockily. “Are you guys here for some sort of . . . .”

I stared at her before resisting the urge to just slap her. What a bimbo.

Henry came to my side, crossing his arms and glaring at Linda. “So, you two come here often?”

I wanted to object to his ridiculous question, but then I realized that he’d find out more than just asking them blunt questions like James and I did.

“Yeah,” she smiled sweetly. “Melissa and I come here all the time.”

“Hm. We’re friends with Lucas.” He responded gruffly.