Falling Embers (Abandoned)

Chapter Eight

As the coven headed back towards the highschool Ember smiled and snaked her arm around Preston’s waist. It had been a very long time since she had walked in unison with friends and she relished in the ingenuousness of it. Once they reached the doors they had to pause because all five of them could not enter at the same time. They stood there for a moment, looking at each other. No one wished to be the first to break the bond and she smirked.

“Ok, how about we go in sideways.” Tylor suggested. The others murmured their consent and they attempted to walk sideways through the door, failing miserably as they toppled over onto one another. At that they all burst out laughing, trying to disentangle their legs at once.

“Alright that did not work.” Ember giggled, pushing herself off of the ground.

“Yah, fail.” Preston laughed.

“Epic fail.” Tim snickered.

“A failure so epic, it’s almost a win.” Tylor snorted. Justin was laughing too hard to add anything so he settled for nodding in agreement.

“I propose we try walking in and then rejoining.” She suggested, still chuckling happily.

“I second that motion.” Preston grinned, helping Tylor to his feet. Justin glanced up from straightening his cloak and smiled while Tim busied himself with undoing the chains hanging off his pants.

“Wonderful.” She said, striding confidently through the front door. Preston came next, followed by Justin, Tylor then Tim. From there they proceeded down the hallways, arm in arm. They dropped Tylor off at his Algebra class, then Tim at English before leaving Preston at his history room. An eerie silence fell as they entered the art room as it had yesterday but Ember ignored it, walking Justin to his chair and sitting on his lap instantly. She stayed as long as she could today because he needed her, leaving only when the bell rang to signal the start of class. As soon as she was in the hallway she pulled out her phone, answering the texts she had received last from Ter and the gang in addition to a new one from James. The rest of the day flew by in a blur, bringing four forty-five faster than she had ever dreamed possible. When her Lit Professor released them she looked at her watch in utter shock. Justin had texted her in the middle of her College Chemistry and she had been texting twelve people surreptitiously ever since; Justin, James, Terrik, Aranon, Luke, Ryuu, Shyam, Alex, Joey, Tina, Chan, and Daily. The Toyota was waiting for her as she approached the front office and she sighed in relief. She had been afraid that Spencer would have stayed so angry with Justin and her that he would have left her to walk. She didn’t mind walking, however, she did mind having someone mad at her. Upon her approach Justin climbed out, meeting her on the sidewalk with a quick kiss and a hug. He opened the passenger door wordlessly and got back in before letting her settle herself on his lap. Spencer pulled the car out in stony silence and she realized that all was still not forgiven.

“Spencer, I sincerely apologize for upsetting you earlier. I should not have carried on with such an ardent display of affection and I take full responsibility for my actions. I implore your forgiveness.” She declared, choosing to be the better person even though they had done nothing wrong.

There was a short pause and then Spencer smiled.

“Thank you, I’m sorry I over reacted. I just…had a tough morning and I snapped.” He offered somewhat lamely. A close look at his aura told her that he was lying through his teeth and that he was falling deeply for her. Impossible! I’ve only known these people a few short days and two of them are in love with me. The rest seem to find me positively enchanting as well! This is madness!

“I am deeply saddened to hear that you had a bad day.” She replied with forced feeling.

“Nah, it’s fine.” He sighed. “I never got to tell you that this cloak is part of an entire cos-play that I wore to NDK last year.”