Across the Wave Pool

Chapter 3

(UNEDITED)

                                                                        Chapter 3

          I kept my head down as I walked towards the break room.  Eli and I got off at the same time, and I was hoping he wouldn't come harass me again.  A two hour break from him wasn't long enough, and I was still nervous about what he had done before my shift.  

          I jumped when a hand grasped my arm.  I whirled around in surprise, but relaxed when I saw it was only Aaron.  "Oh."

          He frowned at me.  "Why didn't you wake me up?  I told you I wanted to take you to work."

        "You can't keep taking me to work," I muttered, pulling my arm out of his.  He let go, thankfully.  Unlike two other people I knew of.  "Besides, I tried waking you up once, but you didn't budge, so I just went."

          His frown deepened.  "Those two didn't give you any trouble, did they?"

          "They asked me if I had told anyone, or was planning on it, but that's all."  I figured nothing good would come out of telling him they both grabbed me hard enough to hurt.  He'd probably punch both of them, and they would undoubtedly make him next in line for the alleyway.

          "What did you say?"

            "I told them I didn't say anything to anyone, and wasn't planning on it."

           Aaron wasn't happy with that answer, but he knew that it was the best option I had.  "They won't be giving you any more trouble, will they?"

            Just then, a flash of dark hair caught my eye, and my gaze shifted past Aaron to Eli walking in our direction.  I looked back at Aaron in nervous warning.  He stiffened immediately, knowing what my look meant.  I attempted to ignore Eli, though, and continued speaking to Aaron.

             "I don't think so."

            He seemed to relax slightly, but he was still tense.  "Good."

           "Are you going to be staying the rest of the day, like yesterday?"

           He nodded.  "Yeah, probably."

           "You better not complain about it being late," I warned.

          "Yeah, yeah," he said dismissively.  "I wasn't that bad yesterday."

           "Yes, you were."  It wasn't me who said it.

            I looked up behind Aaron at Eli and grimaced a bit.  Aaron stiffened again and turned around to stare at Eli with a bland expression.  They were the same height, and around the same build, but my brother was definitely more of what you'd call a pretty boy.  Although he had an attitude that could kill.

           "How would you know?"  Aaron said eventually, after giving Eli the most bored, yet irritated, expression I had ever seen. 

            "Well," Eli sighed, his sarcasm just as strong.  "You were pretty annoying when you tried to call the cops on me."

              I frowned at where I knew the conversation was going. 

              Aaron crossed his arms.  "It was pretty annoying when the prick working with my sister was beating a guy to a pulp."

              I reached out and grasped Aaron's arm, pulling him away.  "Stop it.  Let's just go."