Chemistry Of The Heart (2.0)

Prologue:

“I call this bed,” a petite teenage girl dumped her laptop carrier onto a bed that was shoved into the furthest corner of the room she was standing in as her family trooped in behind her. She ran her fingers through her curly ice-blue locks. The bed she’d just claimed was near the window and it had a clear view of the gorgeous campus grounds below.  

“That’s not fair; you stole the bed with a view,” Ally grumbled half-heartedly as she stomped toward the free bed, gesturing at it. It was shoved against the opposite wall. “I’ll have to stare at a wall for the rest of the year.” 

She was almost identical to her sister, except for her stark black hair and brilliant blue eyes. Ashley's amber orbs flickered over to her and she grinned at the pout that marred Ally's face, “You’ll have it covered in posters soon anyway, so it won’t make a difference."

“Where do I put these?” their dad stepped into the room. His tall form was almost completely hidden behind the pile of boxes stacked in his arms, threatening to topple over any time. Only his eyes and his unruly bed of dark hair were visible over the boxes. The sisters giggled at the sight of their dad as he struggled to keep the bland cardboard boxes from falling, and walked over to help him, grabbing the topmost boxes out of his arms and setting them down on the tan carpeted floor. 

Behind him, his wife shook her head in amusement at his antics. “You shouldn’t have carried all those boxes, dear. You aren’t as young as you used to be,” she smiled, amusement lighting up her warm brown eyes. 

Dad set the remaining boxes down and looked aghast. “Are you calling me old?” He adopted a mock annoyed tone. “I’m fit as a horse. Ten horses for that matter,” with that, he made a big show of lifting his wife up off the floor bridal style, her laughing all the way. 

Ashley and Ally shared an eye roll; sometimes their parents were worse than a cheesy romance novel. When he finally let her down, Mom opened some of the boxes they had brought up and set about arranging the room, adjusting a chair here, and dusting off a table there. The room was fairly large, with twin-sized beds on either side, and a large flat-screen TV hung up on the wall overlooking the two beds.  Each of the beds were accompanied by a honey-colored writing desk and an inky cushioned computer chair. Beside Ally’s desk, an alabaster mini-fridge hummed, and in the wall-space beside the main doorway was a closet, filled with two dressers and a wall length mirror.

 All in all, it was quite nice. 

"Hey," Ashley pulled several paintings from one of her boxes, and spread them out across her bed, "Do we have any sticky things so I can hang these up?" 

Dad tossed her a box of wall-stickys and Ashley climbed onto the bed. She adjusted one of the paintings at the head of the bed, and then several others above her desk. Ally tore into one of her boxes and pulled out a huge stack of band posters and pictures of her and her sister. She started taping them to the wall beside her bed. 

"Do you want us to start your clothes?" Mom asked as she rummaged through a box, slender palms hovering above a stack of t-shirts. She watched her daughters for their reactions. 

Dad tore into another box and pushed it to the side when he realized it was nothing but clothing. "We don't have a lot of time left," he remarked as he glanced at his phone, "It's almost three o'clock." 

Ally paused, the poster in her hands falling back to the bed like a feather. She frowned, "And you have that meeting, don't you..." 

Ashley pouted at her parents, and shot a mildly horrifed look toward her sister. "Please," she begged her parents, "Don't leave me alone with her." 

"Hey!" Ally shot her a hard glare. She bent down and grabbed the poster, flattening it against the wall again. The two adults laughed and shared a look. 

Mom set the box filled with clothing aside, and grabbed another one. She ripped it open and then pulled out its contents --a plastic package filled with charcoal gray bed sheets, and another with dark blue sheets. She tossed the gray one onto Ashley's bed, and the blue one onto Ally's. Then she began to fold up the empty box and moved onto the next one. 

Dad pulled the open clothing boxes away from Mom, and then shoved them toward the closet. He pushed them inside and then stepped back, and let out a satisfied huff. "I'm done," he announced smugly with his hands on his hips.

Everyone in the room glanced toward him, and Mom rolled her eyes. Ashley snorted and climbed down from her bed, the wall around it covered in her scenery paintings. Ally ignored him and continued to decorate her wall. Slowly, the number of boxes began to dwindle, until Mom finally folded the last one. Dad shoved the folded boxes beneath the girls' beds, and then the family gathered near the door. 

"You'll have so much fun here," Mom wiped at her eyes, and then reached out to hug Ashley. Ashley wrapped her arms around her mother's torso and squeezed her tight. Ally latched onto Dad. The dark haired male smothered her with love in response. 

"We're going to miss you so much," Ally muttered. She fought back against the tears that prickled at the corners of her eyes. She didn't like getting emotional. 

Ashley released her mother long enough to tackle her father into a hug. Ally stepped aside to avoid being knocked to the ground and met her mother's embrace. "Christmas break will come soon," Mom kissed her forehead. "Maybe we'll be able to visit before then." 

"You better," Ally squeezed her tight. 

"I can't leave my girls," Dad's sudden sob brought their attention downwards, as he latched onto Ashley and smothered the bluette with love and affection. "There are too many heathen guys here." 

Ashley perked up. She smiled at her sister over her father's shoulder, from their spot on the floor, "Oh! That's right! Sakura said there were some cute guys here. Ally, we should go check it out."  

Dad made a strangled noise. 

Mom laughed, and grabbed her husband by the ear, dragging him away from the bluette. "Alright. I guess we better leave you two to finish getting upacked. We'll call you when we get home from the meeting." She paused at the doorway, and her lips stretched back into a wide grin. 

"Be good. We love you," she blew them a kiss, and Dad sulked. 

Ashley stood and Ally wrapped her arm around her sister's shoulder. Ashley hugged her tight and together, they smiled sadly at their parents and wiggled their fingers in a wave. The door clicked shut.

And then they were alone. 

Author's Note:

Sorry this took so long, guys. We've been seriously busy with school, and original work. Thanks for your patience :) There are a few changes --like May has been changed to Ally, and Cloud has been changed to Ashley, since it's easier for us. It is now also considered a Hidan love story (though that will come in later). Sorry for the confusion!

I wanted to try something this time around. I haven't had time to make a cover, unfortunately, and I was wondering if y'all could help me out :D If you have time and want to participate, you can comment that you'd like to try. The first prize winner will win a shout out of their story/profile from CloudedSkies. 

Just shoot me a link --either through this inbox or mine on Cloud-- of the cover and Ally and I will decide hopefully within the next few days x3 Depending on who participates. You totally don't have to!

Thanks,

Cloud <3