Clarity

Ava's First Real Chapter

~Ava~

"Sis, get up, we've gotta clean the house before Mom and Dad get home!" Jasper yelled, barging into her room.

Ava groaned, rolling over in bed, her horrible hangover making everything sound louder.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm coming," she grumbled out, rolling slowly out of bed.

Ava shuffled to her bathroom, washing her face and brushing her teeth, before changing her clothes. She also took some ibuprofen, to calm her raging headache.

She finally ventured downstairs and found her brother with a black trash bag, cleaning up the red and blue Solo© cups that were everywhere.

"Man, people really are disgusting." she scoffed, putting a hand to her forehead as if the lights would dim any.

When she lowered her hand, her brother was looking at her weirdly. She raised her eyebrow in question, and he deflected and put his hands up.

"Can you pick up all the red cups and I'll pick up all the blue cups," he said, motioning around the room.

"Yeah, okay." and she went about the house, picking up all the red cups along the way.

She grabbed another trash bag, putting all the cups into it, and continued throughout the house, picking up the other items of trash as well.

When she had picked up all the red cups and trash, she brought the bag to her brother, who looked in the bag and smiled. "Not a single blue cup in here, huh," he commented, smirking up at her.

Ava looked in the bag again, "Yeah, what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing, it's just...I didn't know that you could see colors." Jasper crossed his arms, giving her a stern look. "When were you gonna tell me?"

She laughed nervously and scratched the back of her neck.

"I actually didn't know until you just said something about it. I just noticed the color of your hair and eyes," she said, gesturing towards his face.

He looked down at himself. "I guess I am pretty hot, aren't I?"

"Not really, you're average I guess," she said.

Jasper gasped, bringing a hand to his chest in mock offense. "Dear sister, I'm hurt."

"Be hurt, I don't care."

He laughed and threw a wad of paper at her, the paper hitting her square in the chest.

"Who's the lucky guy?" he asked, getting serious for a second.

Ava paused, mulling over the events of that night, surprised she could remember everything that had happened that night. She gasped when she stopped at the one memory, the event sobering her up immediately as if she were slapped hard in the face by someone incredibly strong.

"They're not a guy."

"Then what? They're a girl?"

"Yeah. Roman Goodman is my intended." Ava closed her eyes as the impact of her statement dawned on her. It filled her with a giddy yet foreboding feeling.

She waited to hear Jasper's response and opened her eyes as she hadn't heard him respond.

His eyes were wide and his jaw was hanging practically to the floor. "What?" she asked.

"Roman Goodman? The one you made out with last night?" he asked.

"Yes, that one exactly," she muttered under her breath.

"Good because if you two weren't bonded, that would be totally weird to explain to her."

Just then the doorbell rang and Ava ran to get the door. Upon opening it, she immediately wished she hadn't. Because right there, was Roman Goodman in all her beautiful glory.

"H-Hey. What are you doing here?" she asked, stuttering as she was taken by her intended's true beauty.

"I um...left my bag here last night. I wondered if it was still in your bedroom?" Roman said, looking down nervously.

Ava watched Roman bite her lip as she looked down at her worn down converse and back up into her eyes.

"I didn't know you were in my room last night, feel free to go up and look. It's upstairs, second door on the left." Ava said, opening the door for her to come in.

"Thanks."

Roman walked up the stairs carefully, so as not to fall.

"Who's at the door, sis!" Jasper yelled from the kitchen.

Ava walked into the kitchen, a finger to her lips. "Roman Goodman." she sighed.

Jasper gasped, his hand flying to his mouth. "She's here? Why is she here?" he whisper-yelled.

"She's looking for a bag she left here last night."

Jasper nodded, turning around and continuing to clean up.

A few seconds later, Roman ventured down the stairs and into the kitchen, where the twins were.

"Hey, I found my bag!" she said, smiling brightly.

Ava beamed back, wanting to see that smile every day in her life.

"Well, that's good," Ava said.

"Would you like something to drink?" Jasper asked.

"L.O.L. no, I've gotta go get ready for work."

"Oh! Where do you work?"

"The Starbucks over on Ford Rd. Come swing by sometime, I'll hook you up." Roman grinned at the both of them.

"You bet we will see you later RoRo," Jasper said, turning around and turning on the sink water.

Ava led her out of the room and towards the front door.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" she asked.

"Yeah, I did. Though I got into a fight with my brother before and got trashed so much that I forgot everything that happened following my first drink."

Roman missed the dejected look on Ava's face at her last statement though because she quickly schooled her features.

"Well, at least you had fun, hangover's probably kicking your ass though!" she smiled.

"True. I gotta go, but come to the coffee shop sometime, I'd love to have a friendly face there." she smiled as she walked out the door.

"I'll try. Have a good day Roman!" Ava yelled out the door, closing it when she got out of vision.

She leaned against the door, her hand over her racing heart. Seeing Roman, knowing she was her intended, made her afraid but excited at the same time. Her heart raced in fear that she wouldn't be accepted by Roman because she hadn't told her immediately.

But even if she didn't accept her, she would eventually have to, due to the death penalty slammed upon by both the government and the bond itself. If the bonded were to deny the bond, they would be killed by the magic or the government. She didn't want that to happen, so she chose to ignore the issue until later.

"Why are you leaning on the door like a lovesick puppy?" Jasper said, scaring her out of her reverie.

"Because she doesn't know we're bonded."

"Why didn't you tell her?"

"Because she deserves to figure it out for herself. Plus, I barely know her and she might not accept the bond."

"Okay, but that doesn't define if she will or not. You don't know until you do anyway."

Ava sighed, walking back to wipe the spilled red drink off the walls and the hardwood floors. "I'll figure it out."